Ode to Christmas 2010

Christmas Day, 2010. I am in a plane flying to Dallas to attend the funeral of my sixteen year old grandson. He was killed two days ago when the Mazda 6 that he was driving crossed the median and sideswiped a semi. Nick had his driver's license for three weeks. By the time the helicopter got him to the hospital, he had gone to be with Jesus.

I look down from the plane window and see the neatly blocked streets of Milwaukee far below. They are covered with snow like a Christmas card picture. I think about all the people in the houses celebrating Christmas. I picture them opening packages, laughing at funny gifts, and watching their childrens' delight as they unwrap their special presents.

Some of the houses have cars parked in front of them and in their driveways - evidence of happy gatherings inside. I imagine the smells of platters filled with turkey and ham wafting through the rooms. Every year I cook too - pies, brownie bars, whatever my family likes. It gives me great joy. But not this year. That has been suddenly snatched away.

As I stare down, I wonder how the families in each house celebrate Christmas Eve? We always dim the lights and read the Christmas story. Everytime the word angel appears, the grandchildren take turns lighting candles symbolizing the verse, "The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light." Pretty soon the dark room is aflame with light. But not this year.

Charlie and I didn't open any presents this morning. We were packing hastily - rushing to catch the 12:30 pm flight to Dallas. Our one thought - get to our family whose loss is so great! As we hurried out the door, I glanced back at our darkened kitchen. No good smells, no Christmas dishes, no decorated table waiting for friends. This year our house was a way station on Christmas Eve. We thought we were going to celebrate two weeks with our Alaska family. That's what we thought until Thursday, December 23rd at 5:30 pm when we got the telephone call that said - not this year.

My thoughts go back to that evening - grieving and phoning - grieving and phoning. Family to call, loved ones calling back. "My son, my son, how can we be so far away at such a time?" Hearing the grief and pain in his voice and my Texas daughter-in-love's sobs, intensifies the already indescribable pain in my heart.

Miraculously we are booked on a 6 am flight Christmas Eve day from Anchorage to Minneapolis. Two hours sleep and it is 1:30 am. Time to dress and have our son drive us to the airport. For an hour and a half we talk - we share rambling thoughts. We watch four moose passing us in the cold Alaskan night. I remember that seeing them used to excite me. But not this year. I am too numb to register more emotion.

At 3:45 we arrive at the airport and are told that we can have seats together if we sit in the very last row. We don't care, we don't want to be separated at such a time. We both search our bibles for the comfort of the Scriptures. Lord, give us strength - special verses for Nick-anything that will help us get through this agony. As we read, the peace that passes all understanding begins to descend. We write the verses down. I look up to see the man in the window seat next to Charlie watching us. Charlie and he start talking. He is a ship's captain in charge of huge boats that carry cargo from Alaska to Japan. He tells us that he was at sea when he got a telephone call that his sister had died. He said, "What do you do when you are in the middle of the ocean and you get such a call?" We told him that the telephone also rang for us and that's why we were leaving Alaska the day before Christmas. After we had talked, we gave him the Four Spiritual Laws. He took it and read it from cover to cover then carefully zipped it into his leather seaman's jacket pocket. He wasn't supposed to be in that seat - someone had asked him to trade. We weren't supposed to be in our seats. Or were we all three supposed to be there? Was his possible conversion a good fruit from Nick's physical death? Maybe this year he will come to know Jesus. I wonder at God's grace shining in the midst of our darkness.

We arrive in Minneapolis at 2:30 pm. The van from the Country Suites picks us up. "Why are you traveling so late on Christmas Eve Day?" the driver askes us. We tell him and he shares that his son has cancer. He says, "You told me your trouble, I tell you mine." We knew what he was saying. The glitter of Christmas was all around us, but each of our hearts had great needs that tinsel could never fill. Not this year.

We drive the five hours from Minneapolis to home. Christmas Eve - snow falling, slippery roads, wrecker trucks pulling people out of the ditches, but my mind sees one wrecker truck pulling a black Mazda off of a Texas highway. We stop at McD's for a bite. Who are all these people standing in line for fast food on Christmas Eve? Are they traveling for dreadful reasons too? My mind is frozen like the landscape around us. I cannot smile at them - certainly not ask a personal question.

We get home and unpack our Alaska suitcases and make flight arrangements to Dallas for the next day, Christmas Day. Sleeping in my own bed for one night, my last thought is "No candles being lit tonight. No Nick laughing and striking a match as he hears the word 'angel.' But wait! Isn't he seeing the angels as he spends his first Christmas in heaven? Are they the angels who appeared to the shepherds when the Savior was born in Bethlehem? Is he asking them? Ah, Nick, Nick, what are you doing right now?"

My mind returns to the present. Soon I will see the neighborhoods of Dallas-Fort Worth - not snow covered and cold like in Milwaukee - but each house will be celebrating Christmas. My eyes will search for only one - a home where they opened gifts this morning and tried to continue on. A home with unopened presents under the tree labeled "To Nick." A home that now has three teenagers instead of four. How sad can life get?

The plane flies on to our destination. We are nearly there but I can't see the activity below. We are above the clouds and the sun is shining blindingly bright all around us. "Is this how bright the Shekinah Glory shines in heaven, Nick?" I wonder. "Jesus, the angels, God on His great throne. You are seeing and experiencing it all this year."

For an instant, looking out at the brilliant sun, I am there with him. The wonder of eternal life surrounds me. Then I hear the sound of the wheels going down and our plane descends to land. The clouds swirl around us and all is grey again. The trials and afflictions of this present world encumber us as before. But I have seen the upperside and God has reminded me that my grandson is truly alive. "He is not dead for He has risen!" Nick is above the clouds looking down at God's great canvas of eternity. He has fought the good fight, he has finished the race - this year.

We rent our car and drive toward Crowley. Our family is there.

Other Christmases may come and go with new joys and sorrows but we wont forget this year of our Lord 2010. We do not know what future Christmases will bring but we do know that we shall never be the same - not after this year.

Peace, Good Will Toward Men!

My dear friend, Janey, who lives in Birmingham, sent this wonderful writing in her Christmas letter this year. I loved the thought and so, dear blog friends and family, I'm passing it on to you.

Janey wrote: "In Psalm 23:5 David says God's flock is fed in the presence of our enemies. God asks us to pray for our enemies - those who for some reason do not agree with our loyalties to faith and family or country. For this reason, I am including a writing of Mother Teresa that has been a reminder to me this year of what the angels sang at Jesus' birth, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:14. May we all use the love given us to practice this in the coming year to those who do not know the luxury of God's approval because of the personal acceptance of His Son as Savior."

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough.

Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end it is between you and God. It never was between you and them anyway.

Thanks, Janey, for sharing how God wants us to behave "toward men" (toward everyone) as we travel life's joyful journey.

Road Open

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Jeremiah 25-27)

"'Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,' says the Lord; 'and I will make it a perpetual desolation.'" Jer. 25:12

Charlie was signaling to me. He looked excited as he gestured toward the street. I glanced up, from talking to a friend on my cell phone, and peered ahead. At first I was like, what? Then comprehension dawned. The detour sign was gone! The road was open. We could drive straight on through to the lake. No more detour through Seymour. Thirty minutes off our driving time!

"Look at that," he exclaimed as we sped along the smooth new pavement, "Passing lanes! Good bye poky drivers. This was definitely worth the wait!"

"I'm surprised they got it done before winter." I said.

"Oh," he replied, "I thought they'd have it open for gun deer hunting when half the state heads to the north woods."

We got to the lake so fast. I'd forgotten how much quicker it is without the detour.

Are you ever amazed when God opens a door in your life? It seems like you are on a perpetual detour and then - suddenly - something that has been blocked happens. The "Road Closed" sign is gone and there you go.... down a beautiful new path in life's joyful journey. A road has been under construction in your life and voila! It's open before you.

When Jeremiah wrote down God's words about His impending judgment upon Babylon, it must have seemed to the weeping prophet that he was stuck on a big time detour. God had told him over and over that Judah was about to be heavily disciplined and carried off to Babylon. Israel's Babylonian Captivity loomed omniously ahead.

But God never leaves His people comfortless and He gave Jeremiah chapter 27. Inspirationally penning God's word, he must have received hope as God told him that after seventy years, Babylon, too, would be punished. The Exile would not last forever.

Did he have any idea that seventy years later, a famous prophet named Daniel would be sitting in Babylon reading these very words? Could he know that Daniel would be inspired by what he, Jeremiah, had written and start praying for an end to the captivity and a return to Israel? Probably not. But as a result of Jeremiah's faithfulness to write God's words during a bleak time, a marvelous road of return would open seventy years later for his people.

We encounter lots of roadblocks in our lives. But if we will be faithful to what God tells us to do, the "Road Open" sign will come up. We don't know when but God does. He finishes

what He starts. His timing is perfect. Charlie was sure the Department of Transportation would have the road open before gun deer hunting started in Wisconsin. We can perfectly trust the detours of our lives to One much greater than the DOT.

Are you feeling blocked at every turn? Wait, knowing that the new door will open, because our God is an awesome trustworthy God, and He has promised that it will. Detours can lead to shining new roads with passing lanes!

"Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;" Phil.1:6

A Detour Through Seymour

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Jeremiah 4-6)

"Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" Jeremiah 6:16

I was impatient! It was a beautiful day and I wanted to get to the lake. Usually our trip takes us two hours and fifteen minutes. That never seems long to me. But all summer every trip to our lake house has taken two hours and forty five minutes. Why? Because of the detour through Seymour!

"Charlie," I lamented, "When will the road be open so we don't have to take this detour? Why would anyone want to drive twenty miles out of their way to go through Seymour, Wisconsin anyway?"

"Hey," he replied, "Didn't you see the sign? This is the home of the hamburger. If somebody in Seymour hadn't invented it - no hamburgers! How would we have had that hilarious scene in 'The Pink Panther' about haaambergers?"

"You're funny," I retorted, "but this seems like a major waste of time to me."

Do you ever notice how many times life seems to take detours? We have wonderful plans for the day - the week - the year - and suddenly something comes up. It might be a knee injury or a loved one with cancer. Maybe it's an unexpected job loss or a relative's sudden need. A phone call and there's a road block - a formidable yellow and black fence saying "Road closed. Take detour." We have to abruptly change our familiar habits and take the new unknown way.

God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah to warn the people of Judah that they were headed in the wrong direction. They were determined to go their way and not God's way. If they had changed their course in response to Jeremiah's pleas, they would have gone back to the "good way" and "found rest for their souls." But instead they said, "We will not walk in it." (Jer. 6:16) Their stiff necked refusal to follow God's road block caused them to take a long detour of their own making - all the way to eventual exile in Babylon.

But something happened in that detour to Babylon. After the Jewish people returned from their days of exile, they were different. They never worshiped idols again. You might say they'd learned their lesson. By the time they came back to the "old paths" they were a changed people.

God's detours in our lives have significant lessons for us. We come through them different people if we approach them with the right attitude. If we agreeably receive them as His way instead of our way, we too, come through changed. All of a sudden we have a better understanding of the lives of others - what they are doing, what they are feeling, what they are experiencing. Detour can become "da tour." Seymour can become "See more." "DA TOUR" to "SEE MORE" about others who live along the country roads of our lives.

Enough said, I'll close. After all, it's lunchtime and what would life be without a good hamburger anyway?

Asphalt Prayers

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Isaiah 43-45)

“Thus says the Lord, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker; Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me.” Is. 45:ll

Charlie and I were distraught. He had reached the end of his rope with one of his employees. The man refused to come under his authority and repeatedly made it clear that he felt that he should have had Charlie’s job. His wife obviously felt the same way because she mocked and ridiculed me to her friends.

I remember the night that my husband and I took God at His Word. We went outside to pray under His great sky. The full moon was shining down on our asphalt driveway making it glisten in the bright light. We prayed together and fervently entreated the Lord. This was our prayer:

“Oh, Lord, You know how desperate we are about this couple. We have loved them, we have been patient, and we have prayed and tried to do Your will concerning them. But, things are getting so difficult that if You don’t intervene and do something drastic; we aren’t going to be able to do your will in this mill. Either change our hearts, or change their hearts, or remove them!”

Two days later, they accepted a transfer to another job. Later he left the company. Our fervent prayer on the asphalt had been answered. After this couple left, there was a different atmosphere in the mill. Charlie was able to move forward in many areas without this man obstinately blocking him.

Since then, we have uttered many “asphalt prayers” in various situations. We learned through that evening’s ardent prayer that sometimes God is saying to us, "Tell me what you want Me to do.” He continues; “I have made the earth, And created man on it. It was I- My hands that stretched out the heavens, And all their host I have commanded.” Is. 45:12. How incredible is it that this Lord of the entire universe instructs us to call to Him and use His unfathomable power in our lives? He tells us this over and over again in so many verses such as “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails (accomplishes) much ”James 5:16.

I don’t mind it when my children tell me what they want. I like to hear their needs, their goals, and their desires. I like to be a part of answering them. I would be so dismayed if they never uttered them to me and always said, “Whatever you want, Mom!”

And yet, if you’re like me, how often our prayers to God are so insipid. We say, “Well, Lord, Your will be done” over and over again. I wonder if God gets bored with that. “Asphalt prayers” take thought and effort and time. We actually have to think through what we want to talk to God about. They involve passion and urgency and earnest expectation. They’re more than sending up a spiritual text.

Martin Luther prayed a zowie of an “asphalt prayer “ when, kneeling by the bed of his dying colleague, Phillip Melanchon, he forbade death to take its victim.

Abraham, himself, boldly interceded with God in all humility about Sodom and Gomorrah. He asked, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” Read about Abraham’s intervention for the righteous in Genesis 18:16-32. It’s a fascinating interaction between the man of God and his Creator.

Are we effectively using the power that God offers us so freely as His children? Matthew Henry says: "We may not strive with our Maker by passionate complaints, but we may wrestle with him by faithful and fervent prayer." Jacob did just that when he said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me." (Gen. 32:26)

Our "asphalt prayers" remind us that when we are incapable of helping ourselves, we can depend on the power of our great and wonderful heavenly Father to do amazing things.

The Shining "Son"

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Proverbs 4-7)

"But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter until the perfect day." Prov. 4:18

The nurse must have had a bad night's sleep. She flipped through my chart and said rather irritably: "Didn't you know you weren't supposed to get pregnant right after your last miscarriage? You should have waited!"

I wasn't a Christian then, but I knew in my heart that this new little life growing inside of me was a gift of God...no matter what the grumpy nurse thought. Taking a deep breath, I smiled at her and said, "It will be all right."

And "it" was. God took care of my baby as we moved from Wisconsin to South Carolina and then to a new home twenty days before he entered the world. He was born on a scorching hot July day, but it was air conditioned and peaceful in the room where I labored - with a good nurse attending me. Later, as I held him in my arms, Charlie and I beamed at this amazing new creation and named him Theodore, a name that means "gift of God."

The years have flown. He is a man now about to send his firstborn off to college. I was watching him at our recent family reunion. He was organizing, encouraging, helping, and keeping us all laughing. As I watched two year old Joseph reach up his hands and call "Uncle Ted, Uncle Ted, pick me up!" I realized again that I had had no idea back in that first doctor's visit, how "all right" this new life would be. The joy and love and comfort our second son has brought to our lives and to the lives of so many is without limit.

Six years years after Ted was born, Charlie and I became Christians. We were drawn by God into a relationship with the true Son of Righteousness, Jesus Christ. As baby Christians, we had no idea of all the things the Son of God would become to us. But as the years have passed, Jesus has been all that His Word promised and so much more. Jesus has proved to be a very fine Savior.

My heart is filled with praise and thanksgiving as I write this morning. Praise for a wonderful Savior and thankfulness for another great son. Happy Birthday, Ted. May this verse bring you hope and direction for your new year of life, "The path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter until the perfect day. May the true Son of God keep shining through you until we reach that perfect day.

In my very prejudiced opinion, forty plus years ago I spoke rightly when I said thusly, "It will be all right!"

Moldy Bread

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Joshua 9-11)

“This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy.” Josh. 9:12

“Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but they did not ask counsel of the Lord.” Josh. 9:14

“Everything looks great here!” I said to Charlie.

We had just finished unloading after arriving at our lake house. The sun was shining in the windows, the snow was melting in the woods, and the thermometer was looking happy - registering a warm 61 degrees.

Charlie paused by the calendar and reflected, “The last time we were here was February sixth. That’s over five weeks ago.”

Several hours later, after a light supper of toast and cocoa, I opened the drawer to put the bread away. “Aghhhhhh!” I didn’t mean to shriek but my agitated outburst caused Charlie to come rapidly into the kitchen. He saw me holding up an English muffin package full of the moldiest grossest-looking bread either of us had ever seen.

Returning from carrying it out to the garbage, he shook his head and said, “We sure missed that one when we were packing up!”

In today’s reading about the Gibeonites, Joshua and the Israelites sure missed something too.

We read that when the people of Gibeon heard how Israel had totally destroyed Jericho and Ai, they craftily decided to take another approach to save their skins. Their deceptive plan involved asking Israel to make a covenant of protection with them. They dressed up in old clothes and well- worn sandals and pretended that they came from a far country. To emphasize the length of their travels, they even brought moldy bread and showed it to the skeptical Israelites saying, “This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But, now look, it is dry and moldy.”

We are told that the Israelites looked at their provisions; “but they did not ask counsel of the Lord.” Three days later, after a protective covenant had been made, guess what? The children of Israel found out that these so-called travelers were not from a far country but were really their neighbors. Now, instead of attacking their cities, they had to protect this tricky group of deceivers. They were stuck with the Gibeonites literally forever.

If they only would have asked counsel of the Lord! Even the great Joshua, successor to Moses himself, did not seek out God on this decision. It caused them a lot of trouble immediately and later on down the road.

I don’t know about you, but I get myself in a lot of bad situations when I don’t pray before making a decision. It seems to be taking me a long time to learn that God will give me direction if I will just ask. His promise, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” is as true today as when the Bible was written. (Luke 11:9&10) Why do I persist in plunging into things without seeking the counsel of the Lord?

When we arrived at the lake, everything appeared to be in great shape. But, we had missed something. In our own wisdom we often miss important things. Chris, my daughter-in-love, always says, "God's will unfolds." She's right, it does, if we'll just take the time to ask Him what His will is before we pack up and hurry off.

Isn’t it amazing how relevant to our lives the Bible stays? As I was reading about the Gibeonites, I could vividly picture their moldy bread. The English muffins were a graphic reminder that when I make decisions without praying, things get stale very quickly!

The Counsel of the Strawberries

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Deut. 3-4)

“Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and grandchildren.” Deut. 4:9

The package was waiting for me on my front porch. Paul and Melanie had sent me a very cool birthday present. I opened a box of humongous strawberries that were completely dipped in chocolate – some white and some dark. Not only were they dipped, but each strawberry was beautifully decorated in various colors of pink, white, and red. Every one was artistically done.

Included with the ice packed strawberries were instructions: “Eat within 48 hours!” The (warning) went on to say that since they were fruit they wouldn’t keep - they needed to be eaten. So, I complied. Attractive as they were, I ate them. They tasted even better than they looked. “What a great warning,” I thought, “Eat within 48 hours!”

The next day, while making my bed, I noticed a label protruding from my pillowcase. It threatened, “Do not remove under penalty of law!” I had dutifully hearkened to its warning and left it attached to my pillow for the past year. “That’s the end of you,” I thought as I vehemently ripped it off. “I like the counsel of the strawberries much better.”

There are many warnings in the book of Deuteronomy. The central message of Deuteronomy is obedience. Some form of the words “obey” and “do” occur on an average of five times in each chapter. The whole book is basically a warning both to Israel and to us today. Obedience brings blessings from God and disobedience brings punishment from God. The three messages that Moses pens in Deuteronomy make that pretty clear.

Today’s Scripture gives me four admonitions that I take very seriously. Actually they sum up my life goals and why I write. Here’s how they speak to me.

“Only take heed to yourself,” I am to pay attention to what God tells me to do. A couple of days without reading the Word of God and I start to spoil like the strawberries.

“Lest you forget the things your eyes have seen,” God has done so much in my life. He has painted pictures on my soul even lovelier than the decorated fruit. I don’t want to ever forget the things that He has accomplished since He led me out of my Egypt.

“All the days of your life.” Walking with the Lord is a lifelong commitment. I want to be among those who finish well and never drift away from Jesus.

“And teach them to your children and grandchildren.” That’s why I’m writing. We who have “tasted and seen that the Lord is good” are urged to share our knowledge, insights, and experiences with those who come after us. They may be our physical family or they may be our spiritual family. We all need to remember and reiterate what God has done in our lives, just like the second generation of Israelites needed to hear again what had happened in the forty years since they were miraculously delivered from Egypt.

As we travel though life, we are faced with multitudes of warnings. They may come with strawberries or they may be attached to pillows. There are long lists that we all can name. Some are good and some make no sense. But I’ve lived long enough to know that the aftertaste of obedience to God’s warnings is even better than the sweetness the taste of my birthday berries left in my mouth.

Pay attention to God's Word, don’t forget what He's done, finish well, and teach your children and grandchildren. Isn’t Deut. 4:9 an awesome warning? It's even better than the counsel of the strawberries!

Maybe, though, that advice belongs on all of our Bible covers: "Eat within 48 hours!"

The Banker and the Golden Calf

.“So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses’ anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.” Ex. 32:20

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Ex. 32-34)

Yesterday I got bent out of shape. It was over a financial matter and it made me very irritable. The combination of numbers and finances can do that to me. Over the course of the day I sent off two e-mails to the person I was dealing with at the bank expressing my frustration. I was okay with sending them. After all, I have a right to be upset don’t I? I was okay until….

I read my daily devotion from Jerry Bridges. Quoting from it: “What does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself?” (Matt. 22:39) Among other things, this would mean that you never show selfishness, irritability, peevishness, or indifference in your dealings with others. You take a genuine interest in their welfare and seek to promote their interests, honor, and well-being. You never regard them with prideful superiority or talk about their failings. You never resent any wrongs they do to you, but instead are always ready to forgive. You always treat them as you would have them treat you.”

I thought about my e-mails. Were they something I could be pleased about? Didn’t they actually express peevishness and irritability and indifference in my dealings with my banker?

“Well, that’s fine for Jerry Bridges to write in his devotional,” I thought. “But I’m still frustrated!”

When I went to write in my blog, nothing came. It was like God was saying to me, “Before we get on with life, there’s something that needs to be dealt with here.”

I prayed, “Well, Lord. I confess that I displayed sinful behavior and I’m very sorry. But, do you remember that You said, “If we confess our sins, You are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness?”

“Yes, I remember that,” the Holy Spirit seemed to be saying, “But there is more. There are consequences to your behavior.”

This morning I got up and reread the devotional. I noticed something that I had never noticed before. Written across the top of the heading were the words, “Transformational Thoughts for Your Spiritual Journey.” The God of details strikes again. Aren’t I writing about my joyful spiritual journey?

So, I picked up the phone and called the bank. I apologized for the tone of my e-mails. My banker said, “Don’t worry, I’ve seen worse,” and laughed heartily. We actually had a good productive talk. Whew, saved again by direction from the Lord!

But, I must confess to you, that my aspiration is not to be a little better than “worse.” I want to please the Lord Jesus Christ whose goal is to present me as His bride one day as part of “a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph. 5:27)

What does all this have to do with our reading today?

Aaron and the Israelites blew it big time. While Moses was on the mountain, meeting with God in the cloud for forty days and forty nights, they grew impatient waiting for Moses to come back. So they decided to make God in their own image in the form of a golden calf. God had just written in stone, with His great finger, “No other gods, and no images of gods.”

When Moses and Joshua came near the camp, they could hear the people singing and worshiping the molded calf. Moses became so angry that he threw the stone tablets down and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Why did he do that? It was a dramatic object lesson. Actually breaking the tablets of stone in front of the people symbolized the nation of Israel’s great sin in breaking God’s commandments.

There were many consequences from this sin. A severe reprimand from Moses, a blatant lie from Aaron, a multitude of 3000 disobedient people dead, and even a desperate plea from Moses as he offered himself in their place for God’s atonement – a removal of God Himself as Moses symbolically moved his tent outside the camp. Moses was called back up on the mountain for another forty days and forty nights. Before they could get on with their journey, there was a lot to be dealt with.

In these days of grace, it’s so easy to read this and say, “Those people were so stupid.” But, isn’t it shockingly easy for us to break fellowship with the Holy Spirit through disobedience and willfulness? Just like Jerry Bridges’ devotional. Just like me.

Charlie and I met Jerry Bridges once. We had dinner with him. He was a normal person down to earth and pleasant. He was human just like us. But, the power of the Holy Spirit in his life made me want to be just like him. Thanks, Jerry, for a great devotional reminding us about the transformation God wants to make in us along our spiritual journey.

Come Up To Me......Be There!

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Ex. 23-25)

"Then the Lord said to Moses, "Come up to Me on the mountain and be there;" Ex. 24:12

I love my screen saver! I have it set on "beaches." It flashes the most beautiful ocean pictures across the face of my computer. Palm trees, vast expanses of vivid blue water, white sandy beaches without one piece of litter, and, of course, no clouds - only sun, Every picture has the most awesome light.

This morning I was gazing at the screen longingly when the phone interrupted my reverie.

"Mom," my daughter's voice interjected into my thoughts, "Mom," she said. "I've just got a minute but I have a question. Have you seen the sun in Wisconsin in the last week? We haven't seen it in Illinois since I left your house two weekends ago!"

"Hmn," I replied. "Good question! I think we saw it for about two hours on Wednesday. But then it went under the clouds again. At least it went somewhere. It sure hasn't been back."

"Well," she said, "I was just wondering. Have a good day in the gloom. I'm off to exercise. I guess that's where I'm supposed to be right now."

After she hung up, I glanced at my screen. The beach had disappeared, As I clicked it back on, I thought about our conversation.

"Exercise," I thought. "If the sun were shining and I was on that white sand, I would really feel like exercising. But in dull grey Wisconsin, I don't want to get on my dull grey treadmill!"

Don't we always want to be somewhere else? Sometimes it seems like it requires so much effort and discipline to be in the places where we're supposed to be.

The Lord told Moses to come up to Him on the mountain and be there. Moses had to climb up the whole mountain, God didn't even offer to come down and meet him halfway. He just said, "Be there!"

When Moses finished the strenuous climb, was there an awesome "top of the mountain view?" Actually, a cloud rested on the mountain. A cloud that covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day, God called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. The glory of the Lord was right there in the midst of the cloud. God talked to Moses on Mt. Sinai for forty days and forty nights. A lot of Exodus is about what God gave him those days in the cloud.

Where has God called you to be? Maybe you're looking around and thinking, "There's a thick cloud around me. Could I leave and go to the beach?"

But when God has said, "Come to Me..be there." We need to be there. Right where He's called us to be. Today may be the sixth day. Tomorrow could be the seventh day - the day the "Son" will appear in all His glory.

Once Upon A Time In the Midwest

Are you a New Year's resolution person? Do you get excited about living in a year that nobody has ever lived in before?

We enter today into the unknown territory that's called 2010. Are you looking forward to this step on your life journey or are you embarking with trepidation wondering what's ahead? I think all of us have a little of both as we start January, 2010.

I am a New Year's resolution person. One of my goals for the upcoming year is to read through the Bible. Being a people person, I'd like to invite you to accompany me on my journey through God's Word this year. Three chapters a day and we can make it.

As I write, I can see the New Year's moon rising over the snow covered lake. A New Year's moon only occurs once every nine years. That makes this year special. Maybe you've been making resolutions for nine years to read through the Bible. Let this be the year that we do it together.

A new moon, a new year, a new blog! And, how about a new trip through the Bible?

There's a wonderful song that includes the words:

"Come on along, it's the song of Jesus,
Day after day, I hear His song."

That's the way I feel about the Word of God. It's His map through life. Day after day, we can hear His song if we read together everyday. His song is the song of joy as we enter the unknown days that await us.

We don't have to enter the new year alone. His word can be the lamp to our feet and the light to our path.

Let's enter the new year together as we read His word everyday.

I'll be reporting in along my journey.

Happy New Year!

Betsy