A weekend visit from my sister, lily of the valley from our backyard in New Jersey transported by plane to Florida, amazing meals, running in the rain, sunset views from my porch, a great sermon at church followed by great theological discussions, a handmade card from an old friend and an unexpected cold front thrown in by God just to delight me.

God knew I needed to be refreshed. He knew I needed anapauō.

Ana-what, you say?  Anapauō  is a Greek word used in the Bible that means, “to cause or permit one to cease from any movement or labour in order to recover and collect strength”.

Recover and collect strength.  I love that.  God brings anapauō through family and friends and memorable meals and sunset views and sermons.  And He brings it through time spent with Him and time spent in His Word.

  “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you anapauō (rest).”  Matthew 11:28

Praying that God will give you anapauō today in unexpected and delightful ways.

 

Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord. Philemon 1:20

Then he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, but the young woman’s father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So they delayed until afternoon; and both of them ate. Judges 19:8

 Return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.          Psalm 116:7

So I’ve discovered the art of baking bread.

I may have to blame it on my genes.  I can still taste “Grandma’s bread” in my head even though it’s been decades since I’ve had it.   And while I don’t spend all day making multiple loaves at a time like she did, there is something special about the whole process of waiting for yeast and flour and warm water and salt to become…something amazing.

And here’s a little trivia for you.  Bread is mentioned 315 times in the Bible.  Seems God knew how amazing it was, too.

It fed His people and sustained them.  It played the main part in miracles, like when the manna rained down from heaven, when the widow scraped up the last bits of flour from her bin and it fed her little family for days and days, and when Jesus borrowed a few loaves from a young boy and used them to feed thousands of people.  And the bread He broke up during His last supper has become a symbol of His sacrifice for us, reenacted in churches all over the world just last weekend.

There’s something special about bread.

I’ve been through my share of low-carb, “bread is evil” moments.  But rediscovering the joy of making it has reminded  me that bread has played a significant part in God’s plan for His people.

I hope your next morning toast or lunchtime sandwich or dinner roll reminds you that God always provides and feeds and sustains and blesses.

May you find new joy and hope in the Bread of Life.

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst”.  John 6:35

“I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”  John 6:51

The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah. 1 Kings 7:16

And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave it to the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Matthew 15:36-37

Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all…

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross –  Isaac Watts, 1707

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  John 3:16

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 1 John 4:9

We love Him because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19

 

I did it.  I read through the entire Bible.  In 90 days.*

It was one of those things I always felt a little guilty over not doing. (Not the 90 day part – the reading through the Bible part).  Over the years, I’d started several of those “through the Bible in a year” programs   Somewhere around Leviticus, I’d lose heart, and my good intentions would become distant memories.

But 90 days instead of 365?  I could commit to 90 days.   January to March.  No problem.  After all, those are the long, boring months after the holidays, right?

God knew that just three weeks into this venture, I’d experience the greatest loss of my life so far.  But for some reason (divine, no doubt), I didn’t quit my reading plan.  As a matter of fact, it became even more important to finish it, to read this whole book, spoken by and written by the God I needed so much to trust.

Reading the Bible straight through showed me again how it’s a complete story – the story of God’s care for His people, the story of His grace and His mercy.  And the story of His plan.

He always has a plan.

I had a plan to read through the Bible in 90 days.  But God had a plan to show me even more of Himself.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.         Hebrews 4:12

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.  Isaiah 55:11

The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.         Psalm 119:130

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105

*(I heard about this 90 Day reading plan on a radio program called “Haven Today”.  Here is a link to download the plan:  http://www.haventoday.org/schedule.pdf.  It took me about 45 minutes each day.   I’d read some in the morning and then more over my lunch hour.  Zondervan publishes a 90 Day NIV Bible, but I used my own version.)

A bulldozer, a backhoe, strong men with shovels.  That’s what it took to expose the foundation of our house.

I wasn’t there to see it, but the family kept me updated with pictures.  You see, an old oil tank buried right next to our family home had started to cause some problems. Problems that needed to be fixed.  So the big equipment came and disrupted everything, creating a lot of noise and commotion and inconvenience.

And when all the dirt was pushed around and finally taken away, we could see the foundation of the house my parents have lived in for 50 years.

It’s a good foundation.  A solid one.   One that held the house up through all kinds of weather, all kinds of storms, summers and winters and autumns and springs.  It’s held up the house that we all grew up in, the house where there were good times and happy times and a few sad ones, too.  But through it all, the foundation has stood firm.

Sometimes we don’t know about the strength of a foundation until it’s exposed.  And sometimes that exposure comes by way of things that disrupt our lives.  And sometimes it can feel like God is allowing the bulldozers to push us around and the backhoes to tear up things we care about.

But when all the pushing and shoving and disruptive work is done, we can see whether or not our foundation is a good one – one strong enough to stand the tests of time and circumstance.

This morning in our Chapel service at school we sang the hymn, “How Firm a Foundation”.  And I smiled.  Our family has been disrupted and pushed around a little in recent months, but the condition of our foundation has been revealed.

It’s strong.  And it’s going to stand firm for many years yet to come.

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you, who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

(from the hymn, “How Firm a Foundation”  by John Rippon, 1787)

He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. Luke 6:48

Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His…”  1 Timothy 2:19

And he said: “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;”                         2 Samuel 22:2

“Why does it have to be so hard?”

That was the question of the night last evening. 

It’s been a rough week.  My family is trying to sort out some things following my Dad’s death.  And this has been a less-than-stellar week for me here in Florida.  So when my sister asked me that question on the phone last night, it really hit home. 

Why does life have to be so hard?

The quick answer would be that I don’t know.  But that’s not the complete answer.  I don’t know why certain hard things come into the lives of certain people at certain times.  But I do know why God allows them.

He wants to use them.

So many times I want to cry out and tell God that I’m tired of the hard situations and I’m tired of the hard things and haven’t I learned this lesson already?  I did that alone in the car the other night.  Cars are a great place to just let it all out to God.   But when my little rant was over, God gently reminded me that there is a purpose behind all of my current hard things.

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.             (Romans 5:3-4)

I might not like the process, but the outcome will be good.  The hard things can be turned into hope. 

And as that passage in Romans goes on to say, “hope does not disappoint”.

Hope.  So much better than hard.   

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:5

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.                       2 Corinthians 12:10

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.              Habakkuk 3:18

 

 

 

 

I’d forgotten what it was like to be almost Spring.

Where I live in the tropics, we have seasons, but they are so subtle many people don’t even notice them.   Something is always blooming and the grass is always green and you hardly ever have to wear a jacket.

But my visit to New Jersey this week has reminded me of “almost Spring”.

It’s that time when the trees are still bare, and the grass is still brown and you’re ready to be done with winter.  The calendar page has turned to March and you know that a change is coming eventually.  It’s just not here yet.

If you didn’t know what to watch for, things could seem pretty bleak.  But look a little closer and you’ll see changes at the ends of barren branches, and little green blades of grass poking through the dry brown ones, and the tips of flower bulbs just barely pushing through the dirt.

It’s almost Spring.

Sometimes the winter seasons in our lives seem to go on and on.  Things are bleak and grey and dull.  No signs of change coming.

Unless you look a little closer

And just maybe you’ll see something beginning to happen, something beginning to sprout, signs that your days are starting to be just a little bit brighter.

I’m going to start watching for those little clues that God is leaving for me.  I’m going to start looking for signs that He is at work, that the calendar page has turned even if the circumstances don’t look like it yet.

It is almost Spring.

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance…  Ephesians 6:18

For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come…  Habakkuk 2:3

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.   Luke 18:1

 

 

I’m going home this weekend.

One would think that after nearly 24 years, “home” for me would be West Palm Beach, Florida.  I moved here in 1988.  Established a life.  Bought my own place to live.  And at the end of every day, I walk up the stairs, turn the key in my front door and breathe a sigh of relief that I’m home.

But when I say I’m going “home”, it means the place I really long for.  The place where my family waits for me, where they know me – my heart, my joys, my dreams, my challenges.  It’s the place I can sink into and be completely myself.

So after all these years, why would a red house on Rathbun Road in a small town in New Jersey still be “home”?  Does it really come down to “Home is where the heart is”?

I think the answer is yes. And for more reasons than the obvious.

Here’s what author Randy Alcorn says in his book, “Heaven”:

Do you recall a time when you were away from your earthly home and desperately missed it? Maybe you were off at college or in the military or traveling extensively overseas or needed to move because of a job.  Do you remember how your heart ached for home?  That’s how we should feel about Heaven.  We are a displaced people, longing for home.

I’ve been thinking more about heaven lately.  Reading about it.  Talking about it.  Wondering what it’s like and what those who have gone before us are experiencing.  And longing for it a little more than I used to. 

And when that plane touches down in New Jersey this weekend and I find myself smiling like I always do at that moment, I need to be reminded of what it is I’m really longing for.

Home is where my heart is.

 

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Matthew 6:1

You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Psalm 90:1

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:2

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:13

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.           John 14:23

Some people might not consider it an act of bravery to walk into the local home improvement store with a ziplock bag filled with sink parts.

But for me, it was.

The kitchen faucet had been dripping for some time.  Now the drips had turned to full on running water.  I had to keep sticking my head in the scary place under the sink to turn the water on and off.   Dad had given me a temporary solution a few months ago and promised to fix it when he came to visit.  But God had other plans for him.

I’m not the kind of single woman who loves fixing things myself.  I don’t take on the challenge with excitement.  It’s usually with a sense of dread, and hovering nearby is self-pity and questions about why that verse in Genesis doesn’t say “it is not good that woman should be alone”.

But sometimes, we have to do the brave things.  The hard things.  And sometimes just doing those things– or even having the bravery to try those things makes us realize that we’re actually going to be OK. 

There are situations that require much more bravery than fixing a sink.  Life is hard.  Life doesn’t always turn out the way we planned or expected or dreamed about.  There are situations that require us to just pray, take a deep breath and stick our heads in the scary places.

And God uses those moments to remind us of His love and His provision and His care.  We’re going to be OK.  All my sink needed was a tiny little 29¢ washer.  And I smile every time I turn on the water now.

Be brave, my friends. 

 

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.      Joshua 1:9

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Isaiah 40:29

 

 

Sometimes, it’s OK to laugh at funerals. 

I know that sounds weird.  Some people would take offense.  Some people have never been to a funeral where mixed in with the grief and sadness are occasional moments of joy.  And laughter.

We laughed at the enormous spray of lovely flowers strategically set in a place of honor at the funeral home.  Flowers for “Beloved Uncle Jerry”.   Dad’s name wasn’t Jerry.  As the funeral director hastily whisked the flowers away, we hoped that whoever Uncle Jerry was, he had them in time for his service.

And we laughed when we asked if the funeral home had any thumbtacks for us to use on our photo memory boards.  They said they did, and handed us a beautiful cut-crystal bowl filled with a wide array of brightly colored pushpins. We promptly named the bowl “The Candy Dish of Danger” and laughed every time we went to grab a handful of tacks.

We laughed at the stories of Dad’s fishing adventures and boyhood antics as they were told by family members at the memorial service.  We think Dad would have laughed, too.  He loved a good story.

Of course losing Dad so unexpectedly wasn’t fun.  But our family loves to laugh, and God gave us – and continues to give us – moments that make us smile, moments that remind us of the hope we have within us, moments that remind us that He is still good, and still in the business of joy.

Christian funerals should be different.  We know where Dad is today.  We know we’ll see him again. And we know that God is watching over those of us left behind.   

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.            (1 Thessalonians 4:13 NLT)

Yes, we grieve.  But sometimes a good laugh and a big smile remind us that we indeed have…hope.

 

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name be joyful in You. Psalm 5:11

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11