Avoiding the Bunny Hop

 

Avoiding the Bunny Hop

It’s easy to celebrate on Palm Sunday and take one giant bunny hop over to Easter Sunday. We innately enjoy the happy celebrations, but as tempting as that may be, don’t miss the amazing week that changed the whole world - Holy Week. It’s a bit like wanting to binge watch a whole series by watching only the first episode and the season finale. Not only are you confused, but you miss the opportunity to form a deep relationship with the characters.

There are so many incredible stories that take place in one week. Matthew 21-28, as well as Mark, Luke, and John, record these events. It reminds me of the old adage that “truth is stranger than fiction” or “you can’t make this stuff up.” Holy Monday to Black (Holy) Saturday is packed with Jesus turning temple tables on their ends, healing, and so much teaching like cursing a fig tree and numerous parables. Jesus is anointed with oil by a woman with great devotion all the while Judas, one of his very own, plots to betray him to the very scholars that should have known who Jesus was but were instead blinded by their political and financial interests.

Jesus gives us our greatest commandment in Matthew 22:37, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Then set the great examples of service and true love when He washes the feet of his disciples before the Passover meal that would come to be known as the Last Supper, and memorialized in our communion. Jesus tells his disciples of his impending death, but they too just can’t seem to grasp the multitude of prophecies being fulfilled right before their eyes!

Good Friday chronicles the brutality and the torture Jesus endured on our behalf. We want to shrink away from the gruesome details and shield ourselves from our responsibility. We just want to skip over that to the “good parts” and “Good” Friday doesn’t seem very good.  But John 3:17 reminds us that this had to be done for our salvation because, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” One completely perfect man saddled with the sins of an entire world for all generations is the most profound, magnanimous, and glorious gift the world could ever know and so very worthy of remembrance. Even though in John 19:30 Jesus says, “It is finished,” Holy Week is not.

So, Saturday comes and we are inclined to just hope for good weather for Easter egg hunts. We are ready for the party as if it was Easter Eve, because we aren’t very good at quietly waiting. The women at the cross wanted to prepare Jesus’ body for burial, but they couldn’t because it was time for the Sabbath Day, a day of rest. We too should observe this day of rest, prayerful waiting, a vigil, and steep in the renewing presence of the Lord as Jesus did while his body was entombed.

Then with all its light and glory, Easter arrives! I think it actually it feels like it is the real New Year’s Day and a time for joyous celebration. Yet, among the eggs and the bunnies remember to keep Jesus a part of your celebration.  To borrow a phrase from another holiday – Jesus IS the reason for this season and He wants to be a part of your family and you to be a part of His family. Shower him with love, worship, and like the story of the ten healed lepers in Luke 17:11-19, don’t be one of the nine that didn’t even bother to simply say, “Thank you!”

A Love Letter to Jesus

Dear Jesus,

Thank you!  God loved me so much He sent You and You loved me so much that You sent your Holy Spirit, but so much selfless love is incomprehensible.  Thank you for finding ways to wrap me in that crazy magnanimous love so I can feel it in such palpable ways. 

Creator of the Universe, I am incredibly grateful that You come to me in the quiet of the snow and bring my heart supernatural peace. My ears hear your babbling creek merrily singing songs of joy and in the gentle breezes, the trees whisper, “I love you too.” 

And the Birds! Oh! The happy riotous chatter of your birds reminds me that You provide for them and how much more You provide for me.

Your mighty power is felt and smelled in the thunder and in the cleansing rain when You are indeed my rock and my shelter. My eyes seek for your rainbows filled with unending promises! 

Your sunrise ushers in new and fresh days full of your light that is my guide until the sun sets in glorious arrays of colors, a feast for the eyes before a restoring rest.

Humbly I know, that You, the Creator of the stars and moon decided to create me too. But in my humanness, my heart is crushed because I know I am so unworthy of all this love. Still, You, the Potter, again and again create new in me out of what I rush to crush. 

You lift my eyes up, up to the mountains and away from the darkness, and You always will until the day You call me away from this terrestrial boundary.

Oh Lord, my Lord, how I DO love You so.

Humbly,

Your Child, Your Creation

Snow Crystals

 I worked at a ski lodge that had a “cut-off” trail from the slopes straight to the front door of the lodge.  On nights when the moonlight would bounce off the snow creating more light than a lantern, a few of us would hike that trail backwards up to the ski run and secretly ski the rest of the run. Then hike back home along the railroad track. The silence I experienced on those covert missions was unprecedented. Rarely do we have a chance to experience such deep and utter quiet.

According to Accuweather, when snow accumulates on the ground, it acts as a sound absorber. Sound waves are trapped in tiny pockets within the snow crystals and the waves can't bounce and make their way into our ears as sound.

Of course we were being quiet because we didn’t want to get caught, but more so because of the exquisite sound of solitude. Despite our bodies being in motion, we were wrapped in stillness, no crunch of snow, like our very exhalations were being silenced and all we were left with was the pounding of our heart from within.

I think that is what God means when He said in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” He isn’t calling us to inactivity, to sit idly by, but instead to allow chaos of the world to be absorbed by his love leaving only the pure sound of His voice. 

New Seasons

 

A little bird landed on an old gnarled stump and spat a seed from his beek.  As he did, he proclaimed in the presumptuous way of a youth, “Old stump, you are dried up and useless!” Unfazed, the old stump replied, “Not so my little friend. It is now in this season of my being that I can nourish the little seed you have just planted within my yielding roots.” 

Never underestimate in any season of your life what God has planned for you. You can be the bird, the stump, or even the seed.

Isaiah 43:19

 “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Who is Jake Phelps?

Who is Jake Phelps? And why is he tagging my neighbor’s fence?  While I don’t actually know Jake Phelps, I know OF Jake Phelps.  He is one of the 86% of American youths that would rather be famous than go to school, get a job, become a doctor, lawyer, or astronaut. That is a 32% increase since 2010. 

It would be easy to blame social media for this upswing, but that isn’t truly the case. Social media may provide a new venue, but only 9% of Americans work in a “fame” industry. That’s just the industry, that does NOT equate to being famous so even with social media the odds aren’t in your favor. 

Faced with the choice of anonymity or the chance at recognition of some kind, people are literally dying to be famous. This reminds me of Young Guns, the 1988 action/western film, when Billy the Kid laughs hysterically prior to murdering someone and cackles, “I’ll make ya famous.” If that even had one hint of truth to it, we would know his victims instead of Billy the Kid. 

 

In the early 1980s, a man attempted to assassinate two former Presidents in order to impress a famous actress and “level-up” to her notoriety.  So we see this isn’t a new problem, but sitting in the wake of yet another school shooting, it is a problem worthy of being readdressed. And frankly, guns aren’t the problem, it’s the people pulling the trigger that are the problem.

An Institute for Violence Prevention study concluded, “Many of our insights have come from analyzing the violent fantasies of adolescent shooters. These imaginings take root in a desperate mind that yearns for recognition. Often these young assassins are inspired by examples set by previous shooters. The fantasies typically intensify over a number of years before they are acted on. With time, the mental images become more detailed, and they often become buttressed by a distorted sense of what is just or moral, such as the need to avenge a perceived offense or the belief in a divine right to decide the fate of others.”

In a fast food must have right now society, people forget to look at the consequences of their actions.  They fail to see, it's not a movie, they don’t actually have divine authority and these fantasies never have a happy ending!  In reality, they end with death or at best incarceration. And sadly, if they actually achieved this desperately sought after fame, it wouldn’t or couldn’t even live up to expectations created in the mind. Ecclesiastes 1:8 says, “All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.” George Sanders was famous. He had 4 incredibly glamorous wives and even won an Oscar. Yet he committed suicide and in his note he stated, “I am bored.”  

People want to be seen, to be heard, to know they matter and that their life has a purpose, but fame doesn’t and can’t provide that - GOD DOES.

He sees you: 

Matthew 10:29-31

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

He hears you:

Psalm 18:6

“In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.

He has a plan and a purpose for you:

Jeremiah 29:11

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

With God kicked out of school and so many public places, what can we do to get the Word out? Well naturally, this is something that first starts in the home. Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”  May your child be a light in a dark place!  

But there are so many homes where God is not welcome yet, what else can we do?  As tempting as it may seem, we cannot force feed the Word, but we can set such a loving example that it would be impossible to not notice that something is different. Be willing to share without concern of earthly opinion and be a conduit of Jesus.  Stop! Look! Listen to what and who He is asking you to reach out to! Don’t let Jake Phelps trade his spray paint for a weapon!

Compliment a stranger - I see you. Comment on a social media post - I hear you. And perhaps hardest of all, be ready to pause your plans. Don’t be so focused on your to-do pick-list that you ignore the nudge from Jesus to stop and spend a moment with a person so that they will know - Jesus says...You Matter!!

Got Gifts?

Gifts.  About 250 BILLION dollars is spent in the United States on advertising with 1.9 billion being exclusively for Christmas gifts.  No wonder we feel the pressure to find the perfect gift to give to the people we love, those we appreciate in service industries, teachers, etc, and for people we just feel obligated to include.  I’ve seen posts reminding us to live in the moment and the true gift is making memories and years later your kids won’t remember the gifts they receive.  I don’t disagree, but at the risk of sending anyone into a panic, I do remember some of the gifts I received as a kid. 

When I was 11, my dad gave me a ladies golf hat with a little puff ball on the top! As if being 11 isn’t hard enough?? Another year, I remember getting scotch tape in my stocking. That felt almost like coal! But the one that sticks with me the most is the Sunshine Family Doll set and house.  Ohhhhh, how I wanted that.  I knew it was way out of Mom’s price range, but I pleaded my case with Santa.  It was the counterculture reaction to Barbie. The mom in her prairie dress, the dad in his corduroys and turtleneck sweater, and the cute little baby all living in their very modest four room house. Very unlike Barbie and her mansion. Racing out of my bedroom that Christmas morning, I stopped in my tracks not believing my eyes - there it was!!!!  As an adult, I’m not sure who helped my mom (grandparents I’m guessing) to get me that remarkable gift that I loved to literal pieces.

I am not telling you these stories to glorify commercialism, but to show it isn’t the quantity of the gifts, but the quality.   The actual quality isn’t tied to the monetary value, but in the love that backs up the gift.  The Wise Men brought three gifts. Just three.  There was no Christmas tree piled high with the latest and greatest things, but three items to worship a King. I’ve seen an internet meme that indicates if it had been wise women they would have brought diapers and formula and things that a new mom would really need. I can actually imagine the look on Joseph and Mary’s faces when the Wise Men showed up with their gifts. “Ohhh, how lovely….burial spices… what every two year old wishes for!” 

Sometimes, we don’t get what we want, but what we need. I didn’t like Dad’s hat, but in his mind, he was protecting me from sunburn. Matthew 2:13 tells us, “When they [the Wise Men] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’”  Suddenly, these impractical royal gifts were vital to protecting the young Jesus.

I may have felt disappointment in receiving scotch tape, it wasn’t what I was expecting. But in reality, I blasted through that stuff while making my kid projects.  That gift provided me a means to create and give of myself far beyond my expectations.  1 Peter 4:10 states, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” At that time, the Hebrew people were expecting a Savior that would protect them from Roman rule, but what they got was a helpless baby.  Their expectations did not match the gift given, but ultimately, Jesus was and is a Savior far beyond a political leader.  His life was a living, breathing, walking example of faith and grace.

The Sunshine Family sticks with me not because it was the most amazing toy, but that it was such a sacrificial gift. A gift I knew my mom couldn’t afford, but she loved me so much she found a way to give it to me. Her income levels could ebb and flow, but her love never waivered. God does not suffer from a limited bank account and His gifts are endless. James 1:17 confirms this by saying, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  

But all He extravagantly gives to us pales next to His son Jesus, the ultimate gift.  Is there any gift more sacrificial than His own perfect Son? John 3:16, reminds us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God didn’t give us a world full of His sons, just One. Quality over quantity.

Oh To Be Christie Just One Christmas!

I have been very blessed to have a friend for my entire life. No, seriously. Christie and I have been friends since before we can even remember!  We went to Sunday School together, started kindergarten together, and graduated high school together.  We have joked that we could hack each other’s accounts because we know all the answers to the security questions!  She is a rare treasure that still manages to keep our high school class together after <hem-hem > many years.

If you know me at all, you know exactly where this is leading, because I have been telling this tale for a long time! One of my earliest memories is watching Christie being dressed in the angel costume.  Oh, how I longed to be the one wearing the shining gold garland halo sporting the long flowing angel robe with the equally impressive flowing sleeves.  But no - my mom was helping me into a blue sheet because after all a girl named Mary should play the role of Mary.  I sat on my chair holding a baby doll all the while coveting the freedom and sparkles of my dancing friend, Christie. 

In reality, I’m not sure how many consecutive years this went on, but it seemed like every Christmas to me.  I have harbored these feelings and told this story to practically everyone I know. Christmas programs, I’m still drawn to the glittering parts. Still, it does occur to me how all the time I’ve spent longing for the sparkle of Christmas, I have totally missed what an incredible honor it was to play the role of <helloooo!!!???> The.mother.of.JESUS!?

Luke 1: 27-29 says, “The angel went to a virgin promised in marriage to a descendant of David named Joseph. The virgin’s name was Mary. When the angel entered her home, he greeted her and said, ‘You are favored by the Lord! The Lord is with you.’ She was startled by what the angel said and tried to figure out what this greeting meant.”  It continues in verse 38 with, “Mary answered, ‘I am the Lord’s servant. Let everything you’ve said happen to me.’ Then the angel left her.”

The real Mary doesn’t seem as sarcastic as I can be, because I’m pretty sure my response would have been - “WAIT! SAY WHAT??”  Which is also why God didn’t choose me to be the real Mary!  I also wonder if Mary ever questioned being the recipient of this honor.  When she was trying to explain her “condition” to Joseph, when she had to leave for Bethlehem heavy with child, when she had to let her son fulfill God’s will on the cross. Perhaps she did, but if she wavered, her words from Luke 1:29 seem to echo back, “Let everything you’ve said happen to me.”  You see, she humbly and gratefully accepted the role God had for her.  

Founder of Going Beyond Ministries Priscilla Shirer says, “Contentment comes from valuing what you’ve been given, not venting over what’s been withheld.”  Can you imagine my outlook all these years, if I had reveled in the privilege of being “The Mary?” Can you ask for a better role model of faith? 

So, this Christmas my challenge to myself, and to you, is to be content.  1 Corinthians 12:17-19 says, “If the whole body were just an eye, how could it hear? And if it were only an ear, how could it smell? As it is, however, God put every different part in the body just as he wanted it to be. There would not be a body if it were all only one part!”  There would not have been a Christmas program nativity if we were all playing the part of the angels!  Each part, each kid actually had an important message to announce.  Even more so the parts played on the night of Jesus’ birth! Sure, the angels were glorious in their light and all those “Harks!” But when it came down to it, God chose the lowly, dirty, sweaty, smelly, hard working, toiling, and often forgotten shepherds to deliver the Good News of our Savior's birth!

Colossians 3:17 confirms that God is asking us to be content with the role He gives us to carry out. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  While I will always be enamored of sparkling parts of Christmas, I vow to rewrite my story and share how I am grateful to have played the role of Mary and my friend, Christie, made a beautiful Angel.