Like A Little Child

When Keegan, my oldest, was little, he was the king of adorable baby talk.  There was "strawbabies" for strawberries.  "Crash can" for trash can.  And my favorite, the basketball "hoot" for that hoop he couldn't quite seem to successfully locate with his tiny, foam ball.

And then there was this.  "Hold your Keegy, Daddy."

Ahhhhhh.  It melted my heart every time to see the tiny person version of his father standing on the tops of his dad's feet, arms stretched up over his head.  And then that sweet command.

"Hold your Keegy, Daddy."

I loved it.  I loved his confidence, the certainty with which he knew what would happen next.  His dad was about to look down, smile, bend over, engulf him in a huge embrace, and pick him up to nestle him into his shoulder.  He was confident because it happened every single time.  Something in his little boy heart knew a good father can not resist those words, that entreaty.  His father couldn't ignore the profound request behind those four small words. 

I need you.

I trust you.

I want to be close to your heart.

They make sense coming from a child.  But, somewhere in the growing up and the getting tough, it's easy to believe we are to put the baby talk behind us and to grow beyond the need of being held.

And so it happened today, when I found my mind stuck in a painful loop, that I was stunned for the Lord to whisper to my heart that I can say those same words.  The reminder came sweetly, through the words of a song I knew twenty years ago.

Hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf,
You have been my King of Glory,
Won't you be my Prince of Peace.
(by Rich Mullins)

 And I stretch my arms to the heavens and tip my head to the sky.

"Hold your Mindy, Daddy."

 

What Does the Bible Say About Fear?

Fear is the most crippling enemy a soul can ever face.  If it is trying to overtake you today, let your heart meditate on the words of Scripture, the best tool for combatting any enemy. 


Even as a follower of Jesus, there may be many things in this life that cause rocks of fear to be hurled at you.  Some are pebbles.  Others are boulders.  The key is to never pick up the rocks. 


Instead, build your house with the cornerstone of who God is, your hope and your defense.


Here are ten verses that will shore up your house today, all from the Message Bible (because sometimes it's good to shake up familiar words with a fresh understanding).  Let your heart take delight in the Mightiness of your God...

• “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”  - Deuteronomy 31:6

• "Hezekiah rallied the people, saying, 'Be strong! Take courage! Don’t be intimidated by the king of Assyria and his troops—there are more on our side than on their side. He only has a bunch of mere men; we have our God to help us and fight for us!'  Morale surged. Hezekiah’s words put steel in their spines."  - 2 Chronicles 32:6-8

• "Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I’m not afraid when you walk at my side.  Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure."  - Psalm 23:4

• "Light, space, zest—that’s God!  So, with him on my side I’m fearless, afraid of no one and nothing."  - Psalm 27:1

• When I get really afraid I come to you in trust.  I’m proud to praise God; fearless now, I trust in God.  What can mere mortals do?"  - Psalm 56:3-4

• “But you, Israel, are my servant.  You’re Jacob, my first choice, descendants of my good friend Abraham.  I pulled you in from all over the world, called you in from every dark corner of the earth, telling you, ‘You’re my servant, serving on my side.  I’ve picked you. I haven’t dropped you.’  Don’t panic. I’m with you.  There’s no need to fear for I’m your God.  I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you.  I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you."  - Isaiah 41:8-12

• “Don’t be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don’t hesitate to go public now.  Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.  What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries."  - Matthew 10:26-31

• "This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike 'What’s next, Papa?'  God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!"  - Romans 8:15-17

• "Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote, 'God is there, ready to help; I’m fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?'"  - Hebrews 13:5-6

• "God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.  We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first."  - I John 4:17-19

It Takes All Kinds

Our family came across a poster this last week that caused a good laugh in our house.  It read, "Introverts UNITE.....separately....in your own rooms."

Because we have a full house of six people that is also pretty evenly divided when it comes to introverts and extroverts, we could see the humor.  The extrovert bunch love to go and do, they love crowds, and they are energized by being around people.  The introvert bunch loves the moments of solitude (hard to come by in a house our size), intimate moments with close friends, and being energized by quiet reflection and creative endeavors.

Neither are wrong.  Just different from each other.

But, I also came across a passage by theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer this week that carries a warning to both.

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot escape from yourself; for God has singled you out. If you refuse to be alone you are rejecting Christ’s call to you, and you can have no part in the community of those who are called.”

“But the reverse is also true. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.  Into the community you were called, the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone, even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one member of the great congregation of Jesus Christ. If you scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Jesus Christ, and thus your solitude can only be hurtful to you.”

“We recognize, then, that only as we are within the fellowship can we be alone, and only he that is alone can live in the fellowship. Only in the fellowship do we learn to be rightly alone and only in aloneness do we learn to live rightly in the fellowship."

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.”       (from Life Together, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

So, like everything else in life, balance is required. 

My introverted self needs community to be sharpened.  My extroverted friends need some quiet time to deal with their own hearts.

And we get to live life together...just sometimes in our own rooms.

A Heart Refreshed

Our vacation is over. 

We're back at work.  Our son is in two-a-day football practices.  Our daughter started back up with piano lessons.  The eight-inch high lawn has been mowed.  Life is back in rhythm.

And still my heart is treasuring our memories.

The 3,000 miles of car time, listening to music together and playing the license plate game.

The Smoky Mountain beauty and the quiet cabin we called home for a week.

The family board game nights after long hikes and a soak in the hot tub.

The morning our kids officiated our family church service.

The many new food experiences we introduced our children to (hello Irish food!) and the many, many candy shops we visited in little mountain towns.

The fun of seeing a son tackle a rock wall.

The delight of seeing my daughter get eye to eye with the largest butterfly she had ever seen.

The trees, the mountain paths, the waterfalls, and the whispered "wows."

The early morning silence as I drank my coffee on the cabin porch with the people I love more than life still asleep in the stillness.

And yes, we are back in the rhythm of real life.  But, it's a richer life than it was before.

It has a new layer of memory.  A new depth of togetherness.  A deeper longing for hollowed out quiet in the midst of the everyday noise.

So, I find myself praying an old prayer, but with more fervor than before. 

Lord, don't let the drums of "real life" play so loud in our ears that we can not hear your voice.  Tune our hearts to you so that we never miss a moment of "wow."  And keep calling us aside, to the stillness and to the sacred.

A Mama's Dream Come True?

Last Friday, something happened to me that hasn't happened in sixteen years.

I was alone.  At home.  I was home alone!

I had put my husband on a plane to Detroit on Wednesday, put my two teenagers on a church bus to New York on Thursday, and then I put my youngest two in a suburban making its way to church camp on Friday.

It was just me and the dog for a whole 24 hours.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I've never had any "get away" time.  I've gone away on mission trips, I've gone away for a weekend with my husband, and I've even gone away on a personal sabbatical.  But, to be at home all by myself?  It hadn't happened since the oldest child was born.  As a mother who homeschools during the junior high years, I haven't even had the daytime hours alone at home yet.  And I have to admit, it was something I've dreamed about a few times.  Everyone in the office kept asking me what I was going to do with myself.  I didn't have trouble figuring it out.

I went to lunch, by myself, and ended up chatting for half an hour with a woman I had never met.

I drove to the drive in and got myself a sweet tea.  And then I drank it all by myself, without one person asking for a sip.

I drove twenty miles away and went shopping in what my kids call a "foo-foo" store, browsing house wares and jewelry and garden décor for an hour, with no one asking me when we were going to leave.

I picked up frozen Chinese food at the supermarket and took it home to eat--in front of the television, something I never allow the kids to do.

I took a hot bath without one time having to shout, "Mom's in here!  You'll have to wait!"

I read an entire novel until the wee hours of the morning.

I woke up late and drank my coffee on the back porch in complete silence.

And after all this bliss, do you know what I did? 

I checked the clock, saw I was to pick up my husband at the airport in less than an hour, and praised God that I would only be alone for a few more minutes.  And then I counted up how many hours until all my chicks would be back in the nest, and felt my heart leap for joy.

I think I'm good for another sixteen years.

What Vacation Is Meant For

Somewhere in the midst of sweeping out the borrowed travel trailer, loading up the sleeping bags, and digging out the lake gear from the garage, my son asked an interesting question.  "Why do people go on vacation?"

Why indeed?  Why do we spend money to pack up all our things, give up the comfort of our own beds, drive great distances, spend more money, sleep in strange beds, drive some more, and stand in lines to spend more money before we pack up all our things and drive great distances back to our homes?  Maybe it does seem a little strange.

But, if it is, it's strangely wonderful.

"We go on vacations to refresh our souls."

Because we were created to live life in a garden.  A garden of peace, a place where rest came easy.  So life without rest becomes anxious.

Because we were created to live life in communion with the Father, taking walks with Him in the cool of the day.  So life without time to see the world He created, hand in hand with Him, becomes dry.

Because we were created to live lives of wonder, exploration without end.  So life without adventure becomes stale.

And sometimes it takes a vacation to shake off the anxious, dry, staleness that we've allowed to envelope us.

And if we make a mistake in vacationing, it's not in the taking of one.  It's making it about entertainment, rather than embracing rest, communion, and adventure.

And if there's something we do right in vacationing, it's when we taste enough of the real things of life that we bring them home with us and continue to live them.

May you and your family taste of the real things this summer, and may it refresh you, down to the deepest places of your soul.


Author's Note:  As our family will be vacationing for the next two weeks, Treasure the Ordinary will feature a couple of archived blog posts.  Hope you enjoy dusting off some old "treasure."

The Gift of Presence

He'd been at camp less than twelve hours when we got the phone call.  Our ten year old had a mishap with a tree and a rock.  His arm looked broken.  They were taking him to the emergency room.

My husband and I were a two and a half hour drive away---a long, long road when your baby is at the hospital without you.  I talked to him on the phone, helped him take big breaths, prayed over him, and assured him everything was going to be fine.  Then I hung up and did the same thing for myself. 

A few minutes later, another phone call.  His little sister was still at camp and was sobbing into the phone.  She hadn't seen him leave, just knew he was hurt.  She was scared for him, her best friend.  I talked to her, helped her take some big breaths, prayed over her, and assured her everything was going to be fine.  Then I hung up and did the same thing for myself once again.

We heard back a few minutes later that our daughter was peaceful and heading to bed.  Someone asked her what her mama had said to her.   She told her I said, "Jesus is with him."

I'm not sure I actually said those words, but they were the ones she needed to hear.  They were also the ones I needed to hear.

When I can't be there to hold my baby, Jesus is. 

When I don't know what to say, He does.

When I can't carry it on my shoulders, He can.

When I can't sleep for the storm, I can pull my mat up next to His and listen to His heartbeat instead of the waves.  (Luke 8)

And I'm eternally grateful for the gift of His presence.  The presence that goes before me and behind me.  The presence that covers me and lifts me.  The presence that is also with the ones I love the most.

When I held my exhausted son in my arms a couple of hours later, I knew for sure he had not been alone.  My heart was at peace as he reached out the arm that wasn't in a splint and wrapped it around my neck.  And I whispered my thanks for the arms that encircled us both.

Soaking

It happens so easily. 

Getting caught up in the details of life.  Forgetting the One who gives me life.  Running about taking care of things.  Neglecting to take care of my own heart.  Making sure all the relationships in my life are well-watered.  Letting the most important relationship grow dry.

And the only solution is to stop.

Stop the running.  Slow the movement.  Be still.

And breathe Him in.

To let the water of His spirit flow over my toes, lap my ankles, pull at my waist, rush over my head.  To choose to be submerged in His presence, leaving the shallow end far behind as I follow Him into the deep.

"Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me."  (Psalm 42:7)

And in that place of worship, I find healing.  Healing for the ache that comes when I stay too long on the shores.  The kind of healing that brings satisfaction to the places of restless longing.

And I remember again how good He is.  And how without Him, I can do nothing.

It's in those moments that He always reminds me. 

I don't have to leave the river.  I could stay.  And let its current carry me to the details of life, to the needs, to those relationships.  

I could live here, in this place in the deep.  I could go deeper.  And deeper.  And deeper still.

Finding My Peace

We found this portrait, drawn on a paper towel by our daughter, and it immediately caught our attention with its pure, simple joy.  When her daddy asked her who it was, she responded without hesitation, "It's Jesus.  He's the Prince of Peace."

It's now my favorite piece of art.

Jesus.  Prince of Peace.

Yes, He is.  And how often I forget it.

When I'm tired.  When I'm cranky.  When my feelings are hurt.  When I feel unappreciated.  When I can't find my keys.

So many little foxes that I allow to spoil my vineyards.  (Song of Songs 2:15)

And still, He is.  The Prince of Peace.  The One who waits for me to realize I find my peace exactly how I find my lost keys.  By asking a simple question.

Where did I leave it?

And in returning to that place that I surrendered my peace, I find Him there, ready to embrace me, hungry to fill me again.

Jesus.  My Peace.