Month: December 2020

PollyAnna?

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When I write, I am aware that I can sound a little, “Polly-Annish”.  For those of you too young to understand this reference, “PollyAnna” was a character in a book, then play, and then a movie, who was always looking on the bright side of things.  She played a game her father taught her, called— “The Glad Game.”

The reason, I reference this character, is because I would like to talk about a subject that is out of character for my usual PollyAnnish self, but I think is necessary to present the full picture of who God is.   I talk a great deal about God’s overwhelming love for us—but I hardly ever talk about God’s character of justice and righteousness.

I do however believe that God is just and righteous.  What do I mean by this—I mean that God has a standard, by which He judges all of us, and by which all of us have fallen short.  Romans 3: 23

 When someone has offended me, I am delighted that God is a Judge, and I hope that He is judging the offensive person and giving them a consequence for their sin against me.  However, when I am aware that I have offended someone else and God in the process, I am grateful for God’s mercy and forgiveness.  (I noticed this same dichotomy in my children, when they were offended, they wanted the guilty party to pay, but when they were the offender, they either denied offending, justified offending, or cried out for mercy and forgiveness.)

I know that I am grateful that God is a righteous God and will judge—when I see the atrocities, we as people commit against each other.  A stroll through the travesties of time leaves me feeling dirty and in need of a shower, but grateful that God will be holding evil Kings and dictators accountable for their holocausts.   The thought that these people who gave themselves completely over to the dark one, will be standing before the judgement seat of God and quaking in their boots for what awaits them, satisfies the need to see righteousness and justice in my soul.

Yet, if I am honest with myself, I know that when I look at my own life, and my actions– justice and righteousness demand that I pay as well.  Try this exercise out for yourself—imagine someone has made your life into a movie and they included everything in the movie, all the good parts and the bad parts of you.  Would you be embarrassed if this movie were shown to the world?  I would be mortified!!  This is how I know that I too have earned God’s Judgement.

This is where, I am so grateful to God, because His love and His justice are fully seen in Jesus Christ.   Because God loved us so much, Jesus came.  Because God is so righteous and just, Jesus came.

Jesus came to pay the penalty that I owe, and that you owe—-“The wages of sin is death…”  Romans 6:23

We have each earned a death penalty for our sins against God and against each other.

Jesus paid that penalty for each of us when He died on the cross.  Jesus—because He is God Incarnate, with His One Death could pay for ALL our Sins. 

However, we each need to recognize that we need a Savior and accept what Jesus did for us individually to receive the gift of Peace with God.  In other words–we can know God—as our Father—not as our Judge, but as our Dad. “  So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children.  Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.”  Romans 8:15  

This is the “good news.”    Indeed–this is Great News!!!  In fact, the rest of the verse, (or the rest of the story as Paul Harvey likes to say) is this: “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is Eternal Life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Romans 6:23

Someday, our lives on this earth will be over, and we will each stand before God.  Will we stand as people who accepted the great gift offered to us through Jesus—the gift of salvation and forgiveness?  Will we stand before our loving Dad, or the Righteous Judge?

I for one, am grateful that I will not be standing before God as a Judge, but as God as my Dad, even though God is one and the same—a God of love and a God of Righteousness.  In fact, I propose that one cannot know and understand the magnificent gift of Jesus coming to earth and dying for our sins, until one embraces both aspects of God.

If you would like to know more about how to have a relationship with God as, “Your Dad”, you can click here.

I don’t know about you, but the fact that we all deserve death, but God instead offers us all life is a great encouragement to me!!

Our Family Christmas Letter from 2010

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I recently came across this family Christmas letter I wrote in 2010. I thought I would share this letter with you all–as it encouraged me greatly–and I hope it will encourage you as well.

Christmas Letter 2010

Dear Friends and Family,

This year was in direct contrast with last year. Half of last year we spent in the hospital with my Dad, as we watched him slowly dying.

This year was filled with many blessings: family vacations, family weddings, milestones in business,  and kid’s accomplishments.

All these things are a reminder that life – she is a changing!! If we are ever in a place of despair, and we think this is all we will ever experience, time will prove us wrong.

In the midst of all this change, God does not— His love is ever constant, His forgiveness a gift He offers to all, and His power He gives to all who depend on Him.

Each Christmas season we celebrate Deity becoming human flesh, and dwelling among us. As we close out this yearly letter, I’d like to leave you with the words from an old Christmas carol, the 3rd verse of Hark the Herald Angels sing, (sometimes the old songs express it most beautifully):

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!

Hail the Son of Righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings

Ris’n with healing in His wings

Mild He lays His glory by

Born that man no more may die

Born to raise the sons of earth

Born to give them second birth

Hark! The herald angels sing,

“Glory to the newborn King!”

Staying In The Moment

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Our Family decorated our Christmas Tree this week.  Our son’s family came over, we made hot cocoa, with real whipping cream and marshmallows.  Some of us like both at the same time!!

This was the first year we had two Christmas trees—to hold all the decorations.

My grandchildren were excited and enthusiastic!!  Oh, what a joy they were to watch, as they decorated the tree!

Yet, this was one of the hardest years since my son Sean died, to stay in the moment, and stand in the joy of the moment.

Grief threatened every moment to overwhelm me, and some moments it did.  Some moments, I could not stop the tears from flowing.  

When I was putting up the ornaments with my family—I wanted to escape the pain and the grief so badly—I wanted to run away.  Instead, God presence was very tangible to me.  He told me He was with me and that He would not leave me.   He urged me to “Stay in the Moment”, and not escape. 

A song, called Keep Me In The Moment by Jeremy Camp—has become my mantra during this time to remind me of what the Holy Spirit has been whispering in my ear.  The Refrain to this song goes:

“Keep me in the moment,⁠ Help me live with my eyes wide open,⁠ ‘Cause I don’t wanna miss what you have for me..⁠ Singing oh Lord, show me what matters,⁠ Throw away what I’m chasing after,⁠ ‘Cause I don’t wanna miss what you have for me.”

I hope this message encourages you, and I hope this song will encourage you as it has encouraged me—to stay in the moment—so we don’t miss all that God has for us!!  Let’s Be Encouraged!!

Julia’s Feast

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Julia’s Feast

This past weekend, our oldest daughter Julia gave our family an incredible gift.  She cooked delicious elaborate meals all weekend long for us, inviting her brothers and their families to join us.

She came up with the idea in the middle of her fall semester.  Julia was so busy with her classes, she wanted to have a weekend after finals were over to bring the family together and indulge in her hobbies. Inspired by a series of videos made by Binging with Babish, Julia set out to create several meals based on the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Here are some of the dishes she made for us:

Cranberry Scones, Mince Meat Pies, and an Apple Tart

Apple Tart, Poppy Seed Bread, and Sausages

Roast Duck, Mashed Potatoes, and Duck Gravy

Salmon and Dill Quiche

Honey Cakes and Mince Meat Pies

“Rabbit” Stew and Brussel Sprouts

Tea Loaf

Julia also made baguettes and braided bread. Everything she made was delicious!!

For drinks we had Apple Cider, Pots of Irish Breakfast Tea, Coffee, Water. Julia also made Mead, which she started back in November!

It was a weekend of eating, playing board games, playing outside in the snow, sledding and making a snowman, and just being together. Unfortunately, the same snowstorm that provided us with these outdoor activities also prevented some family members from joining us.

As we were concluding our fun filled weekend, I told Julia that the weekend reminded me of a story called Babette’s Feast written by Isak Dinesen.   The woman in the story, Babette, cooks a sumptuous feast for people who normally eat very bland food.  Some of them are appreciative and grateful, some  had no idea of the great skill, and expensive ingredients that went into making the meal. The meal was truly a gift from Babette to these people, just as Julia’s weekend of meals was a gift to all of us.

Julia’s Feast and Babette’s Feast are illustrations of God’s grace given to us and how we receive that gift of His grace.

In this Holy Season where we remember the gift of the Christ child and the Peace He restored between man and God, let us take some time to enjoy the “Feast” He has laid before us, and enjoy the relationship we now have with Him.   Let us acknowledge that He sacrificed greatly for us and voice our appreciation and love to Him.  Let our rightful response be:

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.   Romans 12:1,2

When we lay our lives on the Lord’s altar, we are telling Him we accept the great love He has for us, and the great sacrifice He made to bring us this love, this forgiveness and this acceptance. We tell Him– we can trust Him– we can trust this great love. We are truly joining in the Feast He has prepared for us.

These thoughts greatly encourage me, I hope they encourage you as well.

I will never desert you…..

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A song by Matthew West has been striking some chords in my life—There are some phrases that hit home for me, one of them being: You’re the God who stays. You’re the God who walks in my direction when the whole world walks away. .Wow!! That is powerful!! Can you ‘see’ this God?

When I was a teenager, my first love broke up with me to date another girl.   I wondered if I could ever trust someone with my heart again.   A year later, I was reading this verse from Hebrews 13:5, which said:….”I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you.”   In Greek it is written in the triple negative, so what it actually says is:” I will never, never, never desert you nor will I ever forsake you.”    I realized then that God– was the God who stays.  I also realized that no one else could promise me that they would never leave—because even if they stayed til death did us part, death would part us.  With God—that is not the case.

Another verse in this song that jumped out to me is:

I used to hide Every time I thought I let You down

I always thought I had to earn my way, but I’m learning You don’t work that way.

Somehow You don’t see me like I do,

 Somehow You’re still here.

You’re the God who stays!

I used to think that I had to “do” things to earn God’s love.  What an amazing thing to discover the depth and riches of God’s love, a love from which nothing can separate me and nothing can separate you.

Sometimes, this is ridiculously hard to believe.  The video shows a young mom dealing with a drug addiction.  When we are struggling with addictions and brokenness—there is such a feeling of shame—of unworthiness—and that is when it is really difficult to hear and see the truth of God’s love. Yet ironically, it is in accepting that love and strength from God that those addictions can be overcome, and healing can take place in the brokenness. 

I think the lie is that no one else struggles with hard things, when in reality, most of us struggle with hard things.  “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man….”  In other words, we are all tempted, and we are all tempted by many of the same things…but the rest of the verse states…”but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the means of escape.”  1 Corinthians 10:13   God is faithful.  God is faithful.   He is the God who stays.  He is the One who runs in our direction when the whole world walks away. 

I hope this song ministers to you, as it has to me, and that you will be Encouraged!!

The Circle and Pi

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I am a homeschooling mom.  It is amazing the things you get to relearn –when you teach it.  Like recently, we learned about The Circle and Pi.   For those of you who have forgotten what Pi is—It is the circumference of the circle divided by the diameter, (which is approximately 3.14).  Pi day is celebrated on March 14th.

But here is something you may not know about Pi.   Pi goes on for infinity, which means that every number combination in the entire world is found in Pi.  Your Social Security number, my Social Security number, everyone’s SSN, your street address, my street address, everyone’s street address, your birthdate, my birthdate, everyone’s birthdate, all the DNA codes, and all digital codes—all found in Pi. You can go to mypiday.com and type in your birthdate and it will give you the decimal point where your birthdate is found. My pi # is 2,588,890.

So—you are all wondering—what is the point of telling us this?

Well, in Romans 1, it tells us that God’s creation shouts to us, that God exists, and it tells us of who He is.

God made the Sun and the planets, as circles—as spheres.  What does a circle tell us about God?  Well—God tells us that He does not have a beginning or an end—and a circle—does not have a beginning or an end—it is a visual image of a reality that we with our finite minds—can look at and “see” an impossible to understand concept of infinity.

Also Pi—a number combination that goes on for infinity— (I think they have divided it out to the 34 trillion now), gives us another visual “look” at something that is infinite.

Pi helps us to “See” the infinite.  It helps us to look at complexities and “see” God.  All of Heaven is shouting to us that God Is, God exists.

This infinite, Creator God loves us.  In a few weeks we will be celebrating God humbling Himself and coming down to earth in a form of a baby.

We have a baby in our family right now, and oh, what gifts they are—but how vulnerable they are!  They are tiny, precious beings.

Our infinite God—who created everything– made Himself vulnerable for us and came as a baby to us.  He grew up among us, lived among us, did miracles testifying to who He was, and then the ultimate in vulnerability—He died a humiliating death on the cross, to pay for each one of our sins.  He rose from the dead, and now awaits us to join Him, as the same power that raised Him from the dead will raise us.

I pray that as we enter this most Holy Season, that we will think of The Circle and Pi—-to remind us of the One who has no beginning and no end,  the One who is Infinite!!  This great One loves you and loves me.  Let us bow before Him and worship Him and LOVE Him!!

**Science Art by Martin Krzywinski