Scripture

Times, they are a-changin’….

Changing time

Tonight people in my part of the world will change their clocks forward one hour before they go to bed (or their computers and smart phones will do this automatically, in the middle of the night). I have to admit, this is a nervous time for me. I once messed the time change up so bad that I arrived at the church where I was doing pulpit supply the next morning, 10 minutes before worship. Usually, I’d be there a good hour in advance. To say it was nerve-wracking is to understate it in the extreme.

So tonight will be a somewhat restless night for me. I know this. I suffer through it when the time changes twice a year. It is not my favorite night of the year, by far.

But there is something good – no, something GREAT – about the time change. It is sign of Spring. It is a sign that though the snow and ice are still present all around us, thought the wind may still be bitter at times, Spring is coming. The time is passing. Not long, now, until plants start to bud and the world grows green again.

Though we might not see the change, looking out our windows to a world that still resembles winter, the change is happening. Even now, the world prepares for new life.

I am reminded of a verse in Isaiah:

I am about to do something new.
It is beginning to happen even now.
Don’t you see it coming?
I am going to make a way for you
to go through the desert.
I will make streams of water in the dry and empty land.
Isaiah 43:19 NIRV

The journey through Lent is like this. We journey toward new life. Even now, we are drawing towards the Empty Tomb. Even now, God is preparing an Easter Sunday for us to celebrate. That has always been God’s work, and always will be.

I pray your eyes – my eyes! – will be open to seeing the new thing God is doing, even as it begins to happen. (Please take a moment to pray for the pastor(s) in your life…we really do struggle on Time Change Sundays!)

Troubled waters…

I always find January a difficult month. I think it is a bit of lag from the excitement and busy-ness of the Christmas season. I think it is partially that I really struggle with the winter season – I don’t like having to put on hat, scarf, mitts, coat and sensible boots every time I want to go outside. I love that in summer all I have to do is grab a pair of flipflops and go.

Right now, in my town, there is ice EVERYWHERE. As a dedicated walker, this makes my day much more difficult. I am managing to get my walks in, but I am only going half the distance I usually would, and a good part of the time on my walk is spent concentrating on not wiping out.

I think it is also a little bit of the fact that it gets dark early and the days are often grey and dull here. I don’t think I have full-on Seasonal Affective Disorder, but I know I struggle more during the winter months.

I was thinking on this morning’s walk that I need to spend some time in gratitude. That is usually a great solution for the difficult days or the times of struggle.

And then, I found this on pinterest:

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Can I tell you how much I love this theology? For me, any time of struggle is an opportunity to draw closer to God, to depend upon Him, to learn from Him. And any time spent drawing closer, depending upon and learning from God results in cleansing. Sometimes the learning is as simple as: I have forgotten gratitude, and I need to return to it. Sometimes it’s more difficult to figure out what the learning is meant to be.

But either way, I believe that any time we are facing trials – whether we’d term them troubled waters, wandering in the wilderness, or something else entirely – God has a good purpose to redeem our suffering.That doesn’t make the suffering easy, it doesn’t make it fun, but it does make it worth going through.

So today I choose to be thankful. And here’s my list of things I am thankful for on this day:
-good friends who speak wise, comforting and supportive words (you know who you are!)
-my best friend, a boxer-mix named Koski who always knows when I need an extra cuddle (how DOES she do that?)
-a community of faith that reminds me that I never walk this journey alone
-improvement (slow though it may be) in the state of the sidewalks where Koski and I walk each day (improvement, slow or fast, is always a good thing…it’s moving in the right direction)
-a gym that is close by, has a great class schedule, and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg (take any one of those details away, and I bet my fitness routine would tank!)
-sunshine on our walk this morning – the light shines in the darkness, my friends, and the darkness has never been able to put it out.

I encourage you to take a moment to think about things you are grateful for this day. Try to be specific. For example, “faith” is always a reason for gratitude, but focusing that down to something like “the knowledge that God is with me and others are praying for me,” will help you see the details that make “faith” a reason for gratitude.

And I leave you today, with this – my life verse, which always reminds me that even in tough moments, God is with me and for me:

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:28

Small blessings…

Apple

I was reminded by one of the elders at St. Andrew’s this week, that it is a very good thing to take pleasure in small blessings. This elder was sharing that he had waited for the bitter macintosh apples to be in season, and as our meeting began he was eating his first bitter macintosh…and it was wonderful.

Sometimes life is so overwhelmingly busy. Right now I am in one of those seasons. Days seem to pass without much time for taking a deep breath, never mind taking stock of the small blessings I have enjoyed. So right this minute, I am taking stock. Here are a few of the small blessings I have experienced – despite a busy and (weather-wise) gloomy day:

– Koski and I got out for an hour’s walk this afternoon…in the only hour of (intermittent) sunshine that I saw today. The light was cold, a winter kind of sunshine, but it was so welcome and it made me smile.

– I laughed with friends this afternoon. And I knew God was present in our midst.

– I made the tastiest butternut squash soup today. I have NEVER made a successful butternut squash soup before – I have always preferred those made by others. But today, I made one that I know I will enjoy eating all week. And it’s a very healthy recipe (here is the recipe, before you ask!).

– I got to sleep in this morning. I only allow myself one day per week without an alarm, and boy – do I enjoy it when it comes!

– I had some mini-eggs this evening. They are pretty much my favorite milk chocolate, ever. One little package, 4 PointsPlus – an indulgence that makes all the days of not having sugar worth it!

– I had a little misunderstanding with my Mom over email that made me burst out laughing when I realized my mistake. It was silly and frivolous, but it was good to laugh out loud.

You see – I wouldn’t count today as one of the better days of the week. Lots of things made today difficult (not the least of which was the fact that we were having SLEET in OCTOBER, weather that I take as a personal insult). But even on the not-the-best days, there are so many small things to be thankful for, to see the blessing of God in.

I hope that you – when you are eating a bitter macintosh apple, walking your dog, eating a good homemade meal, or laughing with friends – will see that these things are good gifts from a Heavenly Father who loves you.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17 NIV

Familiar…

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So today was another funeral at St. A’s. I’ve lost count of the number that we’ve had since this year began. But it has easily been too many. The gentleman whose life we celebrated today was not known to me, but he was an ordained elder in our congregation. He was remembered fondly by many who are elders today.

As the service rolled on, I found myself thinking about the scriptures that were read. I have heard them too many times recently. But because of that, they were strangely comforting to me. There was something in the rhythm of the words, the familiar cadence of these promises of God, that was deeper than the words themselves. Deeper than the things they were describing. It’s hard to explain what I felt as I listened to them yet again.

If there is a sound to the fabric of life, I think it is heard in powerful words of Scripture that are often repeated. The words of the 23rd Psalm – The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want – or the firm voice of Jesus saying “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” or the beautiful writing of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, reminding them that he is convinced that neither depth nor height nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

As I listened, what could have been a very exhausting and sad time (really, it has been too much lately, and I echo the sentiment of one friend who said “I just don’t want to sit in another funeral.”), was transformed and transcended. I found myself deeply moved by by the sense that these words and stories travel with us throughout our lives. They may be often read at a funeral, but they shape and form followers of Jesus in our good moments as well as the bad ones, in our happy moments as often as our sad moments, in our times of celebration and our times of grief.

I am so glad we do not go this road alone.

Thankful…

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Tonite I find I just want I express gratitude. I know I touched on that last night as well, but there are several things I am deeply thankful for today.

One is some time spent with my parents (and the reminder once again that I am so very blessed to be their child and so very blessed to have the close relationship with both of them that I have). Another is some good news that a friend is cancer free after a battle that has lasted the better part of a year. These are pretty big blessings, and it is good to stop and give thanks for them.

But the big things have a way of reminding me about the small things. So I am also thankful for good conversations, nourishing food, Cadbury’s Creme Eggs and a hot shower first thing in the morning.

On days like this it is easy to be thankful. But I love what Paul writes to the church in Thessolonica:

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT

I am convinced that the difference between those who make it through hard times and this who seem to thrive and grow in hard times is the ability to give thanks in all things. Seriously.

Try it next time you are having a bad day. Stop and find something to be thankful for. Turn to God with that thankfulness. And then just watch how your heart grows and your day improves. It is really hard to be cranky or upset when you are giving thanks. I promise. And that is probably why Paul encourages the church to give thanks – he know it is good for us!

So on this day in my Lenten journey I am thankful. And I can’t stop smiling.

The waiting…

I haven’t felt much like writing this past week. As a church, St. A’s is about to enter an exciting new phase. But the problem with that is that we are ABOUT to enter that new phase. Right now, it’s kind of a lot of ‘hurry up and wait.’

I have a friend going through that on a much more personal level as she waits for test results which will determine the course of her life over the next several months.

It occurs to me that waiting is the worst. Really. I say all the time: I can deal with anything once it’s on the table. But I will just about lose my mind waiting for it to be PUT ON the table.

A friend reminded me today of the promise found in 1 Peter 5:7:

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

It’s wonderful advice, and I’d stake my life on the truth of this Scripture. But man, it is hard for me to actually DO. I know better. I KNOW better than to spend my time in worry. I know God’s got my back. He’s proved it to me over and over. And yet…

And yet, I find myself worrying and trying to solve problems that haven’t even fully arisen yet. In a strange way – I am thankful for that. Because it reminds me how desperately I need a Savior. And the wonderful, overwhelming, beautiful, transformational truth is that God has already provided one.

The good and the bad…

I’ve been struggling with my fitness routine lately. I’ve had some bad binge days when it comes to food and some malaise when it comes to exercising. But tonite I fought my way through the second bootcamp class of the week, and I am pleased with how I feel. I am pleased that I worked hard today – at exercise, at eating well and at my vocation.

Some days are bad. Some days are really hard. The trick, I think, is to not allow those days to be overwhelming. To not allow them to be the end of the story. Bad days definitely come, but so do good days. So do days when it is easy to work hard and live up to the goals you’ve set for yourself.

I saw this on pinterest this evening and it made me smile:

I admit, I am not usually thinking of Jesus during my workout. I’m usually thinking of oxygen and the need for more of it. But I like this picture. I believe the words written here.

And when the bad days come, I need to remember this. Because in this statement of purpose, I find hope. And all that is needed to change a bad day into a good day is hope rightly placed.

Be weird…

A friend posted this on Facebook today, and I just had to steal it:

 

I am convinced that if the people of Jesus’ time spoke in our vernacular, they would have called him weird and random. Sometimes he answered the questions he was asked, but a lot of the time he went in a totally different direction. A lot of the time he used story and metaphor to get at the thing behind the thing he was being asked about. A lot of the time he chose to do what didn’t make sense to others and to teach lessons that went against the grain of society.

I like that about Jesus. Whenever I read the biographies of his life (aka Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), I feel like we’re seeing a real person. Not one who presents himself in a way that will be most palatable to those around him. I struggle with this sometimes. I am a people pleaser, though I think God is slowly curing me of that tendency. I could learn something from Jesus’ ability to just be who he was.

And who he was, was so very wonderful. The Son of God, the Word that was spoken at creation, the lamb who laid down his life for our sin, the love of God in flesh and blood.

So my friends, be weird, be random, be who you are. Because God made you and you are loved just as you are.

In danger of loving them…

I had lunch with a colleague today. He and I went through a very difficult phase in our (separate) ministries in previous churches, during the same period of time. We are both marked by the difficulties we faced and the wounds we incurred.

What is amazing is that we are both in much happier phases of ministry now. God is healing our wounds and showing us what we learned through those difficult times. As we talked, my colleague, who is notably stoic and unemotional, said to me “I’m in danger of loving these people.” Now for your average Joe, that might not sound like a grand declaration. But for this particular colleague of mine, it is pretty close to gushing about the congregation he now serves.

I remember keeping this promise of God in my mind during the long months of that difficult phase:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.
“They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

I would tell myself this over and over again. Sometimes I would look in the mirror and say “Rebekah, you know you serve a God who loves you more than you deserve. He has promised you a better day. It is coming. You have to get through this time to get to that time.”

Today as I sat outside with my friend enjoying some good food and good conversation, I realized that the better day is HERE and NOW. Despite whatever bumps in the road come (and trust me, they come all the time), I love the people that make up the congregation where I serve. And there is nothing like love to make a situation good.