Thirty some years ago, after we started our family, I read Dr. James Dobson’s book The Strong Willed Child and loved it. It resonated with me—a balanced approach to parenting that was practical and worked.

 

Recently I saw a quote someone had posted from the preface of his latest book Your Legacy.

 

“For parents who believe passionately in Jesus Christ and anticipate His promised gift of eternal life, there is no higher priority in life than providing effective spiritual training at home. Unless we are successful in introducing our children to Him, we will never see them again in the afterlife.”

 

What a terribly sobering thought.

 

My years of daily parenting are done and I am so grateful that my children walk with the Lord. It’s amazing how quickly those windows and doors of daily hands-on influence closed.

 

But I love knowing that prayer transcends time and distance and God is always listening. I can take the names and faces of those I love to him at any time. And then he, in some unfathomable unearthly way, unleashes his power into our lives.

 

Never stop praying.   (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

 

The first time I heard Chris Rice sing Deep Enough to Dream, I was captivated by the line…

 

…Deep enough to dream in brilliant colors I have never seen…

 

And even now, my imagination stretches and turns trying to imagine colors I’ve never seen.

 

In the early tsunami grief months after Dan was killed, I was broken and nothing felt good. But I tried to be conscious of anything that helped me feel even a little less awful and discovered that happy colors did that.

 

So I began painting my way through the house. My color choices wouldn’t work for everyone, but I’d have to work hard to be bothered about that.

 

Even the names of my colors make me smile: Inchworm (very early morning sunlight on green grass), Soft Camel (soft cozy warm), Pail (as in little blue), Overalls (soft washed denim), Evening Glow (glorious golden evening sunlight), Harvest Sunset (fiery orange red), and Fresh Periwinkle (late evening twilight). I’ve one more room to go and was tickled beyond measure when the color I liked best was named Rich Honey (looks just like it sounds).

 

I’m so grateful God painted this world with color. How incredibly sad it would be to live in shades of gray. And I’m sure hoping and believing my future home has some brilliant colors I have never seen.

 

The wall was made of jasper,

   and the city of pure gold,

     as pure as glass.

The foundations of the city walls

   were decorated with every kind

     of precious stone.

The first foundation was jasper,

   the second sapphire,

     the third agate,

   the fourth emerald, 

     the fifth onyx,

         the sixth ruby,

   the seventh chrysolite,

     the eighth beryl,

         the ninth topaz,

   the tenth turquoise,

     the eleventh jacinth,

        and the twelfth amethyst. 

The twelve gates were twelve pearls,

   each gate made of a single pearl.

The great street of the city was of gold,

   as pure as transparent glass.

Revelation 21:18-21

 

Where can I go from your Spirit?

    Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

    if I settle on the far side of the sea, 

even there your hand will guide me,

    your right hand will hold me fast.

Psalm 139:7-10

 

I love knowing that it’s impossible for me to ever be out of God’s presence. He guides and holds me firm, not to confine me, but to support and keep me safe to him.

One evening while babysitting Faith she disappeared, so I went to check on her.

She was playing and talking to her Lamby on the floor in the back bedroom. Nothing was wrong, but she startled and looked guilty when I opened the door.

I commented that she and Lamby were playing. She immediately pointed her finger to the door and said, “You go in there (out of the room) and shut the door.”

I said, “No, you keep the door open.” (I worry she’ll lock herself in).

She kept her eyes trained on mine, turned her head to the side (while squinting her eyes) and said loudly “That’s NOT my word!!”

I said, “No, that’s not your word, that’s MY word and I’m bigger than you.”

And she replied even louder, “I AM NOT BIGGER THAN YOU.”

I was slightly confused, and giggling to myself, at the turn in our conversation. The louder she argued, the harder it was to tell which side of the argument she was taking. Which makes perfect sense because she’s two years old.

Makes me wonder if sometimes the Lord just shakes his head and smiles at my protestations too.

 

The LORD doesn’t see things

the way you see them.

People judge by outward appearance,

but the LORD looks at the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7)

 

Battle Setting: the Valley of Elah

 

Main characters:

Goliath – the antagonizing bully who stood over 9 feet tall.

David – a young shepherd boy who was dark and handsome and had beautiful eyes.

 

The two were extremely unevenly matched for battle, but in a way the surrounding soldiers didn’t understand. The bully was in way over his head—but he just didn’t know it.

 

The bully’s taunt: I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me! (1 Samuel 17:10)

 

The shepherd’s response: Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God? (1 Samuel 17:26)

 

And then armed with his shepherd’s staff, slingshot, (and the LORD of heaven’s armies), the shepherd set out across the valley to fight his giant.

 

“Am I a dog that you come at me with a stick?” roared the bully. (1 Samuel 17:43)

 

The shepherd’s reply, “You come at me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

 

Today the LORD will conquer you…and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

 

And everyone assembled here will know that the LORD rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the LORD’s battle…” (1 Samuel 17:45-47)

 

And so it was.

 

I love the unleashed power stories of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies in the Old Testament. They flow seamlessly into the New Testament descriptions of continued battles that we fight daily.

 

For we are not fighting against

flesh-and-blood enemies,

but against evil rulers

and authorities of the unseen world,

against mighty powers

in this dark world,

and against evil spirits

in the heavenly places.

(Ephesians 6:12)

 

For the sheer beauty of poetry, I love the King James version of the 23^rd Psalm.

 

The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness

for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through

the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me

in the presence of mine enemies:

thou anointest my head with oil;

my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy

shall follow me all the days of my life:

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

 

Forever. That’s my plan.

And I’ll see you in 100 years has become one of my favorite ways to say good-bye. But it’s only going to work if the other person has also completed a personal transaction for the same destination.

Romans 10:9 is a great place to confirm your reservation:

 

If you declare with your mouth,

“Jesus is Lord,”

and believe in your heart

that God raised him from the dead,

you will be saved.

 

Amen.

 

…you came to me and said that

you wanted a king to reign over you,

even though the LORD your God

was already your king.

All right,

here is the king you have chosen.

You asked for him,

and the LORD has granted your request.

1 Samuel 12:12-13

 

You asked for him. Scary words. It’s one thing for God to say “yes” to my prayer, but quite another to hear “you asked for it” preceding his “yes”.

My two-year-old granddaughter, Faith Cora, loves little animal figures and we shopped today to add to her small collection. She first chose a horse, cow, and reindeer. Then decided on a boxed collection of five jungle animals. Then changed her mind back to the cow, horse and reindeer. Then repeated the process one more time.

I didn’t rush her. It was completely her decision. She was a happy girl when we left the toy aisle with the horse, cow and reindeer in our basket. And she was still content when she placed them on the checkout conveyor belt all by herself.

We walked to the car, I buckled her in her car seat, and handed her the sack containing the horse, cow, and reindeer.

And she immediately burst into tears and said, “We got the wrong ones”.

Buyer’s remorse.

Maybe that’s why Jesus said to pray like this:

 

Our Father which art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done in earth,

as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power,

and the glory,

for ever.

Amen.

 

 

(bold/italics mine)

 

 

Some of Jesus’ family thought he was crazy during his early ministry.

 

Then Jesus entered a house,

and again a crowd gathered,

so that he and his disciples

were not even able to eat.

When his family heard about this,

they went to take charge of him,

for they said,

“He is out of his mind.”

Mark 3:20-21

 

Between 1900 and 1925, Russell Conwell delivered his famous motivational speech Acres of Diamonds over 5000 times. The essence of his theme was that oftentimes people overlook, and even abandon, treasures in their own backyards to go treasure hunting in places where they’ll never find what they’re seeking.

 

What a waste of time, relationship, and opportunity.

 

Makes me wonder how often Jesus’ half siblings—four brothers and at least two sisters—re-examined their childhood memories, once they realized they’d been raised in the same household as The Messiah.

 

What a waste of time, relationship, and opportunity.

 

And then on the days that I don’t choose to spend some private alone time with:

YHWY – I AM

ADONAI – The Lord is Master

JEHOVAH JIREH – The Lord Will Provide

EL SHADDIA – The Almighty God

JEHOVAH SHALOM – The Lord is Peace

JEHOVAH ROHI – The Lord is my Shepherd

 

What an incredible waste of time, relationship, and opportunity.

 

 

With a loud screech of metal against metal, the riding lawnmower blades came to a shuddering stop. I knew exactly what the problem was…I’d run over a piece of wire from the old electric fence and it was tangled in the mower blades. But identifying the problem and knowing how to fix it were two different things.

After 33 yrs of sharing tasks, it’s hard when everything becomes your responsibility…especially the things that weren’t yours before. I’d not driven a mower in years and had to get my son to teach me how to handle it. Every time I’d need to crank it, I’d have to call him to go over the steps one more time. Then when it wouldn’t crank I’d have to call and be walked through the terrifying (to me anyway) steps of hooking up the battery cables to jumpstart the battery.

It’s embarrassing to feel so helpless, but I called again to ask what I should do now. He said he could drive 5 hrs to come fix it for me or I might drive it up a couple of the wide front porch steps and try cutting away the wire.

It was scary to drive the mower up the steps, but I did it. Then I lay down on the ground and looked under the mower. The wire was twisted and wrapped from every direction at least a dozen times around the blades. I just stared at it for a while…there was no way to untangle the mess. It looked totally unfixable.

So I decided I’d just start clipping wire every place I could get the wire cutters to reach. Even if it didn’t make sense to clip it at that spot, I’d clip it anyway. There was a small space on the top where the clippers could reach through. And a little space on the side where I could see part of what I was doing. But I had to do most of the clipping sight unseen. I’d touch the wire with my left fingers to position the clippers with my right hand. Then I’d hold the wire from under the mower and clip through the space from the top.

After numerous cuts, it felt wonderful to see little pieces of wire begin dropping off. And eventually, after a couple hours of clipping, every single last piece of wire came off.

I was sweaty and dirty and incredibly proud of myself. The unfixable and tangled wire bore strong resemblance to how my life felt at that time. And each little clip represented the importance of just doing the next thing. I couldn’t see how life could ever be good again, any more than I could see how all of that wire could be removed.

But all the wire came off.

 

Your own ears will hear him.

Right behind you a voice will say,

“This is the way you should go,”

whether to the right or to the left.

Isaiah 30:21

 

 

 

 

 

I will show you what it’s like

when someone comes to me,

listens to my teaching,

and then follows it.  

It is like a person building a house

who digs deep

and lays the foundation on solid rock.

When the floodwaters rise

and break against that house,

it stands firm

because it is well built.

(Luke 6:47-48)

 

Torrential spring rains recently caused the foundation of my son’s home to shift. During a lightning thunderstorm downpour, he and his wife heard a loud crash and the next day discovered multiple wall cracks in a corner bedroom.

A contractor confirmed the damage and suggested not repairing the wall cracks until the foundation problem is fixed. He said that, without a solid foundation, the house could shift again and would destroy any hastily made surface repairs.

What a great life analogy.

Several years ago, a normal morning dawned, but before it was over, part of my life foundation had shifted. It began when my daughter called to tell me that her dad, my husband, had been killed…and left painful cracks all over my life. And my human reaction was to want it all fixed. Fix it now. Please, please, please God, fix it now.

But he didn’t.

He did, however, make me consciously aware of his rock-solid presence. And also promised me that I could stand firm on his foundation because, regardless of the storms around me, it’s never ever going to move, crack or shift.

 

Sometime last year I read where only a tiny fraction of Christians had ever read through the entire Bible. That bothered me because I know it’s God’s personal letter to each of us. I’ve studied Scripture, and even taught from it, but was embarrassed to admit I’d only read my Bible from cover to cover one time.

So I stocked up on highlighters and began reading in chunks. I highlighted everything that grabbed my attention…a place I’d been, a funny name, a concept that took my breath away, or a sentence that made me cry and say, “Thank you, Jesus”.

I love words and playing with them to paint word pictures; and repeatedly mulled over one of God’s names, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. Whenever he showed up, amazing things were about to happen.

The more I read, the more awed I was that that very same LORD has given me an open door invitation to spend time alone with him.

“I am the LORD, and I do not change…”

(Malachi 3:6)

And I love that about him, but the funny thing is…the more time I spend with him, the more he changes me.