Designer

When I saw this conglomeration of carpet patterns, I thought the carpet layer must have lost his mind. It looked like he was working with the scraps from all his other jobs and just threw all this together to cover some bare concrete. No pattern, no plan, just looked like random pieces thrown together. This was the picture I took of the carpet at my feet today. All the patterns were visually jarring and this view certainly left a lot to be desired.

Everywhere my feet went, this was the view beside them, this patchwork of carpet, unplanned, and mismatched. I liked the various colors well enough, but could not imagine why they were put together in these patterns, so ragged and inscrutable.

Walking on, I kept looking at what was beneath my feet, pondering this odd carpet situation. After a while I began to see that the carpet is a lot like how I see my life: strange-shaped pieces of mismatched odd colors.

Pianist and musician: I do this fairly well and enjoy it.

Writer: I love to write, when I just sit down and do it...like now!

Wife: Some days I'm fairly good at this.

Mother/Grandmother: Love them all but don't think I do these roles as well as they should be done.

Bible student: Studying the Bible is food to me...when I actually do it.

Friend: I hope I'm a good friend to some...

I don't see how all these fit together and make any difference. What on earth does all this amount to? Am I just thrashing around in chaotic, mismatched hours and days, with no real purpose to it all?

After walking for a while, I happened to glance up from my feet, looking forward some distance across a large open space filled with these randomly mismatched pieces of carpet. And this is when I saw an amazing pattern emerge from the confusion. What had been ugly became beautiful as the different patches of carpet fit together to form the ribbons and rivers of carpet across the expanse of this room. Amazing!

The carpet layer had not been mad in his chaos; rather, he had seen the pattern from the beginning. He was creating beauty, using what had seemed to be no plan, ugly scraps, and thoughtless work. I loved the design! The colors were beautiful and the patterns were a delight to my eyes.

Then I considered my life: perhaps there is a viewpoint higher than "right at my feet" where most of it seems like so many scraps of carpet hastily glued together. Maybe there is a plan, a pattern, a design...easily seen and understood by the designer, if not by me.

I seem to remember reading some things this Designer said about the patchwork carpet of my life:

"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."

He says he " has saved me and called me to a holy life--not because of anything I have done but because of his own purpose and grace."

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. "

"The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands."

I'm starting to think He planned for me all along! And those scraps of my life, maybe, just maybe, from His viewpoint they make...or will make...a beautiful pattern, the work of His hands, not mine.

When Reading the Bible is a Waste of Time

I did not write this article. It was written by a young friend of mine, Bryan Mowrey. His thoughts are starkly sobering to me...that's why I'm sharing it here.

I began regularly teaching the Bible four years ago at Jubilee Church St. Louis. And since then, there are several verses that sober me if not haunt me. Such as…

James 3:1, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur stricter judgment.”

Mark 9:42, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

These verses (along with many others) are strong warnings to be keep my teaching Biblical and about Jesus, but none more haunting for me than John 5:38-40, Jesus addressed the Pharisees (who had the OT memorized) by saying,

“38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”

As one who studies and teaches the Bible, these verses are especially sobering because they say that it is possible to read the Bible and do so in vain. When might our study of Scripture be in vain? When we make Scripture an end itself and fail to see Jesus as the trajectory of any text that we are reading, studying or preaching.

Life and ultimate truth is not found in the study of Scripture if it doesn’t lead us to Jesus. When Jesus is taken out of the equation, reading the Bible is a waste of time at best and can even become an idol (something we value over God).

How Can we Then Make the Most of Reading the Bible?
I think Luke 24:44-45 gives us the best answer,

“Now He said to them (the disciples), ‘these are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

Bottom line to getting the most out reading the Bible is to have Jesus Himself open our minds to understand the Scriptures and show us that they are really about Him. Having the best study tools won’t help you if Jesus doesn’t “open your mind”. Without Jesus, reading Scripture is as helpful as turning on the lights for a blind man. For sight to occur you need both light (external) and a good eye (internal). To understand Scripture you need to actually read it (external).

However, reading it isn’t enough. Jesus needs to open your mind (internal). Otherwise, you get caught up in the same game the Pharisees did called religion, legalism and idolatry. Therefore, pray before your read. Pray that He will open your mind to true understanding.

Peace Enough

I'm convinced in my head that God is more than enough, that He truly supplies every need I have. But if you watch me live, you'll know that my heart is lagging behind.

Peace. Yes, I need peace. I want it on my own terms, so sometimes I can be heard griping that someone disturbed my peace. My peace, not His.

His peace is undisturbable. So, if my peace is disturbed, I must need to get back to His peace. Instead, I insist that peace come to me by my own plans, my own maneuvering, and sometimes, by responding without perfect love to those nearest to me.

My peace or His peace? There's no choice!

Creeds

"I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

"I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

"I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen

These words were a pivotal part in the worship meeting we attended today. These words are so meaningful, such food to my deepest soul. How wonderful to say, out loud, the core beliefs of our faith. I was nourishe, fed in this.

Also included were scripture reading by a member of the congregation, with parts read by others in the crowd for drama and emphasis.

There were many scripture readings, more than practically any church meeting I've ever experienced.

We were blessed!

Lenses...

I have a new camera and maybe a new hobby. As if I had time for a new hobby. But anyway, the new camera is very basic Digital SLR and I'm learning.
There are probably too many menu settings for me to get my lil ol brain around, but I'm trying. Too many buttons and too many options. I may someday understand all the numbers and code language used by the smart photographers.

Until then, I'm playing with the two lenses I have. Well, I'm playing with my favorite lens. It zooms out to kingdom come and it's amazing. I love to take a close-up shot of that distant snow-covered tree. Love to zoom in on an animal far out in the woods. I see things through the viewfinder that are more than I ever imagined were there. But they are all real things. The only difference is that I never noticed or saw them before.

Through this lens, the leaf looks more detailed, greener or browner. The squirrel's eye is intricately active. The twinkle of sunlight on the icy twig is diamond-like in its brilliance. The perspective of the icy branch against the nearby red barn is wonderful contrast. Seeing the lone duck far out in the water, hunting for food is its own wonder.

I'm wondering what lens I use to view life, the daily, normal life I lead.

Do I use a lens that makes everything look dark? Do I assume the worst attitudes and motives in others? Or do I use a lens that tells me people are God's precious creation in his image and to be treasured?

Does my life-lens tell me the worst thing will happen in life's situations? Or does my lens tell me there is hope, joy, and that nothing is impossible?

Do I use my life's zoom lens to focus on the special beauty in the lives of others? Or do I use it to ferret out the unpleasant and ugly spot that is hidden from view without my zooming in on it?

Is my default lens one that lets in light and joy? Or does my lens see shaded, gray, dreary days and future?

I can change lenses on my new camera to get a different perspective on the vista in front of me. I wonder if I can change the lense of my life?

Can I choose to think only about what is "true, honest, just, lovely, pure, virtuous and praiseworthy" allowing only these thoughts onto the disk of my life?

Does my lens need to be cleaned from the smudges of life? God's glory and goodness have made it possible to "escape the corruption in the world".

My new camera has a built-in system for cleaning the interior parts of the camera every time it's turned on. This removes dust that would obscure perfect images coming in from the lens.

Could I have an automatic system like that in my life, my mind? Hmmm...Can I renew my mind constantly so it only sees what it should see and thinks what it should think?

Perhaps if I poured enough of the "milk of the Word" into my mind, the lens would only see what God wants me to see, think what God wants me to think, and would react to life in ways that would be pleasing to God.

Your Word is a lamp to my feet...a light to my path...and to the path of my mind.

Amen.

Hobby Lobby

I love Hobby Lobby. I actually got to go to a store today...just didn't stay long enough. Not only did I find what I went for, but other stuff too.

The really nice surprise there is clickin' along, wanting everything I see...and suddenly realizing it's "He Leadeth Me" playing on the store speakers. Wow! I had forgotten that Hobby Lobby is owned and operated by radical Christian folks who don't mind a bit being obvious about it. Hooray!

At Christmas time, they publish a full-page ad in major newspapers that is totally Christ-centered. It's not "season" centered, not "holiday" centered, certainly not "santa" centered...just Jesus, all the way. Awesome ad.

So, go support your local Hobby Lobby. It will do your soul good even if your wallet feels a little bit of pain!

Rainbow Life

Our Rainbow Life

We don’t need rain at our house to be talking about all the pretty colors. Colors are the only hope to sorting out a certain thorny issue. It’s a year-round issue too because our room is always cold. I live with Frosty the Snowman, remember?

You see, I truly hate the fuzzy blanket anywhere near my face in bed. Can’t stand it. I have always carefully folded the sheet over the top and kept it there all through the night. When we were first married, it was so romantic to realize in the middle of the night that Floyd was carefully folding that sheet over the top because I liked it that way.

Like a lot of early-newlywed events and practices, this one faded in the glare of real life and pretty soon that fuzzy blanket was back in my face. Then we had the phase of me folding my side of the sheet over the top and him not. (Go try this…it doesn’t work. Both sides have to be doing the same thing.) Stress and tension:

He: “How ridiculous…why does she insist on this silly, insignificant thing?”
She: “If he really cares, why can’t he do this one little, bitty thing for me?”

So we blanket-stressed our way down the marriage road. Until the night we bought a comforter and the duvet cover for it. That one was green and it's my favorite! But then we realized the green one was really too warm for lots of nights and never OK in the summer. So we bought a medium-weight comforter...and a blue duvet cover for it. So it's green and blue. But in the summer, when the a/c only gets our room down to sixty, both of those are too warm.

What to do? Buy a cheap ordinary quilt and put it in yet another duvet cover...white. Well it's really more like creamy vanilla, but Floyd just doesn't function with many color names beyond red, yellow, and blue!

So, at any given bedtime there's a discussion: "What color is it tonight?" "I don't know but I was too hot/cold last night so we have to change." Oh, but I was too cold/hot last night." And on we go. Laughing, by the way. Somebody picks a color and we settle in for the night, both hoping the temp works out right!!

But purple is our very favorite color! No purple duvet, mind you. This is my purple pillow cases.

To understand this, you need to know that Floyd can't count all his pillows on his fingers AND toes. This man is always trying to find the perfect combo of pillows. All night. And when he stirs in the night, trying to fine tune the pillows, he grabs any pillow he feels in the dark, regardless of WHO might be using that pillow at the time.

Purple has solved that one! I got purple pillow cases for my modest two or three pillows. They're pretty and NONE of his pillows are purple!!

All this leads to the middle of one particular toss-and-turn night. I was stirred from sleep by the great pillow grabber...snatching one of my PURPLE pillows. Well, I can grab pillows too, so I took it right back. The Snatcher, feeling the stress in the air, innocently muttered, "How was I supposed to know that one was yours?"
(You should know I'm a little steamed at this point...thinking "just leave it alone, OK?")

But the answer that ended all the stress and solved the pillow war that night was, "Because it FEELS purple, that's why!!" Then we both cracked up laughing at 2:43 a.m., resorted all the pillows and went back to sleep.

Now why did you need to know this? Marriage brings an (apparently) endless string of opportunities to work together, cooperate, and just be nice. I give us a B+ for handling this one, but just a B+, even though it got funny.

In the best marriage handbook of all there are several tips:
Treat others like you would like to be treated.
Don't think about your own problems, but rather the problems of others.
Give up all your rights and be a servant. (And give up my purple pillows???)
Give thanks in the middle of everything. (No whining??)
Choose what the other guy wants over what you want. (But....but....!!)

When I remember what the Handbook has to say, problems are all solved better and love and peace reign. When I solve it "my way" (thinking only about what I want, when I want it, the way I want it) peace and love are often absent. I need those two, so maybe I'll work on following the directions!