Grace-period

Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil. Isaiah 1:5-6 How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. Habakkuk 1:2-4 But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”     “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”   Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:22-24 When I think of...

So for those of you unlucky folks that follow both my blog & me on Facebook, you know that I have been posting "a month of gratitude" snippets as my status for the month of November because this is the month that Americans celebrate being grateful.  I have to admit, what I have been looking forward to celebrating for the last week or so: the "end" of focusing on Thanksgiving and the beginning of Advent this Sunday.  I really like the liturgical season of Advent.  There is something so appropriate about waiting for the Light of the world in the darkest days of our year.  And not just waiting, but preparing.  Today, while part of me would like to be out amidst the "Black Friday" shopping frenzy because I like 1) great deals 2) shopping and 3) chaos, I have chosen to remain at home.  I don't really want to start off this season in chaos but in contemplation.  As I make room for the Advent wreath, I am reminded of the journey ahead, tha...

 I will let you listen to the message for Sunday if you wish by clicking here .  While I would typically try to ground my post in the Biblical text , today, well, I am going to do it in song.  Two songs in particular have been playing in my head, the first from Sunday morning and the second started later that evening.  Both apply to the heart-set of the message that Kirk spoke, that I heard anyway. Cause when we see you, we find strength to face the day Paul Baloche "Hosanna" Bring your love to life inside of me Why don't you break my heart til it moves my hands and feet For the hopeless and the broken For the ones that don't know that you love them Bring your love to life inside of me Big Daddy Weave "Love Come to Life" When I think of my own journey with God to church to Jesus, it still puzzles me.  The ultimatum that my husband gave "we go to church or get a divorce" should not have ended up with us happily married *and* still in chur...

Today is Orphan Sunday.  Since 2003, churches have used this day as a way to not just raise awareness, but as a day when we consider how we are obeying the commandment to love our neighbor's as ourselves. James 1:27 says that religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. We cannot ignore the orphaned.  At the same time, I appreciate this quote from the book of John when Jesus says, I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you (14:18). I do not have the ability or calling to adopt children, but I love the children I sponsor: Greys, Anchara, and Musa.  I pray for them daily.  I write to them about God's love and his purpose in their lives.  Greys and Musa are too young to understand probably, but I still want them to know that they are not alone, that they have purpose, & that they can bring light into ...

Being the month that American's celebrate Thanksgiving, I have hijacked November into being my own "a month of gratitude updates" on Facebook. I have had to laugh as different people have asked me what that "this month of gratitude thing is about" or as I watch people figure it out.  I would like to practice gratitude as a lifestyle this month. It is such a simple, and stupid, idea really, but as I have learned about extreme poverty globally, I have become more aware of everything I really do have.  While what I own and my priorities have changed over my life, and may still change, there is always something to be grateful for, even if it is that I am just sucking air at that moment or that there is air to suck or that it has been over 8 weeks since my last cigarette or that I am sick and those white blood cells that are making all the snot that clogs my head is actually taking care of the germs that are attacking my body (ok, so that one is long and personal,...