In The Garden

Today is my recuperation from passing through several time zones, as I flew home from Arizona yesterday.  I spent 3 wonderful days with family, filling every nook and cranny of time with different people that I love.  It is equally filling and draining, but I am so grateful to have the gift of travel, both in time and airline privileges. Thank you sweet husband for sharing me  and brother Gordon for providing the means!  

Every April we celebrate birthdays for my Dad (21st), myself (22nd), and Mom and Steve (23rd).

Although Steve needed to stay in Miami to prepare for the upcoming Board Meeting, on Mom's Bday we had a garden party and Gordon made us Salmon Taco's that were out of this world delicious.

We skyped Christa and Daniel as well as Steve . . . .  two computers going at the same time!  It was crazy hectic but so much fun to have them participate if even from a distance.  

On one of my evenings I was able to accompany Stefani and Mowee (real name Benito), her boyfriend, as they drove me up to South Mountain and we overlooked the lights of the city. It is such a beautiful spot and hard to believe that in all the years that I lived in Arizona, I never remember going there.  We took a short hike to a craggy rock and just sat and looked out over the sparkling lights of the city for a few quiet moments.  Very nice.

Gordon, Stefani and I ate at one of our favorite "must visits" whenever I am in town, Postino's and Stef and I even got to P.F. Chang's for lunch one day.  A flurry of shopping at known clothing stores, and before I knew it, I was on the plane headed home.  

I am posting a picture I took of The Garden in full bloom . . . . Only once have I seen every rose bush so full of blooms.  It was beautiful!

Impact

Every so often a person, a book an event comes into your life and has monumental impact.  Probably 15 years ago, or so, I heard the name Mark and Jeannie Labberton from my brother Phil and his wife Cindi.  They met and became good friends in England while Phil and Mark were working on their doctorates at Cambridge.  We never had the good fortune to meet Mark and Jeannie, but providence would have it that we have encountered Mark through his new book, "The Dangerous Act of Worship".  I have been "absorbing" the content of this book a chapter at a time over the last 2 months.  I normally consume a book in a matter of hours, and when in stride, a book every week or two.  But with the move and all the changes and traveling going on in my life at the moment, that pace has slowed.  But Mark's book could not have come at a better time.  This is not a book for a quick read as it is full of  deep and thoughtful truths.  I thought I would give you an exerpt from this book so as to possibly wet your appetite for more.  This comes from the chapter "When Worship Talks To Power".

"The realignment of power is fundamental to the cause of justice because much of the twisted soul of injustice is the abuse of power.  Whether the injustice is poverty, bonded slavery, land grabbing, forced prostitution, hunger, rape, or racism, we find the abuse of power.  Likewise, an abuse of power is at play even in more mundane examples of injustice; gossip, manipulation, coersion, lying, deception, or libel.  At the core of it all lies an abuse of power.  Nothing thwarts God's purposes more than twisted power; nothing renews God's purposes more than redeeming power.

Christian worship (and prayer) can and should be one of the most profound and relevant responses to power abuse in the world.  In worship (and prayer) we cast our lives upon the faithful and just power of God.  When we do so, we appose all acts of unjust power.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about God's remarkable initiative and grace marshaled to realign power."

"I am stunned when I hear statistics like these:  that more than 25 million people around the world today live in slavery; that 40 percent of the world's population lacks basic sanitation facilities and over one billion use unsafe water; that in the least developed countries over 50 percent of the population is not expected to live to the age of sixty, compared to just over 10 percent in the most developed countries; that the per capita spending on police in India is about twenty-five cents per person per year, whereas in the Unites States it is over $250 per person per year.  And India is better off than countries where no police force even exists, such as Liberia and Chad.  In other countries the local police would be the last place to go for help in the face of injustice, because of graft and corruption.  We assume that the basic protection of law enforcement most in the United States enjoy is more or less present in other parts of the world, but it is not.  Many people in other countries, especially the poor, are exposed to whims of power abuse, and the police are but one example."

It is so easy to find our comfortable place in life, inoculated from the pain and injustices of others with whom we share this planet.  Stepping out of church ministry in a beautiful place to live, I am beginning to reawaken to the real reason that we were called to ministry . . . no, make that the christian life!  It is not just for those called to 'professional' ministry.  It is for all of us that call ourselves Christ followers.  The only true change of injustice is the realignment of power under the grace filled love of the One who alone holds all power.

Birthday Week

Time marches on . . . . This week I turn  54.  What can I say about that ?   Since the joy of turning 18,with all my life ahead of me, and the trauma I experienced, albeit self induced, when I turned 25 and my life assessment disheartened me; married 7 years, 2 children, one of them strong willed and hyperactive, a tough ministry and needed growth in our marriage and spiritual life, all while many of my friends were not carrying the weight of such heavy life experiences and seemingly having "fun". 

I must say with all sincerity that my 50's, so far, have been the best years of my life.  Not that the previous years were  not wonderful in their own right. But I have ceased striving to 'find myself' years ago, and am enjoying the person God made me to be.  I have also ceased trying to make my husband the man I think he should be and and thoroughly enjoying what God has created in him using all the pain, struggle, and unique experiences that we have walked through. Steve is a compassionate, sensitive, loyal husband who has learned how to encourage and protect me.  He seeks the Lord for the wisdom and courage to be the husband, father, and minister that he has been called to be.  Our children are amazing people, each one in their own right.  I am blessed.

Some how the same things that would have sent me into a spiraling depression or an anxiety charged fit, are managed (most of the time) with prayer and an acknowledgement that God is sovereign and has control of our situation and that of our children.  I am not a victim in life's difficult situations, rather a loved child of my Heavenly Father.  

Now, I am watching my children go through many of the same experiences and feelings that Steve and I went through.  Giving them to the Lord, daily, I can be at peace and live and love, enjoying the years that the Lord has ordained for me.

O.K. so I am 15 to 20 lbs. overweight, wrinkles refuse to be 'hidden', and my energy and turn around time are decreasing and increasing accordingly, but in my year 54 life assessment, I would not change anything . . . . God is good and so is life!

Wisdom from Oswald Chambers

 "You no more need a day off of spiritual concentration from matters than your heart needs a day off from beating.  As you cannot take a day  off from being moral and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual."

Sacrifices

These precious little girls, Ada, Nica, and Evelyn, smile from the inside out.  When they smile and laugh, there is a genuine joy that exudes from their faces.  Parenting is a daunting task. Parenting adopted children brings even more challenge.  I have the greatest respect for what my Mom and Dad are doing in their foster care of Bryan. I share that same respect for Sean and Cate.  My prayers go up for them daily as they sacrifice what most would be unwilling to do, by giving everything they have to make the life of someone who had nothing, full and rich with the love of Jesus.