My Hope

  2020 has not been the worst year ever- for me.  That’s not to say that this has been my favorite year because it's certainly had it's share of struggles, but 2008 beats it hands down- no question.     But for some of my friends, and understandably so, they just want this year to end and pray that along with it the sorrows and struggles that it’s brought.   I know someone who lost her daughter just before Christmas, someone who has lost 9 family members due to Covid, countless people in Lebanon who have really been struggling with the financial crisis there, the list goes on.  It’s been a rough year and I feel like my struggles have paled in comparison.     I’ve been reading Job searching for wisdom in knowing what to say as one calamity after another befalls them.  But really and truly, it gives more guidance on what not to say.  His friends all said the wrong thing.  Elihu wasn’t repri...

I think I've said this before, but maybe the thoughts have just run through my head.  I'm saddened by the divide in the church that just seems to be getting greater and greater.    We are called to be one body.  I am not speaking of everyone, but there are some people that have made us feel as we no longer belong to the body because they don't view the things we do as being of value.  We are so grateful for the members of the body who have lifted us up and confirmed our call to be here for such a time as this.  We will not stop being a part of the body just because some people have said "I don't need you!"  God has placed us where He wanted and we will continue striving to carry out the unique role for us.  We strive to please God, not man.  But that doesn't make it easy to sit and listen to the hatred.    Are you working in unity with the rest of the body?  Are you telling other parts of the body they don't belong?  We only need so many eyes and s...

Training wheels Teaching M how to ride a bike didn’t go quite the way I envisioned.  I really thought I’d be running behind her holding onto her seat try after try and bandaging plenty of scraped hands and knees.  In reality, it was much easier than that.  We made an early attempt to remove the training wheels but she seemed frozen in fear.  She’d barely make one rotation of the pedals before hopping off declaring she was scared she was about to fall (even though I still had a tight grip of her seat).  She didn’t allow herself to get enough speed to really take off.  We were getting nowhere so we took the advice of seasoned grandparents and put the training wheels back on, but at a higher level.  We taught her to listen for the sound of the training wheels hitting the pavement and how to straighten the bike back up when that happened.  After a while riding this way, one of her wheels literally just fell off.  She didn’t even realize she was riding without it and stopped not because s...

One thing that stood out to me in our book was the idea that we often compare the church to a hospital. I’ve often heard the quote attributed to Abigal Van Buren “The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.” But I loved what McNabb said about it, “The church is supposed to build laborers, not hospitals. It is true that armies build hospitals and care for their people, but that’s not the principle around which they organize.” Yes, people come to church broken and in need... but it isn't the purpose of church. We sometimes forget what we are meant to do. We're commanded to multiply. To reach all peoples and all nations. To glorify God. I agree with Dear Abby, the church should not be a museum for saints- we are all sinners. But it also needs to be a place of training and sending forth. A place to prepare laborers to go out into the fields. In Matthew 9 we clearly see that Jesus does both and if you continue into chapter 10 we see the disciple follo...

I’m in a group on Monday nights and we’re reading a book called ‘Spiritual Multiplication in the Real World’ by Bob McNabb. It’s been so good in so many ways!! We’re on week 6 of 10 and plan to continue in some fashion even after finishing the formal study. The study & group have given me tools and accountability for better reaching those in our neighborhood, but more than that I’m really seeing my dependence on the body more and more. I came to appreciate the church in a new way when we were in Idaho too. It’s interesting. Growing up in the Bible belt, you tend to assume that most everyone you meet has the same core beliefs about faith (even if they aren’t in church on Sunday mornings). I realize this is a gross generalization and is becoming further and further from the truth but most people can spit out the ‘right’ answers. In Idaho, Christians were in the minority… less than 5% of the population in the town we lived in. People were in church because it was where they...

Church felt so healing this Sunday after the weight of this week. The Holy Spirit never ceases to amaze me in how He works through people. Our church had been planning this Sunday for weeks (or longer) and God’s timing (as always) was perfect. In the midst of so much racial division in our nation, our church had a unified service. The church we’ve attended in Atlanta has a very large building and so twelve other congregations also meet there. They’d been planning a combined service for this Sunday long before the tragedies brought fear and outrage. The church worshiped in English, French, Spanish, Burmese, Karenni, Nepali, Lautu, Senthang, Hakha, and Swahili. I couldn’t help but wonder how amazing heaven must be as my eyes filled with grateful tears. I just felt so much joy and hope just being a part of it and lifting praise as part of one body. I love our pastor and his challenging messages, but this Sunday was excited to hear a pastor from Kenya speak. He preached on Jes...

It’s Ramadan, a time of fasting for Muslims everywhere. They are called to abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset for a month as one of the five pillars of Islam. My friend shared that she only fasts for part of it and talked about how hard it is to fast. My friend’s husband isn’t fasting and was told by other Muslims that if he didn’t fast, he wasn’t Muslim. As a Christian, I believe you can be a Christian without fasting. It is not the act of doing or not doing something that unites us to Christ. Rather it is our faith in him. She started asking questions about Christians and fasting. I found myself wondering how to answer her though. As Christians, it is not a requirement to fast but we are called to fast. Matthew 6:16-18 doesn’t say ‘if we fast’ but rather ‘when we fast’. It isn’t an ‘if/then’ statement. We often turn to Matthew 6 and examine the Lord’s prayer, but when we look at it as a whole and see the big picture, what amazing instruction Jesus gi...

Salt A friend of mine made some unleavened bread for communion recently. The thing that stood out to me the most as I partook of the bread was it’s saltiness. I generally don’t think of bread as salty (except for garlic bread) and so I was surprised at the first taste. Normally during communion I try not to focus on the food itself, but rather the meaning behind it, but this time I felt like God was speaking to me through the flavor. Remember the salt. I just finished a great book by Bill Hybels, “Just Walk Across the Room” that I highly recommend. It gives a lot of great practical advice in seasoning our lives with salt. While I’ve always tried to do this, I often miss opportunities and either over or underseason my speech. Colossians 4:2-6 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may...

I’ve seen the resiliency in so many of the refugees coming into Clarkston. The pictures and stories of the things they’ve endured don’t always seem to line up with the outer strength they show. How many of us would crumble if our families and towns were completely wiped out? Yet, they find strength in each other. Hospitality is huge in Middle Eastern cultures, and I’m finding I have a lot to learn- both about giving and receiving. I found out last week that I’d (unknowingly) offended someone. My friend, A, had asked last Monday if I’d accompany her and some of her friends to the optometrist in order to help fill out the forms. Besides school work, I’d had no other commitments, so we packed up M’s work and headed out to help. Afterwards we were invited back to their apartment for coffee and tea, but I politely declined. We still had school work that hadn’t gotten finished in the waiting room, dinner to fix, and I was worried that whatever was served might throw off my blood s...

I loved our time back home this Christmas. Most of it was spent with family but we were able to see a few friends too. It was refreshing and relaxing to be surrounded by friends and family who know us so well (and love us anyway). We knew we’d be hitting the ground running once we got back so we found joy in just going with the flow while we had the chance. At least we thought we’d be hitting the ground running. Instead Tommy ended up with strep shortly after we got back, so we quarantined him to the couch and steered clear of people in case the girls and I were contagious and our symptoms just hadn’t shown up yet. (Thankfully we escaped it!!!) I did find out I’m anemic though (which explains why my energy level never bounced back at all second trimester). Hopefully the extra iron will kick in soon and my biggest craving (naps) will disappear. The illness and exhaustion has left us going from a state of being surrounded by love to a relative place of isolation. Coupled w...

I’m breaking my thoughts down into three parts this week. I realize I’m not in the vocal majority at the moment, but I hope you’ll hear me out. Part 1- The Church divided We came to Clarkston to prepare to go overseas. We expected to minister to the people around us, but we could have never expected the current events and politics to put us in the middle of such a heated controversy. That being said, I feel since we are here and have seen a different side than most Americans, I feel compelled to speak. My voice must be heard because many of the refugees have no voice in this country. Is the world a scary place? Absolutely! I don’t think anyone denies that. It’s been filled with sin and turmoil and strife since Adam and Eve. The first murder occurred in just the second generation of humans. Do we just sit around and watch the world go down in flames? No. We are called to pray for the world. We are also called to love everybody, because Christ died for us all. First...