When you discipline the body - you discipline the soul.
There's something about this denying of the flesh - this pushing through when you feel like passing out.... that gives endurance beyond the physical.
Weight isn't the only thing that melts away when you exercise.
While many things are lost...(laziness and timidity and fear)...things are also gained. When we work out....we also work in.
This daily dedication...this day after day commitment - it conditions the heart down deep. The arteries and ventricles aren't the only things that benefit. The spirit does, too. And this gaining of endurance that surpasses the muscles - it has the most worth. (Know though, that He is the one working it all in through this avenue of exercise. We must know this - else we get distracted and haughty. We also must know this - so that we don't erect fitness ...as an idol.)
It's crazy what's been happening around here. My husband and I - we are two weeks in. Two weeks into a workout program.... that is thinning out more than my thighs and building up more than my biceps.
To push through - to bust up boundaries - to challenge our very flesh nature - this produces all kinds of goodness. And it eats away at all kinds of ugliness that attaches itself to us.
To fully commit....to engage entirely.....to devote completely these last 14 days...oh it's made such a glorious difference. Rigorously (but safely) training the body uniquely tames the flesh in certain areas. Sometimes, He uses physical things to condition us in spiritual things. (For me, anyway.) Expecting more from myself in exercise - it ups the anty elsewhere.
All this conditioning - I feel like it's preparing me for something. I feel like it's throwing me right into submission. And isn't that a good place for a Christian to be? To find oneself in submission before being sent out to comission. It makes sense.
So in this daily challenge of the body - I find myself in the throws of growth. And this makes it worth it. (That - and the smaller dress size.)
So I encourage you, kind friend - to keep going.
Because lifting the bar and adding iron to it.... goes way farther than the bench press.
*****
P.S. We must tread very carefully here friends, and take note - that just as Colossians 2 says, "we grow only as we get our nourishment and strength from God." (NLT) It's important to guard ourselves from thinking that our growth and gain in Christ comes simply from our own human efforts. Self-denial and severe self-discipline - "have no effect when it comes to conquering a person's evil thoughts and desires" (Col. 2:23) That - can only come from Him. So as we engage in exercise - let us be aware that:
1) He is the one that gave our bodies the ability to undergo strenuous work
2) He alone is the one that spurs us into growth as we strive to tame the flesh in any area
As you push and pull to condition your body - pray that He does a good, transforming work in you through it...He is the only one who can.
Love and blessings to you all!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
It's Blowing In
The windows.....they.are.open.
And there's cool goodness wafting all through this home.
Curtains billowing. Papers taking flight off kitchen counters. Dirty window sills with cob-webbed corners. A mama's hair blowing in all this wind as she stirs gravy....
It's glorious.
As I pull my hair back in a pony and wrestle with over-cooked green beans - I breath deep and remember the smell of sweet outside! And hope arises from all this freshness moving in.
It leads me straight to Him.
Remember all those waiting, wondering followers in that room? (Acts 2) A rushing, mighty Wind swept right in and seeped right through. Pentecost. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And those wondering followers began to do wondrous things in His name and by His power and through His promise.
This is for us too, you know.
And in this I rejoice.
Because Jesus said, "...when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth..." (John 16:13)
And does this gravy-stirring Mama ever need some truth!
So I'm gonna keep these windows wide and open. And I'm gonna keep my hair tie handy. Because when He blows on in - my hair tends to get a little messed up. And really, I should want it that way.
Because Him winging in truth and choice fruits (Galatians 5:22-23) is worth the wind-blown look, don't you think?
And there's cool goodness wafting all through this home.
Curtains billowing. Papers taking flight off kitchen counters. Dirty window sills with cob-webbed corners. A mama's hair blowing in all this wind as she stirs gravy....
It's glorious.
As I pull my hair back in a pony and wrestle with over-cooked green beans - I breath deep and remember the smell of sweet outside! And hope arises from all this freshness moving in.
It leads me straight to Him.
Remember all those waiting, wondering followers in that room? (Acts 2) A rushing, mighty Wind swept right in and seeped right through. Pentecost. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And those wondering followers began to do wondrous things in His name and by His power and through His promise.
This is for us too, you know.
And in this I rejoice.
Because Jesus said, "...when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth..." (John 16:13)
And does this gravy-stirring Mama ever need some truth!
So I'm gonna keep these windows wide and open. And I'm gonna keep my hair tie handy. Because when He blows on in - my hair tends to get a little messed up. And really, I should want it that way.
Because Him winging in truth and choice fruits (Galatians 5:22-23) is worth the wind-blown look, don't you think?
Monday, March 5, 2012
Snapshots of Kenya
Such beauty and yet such sorrow represented in these shots from Africa. Gorgeous landscaping, white tents that act as homes, diseased truckers, shoesless feet, playfuy boys, true servants of Christ, beautiful little faces from the orphanage, and wild animals....
Father, you know the story behind each photo and each face. Bring redemption and joy and salvation and healing to them all. Keep their stories fresh in our minds and soft in our hearts. And speak to us in these places...about these faces....and what you would have us do in Your name....yes, in Your name.
Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
- Isaiah 1:17
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
A Random Mission
Written Sunday....
He's somewhere over the Atlantic making his way back to me.
My husband - he's been in Africa....giving bits of his heart away. And this overseas heart-sharing....it came out of no where, really.
One minute on an ordinary Thursday night, he is helping me tidy up after dinner. The next he's pulling out a passport, pacing in prayer, and packing suitcases.
And all this...it's just so God, of God.
Isn't it so like Him to surprise us right in the midst of humdrum? Isn't it so like Him to tap the shoulder of an ordinary man - who believes in a God who can do extraordinary things? Isn't it so like Him to know the bride of this tapped one so well - that He knew he had to spring this on her?...because if she had known her groom was going to be away for a week - leaving her with a trio of little ones, alone - she would have lost it? Yes, He knew. And this bride thanks Him for sparing her the anxious wait - and instead, just plopping it right in.
Less than 48 hours before jetting away...my husband received the following text message:
"One of our guys backed out of going to Kenya. Do you want to go? We can make this happen. Pray about it for a few minutes.”
It made the hair on my arms stand straight up. And I knew....I knew this was from Him. And that only through Him could a trip across the globe pull together in only a few hours.
Two days later...he flew half-way around the world - and fell all-the-way-around in love.
He cupped faces, and dined with refugees, and brainstormed businesses, and he loved.
When he walks through our door today - and drops his bags and gets tackled by kids and pulls out pictures.... I'll understand that the week alone with my sick wee ones was worth it.
This Mama didn't have to fly to the other side of the planet to grow this time. No - He did lots of growing and pruning to this heart right here within these very walls this week.
And while I was growing here....my groom was growing there. An ocean apart - but hearts growing up and up in the same direction.
Only Him.
Perhaps I'll post pictures of all this craziness? Yes, yes.
Until then - let your faith be encouraged - knowing that He calls people. He calls people to Africa. He calls people to wipe little noses (and bottoms!).
And only He can simultaneously accomplish much, with both.
Snapshots and commentary from my groom....coming soon :)
He's somewhere over the Atlantic making his way back to me.
My husband - he's been in Africa....giving bits of his heart away. And this overseas heart-sharing....it came out of no where, really.
One minute on an ordinary Thursday night, he is helping me tidy up after dinner. The next he's pulling out a passport, pacing in prayer, and packing suitcases.
And all this...it's just so God, of God.
Isn't it so like Him to surprise us right in the midst of humdrum? Isn't it so like Him to tap the shoulder of an ordinary man - who believes in a God who can do extraordinary things? Isn't it so like Him to know the bride of this tapped one so well - that He knew he had to spring this on her?...because if she had known her groom was going to be away for a week - leaving her with a trio of little ones, alone - she would have lost it? Yes, He knew. And this bride thanks Him for sparing her the anxious wait - and instead, just plopping it right in.
Less than 48 hours before jetting away...my husband received the following text message:
"One of our guys backed out of going to Kenya. Do you want to go? We can make this happen. Pray about it for a few minutes.”
It made the hair on my arms stand straight up. And I knew....I knew this was from Him. And that only through Him could a trip across the globe pull together in only a few hours.
Two days later...he flew half-way around the world - and fell all-the-way-around in love.
He cupped faces, and dined with refugees, and brainstormed businesses, and he loved.
When he walks through our door today - and drops his bags and gets tackled by kids and pulls out pictures.... I'll understand that the week alone with my sick wee ones was worth it.
This Mama didn't have to fly to the other side of the planet to grow this time. No - He did lots of growing and pruning to this heart right here within these very walls this week.
And while I was growing here....my groom was growing there. An ocean apart - but hearts growing up and up in the same direction.
Only Him.
Perhaps I'll post pictures of all this craziness? Yes, yes.
Until then - let your faith be encouraged - knowing that He calls people. He calls people to Africa. He calls people to wipe little noses (and bottoms!).
And only He can simultaneously accomplish much, with both.
Snapshots and commentary from my groom....coming soon :)
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
My Fruit
I look down and I find him staring right through.
It startles me. And it catches me off guard....
As he looks at his mother...what kind of fruit is he feasting on? What kind of fruit are they feasting on? Because all three of them...they munch on the fruit that falls from the tree of me.
As children look at their parents...they look through them. Fake expressions and surface responses seldom keep a child from seeing and sensing the true heart of the ones that raise them. (This is true of grown children, too - you know.) It can be frightening.
These children that litter our lives with laughter and wonder and awe (and noise!) they learn how to live under the limbs of you and me. And as they do - as they soak in and mimic and copy - they nourish themselves on the fruit we produce. Whether ripe or rotten...they ingest it all.
And this strikes me to my core.
This simple stare from my second son - it shakes me awake......again.
And as I inventory my actions - I realize that, yes - left to my own devices this orchard is corrupt....but left in the care of the Pruner...ah, this orchard survives. And it not only survives, it thrives. And not only that - it's branches reach out wide and strong. And its leaves...they are a welcome shelter. And its fruit - gives life.
So as the Spirit blows a redeeming wind right through the branches of me - I know that only through Him is anyone ever ripe with love and joy and peace. And only because of a thorough pruning does one ever dangle down patience and kindness and goodness. And only through the Grower Himself is anyone ever rooted in faithfulness and gentleness and self-control.
Only through Him.
The church sign just on the other side of the field reads, "God makes all things new.....even you." How did they know that the Mama just across the way - needed those words this very day?
No matter what you've harvested in seasons past....yield to the winds of Him and you'll yield a bountiful crop.
And when you do - the ones perched underneath? .....they will too.
It startles me. And it catches me off guard....
As he looks at his mother...what kind of fruit is he feasting on? What kind of fruit are they feasting on? Because all three of them...they munch on the fruit that falls from the tree of me.
As children look at their parents...they look through them. Fake expressions and surface responses seldom keep a child from seeing and sensing the true heart of the ones that raise them. (This is true of grown children, too - you know.) It can be frightening.
These children that litter our lives with laughter and wonder and awe (and noise!) they learn how to live under the limbs of you and me. And as they do - as they soak in and mimic and copy - they nourish themselves on the fruit we produce. Whether ripe or rotten...they ingest it all.
And this strikes me to my core.
This simple stare from my second son - it shakes me awake......again.
And as I inventory my actions - I realize that, yes - left to my own devices this orchard is corrupt....but left in the care of the Pruner...ah, this orchard survives. And it not only survives, it thrives. And not only that - it's branches reach out wide and strong. And its leaves...they are a welcome shelter. And its fruit - gives life.
So as the Spirit blows a redeeming wind right through the branches of me - I know that only through Him is anyone ever ripe with love and joy and peace. And only because of a thorough pruning does one ever dangle down patience and kindness and goodness. And only through the Grower Himself is anyone ever rooted in faithfulness and gentleness and self-control.
Only through Him.
The church sign just on the other side of the field reads, "God makes all things new.....even you." How did they know that the Mama just across the way - needed those words this very day?
No matter what you've harvested in seasons past....yield to the winds of Him and you'll yield a bountiful crop.
And when you do - the ones perched underneath? .....they will too.
For every tree is known by its own fruit......
- Luke 6:44
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such their is no law.
- Galatians 5:22-23
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Feeling and Doing
Tending to him makes me want to tend to them all.
I felt it with the other two....but it wasn't so adamant feeling.
Watching his face scrunch and his eyebrows furrow and his fist clinch and his eyelids fall - it makes me think of the ones with no one watching. Hearing his cry makes me think of the ones with no one listening. The ones that whimper and writhe and wail - with no ears peeled to hear it. The one's neglected. The one's abandoned. The ones left for dead, even.
And it tears at me and brings tears and it causes me to look up - and I don't know whether I should raise a fist up to the sky in anger and bewilderment at what's allowed, or whether I should cry out from the depths of me and ask for it to cease and ask to be a part of the solution.
I'm thinking it's the latter. (But I do both.)
And I'm thinking He is the one that placed it there....the prompting...the sorrow...the desire for justice...yes...even the anger from it all. Because I'm learning that He does prompt us to live and work and act in a way that pours Him out all over. But we, still, choose to be tipped for the pouring or not.
And so what do I do with all this? What does a woman who doesn't consider herself a kid-person....what does a woman who has fears that stifle her... what does a woman with low academic prowess and limited potential...a history of doubt...and a score of failures do with all this prompting?
After raising her fist and after crying out sorrow - she realizes that she must not simply feel....she must do.
And to know what...she must pray. And she must surrender. And she must hush herself to listen. Because when we pray...when we surrender...when we are hushed - more promptings will come. And more and more - and as they do and as we do.....love rushes out. And minds are changed. And orphanages are constructed. And babies are saved. And infants are fed. And kids are rescued. And Mamas are equipped. And in carrying out all that love, Love is revealed and shared and mimicked. And in the midst of vast despair - a bit of beauty brights it's way right through.
Oh Lord.... I know what I feel - but what will you have me do? What will you have me do for the ones lost? For the littlest and least? Because I don't think I can bare this feeling - without diving into some doing.
I felt it with the other two....but it wasn't so adamant feeling.
Watching his face scrunch and his eyebrows furrow and his fist clinch and his eyelids fall - it makes me think of the ones with no one watching. Hearing his cry makes me think of the ones with no one listening. The ones that whimper and writhe and wail - with no ears peeled to hear it. The one's neglected. The one's abandoned. The ones left for dead, even.
And it tears at me and brings tears and it causes me to look up - and I don't know whether I should raise a fist up to the sky in anger and bewilderment at what's allowed, or whether I should cry out from the depths of me and ask for it to cease and ask to be a part of the solution.
I'm thinking it's the latter. (But I do both.)
And I'm thinking He is the one that placed it there....the prompting...the sorrow...the desire for justice...yes...even the anger from it all. Because I'm learning that He does prompt us to live and work and act in a way that pours Him out all over. But we, still, choose to be tipped for the pouring or not.
And so what do I do with all this? What does a woman who doesn't consider herself a kid-person....what does a woman who has fears that stifle her... what does a woman with low academic prowess and limited potential...a history of doubt...and a score of failures do with all this prompting?
After raising her fist and after crying out sorrow - she realizes that she must not simply feel....she must do.
And to know what...she must pray. And she must surrender. And she must hush herself to listen. Because when we pray...when we surrender...when we are hushed - more promptings will come. And more and more - and as they do and as we do.....love rushes out. And minds are changed. And orphanages are constructed. And babies are saved. And infants are fed. And kids are rescued. And Mamas are equipped. And in carrying out all that love, Love is revealed and shared and mimicked. And in the midst of vast despair - a bit of beauty brights it's way right through.
Oh Lord.... I know what I feel - but what will you have me do? What will you have me do for the ones lost? For the littlest and least? Because I don't think I can bare this feeling - without diving into some doing.
Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
- Isaiah 1:17
Learn. Seek. Rebuke. Defend. Plead.....Those aren't feelings, friends - they're actions.
Bypass my fears, Father and rid me of the lazy complacency and ignorance and selfishness- and get me geared up for whatever or whomever or whenever...You call. And in the meantime - as I tend to my trio - don't let the feeling wane. Because I know there is some doing to be done.
Lots of it, actually.
Pertinent Links:
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Fresh Lessons
My belly is empty....but my arms are full :)
The second boy....the third baby.... he has arrived.
And so has his mother. Each birth - is not only an arrival of a new life....but an arrival of a new woman.
With each fresh blond head (yes, another blond!) one more layer of selfishness begins to peal away. One more shelf of self-denial is wrought. One more faith layer is laid upon the others. One more hope, dream, prayer - fulfilled.
This gift....this boy...that robs me deeper of selfishness and egocentrism and doubt and negativity - he's a lesson for me. As I study his serious face, his lanky toes, his softness - I know that his fashioning was not by mistake. And while it's only a part of his purpose, I'm certain - This little new one comes to me to teach me a thing or two. And it pleases Him to do it this way.
The first blonds - they made me realize it all. Five and half years of lessons thus far in patience. In humility. In pride. In love. In life. And the lessons continue.
And the lessons can be rough. And the tests that come from my two....now, my three.... oh, they can be difficult. And I fail many of them. And I barely pass a few - (only on the re-takes) - but through them all....I learn.
So this new adventure that emerged and filled his lungs with air for the first time three days ago - He's sleeping in his crib now. And as I look in on his fresh face - and as I quiet the boistrous voices of his siblings - I'm tired and beat up and anxious and sleepy and overwhelmed and wrung out - of course. But I'm thankful. I have joy. I'm filled with expectation. And happy hope. And shear gratefulness for the sweet love...for the honest laughter....and even for the teaching that will take place - ....through my trio.
Let the fresh lessons begin....
The second boy....the third baby.... he has arrived.
And so has his mother. Each birth - is not only an arrival of a new life....but an arrival of a new woman.
With each fresh blond head (yes, another blond!) one more layer of selfishness begins to peal away. One more shelf of self-denial is wrought. One more faith layer is laid upon the others. One more hope, dream, prayer - fulfilled.
This gift....this boy...that robs me deeper of selfishness and egocentrism and doubt and negativity - he's a lesson for me. As I study his serious face, his lanky toes, his softness - I know that his fashioning was not by mistake. And while it's only a part of his purpose, I'm certain - This little new one comes to me to teach me a thing or two. And it pleases Him to do it this way.
The first blonds - they made me realize it all. Five and half years of lessons thus far in patience. In humility. In pride. In love. In life. And the lessons continue.
And the lessons can be rough. And the tests that come from my two....now, my three.... oh, they can be difficult. And I fail many of them. And I barely pass a few - (only on the re-takes) - but through them all....I learn.
So this new adventure that emerged and filled his lungs with air for the first time three days ago - He's sleeping in his crib now. And as I look in on his fresh face - and as I quiet the boistrous voices of his siblings - I'm tired and beat up and anxious and sleepy and overwhelmed and wrung out - of course. But I'm thankful. I have joy. I'm filled with expectation. And happy hope. And shear gratefulness for the sweet love...for the honest laughter....and even for the teaching that will take place - ....through my trio.
Let the fresh lessons begin....
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