Mary and Elizabeth: the Heart of Friendship

credit: www.heartofavagabond.com

Hey, girlfriend!
A hug, sometimes a kiss, and smiles all around. We love our friends and love being with them. It doesn't get any better than this...or does it? We laugh, have fun, and enjoy each other, but  is there more? Are we missing the best of what our friendships can bring? 

Fun and affection sometimes relegate God to a back seat and our friendships are no exception. The sheer enjoyment we find in one another's company can leave us forgetting that these encounters, so often full of pleasure, have a higher purpose, too. We can get more than pleasure out of our friendships. We can dedicate them to God.

And we have an example.
At that time, Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, "Blessed are you among women..."--Luke 1: 39-42

Wouldn't it be wonderful if our friendships brought not only a feeling of contentment and well being, but an encounter with the holy? I'm convinced that they can, and more. They should.

We come together, after all, from different places, different lives. We meet to share out stories, our songs. We come to laugh together, and to cry. God has afforded us a privilege unique to women. He has made us want strong bonds with close friends, but we don't often honor them as such. Like all of our life's encounters, our friends are intentional parts of our lives. God sent them to us for a purpose--the same purpose as He sends every other circumstance and person--to draw us nearer to Him.

So what does a godly friendship encounter look like? It looks like Mary and Elizabeth's. 

First, we enter one another's homes. We visit each other in the places we live our lives. These are our intimate places, the ones we breathe and eat and love in. They expose us just by the looking. But we share them with our friends.

Then we greet one another. Not just a Hi, or even an embrace, but a greeting heartfelt enough to make a baby leap in the womb. A greeting that acknowledges that we are special to one another. Not "Wassup, girlfriend" but more like a sincere "How wonderful to see you."

Then we share. We listen to one another. Casual friends are not very good at this. Casual acquaintances talk mostly about themselves. Have you listened to your conversations? Most relationships have a giver and a taker, an alpha and a beta. True friendships share equally. Friends listen to one another as often as they tell.

Then we bless one another. We hardly ever do this. I have one relationship in which a friend prays for me every time before we part. Every time. I can't tell you what this adds to my life. I feel blessed every time. Truly blessed. What more can we do for a friend than to bless them?*

Mary and Elizabeth's love for each other wasn't substantially different from the love I feel for my own friends. As women, we are given a heart to love with--husbands, children, and friends. We spend so much time learning to love husbands and children properly, but don't think nearly often enough about what a truly godly friendship can bring.

If I really care about my friends, I will do these things for them, and with them because, each in our own way, we are all truly
blessed among women.

*Sister Fran Ferder, Enter the Story, Give Us This Day, May 31, 2014

Bless You? Are You Sure?

photo: mccgd.org

There seems to be a disagreement regarding blessings.
God wants to bless His children--we know that. But how, exactly, does He do it?
We think we know what some blessings look like--good health, wealth, food, safety, family, friends, love, faith. All good gifts from Him.
But, it's funny.
He seems to look at blessings in another way.

Blessed are the poor in spirit...
Blessed are those who mourn...
Blessed are the meek...
Blessed are those who hunger and search for righteousness...
Blessed are the merciful...--Matthew 5:4-7

Those kinds of blessings don't look as pleasant. In fact, are they blessings at all?
Well, He thinks they are and when I think about it, I think I know why.
These blessings are more about God than about me.
These bless the spirit, not the flesh.
These bring me closer to God and, as such, require strength. They don't bring ease.
These blessings are not God reaching down and scooping up more transformed dirt and giving it to me as bits of His own creation.
These blessings are God reaching down and giving me, giving all of us, bits of Himself.

Open the Dawn

photo: rapgenius.com

Awake, O Sleeper!--Ephesians 5:14

The moon has reigned long enough.
Time has come for light, for darkness to run away.
You have slept in the deep, but I pull back the veil.

I command the moon to fly away and bring light into the heavens.
I made brilliance, then formed your very eyes so that you might see it.
Open them and exult!
Arise with me. Join in the song of morning.
I open the skies for your delight.

I AM the dawn.
I AM the morning.
I AM the sun.
Every day from horizon to horizon, until I Myself unravel time.
I made this day for you.
Look at it and live!

Wearing Two Faces

Photo: findyourselflove.blogspot.com

Oh, God--you and your contradictions...
You tell me that life will be hard, but I will be glad.
You take away my sin, but not before you show me its full squalor.
You make me rich, but in the process, humble me down to the ground.

Because of you, I wear two faces--
One that knows your joy, and the other that knows myself and this world.

Who are you, anyway, that you must do this?

Father, Teacher, Brother, Friend, Lord, Christ, Redeemer...
Everything.

Somewhere, somehow, you must be enough.
You do not breathe your own Spirit into a handful of dust, then blow it apart, consigning it to random winds.
You, who ignite the spark of life and carefully lay out the order of the worlds, do not abandon your work to sad entropy.

I cannot make myself happy by leaning into days that flash by, swirling into time's tempest.
There is only You.
Satisfy me with your unfailing love that I may sing for joy and be glad all my days.--Psalm 90:14

Can You Feel It?

photo:incandescentplanetreflections.blogspot.com

Expect miracles.
That sounds good, like something worth doing, but what, exactly, does a miracle look like?
It's easy, really.
A miracle is the place where God injects Himself into our world. 
It's the place where He touches us, where He lets us get a glimpse, where He is, well, Himself in a world that is so not like Him.
And we should expect Him. He's here, all around, just waiting.

Lord, I have heard of your fame, I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our time. Make them known.--Habakkuk 3:2

This is not only a plea. It's an expectation of wonder, of revelation.
"Make yourself known," we say.
"With pleasure," He says, and then He reaches down.

We are God's people, and God is great. Why not expect great works from Him?
He loves us. Why not expect His touch?

The world will not change much. It will continue to disappoint and to fall into decay. We know that.
But God did not create us to drop us on our heads.
He has something wonderful for us in Himself. 
Anticipate Him.
Can you feel it?

What He Gave Me

Most people grow up with an expectation of disappointment or an overriding attitude of fear.
It's true.
I didn't know it for a long time but when I started to ask, almost everyone told me this.
Disappointment and fear: is this how we are meant to live?
No, of course not.

I grew up with an expectation of wonder. And I got it from my dad.
When we were young, Dad took us out for rides on Sunday afternoons (gas was 25 cents). He never told us where we were going, so we looked with anticipation around every corner, asking "Are we there yet?"  When we finally arrived, always at a place Dad had found just for the occasion--a waterfall, or a pristine sledding hill, or a remote Hopi village--he presented it to us with a flourish as if to say, "Isn't it wonderful?" And it always was.
And that was our framework for life.
He showed me what a really fine tomato tastes like.
He marked out the profile of the man in the moon.
He plunged my hands into yeasty, rising dough.
He rolled me down a hill fragrant with just-cut grass.
He stood me in front of President Lincoln and told me to think.
He showed me what the world looked like from the sky.
And it was all wonderful.

My father told me to be smart and careful, but not to be afraid.
And, more importantly, he taught me to LIVE. 
And, without meaning to, he taught me about God.

Do not fear, for I am with you--Isaiah 41:10
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity--2Timothy 1:7
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.--Psalm 27:13

Ninja Kittens: I Should Have Known the Danger

Photo credit: motohell.com

Everything sweet in this world has a hard edge that also wounds.
Like a cuddly kitten that suddenly strikes with a sharp sword, warm days turn bitterly cold or dangerously stormy. Dreadful error shadows good intentions. Lovers and friends fail. Years melt a debutante into a crone.  Every flower eventually develops a curling edge of brown that precurses deterioration. Those close to our heart die.
I can't help but wonder why life is said to be a gift when it harbors so many bitter disappointments and hurts. 

And then I remember God.
You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.--Psalm 4:7

God brings joy; life does not.
Life is the vehicle God made so that I could know the joy of loving Him who is perfection itself.
He gives me love so that I can return it.
He inspires hope so that I can survive life's inevitable wounds.

Whatever destruction people and circumstances bring, my God never changes.
No human being can make a promise they will keep. Knights in shining armor all eventually succumb to their own weaknesses. In the end, none of us can love one another through our worst moments. We will all shrink and retreat. The kitten will not only scratch...it will cut, and deeply.

But God stands firm. He knows I am dust and loves me still because I am the work of His own hands.
God alone brings me the joy of a new day, as long as I can recognize that joy as His and His alone.
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.--Psalm 90:14

This is the Kingdom of Heaven--Being a Child (Part 1)

Photo credit: www.documentingdelight.com

God tells us to be like little children:
Truly I tell you, unless you change and be like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.--Matthew 18:3

So, we need to be like children to get to heaven.  
This is important to God.
So, what does it look like for us to become like a child?

Imagine for a minute.
Lay on your bed and open your eyes. You are a child.
You have no plans.
The day spreads before you without schedule or obligation. Free and exciting.
You brim with expectation, ready for surprises.

Days do not have orders. You do not keep a calendar. You do not check your messages.
What happens to the details?
Why, your parents take care of them, of course.
They take care of everything you cannot.
Simple. And all based on trust. You trust them to take care of what you cannot.

As for you, the first bird of the morning sings, your mother takes down your favorite cereal bowl and fills it, your dad, fresh from the shower, gives you a hug.
Later, you may have to make your bed, or help with the dishes, but the hard stuff is in their hands. You don't have to worry about where to live or what to eat or keeping safe. They will.

Your days live ripe with expectation of the unknown and you can do so without worry. Someone cares for you.
This is the kingdom of heaven.

For Part 2, click HERE

I Will Delight...

Delight.
That's it.
That's what is missing from my life with Christ.

But I have so much to do, so much on my mind. I don't have time to be silly...
"I know," says God. "Delight in me anyway."
 
Our life in Christ feels like work.
It makes us sober and steadfast.
We spend time praying and studying and meditating.
None of these makes us laugh.

But, like in God Himself, we can have so much more.

He says to us:
"Giggle. Run to me with abandon. See the wonder in everything. Touch everything.
Here I am. Reach for me.
I delight in you, too."

Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.--Matthew 19:14
Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.--Matthew 18:3
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight.--Isaiah 42:1

Life does not always make me happy.
But, reaching for Christ, and the life He has planned for me in Him, well, how can I not smile?
Has God made you giggle lately?