Sticks and stones, and all that

Sticks and Stones and all that

Reader Scripture: Ephesians 4:29 – 32

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Sermon Scripture: James 3:2-6

“We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.  When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.  Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.  Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

 

As I typically do before a sermon on a topic, I spent some time digging into the Bible and poking around on Google.  I found that when you search out the word “gentle” or “gentleness” in the Bible, two major patterns emerge.   The first is that in the Old Testament, gentleness has a habit of popping up when we are receiving instruction about how we talk:

·         1 Kings 19:12 - “After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.  And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”

·         Proverbs 15:1 - “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

·         Proverbs 25:15 - “Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.”

In the New Testament it often pops up alongside humility

·         Matthew 11:29 - “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

·         2 Corinthians 10:1 - “By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you – I, Paul, who am 'timid' when face to face with you, but 'bold' toward you when away!”

·         Ephesians 4:2 - “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

Keep in mind that Paul in Galatians was speaking Greek, and the Old Testament is written in Hebrew.  Paul's usage of the word differs from how the writers of the Old Testament were using the word “gentle”, but the ideas of gentleness and words along with gentleness and humility do have common ground.

Let's look at how Paul is using the word.  The word for “gentleness” in Greek that Paul uses, especially where used elsewhere in the New Testament, carries with it implications related to power dichotomies.  When Paul is using this word in Galatians, he brings up this idea of gentleness as a fruit of the Spirit being siding with the underdogs, someone acting towards another with humility instead of the power they may have in the relationship.

Every relationship carries with it an element of power.  Parents have power over their children.  Doctors have power over their patients.  Teachers have power over their students, etc.  In Paul's time, citizens of Rome had power over everyone.  He should know – many scholars believe that he was a Roman citizen before declaring his faith in Christ and tossing his hat in the same ring as early Christians.  They base this belief in Acts 22, where we see a story of Paul about to get a beating from Roman officials after telling his conversion story to a crowd.  They said he was not fit to live and were hauling him off to be flogged when he asked if it was legal to do so to a Roman citizen.  Well, it wasn't.  In fact, it says that after Paul said he was born a Roman citizen, "those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately.  The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.” (Acts 22:29).  Paul knew well how much power Romans had in that area at that time. 

Paul also knew that the church to which he was speaking was a mix of Roman citizens and Jews, men, women, children, etc.  There were all kinds of power relationships at work here!  Men over women, adults over children, Romans over non-Romans.  This was a breeding ground for discontent and strife if everyone acted upon the power that their culture granted each person.  In fact, we see elsewhere in Acts a story where there were two groups of widows within the church, and one group was getting special treatment based on their ethnicity.  They had to appoint deacons in order to settle the dispute and ensure all were treated fairly. 

Into this situation Paul declared that gentleness is a fruit of the spirit.  Despite the fact that culture may grant people a position of power does not mean that we have to act upon it.  Jesus is consistently on the side of the underdog.

Jesus himself was God's very son, and he did not act upon that power in a way that we might expect.  The son of God rode into Jerusalem upon the back of a donkey.  He washed his disciples' feet.  He ate with beggars, tax collectors, and prostitutes.  He taught on hillsides.  He did the humble thing constantly and consistently.  He did not lord it over anyone that he was the son of God and because of this he was the bee's knees or the cat's meow.  He instead put himself in the position of a humble servant serving those who were considered the least and the lost.

But what has this to do with us?

A few weeks ago I was driving in downtown Red Wing.  One of my favorite musical artists is Josh Wilson and one of his CDs was playing in the car.  As I started praying about this sermon, Josh's song “Forest Fire” came on.  Now, let me share with you some of the lyrics:

                                    She's not half as strong, no/ As she'd like to let on
                                    She smiles, but she knows/ She can't take one more blow
                                    From the hate that she's heard for so long

                                    Our tongues are like matches/ Our ears are like trees
                                    Our words are like sparks/ On dry summer leaves
                                    It doesn't take much/ For the flames to rise/ And turn a soul/ Into a forest fire

I think that Wilson was basing these lyrics on our passage from James today.  Here James was speaking to “the twelve tribes scattered among the nations” (ch. 1, v. 1).  He tells them, and now us, that we all stumble many times, and that...

“the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body,sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 1:1)

My brother and I used to go at it.  We were at each others throats constantly, bickering, arguing.  I wanted his toys, he wanted my crayons, I wanted to sit there, he hit me!, she hit me!, he ate the donuts I wanted.......just constantly bickering at one another.  It was so bad that at one point John, the gentleman I spoke about last week who lived with my family for awhile, took me aside and said that he was going to move out if Daniel and I didn't cool it. 

One day Daniel and I were arguing....again.  We were calling each other nasty names that at the time we were too young to really understand, and saying things that hurt.  My dad came storming up to us, and we got quiet.  Oh boy, we were in for it!  I was sure we were going to be grounded for a week, not allowed to watch TV until we were 50, something like that.  Dad simply got out a Bible, sat us down, and turned to our passage from James.  He had Daniel and I read it aloud and then ask how it applied to our argument.  Well, that argument was over!  Not to say that we didn't argue anymore, James in this passage says that “we all stumble many times”, but in that moment we were humbled by that passage.

I don't think it is a coincidence that gentleness in the New Testament often comes up alongside how we talk with one another.  We've all heard the song “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”  I used to sing it as a kid when my brother was teasing me.  But is it true?  Heck no!  Words can hurt more than anything and be more insidious than any other form of abuse because words travel with you, even when those voicing terrible things are no where close by. 

James says that our tongues are like the bits put in horses mouths, like rudders that steer a boat – where the tongue leads, the body will follow.  Our actions will follow.  The actions of others may follow (especially our children who look to us to learn how to interact with others). 

When the New Testament was penned, God knew human beings would always struggle with power dichotomies.  He also knew that these dichotomies would pop up in how we talk with one another.  Regardless of who is involved in the exchange, when we use negative words or gossip about another person, or slander them behind their back, or bully them, or swear at one another we are forming a power relationship where one may not have yet existed.  We are saying “you are less of a human than me for THIS REASON”.  With our words, we try to make ourselves stronger than another, better than another, in front of another. 

But Jesus is always on the side of the underdog.  He said “the last shall be first and the first shall be last.”  Jesus is always on the side of the one who is being maligned, accused falsely, sworn at, verbally abused, etc.  His example of humility calls us to something else, something that turns power structures on their heads.  We are called to be different, to be set apart and different.  Power structures will always be with us.  There will always be one set of people set in front of another, in power over another.  People will always be involved in multiple power relationships. 

But we are called to be gentle.  Paul and James together exhort us to use our power for the benefit of the one who is downtrodden, the least and the lost....not to get ourselves ahead, to put ourselves first!

Beth Moore said that “gentleness is responsibility with power,” and she is right.  What if we use our words in a way that shows we see all people as equals?  What if we use our words for the sake of the downtrodden, advocating for their rights as human beings?  What if we truly recognize Christ in each other person we meet in a way that means we cannot help but to serve rather than to boast in our stance of power?

What if we truly press into a form of gentleness being the act of recognizing how we exercise power dichotomies with our language?  Let's consider this: if we truly see Jesus in the face of the “other”, can we really say that to or about him?  God does not love us because we may perhaps be at the top of some power ladder.  He loves us simply because we are.  He loves us despite the power ladders we may top.  He loves us so much that he sent his son, who not only died for us, but showed us a way to live where everyone is equal, where being truly gentle means using your power for the benefit of others.  He loves us so much that he daily teaches us how to be love, how to be gentle with one another.

It's all God's anyways.

For the least of these....

Scripture reader – Luke 10:25-29

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”



Sermon Scripture - Luke 10: 30-37

Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Many of us have heard the story of the Good Samaritan. A man on a trip was waylaid by robbers who left him for dead, presumably stealing anything he was carrying of value. He lay on the side of the road and was avoided by a priest and a Levite. Then another stranger happened along, and he “was moved with pity”, bandaged the man's wounds, put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and tended him, then paid for his care.

There are a huge number of things that could be said about this parable, a huge array of angles at which to view how Jesus answered the question “who is my neighbor?” I want to focus on the “why”. WHY would the good Samaritan go out of his way to help this stranger who was busted and bleeding on the road? Asking why might seem a little silly to us – but we do not live in those times. In those times, someone who was on the side of the road may have been luring a gentle hearted person into a trap so that HE could be waylaid by robbers. In those times, contact with a dead body was considered to be defiling, so the priest and the Levite may have assumed the man was dead and avoided him in order to not be defiled.

WHY did he help this man? Jesus says “But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.”

“When he saw him, he was moved with pity.” Jesus tells the story of a Samaritan helping a man on the road not because the Samaritan expected something in return, but because he was moved with pity at seeing the broken man's plight. He didn't expect anything in return....he simply helped the man because it was the right thing to do.

If patience is persistent love in the face of adversity...

If kindness is seeing ourselves in others and responding accordingly...

Then generosity is giving persistent love to everyone without expecting anything in return.

Generosity is about attitude.

Let's go back to the Good Samaritan. Presumably he was on his way to something as well if he was traveling on the road. Presumably he had a number of things he'd rather do, a number of other ways he'd rather use his resources. Yet he stopped and helped without expecting a return.

This is just what God does with us! He sees us broken and on the side of the road, wounded, bleeding, being passed over by others who can't trouble themselves with our plight. He bathes our wounds, sets us up on his ride, and brings us to healing. As he does, so he wants us to do.

But why is this story in Luke? A scholar named Mark Allan Powell put together a book about the Gospels. In one of his chapters on Luke, he states that:

“Luke wants to show his readers what God accomplishes through the lives of ordinary people to heighten their expectations of what God might accomplish through them. Luke wants his readers to believe that the possibility of God's will being accomplished in their lives an in the world is greater than they imagine.”

God works generosity through ordinary people. He shows his persistent, abundant love to people through ordinary people just like you and me.

This is me and my parents. Most of you know that I grew up in a cabin in the middle of the Alaskan forest, surrounded by trees and bears. Now, I mean “cabin”....Lincoln log style, one-room structure that flexed during earthquakes and kept us snug as bugs in rugs during the winter. Unfortunately, logs are rather flammable. When I was 9 years old, our cabin went up in flames in the middle of the night...of course in the middle of winter! Thankfully, we had some other structures on the property and we spent the night in one of those other structures. The next morning, my dad had to spend some time getting our snow machine working again because it had been parked close enough to the cabin that the side melted in a little bit. Once it was working, he went to town to let people know what had happened and to get help.

He came back with some food and supplies, the mail, and John.

Now, John is a man whom Dad had just met when he went to town for help. John was a man whom Dad had heard people whispering about, about what a “no good” he was, how no one trusted him, etc. People avoided him. Dad saw him, took pity on him, and took him to our house so that we could help him.

Wait a minute Dad, we just had a house fire...we lost everything....and you come home with someone who needs our help? Surely someone else can help him!

I think it was my Mom who pointed out to Dad that we had just lost everything, how could we help someone? Dad said we had another structure on the property where John could stay, and he gave the same answer he gave every time he helped someone and others asked why - “it's all God's anyways.”

My Dad often has the attitude of true generosity. It is all God's anyways. He saw John in an hour of John's desperate need, and he put him on our snow machine and brought him home with us that we might tend him and help him, without expecting a single thing from him in return. I now call John “brother”.

That is true generosity. True generosity is seeing Jesus in the reflection and responding with compassion, using “our resources” to tend the cares of those in need freely and abundantly without expecting anything in return.

Imagine you are homeless and being served at a soup kitchen. There are three dishes: peas, potatoes, and chicken. The peas are being served by a middle aged woman who is well to-do, who is there because she wants another feather in her social cap. The potatoes are being served by another middle aged woman, but she is there because she got in trouble with the law and has to be there to serve community service, or her parole officer is going to report her and she will likely be incarcerated again. The chicken is being served by a woman who wants to be there, who truly loves people who are homeless and wants to help. Where does true generosity live? Which station would be your favorite?

BUT HOW? WHAT DO WE DO??

Be truly generous – help anyone in need without expecting anything in return. Dahmon and I have often helped out our friends financially. We used to say that our tithing was in the form of helping friends when they were in need. Recently a friend whom we helped out came into some financial stability, and talked about “paying us back”, and was totally shocked when I said “you don't owe us anything.”

We are to be generous because it is simply the right thing to do, not because we will get something in return. If we are expecting anything in return, we are doing it for the wrong reasons, with the wrong attitude. The expected return doesn't have to come from the person whom we have aided. Sometimes we expect returns from those around that person, or from society for being “such a good person”.

But we are to do good things such that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing (Matthew 6:3). Such that we are storing up treasure in Heaven, not here on Earth.

This is not to say that acknowledging the good someone has done is a bad thing. Certainly, that is not what I'm saying at all. In a world where darkness would squelch whatever light shines, it is not bad to acknowledge good things. By all means, extend thanks and support when you see someone or an organization that is being generous.

The point is that our generosity must not come from a place of “look at me, I did XYZ”, hence getting our reward here on Earth. It must come from a place of recognizing ourselves and Jesus in our neighbors and persisting in tending their needs, using our resources to love and help our neighbors as God has loved and helped us – freely and abundantly and without an expectation of returns. Just as the good Samaritan did with the man he saw on the road. Just as God does with us.

Gimme patience right now!

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (NIV)

Sermon Scripture: 1 Samuel 1:12-20

There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

Now this man used to go up year by year from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

Ah, patience. As you may know, Dahmon and I have been traveling through a series on the 9 fruits of the Spirit as listed by Paul in Galatians. Last week Dahmon spoke on peace. We've also discussed joy and love. This week we move to patience.

Patience. Authors in the New Testament have a habit of using Old Testament figures as examples for patience (James cites Job, for example), and we shall do the same here. In the Scripture reading for today, we read about Elkanah.

Now, Elkanah was a man with two wives: Hannah and Peninnah. Here we find him and his family during their yearly pilgrimage to the temple in Shiloh to offer worship and offerings to the Lord. According to the Scripture, Hannah was the picture of dejection and miserableness because she was barren. Peninnah, after all, had “sons and daughters”, and delighted in lording them over Hannah – the text says she provoked Hannah severely.

Children in that time were status and assurance for the future. Being barren threatened Hannah's very life for two major reasons. 1) Under the law of the time, Elkanah could legally divorce her for not bearing him sons and fulfilling her role as a woman, and 2) if Elkanah were to die suddenly, Hannah would have no male to support her. For Elkanah's part, he had no male heir from Hannah, which was disastrous for his part of the family tree.

Anyways, Hannah was miserable because she could not bear children. To rub salt in an already open wound, the fact that Hannah's name is listed first when the wives are mentioned likely means that she was Elkanah's first wife. Though polygamy was not uncommon during their time, some scholars think it is likely that Elkanah took Peninnah as a wife after Hannah proved unable to bear him sons.

And bear him sons Peninnah did...but where did that leave Hannah?

Miserable. Not eating. Weeping. Worrying Elkanah, who responded to her in love despite the fact that she could not bear him sons and despite the fact that she was surely hard to be around.

Poor Elkanah! Surely his was not a peaceful life, as one of his wives was constantly dejected and lamenting her condition, while the other was gloating and being difficult to the other! Imagine what his home life must have been like – this is like living with sibling rivalry to a whole new level!

Yet he responded to Hannah with nothing but a love that went against the divorce that his culture said would have been perfectly permissible...even expected. Scripture says Elkanah would do his level best to show Hannah how much he loved her: when he was doling out special portions of a particular food, he gave twice as much to Hannah as he gave to Peninnah. He tries to encourage her to eat, to not be so sad. He loves her so much! He even asks her if he isn't worth as much to her as ten sons, indicating that she is such to him. It seems like he did this every year....

He loved her dearly and showed it despite the fact that she was barren in a society where being barren did not mean whole. Where being barren was grounds for divorce.

Elkanah is the one at whom we are looking today as an example of patience.

What do you think about when you hear the word “patience”?

Patience is often defined as “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.” Patience is enduring under difficult circumstances, exhibiting self-control and calm in the face of distress and/or waiting for something. In this context, patience was Elkanah loving Hannah through the difficult situation and showing her that love despite her less-than-whole societal status in a society that said he could ditch her with no repercussions for not giving him sons.

Isn't this what God does?

Despite all of our shortcomings, despite us constantly demanding and requesting things of God in the midst of our despair, despite society saying that we are not whole, or somehow unclean, or not worth love and patience, despite our abundant impatience, despite all of this God says “I love you and let me show you how!”

God responds to us in love when the world says He shouldn't.

What if part of patience, not all of it – but part of it, is exactly that: responding to a situation in love rather than frustration when the world gives you every right be frustrated. “The fruit of the Spirit is patience.” Part of the fruit of the Spirit is responding to a difficult situation in an unexpected way, one saturated with love and grace and lacks impulsive reactions that we later regret.

I have a younger brother named Daniel. I love him dearly, but he tries my patience...and don't siblings (spouses, friends, children) know just exactly how to push our buttons to try our patience!

A few years back, my parents were living in Arizona. My brother and I decided to drive down there from MN to visit them for Christmas. It was a great drive...but when you put two people in a car together for several days and add a flat tire, patience wears thin! On our drive back home (which took 3 days), one of our tires was losing air...fast! Whenever we stopped for gas, we had to add air to the tire. Obviously something was wrong, but it wasn't until we stopped for the night that we saw the problem – a nail. We had some fix-a-flat...but then started arguing over who was going to put it into the tire. I wanted to because I'd never done so before and wanted to learn a new skill. Daniel wanted to because he had done so before and he just wanted to go in the hotel and get some sleep. In a beautiful display of lack of patience with one another, our argument escalated until we were screaming at each other and I was literally stamping my foot in frustration like a three year old having a tantrum. My brother grabbed the car keys and reared his hand back like he was going to throw them in the bushes. I grabbed his hand and said “STOP!”....and we paused.

Now, people often tell me that I have infinite patience, but in that moment I was fresh out of it for my brother. I was tired and angry...so was Daniel. Two people provoking each other mightily had taken a molehill life circumstance and turned it into a mountain because we were responding to each other in anger. Doing so had at that moment robbed us of our love, joy, peace...and patience. I let go of Daniel's hand and turned around for a moment to recollect myself, and to pray...for patience. With God's help, I was then able to face my brother again and explain why I had gotten angry, apologize, learn from it, and move on. Eventually we took turns putting in the fix-a-flat, but that wasn't the point. The point was that we needed to reorient ourselves to God in the middle of a very frustrating, patience-robbing situation.

Elkanah was in the midst of a frustrating, patience-robbing situation. One of his wives was despondent and refused to be comforted despite his best efforts. His other wife was intentionally being irritating and gloating about her children. And this was a situation that endured for a long time. Scripture says “so it went on year after year.” Imagine the scene – constant bickering, little peace, loud noises!

But what was his response?

Scripture does not say that Elkanah divorced Hannah for not bearing him sons, which was certainly his right under Hebrew law at the time. It does not say that he yelled at the women for arguing. It says that he responded in love. He responded to a despondent woman by showering her with love instead of losing his patience. He persevered in showering her with that love - “so it went on year after year”.

This is one aspect of what Paul is talking about when he says patience is fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit working in us is available to help us cultivate the practice of responding to a difficult situation in love rather than anger, frustration, etc.

I'm not saying this is easy. Turning away from my brother and reorienting myself through prayer instead of clobbering him wasn't easy – and goodness knows I've clobbered him in the past. I'm sure it wasn't easy for Elkanah to consistently respond to Hannah in love (at least according to what we know about him from Scripture).

The key is that patience as fruit of the Holy Spirit means that it is something that God wants to help us develop, and that He lives out in us. He is ready to help us show that persistent love in any situation. Patience is that pause, that deep breath, the “mommy time-out” to calm down before responding to a child who has been irksome. Patience is the husband who responds to his crabby wife not by hiding from her or being crabby in return, but by listening, hugging, and asking what can be done. Patience is the love response when the crabby response is easier.

Patience is recognizing that we do not have to depend solely on our own strength to show persistent love. We can lean on God, recognizing that He is the source of a love that defies societal expectations. That is kind of what Jesus is all about.

Joy to the world...no, really!

I delivered this as a sermon at Lake City United Methodist Church a couple of weeks ago.  I'm going to start posting the manuscripts of my sermons here.  Now, I tend to stray from the manuscript depending on where the Spirit leads, so what is preached is not word-for-word what is shown here.  That being said:

JOY to the world....no, really!

READINGS → 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18, Acts 16:22-26

Google says joy is defined as “a feeling of great pleasure and happiness”, but this gets at what we do constantly as a society: confuse joy and happiness. Happiness is largely the result of external circumstances. We have a new car, so we are happy. We had a nice meal, so we are happy. We hear all of the time “money can't buy happiness”, but we know that isn't entirely true. Money can buy things that provide happiness, or at least a sense of happiness, but that happiness is limited and not God-focused.

Joy is something internal, something that comes from the hope of God, something freely given along with the freedom of Christ. Joy is knowing that no matter what the external circumstance, God is bigger than every boogey man of life, every circumstance in life, and loves no matter what. Joy is laying claim to God's promise that he is present at all times, in all circumstances, to all of his children, no matter what. Joy is knowing God has better things in store. Joy is hope.

Let's take a look at Paul and Silas for a moment. To set this up a bit, Paul and Silas have been traveling around doing ministry work in an area where that ministry work was not really appreciated. They had just freed a slave girl who was conducting divination from the demons that allowed her to do so, and irritated the girl's owners, who had them arrested for robbing them of the income they'd received from the girl divining things for others. Anyways:

Acts 16:22-24: “The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave order to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them in prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them in the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.”

So Paul was with Silas in prison. They'd had better days. They had been following the will and call of God, and because of some of their work, they'd been stripped, beaten, severely flogged...and all before being thrown in jail. After being tossed in jail, they were put in an inner cell and chained up.

Imagine this with me: they were sore, bruised, bleeding, and chained up.

How often do we feel like that?

Oh sure, not many of us have been pulverized before being thrown in prison, but life pulverizes people on a daily basis. External circumstances flog us: I have a friend whose mother just passed away unexpectedly. Another friend has a little boy about Drexel's age who was just diagnosed with cancer. I know people who regularly struggle to put food on the table. External circumstances flog us.

Internal circumstances flog us as well. Mental illness buffets away at our stability and resolve to follow Christ. Low self-esteem erodes our ability to fully feel like a worthwhile human being. Personally, I struggle with anxiety a great deal, and this is often resulting from a lack of knowing what is coming. (get animated) I don't know what is coming and so can't structure this thing around certain anticipations, and I don't know where things are going to be or who is going to have done what or what is going to happen....and it robs me of my joy and fills me with fear. Worry worry worry.

And isn't that what regularly robs us of our joy? Fear, uncertainty, anger, worry.

And yet Jesus desires that we be filled with joy? In the midst of all this? What?

Let's return to Paul and Silas. They were chained up, beaten, bloodied, bruised. They were having a bad day. But then it says:

Acts 16:25-26 - “About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.”

Despite them having a terrible, terrible day, being in a place where they were literally beaten and bruised, Paul and Silas had the audacity to continue believing in this great big God. Not only believing in God, but singing praises to him despite their chains. This is an audacious thing to do! To choose to praise in the midst of the darkness is hard to do. Yet Paul and Silas did so and experienced freedom in a quite literal chains-opening-up kind of way.

Corrie ten Boom is also a woman who did just this. She and her family were Christians during the Holocaust who lived in an area affected by the Holocaust.  They were arrested by the Nazi police for daring to use their home to hide Jews in order to smuggle them out of the area.

In her book The Hiding Place, Corrie talks about an experience with living out the passage from Thessalonians that the reader read today. Corrie and her sister Betsy had just transferred to a new barrack in their concentration camp. Corrie was upset because fleas covered the place, and had been lamenting their living situation. Betsy had encouraged Corrie, based on their earlier reading of the verse from Thessalonians, to praise God in the midst of their difficult circumstances...and Betsy is praising God for everything: that she and her sister weren't separated, that their Bible hadn't been found and confiscated, that the women being so tightly packed in the barracks meant that many more would hear the word of God when they did their nightly devotional. Then Betsy began to praise God for the fleas that Corrie had lamented.

I've condensed it a little bit, but these are her words:

HER WORDS:

"'Thank You,' Betsie went on serenely, 'for the fleas and for--'
"The fleas!” This was too much. 'Betsie, there's no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.'
"'Give thanks in all circumstances,' she quoted. It doesn't say, 'in pleasant circumstances.' Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.
"And so we stood between tiers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong."
...she goes on to talk about reading the Bible with other women:
"At first Betsie and I called these meetings with great timidity. But as night after night went by and no guard ever came near us, we grew bolder. So many now wanted to join us that we held a second service after evening roll call. There... we were under rigid surveillance, guards in their warm wool capes marching constantly up and down. It was the same in the center room of the barracks: half a dozen guards or camp police always present. Yet in the large dormitory room there was almost no supervision at all. We did not understand it.
"One evening I got back to the barracks late from a wood-gathering foray outside the walls. A light snow lay on the ground and it was hard to find the sticks and twigs with which a small stove was kept going in each room. Betsie was waiting for me, as always, so that we could wait through the food line together. Her eyes were twinkling.
"'You're looking extraordinarily pleased with yourself,' I told her.
"'You know, we've never understood why we had so much freedom in the big room,' she said. 'Well--I've found out.'
"That afternoon, she said, there'd been confusion in her knitting group about sock sizes and they'd asked the supervisor to come and settle it.
"But she wouldn't. She wouldn't step through the door and neither would the guards. And you know why?"
"Betsie could not keep the triumph from her voice: 'Because of the fleas! That's what she said, "That place is crawling with fleas!'"

Now, I can't say that if I'd been in the same situation, I would have given thanks for fleas. I mean...ugh! The same goes for mosquitoes! :) And shrews.

But Betsy had a point – the Bible says to give thanks in all circumstances. Not for all circumstances, but in all circumstances: the good and the bad. This is what Paul and Silas did. Beaten and bloody, they gave thanks by singing and praying to the God who was bigger than their awful circumstances.

This is why I believe joy is tied strongly to HOPE. Claiming joy in the midst of the darkness is audaciously telling the bad things in life “God is bigger than you. God loves me. This dark situation does not define me, I am defined as a child of Christ who is bigger than death and darkness!”

As I thought and prayed about this during the past couple of weeks, it struck me that just as joy is tied to hope, it is also tied to POWER. God knew we'd be in the midst of difficult circumstances that make us go “the fleas?! Really?!” We were never promised an easy life as Christians. It is not a surprise to God when we are in a hurting place. God is not surprised by the things that cause the hurting places. God is not surprised that when we are in the midst of the hurting place, joy seems far away.

But what do we allow to have POWER over our being? It is so easy to allow negative circumstances to hold power over us, to allow ourselves to wallow and focus on the negative. It is so easy to be caught up in the bad things that happen to and around us and allow the darkness to have power over our mood and being.

But that is NOT what Jesus desires for our life. He came and loved on us and continues to do so in order that we might see that darkness is NOT the most powerful thing. This is part of the beauty of the Creator whom we worship here this morning and always. He sees those things that cause our hurting places, that throw our hearts in prison, and he desires to give us hope, to lay claim to His promises and wrap ourselves in his POWER, the POWER to overcome the difficult things and hold tight to the promise of light to come.

Now, this is not to say that reacting to the difficult things in life with sadness is a bad thing, or that it is not okay to feel discouraged. Even Jesus was sad sometimes. In Luke it says he cried when Lazarus died. He weeps with those who weep, and mourns with those who mourn, cries out with those who cry out. Daring to claim joy is not a flippant “just smile and everything will feel better” kind of thing. It is, however, a strength that comes from holding tight to the promise of Jesus Christ. Discomfort and sorrow at the difficult things in life is a sign that something in the world is not as it should be, and it is okay to react as we would naturally as humans.

The difference is that as Christians, we have a hope outside of ourselves, outside of our circumstances, that calls us to praise in the midst of the difficulty that we might experience joy, true joy.

Now, I've gotten annoyed at God in regards to this passage. When I am in the middle of a dark time, oftentimes the last thing I want to do is praise and give thanks. Really? Now you want this of me? The question that nagged at the back of my brain about this passage is “why?!” Why are we told to praise in all circumstances? And I always have been the “why child”....

So I prayed, and asked God “why?” He has got to be used to that question from me by now.

As I prayed about this question, I kept thinking about something that scientists discovered while back. They found that when you smile, it literally chemically improves your mood. There is something about the act of smiling that releases endorphins in a person's brain that literally make that person feel better.

What if the same is true for joy?

What if joy is a habit?

What if practicing joy, praising God in the midst of the difficult things, is a way for us to simply feel more joy? To claim right now a tiny bit of the Kingdom of God that exists despite the difficult things? By practicing joy, by practicing hope, by having the audacity to truly believe in God's promise to never leave or forsake us, we feel His love and promise that much more.

Yet I know that in the midst of the difficulty of life, it is the hardest thing in the world to claim God's power over darkness. Oftentimes we need help to see the hope. The point is not to be flippant and somehow say “it could be worse”. The point is to help people practice joy, practice turning the fleas into a praise. This is part of why we were created to be in community with one another, that when we are experiencing nothing but darkness, we can call on someone else to show us the light. That when we see someone else who is experiencing nothing but darkness, we can help show them the light.

But what does that joy look like? For Paul, Silas, and Corrie ten Boom, and elsewhere in the Bible, it is praising and giving thanks out loud in the midst of the pain. For me sometimes it has been a quiet “I trust you, Lord” when the world feels like it's about to cave in. Once, it was laughing when threatened with decapitation by a tired professor for being cheerful at 8am on a Monday. It is not always the huge, exuberant display, though that can be how it is displayed. It is about claiming the power of God's love and light in the midst of a world that would enjoy nothing better than to cloak you in the power of darkness.

I can sense God right now saying “I see your hurt. I see the things that rob you of joy, both the things that others know about, and the things secreted away within you, robbing you of joy even as you sit in the pew. I see it. I know it. I am bigger than it. I love you right here, right now, no matter what.”

God wants you to experience his love profoundly. When we do, we often cannot help but praise him no matter where you are. He loves you desperately, and that, his precious beautiful gem of a child, will never, ever change. Find strength in God, a God who loves you more than you can comprehend, who is bigger than those things that cause you pain. Let his joy and love for you be your strength and hope. Know that he will never leave you, your hope and trust placed in him is never misplaced.

INVITATION: I invite you to think of those things that rob you of joy, and bring them before God right now. Let's have a moment of silent prayer as we lay those joy-robbers at the feet of cross and claim God's victory over pain.

What's in your ear?

Recently a friend included me in a discussion on Facebook talking about what Christians should be listening to musically.  It was super interesting to hear what everyone had to say, and here are my two cents:

This question makes me think of a particular bit from Scripture - Romans 14:

"14 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. 2 Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 3 Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

5 Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6 Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

7 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” 12 So then, each of us will be accountable to God. 13 Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let your good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. 19 Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for you to make others fall by what you eat; 21 it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble. 22 The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God. Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve. 23 But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat, because they do not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."

I listen to nearly everything and anything: pop, mild rap (heavy rap doesn't interest me, neither does heavy metal or screamo), Country, Classical, jazz, Christian Contemporary, soundtracks, etc. I am also very determined and resolute in my faith in God. I love God more than breath itself.

The Scripture passage I quoted above perfectly describes my gut instinct regarding this question. It says to let conscience be our guide - let the Holy Spirit work and guide! Does your conscience say "don't listen to that music"? Then don't listen to it! But don't pass judgment upon those who do. Also, make sure that what you are doing is for the Kingdom of God. Let's think about this a little more....

First, pay attention to what the music is doing to you. Does the music put your mind in a dark place and think unholy thoughts about sex, the opposite gender, life, etc? Then don't listen to it. Does heavy thump-thump-thump music distract you to the point that you generally speed while listening to it in the car? Then don't listen to it. Does it make you want to punch something? Then don't listen to it.

Second, why are you listening to that music? If everything we do is to glorify God, as the Scripture passage above would seem to indicate, then how is your listening to that music in that moment glorifying God? If there is absolutely no way this is possible, then maybe don't listen to it.

Third, are you passing judgment upon those who listen to music you deem unacceptable? Not liking specific forms of music is fine, but don't judge those who do listen to it. You might not like country, whilst the twang runs through my blood. Others might not like 38th Parallel, while the beat and lyrics run deep through my mind and draw me to God in a way that traditional worship music cannot.

Fourth, what is in the music? I've heard people say they avoid explicit, graphic music. Praise God, hallelujah! So do I. Pay attention to not only how the music sounds, but also WHAT the lyrics are. There have been many times that I've loved the SOUND of the song but abhorred the LYRICS - there is a difference. I have a hard time when people say all hard metal or rap is bad....no isn't. There are Christian hard metal bands, just as there are Christian rap bands/singers. It depends on the letter and intent of the lyrics. If the music is explicit or demeans another person, then avoid it, but don't judge those who do not.

Fifth, would you be comfortable listening to that song with your grandmother, priest, and Sunday School teacher in the room? I say this tongue-in-cheek, but it's true! If you aren't comfortable listening to it around those who are supposed to uphold moral character, then don't listen to it.

I listen to anything and everything except rap and screamo (and those essentially because I can't understand the lyrics). Youth nowadays will have little to say to you unless you can intelligently discuss their interests, and one of their major interests is music...all music.

My son nearly made me cry

Sometimes I call myself a budding theologian.  I've been through undergraduate and graduate school, read more books than many women 200 years ago (and many women today) would have been allowed near, have been to different countries, am well-versed in Biblical history and theological importance, yadda yadda yadda.

My 1-year-old son totally schooled me.  He nearly made me cry.

He nearly made me cry because one simple little act contained so much theological importance that my heavy heart could barely handle the tangible "I love you" God sent through my son.

You see, I've had a rough few months.  No, I'm not gonna go into the gritty details here and now.  Let's just say that a fair share of bad news has come my way in the past couple of months.  I also work with children from difficult homes with psychological disorders.  Hard times and stress surround me on a daily basis.  Being the emotional sponge that I am, those hard times and stress became my hard times and stress.

(Right now fly buzzing around my head is causing me hard times and stress, but of a different sort.)

I work a lot, so during the workweek I'm lucky to get two hours with my son every day because for now one or the other of my two jobs claims the rest of my time as our little family focuses on getting Dahmon (my husband) through graduate school.  In the evenings, Drexel and I have a routine: bathtime, changing into jammas, songs/cuddles, sleepy time.

A month ago I underwent minor surgery to remove what turned out to be a ganglion cyst from my left foot.  This surgery left behind a 2 inch scar that is still healing, so it is rather red and still sore.

During bathtime, Drexel (the cutie patootie on the left) generally decides bathwater looks better on the floor, and does his level best to test this theory.  Momma (me) disagrees with Drexel and does her level best to avert his determined efforts to moisten the floor (suddenly I'm thinking of Gideon and his dew-soaked floors....).  Generally this is attempted by me putting my foot or hand in the tub as a target for Drexel's water cup.

A couple of days ago, I stuck my left foot in the tub.  The foot with the scar.  This was a day I was feeling particularly down in the dumps and crabby.  Drexel usually just dumps water on my foot and gleefully goes about re-filling the water cup he plays with in the tub.  This day, he grabbed my foot, looked at me, turned my foot until he could see the new scar (which up until that point was facing the other direction), and then poured the water on my foot.

Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.

My son not only washed my foot, but intentionally washed my new scar.

Despite my failings and all the screw-ups that have been my fault the last few weeks, God still loves.  In the midst of the chaos, hurt, and confusion, God is still there whispering "give me your scars, I'll wash you bright as new."

God spoke through a 1 year old who thought he was just playing.

The Kingdom belongs to such as these...

Trusting God with money

My brother and I grew up in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere in the Denali foothills in Alaska.  Log cabin = no running water unless we ran with buckets to the creek to get it, electricity from a generator, drinking water from rain/snow, monthly trips to get groceries in bulk, etc.  Log cabin = no stable employment for either of my parents, which meant we were on welfare for the bulk of my formative years.

When I was 9, we moved to Fairbanks (a city in the middle of Alaska) for a few months so my parents could go take come college classes.  It was the first time my brother and I had ever attended public school.  Some classmates "kindly" informed me that my family was poor.  Poor?  Really?  My family?  Honestly, it was the first time I'd ever thought about it.

After that, I really thought about it...especially when I noticed that many of my classmates talked about vacations my parents couldn't afford, wore fancy clothes, rode in cars that were less than 20 years old, etc.  And all because of this pesky thing called money?

I thought I knew what it was to be poor, to have not among a lot of people who have.

Then I went to Haiti.

The beautiful people of Haiti took over my mind and heart despite the fact I was only there for a week two years ago.  Their dignity in the face of true poverty, their "degaje" ("make it work") frame of mind...I still dream about Haiti on a fairly regular basis. A huge part of my heart remains with the smiling faces of the children who know what true poverty is like.  (YOU CAN READ ABOUT MY TRIP TO HAITI HERE.)

I hate money.  To me it is a loathsome thing that causes unhealthy obsessions, destroys relationships and fellowship, emphasizes class divides, etc.  I hate money.  Yes, hate money...especially as money and greed are the major reasons for many of the issues that cause true poverty throughout the world which affect children.  When children are affected negatively by money and greed, this Nora becomes very cranky.  /grumble

Unfortunately, money is a necessary thing in our society as trading goods and services just doesn't work in the kind of global market in which we live.  I hate money, but I see it's necessity.

I hate money, but it stresses me out greatly because I'm a welfare child.  I grew up in a state of financial insecurity, hate the thought of being in debt, and hate the thought of my child having to worry about money in the same way I worried as a child once I realized my family was "poor".

It is very hard for me to trust God with money.  What if....someone gets sick and needs to go to the doctor and we can't afford it and can't afford stuff to make sure they stay alive?  What if Drexel breaks something and we have to pay for that?  What if the small tumor being removed from my foot next month is cancerous and we have loads of unanticipated medical bills in our near future?  What if I get in another car accident (I was t-boned last year, totaling my car though everyone involved was fine)....what if what if what if...............................................

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Matthew 6:25 - 34

A few days ago, an organization that I keep up with - Real Hope for Haiti - posted THIS.  I suggest you go to the link and read the story for yourself, but here it is in a nutshell: a fire in a living area caused third-degree burns across the bodies of six young children.

Children.

Fire.

One of these precious children did not survive for an entire day following the fire.  Their parents want them cared for at the Real Hope For Haiti clinic rather than make the arduous journey to Port au Prince to the hospital.  The post says "for many reasons" the parents want their children cared for at RHFH.  My suspicion?  The children will be loved at RHFH and the parents know it.

I visited RHFH when I was in Haiti.  It broke me.  The amazing people at RHFH spend their lives caring for the broken, truly poor, truly sick, etc.  They clothe the naked, feed the hungry, give water to the thirst, figuratively teach the Haitians how to fish so they can feed themselves, etc.  They also tend to the medical needs of precious Haitian men, women, and children.  Haitians will walk for days to get to RHFH because they know they will get good, loving care from people who truly care about them and their mortal as well as immortal lives.

Where am I going with all of this?

As soon as I saw the post about the children who were burned, I flashed back to the two house fires that I have experienced (one when I was 8 and one when I was 16....let's just say I was more than a tad nervous when I was 24!).  In order to escape from the second fire, I literally had to jump through a wall of fire that had engulfed the front of the cabin where I had been snoozing the night away.  I was uninjured save a small blister on my hand and some hair that flashed off when I went through the flame (these fires are the reason for one of my tattoos...but that is a story for another day).

These children were not so lucky.  They have more than a small blister.

They literally had plastic melted into their hair.   I cannot imagine their physical and emotional pain, nor that of the adults in their lives seeing them in so much pain.  (Come quickly, Lord Jesus!)

As soon as I saw this post, I heard God's patient whisper "you are going to help them."  Awesome!  So I'll pray for them, post for others to donate to their upcoming care, and my obligation is fulfilled...right?!  Right?!  "You are going to put your money where your mouth is and donate as well."

Lord, have you gone and lost your divine mind?

Not kidding, that was my thought.  : )  Doesn't God know that my husband and I are squeaking by to make ends meet?  Doesn't He know that we have over $35,000 in outstanding loan payments (car, student loans)?  Doesn't He know we have a son to care for?

"Don't you know you can trust me?"

Last year, God gave me very clear instructions to quit my job.  I balked at these instructions, hemming and hawing that He/it/she/whatever had certainly gone and went nuts because that was the absolute WORST timing to quit my job....Dahmon and I were going to have a baby a month later, after all!  How could God expect me to quit my job, especially since I didn't have another one lined up?!?!?  I'm a very get-things-in-order-so-you-don't-have-to-worry kind of person.  God is, however, a very lean-on-me-so-you-don't-have-to-worry kind of entity.  Quit a job a month before a baby arrives when my job was slightly more than half our monthly income.  Not to mention the fact that both my husband and I were in graduate school.  Right.

"Right."

I argue with God.  He knows when I'm perturbed by instructions, so why try to hide it?  I argued with Him about my job for a couple of weeks.  More and more things kept coming up that confirmed I was supposed to quit.  During worship at church, I asked God what the he** He was thinking, and felt a hug just as sure as I feel one from my hubby when he's being cuddly.  God hugged me.  And He was STRONG...and bigger than money.

I quit my job about 3 weeks later (okay, so we might have argued a little more).

Back to now, I read about these precious children and immediately was plunked into flashbacks of the house fires I've experienced.  I was also, however, plunked into memories of how God cared for my little family after I followed His instructions.  Like I said, I quit my job 3 weeks after "the hug".  My son was born 3 days later.  The next week I was back in class while classmates and friends watched my baby during class hours so I could finish the last few weeks of my master's degree (in ministry, fyi).

Money was tight.

Very tight.

Suddenly a lot of those unexpected little bills that peck away at bank accounts quit happening (not sure my car had ever run smoother).  People to whom we'd lent money unexpectedly paid us back (when we lend money to friends in need, it is with a "pay us back if you can, but if you can't, it is all God's anyways" frame of mind).  My husband was able to get overtime fairly regularly so our monthly income from his paycheck was supplemented.  We squeaked by through pinching nickles out of pennies, but we survived and I learned a powerful lesson about trusting in God (I am now employed again at two part-time jobs that I love and which allow me more time with my son than a 9-5 job + commute would have).

"You are going to put your money where your mouth is and donate as well."

*inhale*  Okay, so how much?  As I thought about how much my husband and I would donate for these precious children, I kept feeling nudged to get uncomfortable. Oh sure, we could give $20 and call it good, but that would not make us uncomfortable.  We could give $50 and call it good, but that would not make us uncomfortable.  I prayed and asked God to give me a number that HE wants us to give.  He did.  It made me uncomfortable.

Now, I don't mean uncomfortable in the financially-not-able-to-make-bills kind of way.  I mean in the way that means we can't overpay our student loans this month at all and in a way that means $$ will be tight this month.  I mean in a way that makes this welfare kid who constantly worries about money squirm like a worm on a hotplate.  Lord, you want us to give HOW much?  Are you crazy?!

I presented the entire situation to Dahmon, my husband.  Now, he's the kind of person who would willingly live in a shack and eat beans and rice the rest of his life if it meant that he could use his finances to help someone.  Therefore it did not surprise me when I jokingly said we could dump our savings into this cause and his response was "I'd be fine with that."  We prayed again, and the number God gave me earlier remained the same.

"I protected you before.  What makes you think you cannot trust me now?"

The Lord of all Creation, of water, earth, and skies, has proven His trustworthiness time and time again.  When I freaked about money in the past, He provided.  Now we are in a position where we can help some precious children.  The amount makes our pocketbook cringe, but isn't that kind of the point?  If we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, if the greatest commandments are to love God and then to love one another, if love means clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, providing ointment and linens to the sick, how can we not give?  And how can we not get out of our comfort zone in such a way gladly, knowing that God means it to help His precious children?  If the widow Jesus saw could gladly give all she had out of her poverty (Mark 12:41-44), how can we not give as much as we possibly can when there are children in need?

Typically every month, we put whatever surplus funds we have on our student loans to get those darned things paid down.  This month, that will not be possible.  Priorities are different.  These children and this organization needs help now.  Our student loans will hound our bank account for a few more years, but these kids are blistered and hurting NOW.  And so on our table sits a check for the amount God told us to give, waiting to go out to Real Hope on Monday.

I don't write this to be all "hey look at us, we are giving money away to the poor".  I write it to be a witness to God's greatness in the midst of flames.  I write it to hopefully help push you out of your comfort zone a bit and think about how you can use your blessings to help others.  God will provide!  We are meant to find our wealth in God, community, and relationships, not in things...especially not that loathsome money thing.

We are blessed to be a blessing.  Lean on God's greatness and step out in faith.  Make a donation today, help people today in a way that pushes you out of your comfortable bubble a bit.  God is waiting for you to partner with Him to love on His precious creations.  We may feel uncomfortable when we are told to give more than we are willing, but whose money is it anyways?

How much would you want people to help if it were your child/mother/sister/nephew/self who had been burned nose to toes and needed help with medical expenses?  Loving your neighbor as yourself means helping that much!!!!!!!  and more!!!!!!!

TO DONATE TO REAL HOPE FOR HAITI, VISIT THEIR WEBSITE BY CLICKING THIS LINK (By the way, PayPal is a good resource but they take a percentage out of donations made via their website (processing fees).  To ensure all of your $ goes to RHFH, it is best to send a check).


By the way, I took all of the pictures in this post while at the Real Hope for Haiti clinic in Cazale, Haiti in January 2011.  And just because I think God's creations are so awesome...here is a picture of an awesome bug that looked like a leaf that I saw at the clinic.  Seriously, I nearly flicked this "leaf" off the balcony until I saw the leaf had legs.  : )