God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. Luke 2:17-18

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.

Ready, set, write!

Years ago, after being diagnosed with cancer, I sent an email to friends and family letting them know about the bump in the road of my life. It was a convenient and quick way to “notify” everyone about the diagnosis. During the days of treatments, I shared my thoughts and experiences with my family and friends through email updates. For me, those emails served as a way to sort through what was happening to me and my family, recognizing what God was doing in my life; and, writing gave me a way of expressing how I was dealing with this unexpected and uncharted season of life. For those receiving the emails, I considered them as simple updates on my journey, keeping them informed about my condition and my progress toward healing. But, after a few months, some of my “readers” urged me to compile those emails into a book because, as they told me, they had been encouraged by my updates. The thought was intriguing and the idea landed on my to-do list. But then as I finished my chemo treatments, regained my strength, and resumed my normal routine, the book-writing dream got pushed further and further down the list.

As time went by, I began to doubt that my journey would be of interest to anyone. I told myself I would get to it “someday,” but “someday” never seemed to arrive. Every now and then I’d pull out the old emails and start planning how to pull them together as a book, but I soon became overwhelmed with the task and set it aside again. I couldn’t think of a suitable title. I couldn’t find a block of time to devote to the project. “I can’t write something that anyone will want to read.” “My experience won’t help anyone.” “Who cares, anyway?!” The voice inside my head grew louder and louder, until it nearly drowned out my own conviction that this was God’s calling on my life at this season.

Change gears for a second: I love to read! And this week as I was consuming a new book by Max Lucado titled “Glory Days: Living Your Promised Land Life Now,” I heard another voice reminding me that God has given me a gift and an assignment. Max says: “Everybody gets a gift. And these gifts come in different doses and combinations. ‘Each person is given something to do that shows who God is.’ (1 Cor. 12:7 MSG) Our inheritance is grace based and equal. But our assignments are tailor-made.” I was convicted once again that God has called me to share what He has done in my life, and I’m wasting precious time by stalling.

Shift gears again: (Don’t worry, all these gear-shifts will all come together soon!) It so happens that I’m going through a particularly rough patch right now. I won’t waste words or time on details, but my particular position now is challenging, especially in the face of this renewed calling. Sometimes it seems like the challenge and the calling are conflicting, each pulling me in opposite directions. And so I keep praying for wisdom and guidance and clarity of vision. In another chapter of his book, Max challenges us to “Pray Audacious Prayers.” He cites examples of some audacious pray-ers: Martin Luther praying for the healing of a coworker; John Wesley praying down a storm at sea; Joshua praying for the sun to stand still while he finished off the enemy. He told of a friend who, when faced with the financial doom of his ministry, called on his organization to pray. And those audacious prayers turned things around, even in the midst of the “great recession.”

Putting it in “drive” … back to the book! I get it, Max, I have been given an assignment. So I’ve pulled my emails onto my laptop’s desktop in their own folder. Now every time I sit down in front of my laptop, there’s that folder staring at me saying “Are we there yet? Have you finally arrived at the place where you will stop procrastinating and start writing?” And I must confess, I let my eyes slide past it and ignore the voice calling me to open the folder and get to work.

While I was “stalled out” with my book earlier this week, I was reading my “Through the Bible in a Year” selection for the day – I’m currently reading the book of Hosea. I’ve read through the Bible a few times, so I know I’ve read this passage before, but that day I read a verse that seemed completely novel. There in that obscure little chapter was the perfect title for my book! Now the still small voice was SHOUTING at me: “Here it is … take it … start writing … no more excuses!” Since that day, I’ve been reading some commentaries of that passage … doing a bit of research – Okay, okay, okay … I’ve been stalling again!! Now that I’ve confessed my failure, let me confess my fear: I’m afraid I’ll fail to follow through again! I’m afraid to get started for fear I’ll never finish! I’m afraid I’m fooling myself to think I have anything worthwhile to share!

So I’m going to take Max’s advice and pray an audacious prayer; and like his friend, I’m going to ask my “organization” of family and friends to pray with me. Please pray that I will be inspired, motivated, and focused so that I can produce the words, the message of hope, that God has given me to share with others.

Part of my audacious prayer is in regard to my “rough patch” … would you pray with me, even though you don’t know details? Now, don’t waste precious prayer time speculating on the details – I’m healthy as a horse, and my marriage is solid – the rough patch is another area of my life that I’m not at liberty to share now. My audacious prayer is for a monumental miracle – the miracle may simply be that I’ll accept the rough patch, make the necessary changes, and move on. But I’m praying for a monumental miracle that will not only solve my problem, but will also bless others and honor God. Whatever the outcome, I can agree with Max when he says “believe that God is up to something good even though all we see looks bad….Let his promises settle over you like the warmth of a summer day. When everyone and everything around you says to panic, choose the path of peace.”

Well this post is about twice as long as a blog post is “supposed” to be! But before I sign off let me ask you to do one more thing. In addition to praying with me, and for me, would you share my blog with your friends and family? If I’m going to follow God’s call to share His message, I’ll need readers! And please share your thoughts in the comments. Your words may be just the message of encouragement others may need. Okay, so that’s three requests – pray, share, comment! Thanks for taking the time to “listen” to my heart! Next time I’ll share the book title I found in Hosea!

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. Luke 2:15-16

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.

As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. Psalm 71:14

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Luke 2:13-14

This week we have focused on the HOPE and expectation found in Christ’s birth. Consider the idea of HOPE as it relates to the Christmas story. How will you respond to this HOPE?

Next week’s scripture passages will focus on the LOVE of God. Our HOPE comes from knowing that God loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.

A symbol of hope.

During the month of December I wasn’t going to post anything except the daily Advent posts. I was going to keep my posts simple, seasonal, and spiritual. But something came up yesterday that just demands my immediate commentary!

Before I begin ranting, let me just say that I don’t mind all the old age issues – the gray hair, the aching joints, the generous girth, the sagging jowls, the fading eyesight, not even the jokes and snickers from all those whipper-snappers who are younger than I am. I expected them. But yesterday’s old age harbinger was just too much!

After an afternoon cracker snack I brushed my chin to remove any lingering crumbs. One “crumb” wouldn’t brush away. So I pulled out the old lady mirror I keep in my desk drawer … you know, the one that has the 5x magnification … took a peek, and to my horror, there it was – a chin hair! Not just a fine little wispy thing … No, this was a long, curly, gross bona fide old lady chin hair! How long had that thing been there? How many people had been repulsed by the sight of it? How come I can’t grow eyebrows and eyelashes since chemo, but I can manufacture a big fat chin hair?

Well now, this blog is supposed to be about finding hope for real life. Where is the hope in chin hair? None! There is no hope in chin hair … chin hair is real life, real ugly life! Then I remembered that hope was residing in my bathroom drawer, where a variety of tweezers were waiting to assist me in the fight. But wait, that would mean exposing that ugly hair to the world on my way to the car. No, there must be hope hidden somewhere behind the closed door of my office. So despite the stiff joints, I discovered hope in the grip of my gnarled thumb and fore finger, grabbed that nasty hair and jerked it right off my face! Amazing the strength that can be found in the face (Pardon the pun!) of adversity!

Pretty silly, huh? Getting all jacked up about something as minor as a chin hair. But that’s what we have a tendency to do, isn’t it? We’re confronted by some little annoyance, and we allow it to become a huge obstacle – something that overwhelms us, consumes our thoughts, clouds our day, and plunges us into some dark place. Why do we do that? We don’t need to let those little annoyances loom over us, we just need to see them for what they are, gather the hope and courage and strength to pluck them out of the way, and move on. Oh they’ll probably be back. Like that nasty chin hair will no doubt regenerate, reproduce, and reappear to plague me again in the future. But now I’ll be on my guard, watching for it; and I know I can conquer that silly thing and all its cohorts!

The same is true for those other annoyances that keep showing up. We just need to see them for what they are – just annoyances – and recognize that there is hope to eliminate them. But in the process, we could benefit from those annoying experiences by asking ourselves a couple of questions:

What is God teaching me through this annoying experience? “And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God and are fitting into his plans.” Romans 8:28 (The Living Bible)

How can I grow from the struggle to overcome this annoyance? Remember, it’s in struggling to emerge from its cocoon that a butterfly gains the strength to fly!

How can my experience help others? In 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Paul encourages us to encourage others who are going through similar circumstances. “All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too.” (The Message)

So annoyances can become opportunities … opportunities to learn, grow, and help others.

Frankly, I don’t think there’s any deep lesson to be learned from the whole chin hair ordeal. Except, I did get a neat, albeit gross, illustration for my post today! I hope you’ve gotten a chuckle or two from my story, but mostly I hope you’ll recognize that annoyances are opportunities to see God working in and through you, even in the small stuff.

Got some “chin hair” stories to share? When have you been faced by a circumstance that seemed overwhelming only to discover that it was an opportunity that God could use to grow you and encourage someone else? Feel free to share in the comments.

Now back to our regularly scheduled Advent posts . . . .

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 1:18-20

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. Luke 2:8-9

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The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:26-27

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. Luke 2:6-7

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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. Luke 2:1-5

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.