about Finality and Hope

After Good Friday service we stopped for ice cream.  On the way my husband reflected on Good Friday services of his youth and how the service ended in silence with a door slamming a auditory symbol of thd finality of death.

Our 3rd grader has been wrestling with Good Friday being Sad Friday - as our conversations have progressed I am still unclear what she feels is the saddest part - Jesus dying, the way he died and how he was tortured, the abandonment by his friends, his separation from the Father in taking on our sins.

As she has been orating her way through Holy Week on the sadness of Good Friday, I have also been walking with a friend who's 4 year old granddaughter has a blood clot threatening amputation of her foot - a  perfectly healthy child fighting to return to dance class and the joys of childhood.
Have you ever felt all hope was lost?

As Holy Saturday dawns I believe the disciples had to feel some hopelessness - Jesus, their Messiah, had been crucified by the Romans.
How often do I feel the powers of today have out performed God?  How often do I forget that good wins out?  How often do I lose faith in the Good Friday moments of life forgetting that Sunday is coming?

Last night we left worship not in silence and mourning but in anticipation of Sunday.  I want to live life like that more - not that there isn't a time for grief, mourning is important-- but I want to focus through the Good Friday moments of life on the fact that I serve a risen Savior who offers hope to all.

Welcoming in 2018 - New Beginnings

Are you ready for a new year?  Are there pieces of last year you want to continue and others you hope to never experience again?  Maybe you don't even want to recognize the new year - just another change of day, not a big deal?

I am excited about 2018 - we just put solar on our roof, had a family wedding, and start soccer tryouts on Monday.  Life is full!  Our two weeks off have been a great time to regroup as family, connect with friends, and just break from routine.  But as they are coming to an end the conversation shifted on our way home last night as the question was raised of what we look forward to with Monday's return to school - the desire to return to routine, friends we haven't seen, unfinished projects that we have new vision for and can't wait to get back to.

I can't wait to experience the good things God has for us in 2018.  But as I read my devotional this morning, I was struck by a word picture that was used.  "God's path for your life is a collision course; the intersection where you gift crashed into the world's need is where you will truly begin to live"  (You can read the full devotion at http://bible.com/r/159 )

As an accident reconstructionist, this word picture speaks to me on many levels.  So often we think of the beauty of us offering our gifts to the world, of trying to make the world a better place.  But there is so often this discord and abruptness to our offerings.  Sometimes it is just my ongoing learning curve.  I am learning to use my gifts and it is seldom perfect the first time - or the 50th time around.  Sometimes it is my lack of obedience - I hear what God says but feel my ways are better.  I want to focus on what I see as important rather than what God calls me to in the moment.  I can't let go of my own desires.  My impatience gets in the way.  I want to see positive or successful end results more than I desire to trust God's process.

I serve a good, faithful God.  Do I believe that enough to find joy in the every day nitty, gritty of every day life?  To embrace the times when using my gifts feels more like a collision than a great privilege of being a part of God's big story?

May this be the year to be free indeed.  To let go of the things we leave behind and embrace all things new.

Michael Card Things we Leave Behind
There sits Simon
So foolishly wise
Proudly he's tending his nets
Then Jesus calls
And the boats drift away
All that he owns he forgets

More than the nets
He abandoned that day
He found that his pride was soon drifting away
It's hard to imagine the freedom we find
From the things we leave behind

Matthew was mindful
Of taking the tax
Pressing the people to pay
Hearing the call
He responded in faith
Followed the Light and the Way

Leaving the people
So puzzled he found
The greed in his heart
Was no longer around and
It's hard to imagine
The freedom we find
From the things
We leave behind

Every heart needs to be set free
From posessions
That hold it so tight
'Cause freedom's not found in the things that we own
It's the power
To do what is right
Jesus, our only posession
Giving becomes our delight
We can't imagine the freedom we find
From the things we leave behind

We show a love for the world in our lives
By worshipping goods we posess
Jesus has laid all our treasures aside
"love God above all the rest"

'Cause when we say 'no'
To the things of the world
We open our hearts
To the love of the Lord and
Its hard to imagine
The freedom we find
From the things we leave behind

Oh, and it's hard to imagine
The freedom we find
From the things
We leave behind

It brings to mind Michael Card's song Joy In The Journey (you can enjoy it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfW61yKyirY) 

There is a joy in the journey,
There's a light we can love on the way.
There is a wonder and wildness to life,
And freedom for those who obey.
All those who seek it shall find it,
A pardon for all who believe.
Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind
To all who've been born of the Spirit

And who share incarnation with him;
Who belong to eternity, stranded in time,
And weary of struggling with sin.
Forget not the hope
That's before you,
And never stop counting the cost.
Remember the hopelessness when you were lost?

Songwriters: Michael J. Card / John W Thompson

Joy in the Journey lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc