Etcetera

Having gone through my high school years relatively unscathed by my choices, I was under the mistaken impression that bad things really couldn't happen to me. It is putting it mildly to say the pregnancy shocked me into facing reality and almost immediately thrust me into adulthood. Looking back now, I see the gentle hand of God, mercifully protecting me in so many situations. I remember being in a circumstance that was almost certainly escalating into a sexual assault, but in my drunken stupor, I started to sing and the guy just got too weirded out, I guess, and left me alone. I remember waking up once under a truck after an all-night party when I heard the driver start the ignition, and just barely getting out from underneath in time. I remember being abandoned by my rides at parties at locations far outside of our town, and just getting into vehicles with anyone who would get me home. I remember hearing about kids being busted at a pot smoking party I had just left before the police arrived. But one can only go so long without reaping the harvest of one's bad decisions. I knew an out-of-wedlock pregnancy was going to be quite humiliating for my family, but even more so for my boyfriend's. They were very involved in their church, and his parents already didn't like me. I wouldn't like my son's girlfriend to behave or dress anything like I did, so now I can certainly understand how they felt.
It was 1974, so Roe v. Wade had already been decided, and legal abortion clinics were popping up, even in my remote neck of the woods. Being a good liberal, I was all for women having a "choice," but even so I couldn't bring myself to think about me having an abortion, and my husband-to-be, bless his heart, wouldn't even consider it; he considered abortion to be murder. In a magical moment, certainly a moment that I can now see that God intervened in His sovereign way, we decided to do the “right thing.” I dropped out of college, we married, and then we faced a daunting vision of adulthood with a child and very little money. My husband struggled to keep food on the table, to finish college, and to begin a teaching career. Any dreams I had for my own career as a music teacher were set aside as I quickly realized my life was no longer my own, that I had to devote myself to my children (another one quickly came into the picture) so that they would be successful people. I was not very happy with my own situation, but I loved my children and my husband, and I saw that my own choices had brought these situations into my life. My husband managed to finish college and found a teaching job in Montana, far away from friends and family.

A couple years later in the small Montana town where my husband had taken his second teaching position, while I was in the hospital having my third baby, my husband signed me up at the local church to sing at funerals. I thought it was a peculiar idea, but he persuaded me that it would be something to do besides watch children and I might make a friend, so I became agreeable to it. My husband had bought me a guitar a year earlier when I had resumed some college music classes at the last town we were in, so I pulled it out to learn a few chords in case that would be useful, and I ended up being the "accompanist" for the several other women who had signed up for funeral duty as well. Before we finished our first meeting together at my home, one of the women suggested we pray. I thought that was odd and it made me very uncomfortable. Then even more strangely, they prayed just as if Jesus were in the room with us and was our friend, instead of the sort of omnipresent disinterested God to whom you just prayed memorized prayers in church. These women had a different sort of understanding of who God was. For days afterward I was bothered and aggravated by the whole situation I had let myself get talked into.

To be continued...

le

The Winter Of Our Content

“14Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. 17But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. 18You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.” Philippians 2:14-18

Ouch. In a world full of trouble, the first emotion which bubbles up is discontent, which sets us to grumbling.
It’s also the very first impulse of the flesh which we must fight against, so as to prove ourselves blameless and innocent, children of God.
What does a child of God have to complain about? We’ve been re-united with our Father in Heaven, will live Praising God through all of eternity, as co-heirs with Christ will have Everything beyond everything we could ever comprehend, and then some idiot cuts me off in traf…wait a minute!
To complain is human. To …uhm…uncomplain (?) is divine.
Complaining casts aspersions upon the One Who gives us Life.
Look at Paul writing in the above verse: “even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.”
Paul had been stoned, jailed, shipwrecked, been an outcast from his own people, had known sickness and infirmity with that thorn in his side, but he lived to Praise God and share the Gospel. Further on in Philippians we find:
“4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
I wish I always ‘let my gentle spirit be known to all men’. God is continuing to work in my life, has made me a better person than I was, and will improve me in the future.
Praise God from Whom all Blessings flow.

Continuing

I spent the last half of my high school years making the transition from nice girl to bad girl in grand style, at least in my own estimation. I still managed to keep my grades up and have some sense for what it would take to get into a good college and make something of my life. But with all my extracurricular activities, I was certainly tempting fate as to whether I would make it there alive. My parents were at a loss when their little girl started staying out all night and coming home smelling of smoke and whatever. I managed to hide a lot from them and, quite frankly, I don't think they wanted to know or would have known what to do about me if they had confronted me. And I really didn't care much if I hurt them or not. I also continued, if you can believe it, to sing in a guitar mass at my church on Saturday afternoons. I don't know why, thinking back on it, and I guess my church didn't care if their worship people lived any sort of Godly life. Either that or I was better at hiding things than I thought. Practically as soon as I left mass, I would jump in a car to go to some party and drink and party half the night. I can't even imagine now living such a duplicitous existence. Imagine having such a seared conscience that you could be in church at four in the afternoon and within hours somewhere else doing any immoral thing you wanted without a moment of guilt. My girlfriends, whom I had always considered a lot looser than I and I also thought were all doing likewise, started to express shock at my blasé attitude regarding premarital sex and drugs. I just thought I was being very modern and liberated and fun!

I don't think I need to mention any more of the things I did during those years. Some of you are living that life right now and the rest of you can imagine what I'm talking about. During this time I met my husband-to-be, who would be quite mortified if I wrote about him in my blog, so I will forego any discussion of our life together during that time. I finished high school and made my plans to start college in the fall. College began and soon I discovered I was pregnant.

To be continued...

le

My Story

I was raised in a home that today might be considered quite religious. We went to Catholic church every Sunday, and I was brought up with religious training. When I was very young I remember kneeling at our bed and praying before bedtime with my Mom and siblings -- “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep and if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. God bless Mommy and Daddy, Teri and Jeri, Andee, Jobie and Robbie, and Grandpa and Grandma Greff, and Grandpa and Grandma Liebnow. Amen.” Reading that prayer now, it must have been a little scary at age 3 going to bed every night with my last thought being dying in my bed.
I spent most of my youth in confusion about God and how He fit into real life. I knew that I loved God or, more accurately, that I should love God, but as the years went by, it seemed to me that He was just a far off God who did not actually interact with people, although He used to. Now He simply had requirements that we could ignore if we desired. Mass and catechism and sacraments became merely obligations imposed by my mom with a lot of ineffective guilt and improbable divine retribution attached. I became very disillusioned about church and God. My home was moral and loving, but there was never any talk about God being a part of how one was to deal with daily matters. Prayers slowly discontinued as we all objected as being too old for that sort of thing. God was only a Sunday thing, a being Who in my mind was capricious in granting wishes and really quite powerless to stop anyone from doing any evil act. Oh, in the Bible He was great, but in my life and family, He was of little influence, it seemed. I was raised to believe that kindness and goodness were virtues that everyone should exhibit, but the more I was unkind and not good, the more I despised my own character, and in my bruised pride I became confused about what was right and wrong. It was much easier to imagine that society could decide what was wrong and right than to try to follow an overabundance of antiquated rules that no one else was following. School and society seemed to indicate that believing in God and attending church were old-fashioned activities, and for losers, and I certainly didn’t want to be uncool. My life soon began to revolve around trying to have “fun” and be “happy.” I mean, what was the point of doing otherwise? For me fun seemed to mean partying and running around, drugs and drinking--in general, pandering to every whim of my conflicted flesh. After a time of indulging in these sorts of activities I noticed that my conscience didn't even bother me anymore concerning them and I grew less and less worried about appearing to be a person with bad morals. Anything went as long as I wasn't hurting anyone else! My younger sister, in the meantime, had become a “Christian” and seemed to be inordinately concerned that we weren’t all going to be going to heaven after we died. She had the nerve to insinuate that we weren't quite up to par when it came to being Christians. We all thought she was quite arrogant, since clearly, we were Christians! We belonged to a church, didn’t we? We were baptized. We hadn't murdered anyone, right? We weren't criminals. What more could anyone expect?

To be continued...

le

Patience Makes The Bread Rise

I love 2008 so far. Things are good, Blessed by God, cool like Winter. Things have been so busy at work that our office Christmas Party will actually be a New Years celebration or, if still rushed, a Spring party. It doesn’t matter when it happens; I am glad that this time the drinkin hootenanny won’t be a “Christmas” celebration.
My group is having a ham dinner potluck tonight-when asked what I was bringing I said, “What do you want?” Rolls, and butter, and I wasn’t to be seen at the grocery store before work picking up store brand rolls. Okayfine.
I just finished baking rolls, which turned out fine. For those of you who haven’t been bored yet with my back story, I have at times been a cook and baker, including nearly a year in a hotel bakery turning out breads and desserts. Baking is easy, and fun. As I now sit at a computer, I don’t often have opportunity to mess up a kitchen.
Patience makes the bread rise. As we now see the official start of the political shenanigans, I just want to have the election over and done with. Caucus and primary, general and take the oath, lets get going please.
But we have nearly a year of nasty ahead of us. Patience, Doug. Accept that it is going to take awhile for the election to run its course (downhill, no brakes) while talking heads and pointing fingers sully what is indeed a beautiful year.
I encourage everyone to become involved in the election process, because if all of the good people stay away, disliking the mud, then only the bad people will be left, who revel in it.
First and foremost, pray that God will Bless the United States. He is in charge of all of Creation, and He does indeed hear every prayer. Ask Him to raise up good leaders for our country.
Second, educate yourself on the candidates, and good luck.
Patience, Doug-less than eleven months to go until election day. Sigh.

Who Makes It A Merry Christmas?

It’s Christmas. What does that mean anymore?
Adam and Eve messed up. At the fall of Man our world became corrupted, we became corrupted. Not a pretty sight. And God was the only One Who could do anything to remedy the situation. And He did.
He promised and sent a Savior to redeem fallen man. Christmas marks the beginning of that redemptive process, when our Redeemer was born in Bethlehem.
The path from cradle to cross to resurrection is all part of a whole, is the entirety of the redemptive work of Christ which freed us from sin and restores us to right fellowship with God.
No wonder the shepherds thrilled at the news of His birth! Humble shepherds given the honor of being witness of the birth of Christ. The angel didn’t go to the religious leaders of the day; indeed, their days of prominence were coming to an end.
What does Christmas mean? If you are a Christian, it’s a reminder that your Redeemer lives.
If you are not a Christian, it means whatever you want it to mean.
What do I want for Christmas? Heaven full. Peace on Earth, with our King of Peace ruling from His city, Jerusalem. No more tears, no more war, no more fruitless human striving. God Glorified. Merry Christmas.

A Washed Hog Still Oinks

Hillary Clinton-United Methodist
John Edwards-United Methodist
Rudy Giuliani-Roman Catholic
Mike Huckabee-Southern Baptist
Dennis Kucinich-Roman Catholic
Barack Obama-United Church Of Christ
Ron Paul-Baptist
Mitt Romney-Mormon
Fred Thompson-Church Of Christ

Oh my. What a balanced field. I garner ted armstrong’d all of these church affiliations from Wikipedia, so if some are suspect, suspect the Wiki.
Clinton is first alphabetically, if not in the hearts of all United Methodists everywhere. If she were to succeed to the Presidency and choose Edwards as her Dan Quayle…I mean vice president (oops!)…their families could go to church together. Except Bill Clinton is another brother Baptist of mine, along with Huck and Paul. (Ron, not Saint.) The point being, Hil Clinton and John and Elizabeth could ride together, as they go to the same church.
I know that there has been a big ‘foux-fraux’over whether or not “Evangelicals” (as Time and Newsweek like to refer to us) would be willing to vote for a (hushed tones) Mormon.
Since I am the last Evangelical in America to be push-polled by USA Today, here is my two one hundredths of a dollar: Yes.
I have no problem voting for the man I believe to be best qualified for the Presidency.
And so far, for me, that man is Mitt Romney.
Yes, he’s a Mormon. If he wanted to join my church, that would be a deal-breaker. We don’t accept Mormons as brothers in Christ. But he has my vote, because he has shown himself to be an able administrator, whether looking at his Governorship or the 2002 Olympics or his time with (according to the Wiki-you really can learn a lot at Wikipedia) Bain &Company.
Whomever you choose to support for President, I encourage you to exercise your citizenship by joining in the political process. It can only be improved by your taking part and working to improve it.
I know-I’ve joked before about imploring God NOT to give us the President we deserve (as we deserve Hell, though are graciously granted Heaven). But there’s truth in that. Ask God, pray that we will have strong leaders, and that this country may succeed and prosper in our endeavors. As the bumper sticker says, “America bless God”. And may God Bless America.

Shepherds and Angels!

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. Luke 2.8 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. Luke 2. 15 – 18 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. Luke 2.20 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. Luke 2.9

In the meanest of situations and with the lowest of observers, our Savior was born! But heaven could not be silent at the marvelous coming of our Messiah, and the glory of angelic hosts appearing then must have been an incredibly awe inspiring sight to those shepherds. Here is the Good News! He accepts us as we are and where we are, and if we come to Him in humility we can receive His gift of new life. There is no one too low. There is no circumstance too dismal.

Glory!

le

In Tempo

Oh, the gift of time! What a precious commodity! I wish I could share it with you all. This morning I stood still and slowly poured my Diet Coke over ice. Let me tell you that until just two weeks ago I would have poured a little soda, run away while it de-fizzed, come back and poured some more, run out and done something else, and come back and finished pouring, all the while trying to avoid an exasperating exercise of grabbing paper towels to wipe foam off the kitchen counter repeatedly. Today I held the can and watched as the soda gloriously spread over the ice, foaming ever so slowly from the steady and measured stream of liquid pleasure. Yes, I have a Diet Coke addiction, but that’s not the point. The point is – time. Time to do things right. Time to enjoy the moment. Time to share with friends and family. How I wish I could send some your way.

This morning I will be going to my church to clean the bathrooms. Does that seem like a step down from working in a law office? Not really. I could make a joke, but it’s probably not necessary. I’m going to start reading a book by K.P Yohannan, the founder of Gospel for Asia. It’s a short little book called “The Lord’s Work Done In the Lord’s Way.” I can actually take the time to sit and read a book this morning before I leave to clean bathrooms! The book is described as a lesson in knowing “the freedom and simplicity of serving your first love.” This is my heart’s desire – to return to the simple love for Jesus I had when I started this journey.

I know I can’t persuade you all to quit your jobs like I did. I mean, someone has to pay the bills. But God has blessed me with more time than I have had in so many years, and I pray that I will use it to His glory. Some of us are going to need additional time in order to meet our Creator and get on the right road. Some of us need it to store up treasure. My Christmas wish for you – may God bless you with more time somewhere along this road toward eternity we’re all journeying on together.

God bless you and Merry Christmas!

le

I Have Found My Word Of The Week

#futilitarian(fyu-til'i-târ'e-?n)
adj.
Holding or based on the view that human endeavor is futile.
n.
One who holds the view that human endeavor is futile.

What a lovely word. I was reading a book where one character is considered guilty of futilitarianism. And that character, a bird, is killed and eaten by the end of the chapter.
But what a word! I am a futilitarian. I consider human endeavor to be futile, when said human endeavor contradicts God, goes against what He has decreed.
Do you want to save the planet? Who’s planet would you be attempting to save?
Would you being peace to the world? Without acknowledging the King of Peace? Futile.
My faith is considered futile by most of the world. I know that God is in charge, that He ordains what will happen, and that He will do with this world as He wishes.
This leads some to consider my trusting God a ‘mental illness’, a dreamers fancy. Which makes me laugh.
Faith in God is anything but futile.
Faith in Man? A dreamers fancy, a mental illness.

Psalm 20
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
1 The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;
2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;
3 Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice;
Selah
4 Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.
5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.
6 Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.
9 Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.

So Shine

2 The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
3 You shall multiply the nation,
You shall increase their gladness;
They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
5 For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9:2-7

The light shining on those who walk in darkness is the light of the Gospel, of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace; this is the only righteous Governance the world will ever know.
We Christians are the nation being multiplied, who are glad in His presence, rejoicing over the Blessings God has given us. We are adopted into God’s family, brought in by His Mercy and Compassion.
Our attempts to shine often flicker and fail, but He who lighted us will not let our candle go out.
May God richly Bless you today.

"I So Promise."

Five or six years old, I remember being baptized.
Some of the usual components were in place: parents and god-parents, church and pastor.
But I think it was at night. I know for certain that there was no one there, except for two families, ours and one other. We were all close friends; my parents are god-parents to their kids, the other set are god-parents to us.
Four or five of us were baptized in the space of a few minutes, and that was it.
Here’s my point about baptism. As part of the service the parents swear to raise the children as Christians; in the event that the parents pass on, the god-parents promise to take up that burden.
But if both the parents and their back-up are not Christians themselves, the kids are not taught about Christ.
How is a child to hear the Gospel if the parents don’t want to hear it? At best they get sent to church, at worst they never hear of God’s love at all.
Omaha Nebraska. Robert Hawkings. 19 year old suicidal troubled man shoots up a mall, killing eight people, wounding more before taking his own life. He was probably baptized as I was, parents and god-parents and insincere pledges to God.
People get twisted up inside, some more than others, and guilt is what does most of the twisting.
Guilt about having failed, guilt about law breaking-as “All have sinned, and fall short of the Glory of God”
We are all guilty. And guilt is like battery acid on the soul.
We all have to deal with our guilt; mine was hung on a tree, meaning that when I accepted Christ, all of my sins, my guilt, was washed away.
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”
Romans 8:1-2.
If Robert Hawkings had heard and accepted that good news, he and many others would be alive today.
But I can’t really say that-nothing changes the past. No one knows the number of his days. I have compassion for those in Omaha who have lost loved ones, have suffered because of the sad young man who didn’t know what to do with his guilt. He was a failure; in part his parents failed him first. And if he was baptized, and had god-parents, they failed, too.
Psalm 37 is one of my favorites, not for it’s description of the fate of the wicked, but how it describes the Love which God has for us. Take time to read it today. And may God richly Bless you.

Santa Skis

See here for a fun little Santa game:

_Santa Snowboard_

Have fun and don't waste too much time better spent elsewhere!

le

You Say You Want a Revolution

I am now semi-retired and looking for things to do. I’m thinking of starting a revolution like the hippies did in the 60’s--a countercultural revolution.

Is there any good thing that can be said about popular culture today? The media shows an endless parade of sad and confused young men and women trying to fit into cultural norms by turning to uncommitted sexual relationships in lieu of marriage, drugs, sensuality, pornography, mindless entertainment, and more. Honor and respect among the members of a family are almost never recommended by cultural “experts.” Those values have been replaced by “tolerance” and letting our children make their own decisions of right and wrong at impossibly young stages of their lives. Our children now need to be taught in schools that r-e-s-p-e-c-t is something you do, not the name of a song. And, of course, it’s too late by then. There is certainly something very wrong today in families in comparison to the prior 200 years of our country. It wasn’t ever cultural heaven in the United States--there will always be issues of bigotry, for example, and the poor will always be with us--but it was certainly a little closer to it in terms of how the culture promoted healthy and Godly values with regards to the family. There was a father who ruled and provided, a mother who loved and nurtured, and children who obeyed and were teachable. We have come so far from this perfect model set up by God. Other than the church, which is in so many ways being attacked as well (and that’s another article), I believe the family was the last bastion of hope for goodness in our country, and that wall has been breached and our children are falling headfirst into the morass of moral relativism and the tendrils of a society callously unaware that it has reached the bottom.

I know the answer, doubtless. You can read it here. But there are so few with eyes to see and ears to hear the truth. This country has turned the corner to selfishness, perversion, and Godlessness unlike it has ever known. I think it’s going to require a revolution and I’m ready. Join me? It starts with prayer. Pray every day for our country to return to God. I’m not suggesting a theocracy; I am simply praying for the hearts of all Americans to repent and turn toward God. What is impossible for man is not impossible for God! It may take something quite disastrous to wake America up, but God is good and God is sovereign.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten. Because if we do the first part and when God answers, His marvelous work of renewal can begin in this country and my countercultural revolution idea will become moot.

Here is good news to start the season of light and the celebration of the birth of the Savior of the world:

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. Isa 9.2

That is us, Lord. We are living in the land of the shadow of death.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. Isa 9.6&7

le