Word for the Year

It's that time again, time to ask God for your word for the year. A group of my friends do this each year and it really is amazing how that word weaves in and out of your life throughout the year. So, I encourage you to ask God for your word. Jot it down in your journal somewhere and go back to it throughout the year to see how it fits. You will be amazed. Sometimes it's a lot more obvious than other times. We'll be sharing our words with each other on New Year's Day. I think I have mine. I'm waiting for confirmation. The cool thing is, I know I'll get it because I've asked and God is faithful.

My word this past year was "Trust". I've had to do a lot of that as God has stretched me way out of my comfort zone over the last 12 months. In April I spoke to a group of 1200 students at one of our local universities telling them the story of the abortion I had when I was 19, about their age, and how different my life was from theirs and yet how strangely similar. I know they struggle with the same things I did. I hope they're winning that battle. I hope speaking my truth to them shed some light on any darkness they are experiencing. In August I led a Girl's Chrysalis. Planning and pulling that off was definitely an act of trust. That is a big job. To think God has trusted you with a team of 42 women, young and old to lead a weekend that will impact a group of 36 young women on their walk with Him is staggering. Then in October my friend, Lynette and I led a women's retreat for a church in Winchester, VA. This, too, was an act of trust on my part, in more ways than one. I not only had to trust God but I had to trust Lynette with her part. Not that I thought she couldn't do it, it's just that we're so different. I am more organized and particular, where she has this trust issue down to a fine art and can show up and follow His lead. I'm learning to do that more and more. But knowing that's how she's going to do it was a challenge I tell ya. I have learned to trust the dance this year, too. Let me rephrase that - I've learned to trust my dance partner, not just the dance. It doesn't matter how well I dance as long as my partner is the Master. Now that feels good. There has been so much healing this year in so many ways. As I look back from the accident in January thru brain surgery a friend has endured, cancer threats and treatments in many lives, a miraculous healing in a teenager, the loss of another teenager and living through that, finding freedom from the past through forgiveness of myself and others and grasping it wholeheartedly...the dance goes on and on.

So, as I look forward to a new year I am asking God for my new word. I hope you will, too. I certainly learned a lot about trust this year. I wonder what I'll learn next year.

Today - Let Loose!!

Luke 2:8-20 The Message

There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. 9Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger." At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!

Numbers and Words

Have you ever had a number keep jumping out at you? Maybe a favorite number? Mine is the number 29. I've loved this number since I was a kid. Don't ask me why. I have no idea. A couple of years ago I felt inclined to read Psalm 119 several times. (As an aside, I'd really love to memorize this Psalm but I'm afraid that by the time I finished memorizing it I'd have forgotten the first part of it.) Anyway, for me words are fascinating. They make me wonder - they make me think. I don't mean words set out in a thought or statement, I mean individual, single, separate words. For instance, what if I were to paint the word "forgiveness" - or "mercy" - or "grace" - or "glory"? What would that look like? I wish I could paint. Sometimes I can see them in my head but transferring that mind picture to canvas escapes me. But back to Psalm 119 and #29. As I read the Psalm I kept running into the word "word". I thought that was interesting given my fascination with words, so I decided to count how many times the word "word" was used in Psalm 119. You guessed it - 29 times. For some reason that speaks to me.

So today in my quiet time I knew I needed to draw nearer to God. I've been sick and somewhat self-centered and I've kind of drifted away and I'm missing Him. I opened my Bible to Psalm 29. It's funny. I don't remember ever reading this Psalm before. I love it. I'll have to commit this one to memory. Here it is:

Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name, worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightening. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in His temple all cry "Glory"! The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever. The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace.

I have no idea what all this means, but I know it gives me great peace to know that He is God - and I am not, to which I cry "GLORY"!

"When your words came I ate them, they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty." Jeremiah 15:16

This is amazing!

I found this link to an amazing experience on bobbie's blog at emerging sideways. Do yourself a favor, go there and enjoy!

Deep calls to deep...

This phrase keeps going through my mind. I have no idea why. So I looked it up and this is what I found:

Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.

By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me --
a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalm 42:7,8

I love that. There are many things about this scripture that draw me in. I love waterfalls. I love being in their spray. I love watching them fall. I love to hear them roar. I love to stand behind and look through them. I love everything about waterfalls. There's something very powerful about falling water. A

nd I'm drawn into the whole idea that the Lord directs his love by day. I know when I see the sun rise the first thing that comes to mind is "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love for I have put my trust in you." The sun coming up is a reminder to me that God loves me - day after day after day.

"At night his song is with me" - I have no idea what that means, but I want to know. I want to wake up with his song. I want to sleep with his song. I want learn his song and have it be my prayer to HIM who is the God of my life.

I do not want waves and breakers to sweep over me, especially not all of them. As much as I've grown, I still suffer from a fear of water. I don't mind it so much up to my neck, but over my head and I'm pretty much in a panic. I don't like that I can't breathe under water. I don't like that it's all right up next to my face and wanting in my ears and nose. And from the context of the Psalm this water sweeping over you refers to trouble. The psalmist is wondering where God is and then he remembers that God is in the day directing his love and singing in the night. So, although right now I'm not swept over by trouble and my life is really incredible, I want to constantly remember where God is in all this. Because someday the water may come and it may not be a lovely picturesque waterfall but waves of it breaking and sweeping over me and I do not for one minute want to forget where God is.

Now about deep calling to deep, well, I guess I'll just have to keep mulling that part over. There's some treasure there that I want to hunt down and uncover and cash in. Maybe my word for 2006 will be deep. We'll see. More on that later...

I got home from the conference I referred to in my last blog entry at 2 a.m. on Thursday morning. Then on Friday I turned around and went back to the Dallas area for a soccer tournament my son was playing in and got home again last night around 8. Man, I could be pooped out. But I think I'm ready to try and comment on the conference.

It was really quite astounding. My very favorite parts were the worship times. I have never experienced worship like this before. I hope to again very soon. The worship times were led by Kevin Prosch and Michael Larson. They switched off. Their styles were very different and that was really good. I loved both styles and was thrilled to be able to experience each of them. Kevin Prosch's style is very spontaneous with lots of time for your own worship to pour forth. At one point he had us simply clap. There we were in this room full of people with everyone clapping their own beat and rythm and - wow - let me just say it worked. It was incredibly moving AND it's biblical! Psalm 47:1,2 "Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!" Did I mention we did a lot of shouting, too? That was an incredibly different yet freeing thing to do! You really ought to try it sometime. Just shout your praises to Him! Verses 5-7 of that Psalm are pretty wonderful too. In fact, I think this Psalm would be an excellent one to set to memory.

This was an amazing conference. The speakers were bold in their love for Christ. I like that. I want to be that. In fact, they talked a lot about zeal and compassion and love. I kept thinking about my dad. He turns 90 on December 21 and that is who he has been most of his life; a zealous, compassionate, bold Christian. He has had his share of demons to deal with, maybe more than his share. He didn't always make the right choices either. In fact, he made a whole lot of bad ones but somehow he always knew he was loved and he always loved. He was not a perfect dad, or a perfect preacher, or a perfect person, but I want to embrace the good in him now more than ever. I want this conference to have changed my life. I want God to change my life. I don't want to be all talk and no action. I want to deal with my demons in bold, courageous, clapping, shouting fashion. And yes, Clint, I want to dance!! I have wasted nearly 50 years on this wallflower mentality. I just don't know what all this will look like and, frankly, I'm tired of caring. So, we'll just have to see from here.