A Rock Climbing Rescue

I'm about to recommend you do some work.

Some serious, but satisfying, life giving work.

I plan on doing this work the rest of my life.

The fruit of this work is like no other.

What could I possibly be talking about?

Memorizing Scripture. 

I make myself memorize scripture.

Most of the time, initially, I don't want to. At the moment when I decide I should be working on the verse/passage I've chosen, I realize I'm at a pivotal place in the book I've downloaded from my Audible account. Or, there's a song I'd really like to listen to, or I suddenly need to check twitter, instagram and facebook and...fill in here with any other diversionary activity.

I don't know if memorization has ever been super easy for me, but I can tell you that at 51 years old, it is not easy for me now. It is work.

But it is absolutely some of the most beneficial work I do. And I want to give it my highest recommendation here.

The verses I'm memorizing now have so fed my heart and soul that I had to write about them in the hopes that someone out there might be encouraged to do the life producing work of scripture memorization. The words in the Bible are true, and eternal. I want to fill my mind - I want to fill my life - with true and eternal words. Life giving words.

So what are these latest words that have so moved me?

Psalm 61: 1-2 (NKJV)

Hear my cry, O God;
Attend to my prayer.
² From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.


Memorizing something makes you go over, and over, and over the words, ad infinitum. You start really thinking about what it says and, how it is said.

For instance, in these verses, we've got some imperatives going on. "Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer." "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I."

I don't know anything about Hebrew verb tenses, so I might be butchering this to pieces, but on the English level, we've got an example of telling (respectfully and politely, of course) God to do some things for us.

Hear my cry.

Attend to my prayer.

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Does that hit anybody else as incredibly amazing? As incredibly powerful? I am given the example in Psalms to use the imperative tense when I pray to the creator of the universe. These are not meek and mild, timid imperatives, either. "Attend to my prayer" is basically saying, "Get with it, God, and take care of this..." 

Please.

It may be my southern roots, but I silently added "please" on those. But "please" or not, that's a very direct statement to say to God.

The last imperative here, "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I," took on new meaning as I ruminated on it. 

First of all, I noticed that that imperative was preceded by the confession that we humans can have overwhelmed hearts. Can I get an "amen?" I've had my share of overwhelmed hearts, with more certainly lurking in the shadows of my future. How good it feels to say such words out loud, knowing that I'm not condemned in any way for having such a thing. On the contrary, I'm validated and rescued. 

How am I rescued?

I'm told to go rock climbing.

This hit me as quite strange at first. Could God be prescribing a literal cardiac workout for an already overwhelmed heart?

Yes - at least as Part A of this rock climbing rescue.  

When you rock climb, you expend physical energy. Lots of it. If you were to ask my hubby what I do when I am at my wit's end - when my heart is overwhelmed - he would tell you I have to pound the pavement. I go for a walk, typically, but any rigorous exercise fits the bill. Something about that is so incredibly therapeutic and stress relieving, and now, I believe, Biblical. God knows physical exercise helps us when we are overwhelmed. 

Part B of God's rock climbing rescue involves "a view." I'm not a seasoned rock climber, but I am a seasoned hiker, so I've hiked to some high places. I've seen some views. When you get to those high places, you can see a couple of different things. First, you can see where you've been. At this high place, the trail looks different. The twists and turns you had to take to get where you are now make sense. Secondly, you can see breathtakingly beautiful sights that were unimaginable when you were sweating your way up the trail earlier.

Your perspective has changed. God leads us higher into himself, into his word. That is the rock that is higher than we are. When were are there, we can see all, or at least more, of what is really going on. He give us a true view.

Right, true perspective does wonders for overwhelmed hearts.

Glory! Those are truths you can hang your hat on!

The truths in these two verses have increased my faith and made me love God more. I am completely convinced that they would have gone undetected had I not been doing the hard work of memorizing. That discipline is worth every hard second you put into it. When you know you've heard from the God who made you - the God who saved you - there's joy that is uncontainable and deep all at the same time.

And I'm here to tell you that it is worth it.

Leaving the lowlands...

Almost there...

Worth it.

Forward Thinking

You know what I've noticed?

God is very forward thinking.

Who would have thought that watching a video of my 7 year old son say a poem would spawn that thought?

I love it, though, when you're in the middle of an every day kind of thing, and you have a "God thought." Some thing or some task is before you, and all of the sudden, you are thinking something true and good about God. When you think something true and good about God, you come away encouraged.  

I was very glad for that "God thought" to appear, too. The thoughts I was having right before it happened weren't too pretty. I'd spent a significant chunk of time watching/fast forwarding through home movies looking for our David reciting a poem when he was just a youngster. (I'm on this little poetry kick because April is National Poetry Month. Don't pretend you're not excited!)

I was frustrated because, although each tape is dated, it is not labeled, so I have no idea what is on each video. So, instead of going directly to the tape with the card that says, "David - poem," I kept my finger on the fast forward button, scanning for that sweet little face of his.  Obviously, I did not have much forward thinking as far as home videos are concerned. Can I recommend right now, to any of you out there taking videos of your kids, to have some kind of card included by your tapes or DVDs that generally describes what is on the silly thing? 

Finally, my frustration gave way to relief and I found a poem.

Below, you'll enjoy David saying "Boats Sail On The Rivers," by Christina Rossetti. It's a simple poem that reminds us that the beauty God creates trumps all beauty that man creates. Remember to read through it first before you watch David, or you'll be leaning in close to try to make out what he's saying. Enunciate, boy! For an encore, I included an even younger David saying the very first poem he memorized. 

Also, I guarantee your going to notice something immediately when you watch the first video. This "something" inspired my "God thought." So after you watch my sweet boy recite his poems, I'll end with that.

 

                                                             Boats Sail On The Rivers

Boats sail on the rivers,

And ships sail on the seas;

But clouds that sail across the sky

Are prettier far than these.

There are bridges on the rivers,

As pretty as you please;

But the bow that bridges heaven,

And overtops the trees,

And builds a road from earth to sky,

Is prettier far than these.

Encore: Thirty Days Have September

Like I said at the beginning - God is very forward thinking.

I think those teeth in that little boy is proof of that! He knew that my boy would need them and grow into them - perfectly! He fashioned us, and knows exactly what we need and when we'll need it. I also thought of a forward thinking verse found in Ephesians 2:10.

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

God made us. He knows how we work best and what brings us great joy. Good works. Which He prepared in advance for us to do. 

That's forward thinking. 

That's encouraging. Reminding yourself of that truth will help you get out of bed in the morning!

Thanks, God.

And to show you just how well David has grown into those teeth...

He's on the left:)

David and Luke

3 Pics 1 Word

My girls have been enjoying an online game of late called "4 Pics 1 Word." It's a rather addicting game where you're given four pictures and a group of letters. From those, you decide what one word those pictures all have in common. Here's an example:

Since it's popular right now, I thought I'd try something similar, except mine is called 3 Pics 1 Word and is much easier than the real one. (My thanks to offspring #5, Elizabeth, for making the next picture happen).

Ready?

Go.

Got it?

I know you do.

I first noticed this word about 10 years ago when our family decided to memorize Psalm 19 together. You start to notice things you'd never notice otherwise when you memorize, and I was struck by what the second half of verse 8 said:

The precepts of the Lord are right,

  giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

    giving light to the eyes.

I think I must have just looked in the mirror, seen some dark circles under the old eyes and been feeling especially haggard when this thought occurred to me, but I remember thinking, "Wow, the commands are radiant and will give light to my eyes! That is some kind of effective beauty treatment!"

My radar has been up concerning the word "radiant" ever since.

So the other day, when this flyer came in the mail, my radiant radar detector went off.

Obviously, if I'm getting this flyer in the mail, I appreciate the role beauty essentials play in our lives. But when I saw those words, "Be Radiant," I immediately thought of what really can make us radiant.

The flyer was my first reminder of this word, but it hasn't been my last.

In preparation for an event I'm teaching at in April, I've been spending some extended time in Psalm 34. As you might expect, I've paused at verse 5.

There it is again! Isn't that a glorious promise to us?

On the heels of such promises and pictures, it makes perfect sense now to refer to...a pig. More specifically, Wilbur, of Charlotte's Web fame.

I love this pig story. Wilbur and his dear friend, Charlotte, have so much to teach about what is good and true and lasting. (I've already told a couple of my kids that they are not allowed to read Charlotte's Web to their kids - I'm calling dibs on that honor. ;)

Charlotte saves Wilbur's life by weaving words about him in her web.

Somewhere in the middle of pondering Psalm 34:5, I was back in the barn on Zuckerman's farm remembering one of the words used to describe Wilbur - one of the words that saved his life: Radiant.

"Actually," said Wilbur, "I feel radiant."

Of course he feels radiant. He's loved by a dear friend. He's being rescued by the words of a dear friend. How could that not make you feel radiant?

He's still 100% porcine, but he's radiantly porcine - and it shows. What's happening on the inside can't help but come out.

This time of year, when outwardly, this girl is feeling pasty and dull, it will do wonders for me to take time to remember this 3 Pics 1 Word and the truths God showed me in it.

As I look to Him and believe what He says about Himself and about me,  He'll do big, brightening work on the inside, where it really matters. Where it will last for ever and ever.

When that happens on the inside, it can't help but come out.

And what will show can be described with one word: Radiant.

The Power of a Preposition

For the past two years, I have been the Essentials of the English Language Tutor at Classical Conversations of Bolivar. If you had told me back in the early 80s, when I was getting my BS in Biology, that someday I'd be teaching grammar and writing to 4th-6th graders, I would never have believed it.

How I love the twists and turns that bring unexpected joy!

How can a person not love dissecting sentences and figuring out the way words and phrases and clauses are used in sentences? It's like you're some kind of language detective.

And diagramming!?! It's like a party for your pencil!

I often remind my students why learning all these sometimes seemingly ridiculous details is so important. The God of the universe chose to communicate to us through THE WORD. Did you get that? The God of the universe chose to communicate with us through words and sentences. He left a written record for us to live by. Words are not small. Especially His words. Even little ol' prepositions.

In fact, one such preposition stood up and waved at me last week when I was reading a couple of verses. Its weight bore down hard on me in the most beautiful way.

On Monday, I began memorizing this verse. Somewhere in the middle of repeating these verses over and over, I noticed the preposition "with" in the 4th line. The words of God - his teachings and commandments - will talk "with" me.

Talk with me. As in a conversation in my soul and heart. They aren't talking "at" me. They aren't talking "about" me. They aren't talking "against" me. They aren't talking "for" me. They are talking with me.

Somehow, this living, active word of God talks with me. God takes what I read and meditate on and memorize and talks with me. So, I must read. I must mediate. I must memorize. Because I want to talk with God.

That is a beautiful, life-giving thing. That is a God thing.

That is one little preposition packing a powerful punch.

That is unexpected joy!

Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving 2011. As I was reading my Bible, praying, and thinking about this day and its meaning, I thought of Psalm 100.

When I was a child, I memorized two Psalms - Psalm 23 and Psalm 100. I have always heard Psalm 100 referred to as the "thankful" Psalm. So, this morning, at least 40 years past that first time of hearing Psalm 100 and memorizing it, I turn to it to re-read, to re-remind myself of the truth in those words. Truth, that someone, somewhere in my childhood, thought was so important that they encouraged me to memorize it. How thankful I am for that! Those words are in my heart and soul.

I want to share those words with you today. These are from the King James Version. It was what I read when I was young, and it's these beautiful, fancy words I hear today.

Psalm 100

 ¹Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

 ²Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

 ³Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

 ⁴Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

 ⁵For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

A Milestone

I was born 9-11-1961.

My Dad's clinic where I was born. It has since been torn down.

The first part of that date means more now than it did then. If you're doing the math, you are realizing that I had another milestone birthday the day our world blew up - the day our world came crashing down. I felt for my kind friends and family that day. They all wanted to wish me a "Happy Birthday!"  when none of us were happy. Luke, who was in the 6th grade, got in the car after school that day and said, "Mom, I'm sorry this all happened on your birthday."  Another friend, who I saw that evening, put the whole turning 40 in perspective when he said, "There are a lot worse things than turning 40."

Yes, there are.

So now, ten years later, I'm turning 50. I think most would agree that 50 is a big birthday. Half a century. While I think all birthdays are a bit of a mortality check, this one is particularly. Not very many people live to be 100, so I'm pretty safe in saying that my life here on earth is probably half over. That is not a bad thing, it is just a real thing.  I say that recognizing that my days are completely in God's hands and my next breath could be my last. That's exactly where I want my life. But there's still something about these milestone birthdays that make you pause and take a little closer look at your life and how you are living it.

I remember consciously doing this for the first time in relation to turning 50 in January. I had been mulling the idea of a blog for sometime, but had just kept putting it off. But when 2011 hit - the year of my 50th birthday - I started having the "you're not getting any younger" thoughts. "What are you waiting for? and "Just Do It!" were also bouncing off the walls of my cranium. On January 20, 2011, I hit the PUBLISH POST button for the first time. I was shaking. I was elated. And part of the motivation that enabled me to hit that button? I am turning 50.

That birthday, unlike me, is not procrastinating. Procrastination. Ugh.  That character flaw has haunted me every one of these fifty years. Some years ago, I heard about a link between perfectionism and procrastination which explained my Achilles' heel a bit. Actually made me feel a little better about it.

"Procrastination and perfectionism often go hand in hand. Perfectionists tend to procrastinate because they expect so much of themselves, and they are scared about whether or not they can meet those high standards."

But with the thought of 50 on the horizon, the thought of life moving on at a pretty good clip, I have been spurred on to do it now like never before. Following Dave Ramsey on Twitter adds fuel to this anti-procrastination, pre-50 fire. A couple of his recent tweets....

If you keep doing what you have been doing you will keep getting what you have been getting. CHANGE! #sowing/reaping 

George S. Patton on decisions: "A GOOD plan, violently executed now, is better than a PERFECT plan next week." Make the call! 

See what I mean?

Finally and most importantly, God has been speaking to me through His Word.  Everywhere I've been turning lately seems to speak of the brevity of this life.  A passage that sums it up is one I've been memorizing.  2 Corinthians 4:16-18

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

This is truth. These kind of words keep a person keeping on. That's why we need to be in God's word every day. God's word corrects wrong thinking. It is the salve for the hurts that come our way.  It enables us to not just survive, but to really live. Psalm 19:7-8 talks about what God's word does to us and in us.

The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure,

making wise the simple;

     the precepts of the Lord are right

rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure,

enlightening the eyes;

I want those things! Now, more than ever. Because, I'm turning 50, and I don't want to waste a minute of this gift called life on worthless things that don't revive the soul, that don't make wise the simple, that don't bring joy, and that don't enlighten the eyes.

And speaking of gifts, I couldn't end a post about my first 50 years without expressing what is really inexpressible: deep, deep gratitude to God.  Why He gave me life, why He loves me, why He saved me, why He gave me the family He did, why He gave me the friends He did, (and, add to this a thousand other "whys,"), I cannot even remotely begin to fathom. I'm choking up even as I type.

Last year, when I wrote a thank you to all the people who wished me Happy Birthday  on Facebook, I quoted Psalm 16:6. I need to repeat it here - because it is so true.

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I'm turning 50. I'm grateful for the first 50. I'm grateful for today. And I trust the one who holds my future.

Grateful

God in a Greeting

The Encounter at FBC Bolivar, where I attend church, is having a scripture memory emphasis this summer. Since we are studying the book of James, all the verses being chosen to memorize are from that rich, rich book. Being on the leadership team that helps plan the worship service, I am in on the discussion of which verses we plan to memorize.

That first week we read through the first few verses of James 1 out loud. This was what Billy was preaching on and we wanted the memory verse to come from there.  The person reading stopped after 1:1, which says,

"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings."

The comment made went something like, "Well, obviously, we don't want to memorize that as a congregation." I agreed, as did everybody else in the room, but then I proceeded to tell them what I'm about to tell you.

God reminds me of something every time I think of those words. These words in this greeting. In times past, I typically read quickly - even scanned - the beginning of the letters in the New Testament,  so I can hurry up and get to the good parts. But a couple of years ago, I decided to try to memorize the book of James. My brother had told me about a girl in his church in Washington that had recited the whole book during one of their church services and how powerful it was. I was becoming more and more convicted of my need for putting God's word in my heart in a more permanent way, so I decided to give this a try. So far, I have only memorized the first chapter - and if pressed to recite it right now, I would stumble horribly.

But it was in the memorizing of that first verse that God spoke to  me. I was saying those words from James 1:1 one day, when it hit me how James had described himself. He said he was a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. God nudged me and asked, "How would you describe yourself? Could you replace James with Shelley? Are you really my servant?"

Wow. Big questions from what I typically had considered a gloss-overable greeting. Memorizing had slowed me down enough to have to really think about what was being said. And what was being said was big. Nothing in God's word is just filler.

God is in the greeting.