Set the Table

I rise to another day,
I set my sights on you,
Their voices try to shout me down,
Try to break me through and through.

My mission here before me,
I set my sights on you,
Their words fly as hurled spears,
And they pierce me through and through.

My day leads me into war,
I set my sights on you,
Their taunts are vicious stones,
And meant to leave me black and blue.

A new day and another room,
I set my sights on you,
A table set by you for me,
In the presence of foes so true.

What is YOUR Quest? ~ Guest Blogging Day

What is more, I consider everything a loss 

because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.   

I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, 

but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  

 Phil 3: 8-9 NIV

I'm not sure if you've ever watched the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but one of my favorite parts is when they are trying to cross a bridge and there is a man drilling them with questions before they are allowed to pass.  The man standing guard always asks the person who is attempting to cross the bridge, "What is your quest?"

As parents of children with special needs, we may find ourselves engaged in a daily battle to determine our QUEST, or our PURPOSE in life.  I know that I do!  

I look at ALL there is to do around me…all of the “causes” for which I need to fight; the IEP meetings to attend, the support groups to connect with, the doctors appointments to schedule AND keep, the family and friends who need me and I them!  

Continue Reading on Comfort in the Midst of Chaos...

Don't You Dare Have Fun!!! ~ Guest Blogging Day

Image Courtesy of Photostock/freedigitalphotos.net

Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
    it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

Praise the Lord with the harp;
    make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully, and shout for joy.

For the word of the Lord is right and true;
    he is faithful in all he does.

The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of his unfailing love.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
    he puts the deep into storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the people of the world revere him.

For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.

Psalm 33: 1-9 NIV

Sometimes, as parents of children with disabilities and health concerns, we feel like we shouldn't have fun.  As much as we WANT to have fun, we feel as though we would look selfish or calloused if the world saw us having fun when the world knows the condition of our children.

When my daughter had cancer,  we stopped going to church and we stopped getting together with a lot of people, and we stopped traveling to visit my family who lived 4 hours away.  We did all of those things because of the risk of germs that could have dramatically impacted our daughter's health while she was on chemotherapy.

Continue Reading on Comfort in the Midst of Chaos...

That's What He Said ~ Guest Blogging Day

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.  Isaiah 55:10-11 NASB

My cat has been waking me up somewhere between 1:00 AM and 4:00 AM in the morning since January.  Since I don't get to bed until 10 or 11 at night, that leaves me only a "couple"of hours of uninterrupted sleep for a few months now.  

But, that's a story for next week.

I just needed you to be aware of my state of sleep deprivation so the following story makes more sense.  Today, I want to tell you about the surprise blessing I received this past week by committing to scripture memorization.  

I have stayed on the mailing list for our women's ministry back in WI even though we now live in NV, and a few months ago I saw a message to the women that there would be a scripture memorization challenge for the summer. I thought that would be something fun for me to do while I was off of work and home with Evie over summer break.  

I didn't realize I was supposed to start BEFORE summer, and I was dragging my feet at starting in on the memorizing.  I really had only planned on it when "I had nothing better to do."  

Something urged me to start this past week, however, and I'm glad.  

When I pulled out the program information, I found that we were to start by memorizing Psalm 1.

AN ENTIRE PSALM?  

Continue reading on Comfort in the Midst of Chaos...

Getting Plugged in to my Power Source ~ Guest Blogging Day

Evie and I praising at Joyful Noise Family Fest a few years Back...

 

Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, 

as I lift up my hands 

toward your Most Holy Place.  

Psalm 28:2 NIV

What is with the people raising their hands?

I remember asking myself this question over and over again when I would attend church with my grandma and grandpa as a young child.  

As an adult, I not only lift my hands when worshiping in church, but I do when we are at Christian music concerts, and I do even when I'm cruising in the car and the Spirit moves me.  

I realized the other night, while worshiping at the Beautiful Offerings Tour with artists like Big Daddy Weave, Jason Gray, Citizen Way and Lauren Dagle, that my hands lifted in praise are EXACTLY the PROOF of "HOW I STAY SO POSITIVE?"

People say I inspire them, and they want to know how I find the energy to do the things I do...Just as a tall tree would work as a conductor of energy from a lightening bolt to the earth, my hand raised in praise of Jesus is my power source.  It IS how I continue to persevere in a world that is so broken.

 Continue reading on Comfort in the Midst of Chaos...

The Importance of Being Fit ~ Guest Blogging Day

"Pilates Training" Courtesy of Marin/freedigitalphotos.net

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. 

Psalm 119:18 ESV

I could begin with a laundry list of the current fad diets.  I could begin with a diatribe of fitness regimens certain to contour and shape your body in under ninety days.  Or, I could just begin with a simple thought that I had the other day when some friends and I were discussing our difficulties with carving out time to dig into God's Word.

What's our damage?  (A.K.A. What's our problem.)

I manage to carve out time nearly EVERY day to do my workout.  Some days it's twenty minutes, and others it's forty.  I manage to do my volunteer work for the International WAGR Syndrome Association.  I even manage to carve out twenty-five minutes a night to watch How I Met Your Mother with my husband.  (I had never watched the show when it was on television, but now that it's on Netflix, I can watch it on MY time.)

So, why WOULDN'T I be able to carve out time for God?

Wait, let me re-phrase that...

Why DON'T I?

Continue reading on Comfort in the Midst of Chaos...

Where is the Joy?~Guest Blogging Day

Photo Courtesy of Bulldogza/freedigitalphotos.net

I know, O LORD, that Your judgements are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.  O may Your loving kindness comfort me, According to Your word to Your servant.  May Your compassion come to me that I may live, For Your law is my delight.  Psalm 119: 75-77

Some years it feels impossible to find joy during the holiday season.  People are still sick, people are still dying, people are still losing their jobs and losing their homes.  WHAT is so magical about that?

Nothing... 

Continue reading on Comfort in the Midst of Chaos...

Like a Corroded Flashlight~Guest Blogging Day

 

Photo Courtesy of Gualberto 107/freedigitalphotos.net

I will meditate on your precepts
    and fix my eyes on your ways. Psalm 119:15 ESV

The wind is kicking up, the TV stations are all airing radar of the storms moving through the area.  Sirens are blaring, plants and chairs outside are blowing over, and cats are scurrying under the beds.  I grab a bag and start dumping books, snacks, and blankets into it, strap the baby in the car seat and head downstairs.  Tornado season in Wisconsin...always an adventure.

We get downstairs and I turn on the radio.  Boom.  Power is out.  I grab the flashlight from the cupboard above the washing machine.  Flip the switch.  A low glow is emitted momentarily, but slowly fades. 

And...in my best Minnesota-girl drawl I say in a whisper, "Ah, crap."

 

Continue Reading on Comfort in the Midst of Chaos...

The Truth about Teeny Tiny People on a Spinning Ball

The Spiral Galaxy, hubblesite.org

The Universe is enormous.  This is probably not new information to anyone reading this.  I have always been interested in astronomy; the sun, the moon, the planets.  The celestial skies have been a source of awe and wonder for me.  But, yesterday, as I sat in adult education hour at my church, I was flat out overwhelmed by just how enormous,and limitless the Universe around me is. 

Here are just a few statistics I pulled up off the internet:

• If the Milky Way Galaxy were the size of the North American continent, the Solar System in which we live would be so small in comparison that it would fit into a coffee cup.  (www.kidzworld.com; Basics of Our Solar System)



hubblesite.org

• Scientists can "see" billions of galaxies, but they know there are still others that are unseen. (www.csep10.phys.utk.edu)
• The sun could hold 1.3 milion Earths. (www.csep10.phys.utk.edu)
• Half a billionth of the energy released by the sun reaches Earth.  (www.astronomyforbeginners.com)

Now, considering these are all things that are "relatively" close to us; things with which we are familiar, like the sun and our solar system; and considering the fact that the Milky Way Galaxy is 100, 000 billion light years in diameter, and how many additional planetary systems it holds; then considering the fact that I noted above~that there are billions of galaxies that scientists can see, but others that remain unseen; all of this considered means:


The Universe is unfathomably HUGE!  

Star Forming Region 106, hubblesite.org

Which makes us indisputably teeny-tiny...we are miniscule.  Our planet is small, our solar system is small, our galaxy is one in a billion.  So, how on "earth" can we feel important at all?  What is the POINT of all of this?

First of all, looking around, at our planet, at our sun and our moon, at stars and galaxies; one gets the feeling that there was and is a Master Creator.  Something this beautifully intricate cannot just come to be.  Gravity in and of itself tells me that God created the earth for us to live on it.  He set the sun just so far away as to enable us not to be burned up, but to have seasons.  He set the world in motion in a perfect way so as to keep us from flying off into space.

I can't help but agree with the Psalmist who wrote "Let the Heavens praise your wonders." Psalm 89:5 and, "The Heaven's declare his righteousness." Psalm 50:6.  The beauty of the Universe is absolutely flowing from an endless river of extraordinary mercy and love. 

But, so what?  It's gorgeous out there; it's vast, and limitless, and mysterious.  But, so what?

Here's what's so amazing~ "As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him." Psalm 103:11.  Really...as insignificant and puny as we might feel, God's love for us is bigger than this grand Universe.  

The Helix Nebula, hubblesite.org

But wait, there's more..."as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."  Psalm 103:12.  Really...as far as the east from the west...if we are talking about the "heavens" still, then that is a pretty significant distance for him to cast our sins away from us. 

So, God made all of this~spoke it into being right in the very opening events of Genesis.  He gave the earth to us; to care for it and dwell on it.  Yet, we continue to deny his existence, we continue to deny his authority, we continue to deny his sovereignty and ask why he does things the way he does.  It doesn't seem that we are reciprocating the "vast" love that he has shown for us.

Now, if any of us treated one another the way we often treat GOD; like a non-existent inconvenience, I'm pretty certain we would have walked away a long time ago and said, "To Hell with you."  But guess what he did?  He said, "There is a person alive who does not sin.  There isn't a person alive who can live with me for eternity because they are not holy enough.  I need to solve this once and for all."  So, rather than walk away from us, he came to earth to live among us. 

We like this image, don't we?  The boss going out and working the sales floor; the CEO making the cold calls?  But think about this...really think about it.  The lashes, the mocking, being spit upon, and ultimately nailed to a cross...and we aren't talking about "the boss," we're talking about the God who made the Universe.  

Why would he do that?  In the book of Isaiah 55:9, God says that "...as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."  We can't get inside the mind of God. We can't understand his ways.  But he's given us the world, he's given us life, and he's given us his own righteousness through his death, suffering and resurrection from the dead.

Earth, hubblesite.org

In one of my favorite songs on the Newsboys album Restart, they say, "Seven billion people on a spinning ball, and they all mean the world to you..." (Fishers of Men).   Thank you, God, for loving me so much.  What an incomprehensible God you are. 

Wait...there is a question here begging to be answered...quite a few, actually...

If God could create this sea of celestial beauty, spin the world into orbit with a word, and knows every star and every hair on our heads (Psalm 139), then why is my daughter blind, why do people get cancer, and how on earth can a person who murders another person be just as worthy of redemption as I am?

I guess we'll just have to put our "patient pants" on and see how I'm going to tackle these questions tomorrow....

God's Masterpiece

I'm participating in a Bible story on the first 6 Chapters of Genesis. I'm learning all about the Creation, and how my belief in the Creation can either support or dismiss all other things that I have learned. It's been humbling and awe-inspiring-of course, when confronted with the God who made the Heavens and the Earth--who wouldn't want to fall to her knees?

This in-depth study has taken me deeper into the question--WHY WAGR SYNDROME? WHY MY DAUGHTER? God, what were you thinking when you made her, and why did you think I could handle this?

Here is His Response...

God's Masterpiece

God was knitting, knitting, knitting...
Knit, one, pearl, two...
Without sitting--just knitting, knitting...
Spinning strands of stars and light out to the Heavens through out the night.

God was knitting, knitting, knitting...
Angels saw Him drop the stitch...
"Wait!" they shouted, as it was fitting,
To show Him that He'd lost His sight; strands of DNA spun out through the night.

God was turning, turning, turning...
Folding over strand on strand...
"Don't you see this?" He asked the angels...
"This is art within My hands; a masterpiece before us stands..."

"The World is watching, waiting, waiting...
Waiting for My Son's return...
What they are missing while they're waiting,
Is all the beauty that We've made, while they are waiting to be saved."

"But, Father won't this dropped stitch hurt them?
Won't they miss the World they knew?
Cancer, blindness, pain that burns them,
Father, spare these Children, please,we ask you on our bended knees!"

God continued, nodding, nodding...
As He laced the woven threads...
Tracing Masterpiece and nodding...
"It is finished," He said with triumph, as the angels stood in defiance.

"Finished now, yet incomplete?"
Cried angels once at Father's feet...

"We stand here now; pleading, pleading...
Don't you see our hearts are bleeding...
For this child and all her World...
Can't you fix her before the pain ravages the World again?"

God now spoke while wading, wading...
Through a pool of silver and gold...
Sovereign and steadfast, Shepherd wading...
"What pains the World, Celestial Friends, is separation from Me, from God to Man. No perfection will they ever see, until they live at Home with Me.
And so this Masterpiece will tell My Story, a tale through pain that brings Me Glory.
So dry your eyes, go swiftly hence, she's down on Earth, you must commence
to usher her through her Earthly reign until she's home with me again."