Advent Fast Day 8

Dustin and I were cleaning up the kitchen last night and talking about the fast and how the lack of our chosen "trinkets" continually reminds us of God each meal. We were joyfully bemoaning together; I know that is an oxymoron. In any case I made a remark that I will be glad when I am free of this restriction. And I was reminded that before this poor helpless babe was born, those who believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were constantly trying to fulfill the requirements of God's Laws through offerings and commands. I have the anticipation and hope of an end. But the Israelites could not see the bigger picture and see the end. They had the hope of the Messiah but did not know the time in which He would come. I have the blessed assurance that Christmas morning, the things I have given up while be restored to me. They were slaves to the Law but I have been set free.

The writer of Galatians put it this way- "Why was the law given? It was given to show people how guilty they are. But this system of the law was to last only until the coming of the child to whom God's promise was made...... If the law could have given us new life, we could have been made right with God by obeying it. But the Scriptures have declared that we are all prisoners of sin, so the only way to receive God's promise is to believe in Jesus Christ. Until faith is Christ was shown to us as the way of becoming right with God, we were guarded by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until we could put our faith in the coming Savior." (chapter 3, verses 19, 21-23)

Symbolically in this fast we are in the time of "protective custody" and there is a day coming when we will be set free just like the ancient believers. Glory! But for us it is the hope of His return that we long for. We no longer shout Noel in anticipation of His arrival. We now shout Thy kingdom come! in anticipation of His Reign.

Poor kitty

Naomi is to cats as Darla is to fish.

Enough said.

Lord Teach Me To Pray Study

I usually post my reading list on Facebook but it doesn't allow me to explore thoughts that hit me hard so I best write this one down here. Our women's group are currently reading Lord, Teach Me To Pray by Kay Arthur. Basically she takes the Lord's prayer and devotes about 5 days to each line of the prayer. This week we have been studying the line- "Your Kingdom come,"

Kay contends that praying for God's kingdom to come is to declare your allegiance to God. When we do so, we are showing our eagerness for His arrival, aiding in kingdom work and taking our rightful place as debtors to the gospel. I have to admit that I never really thought about what those words meant before. There are two quotes that have really pierced my heart.

The first is A.B.Simpson: "There is no ministry that will bring more power and blessing than the habit of believing, definite, and persistent prayer for the progress of Christ's kingdom, for the needs and work of His church, for His ministers and servants, and especially for the evangelization of the world and the vast neglected myriads who know not how to pray for themselves."

The second is by Adrian Rogers: "No matter how faithfully you attend church, how generously you gie, how circumspectly you walk, how eloquently you teach, or how beautifully you sing, if you are not endeavoring to bring people to Jesus Christ, you are not right with God."

I will be chewing on these for quite a while.

FREE TAbLE!!

Our homeschool co-op has a free table when we meet for class and I am always so blessed by the items people leave. This week I scored a book on sign language, a book on whales, a cozy men's sweater that my husband will probably not wear but I will gladly done it on instead and a John Piper book. I was especially excited about the John Piper book because I was looking at it on eBay and ALMOST bid on it. The book is The Supremacy of Jesus Christ and the Postmodern World. I was practically jumping up and down. I am ever so blessed by these wonderful families.

Advent Fast

Several weeks ago our pastor asked us to being praying about fasting during Advent. My first reaction was fear because I was afraid of what God might ask me to give up. My next reaction was, What is Advent? Advent is the time after Thanksgiving up to Christmas Eve. It is a Latin word meaning "to come." Ann Dixon wrote:

Although Advent traditions vary, the reason for observing Advent remains the same: to prepare our hearts for welcoming God's gift of light and love, His son Jesus.

I have never fasted for a season. I have done the 30 hour famine as a youth, albeit I wasn't aware of the way in which to fast or the truth of it. In any case this is new territory for me. I was so thankful that we received a FAQ regarding fasting so I could go into this time with the right attitude. After praying about it I felt led to give up my date night activities which was to watch our favorite TV shows on hulu.com or casttv.com. That is the part of my week that I look forward to the most. So I talked with Dustin about it and he understood. I felt God asking me to want to be in His presence as much as I long for my earthly husband's presence. So it was settled.

And then the day before the fast began, I started to have an aching in my heart. Giving up two nights was nothing in comparison to the heavenly realm that Jesus gave up to become a babe in a manger. I desired to forgo something that would be a constant reminder to me of the sacrifice Jesus gave for me. I wanted to hunger for something . If fasting is truly about giving up a lesser thing to gain something greater. And if it is letting go of something temporal to lay hold of the eternal, than I needed to find something else to give up. Instantly I knew my answer. I have given up something that has proven to be more challenging than I even realized when I choose to forgo it.

I will not reveal my choice until after the fast is over so let us call it trinkets. But let me say this: The very first day it hit me like a ton of bricks. I could not have trinkets. But I LOVE trinkets! I did not realize trinkets were in that. I can't have it. Really? God gently reminded me of Hebrews 12:2

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For the joy set before me I will joyfully forgo my enjoyment of trinkets knowing that as I do I am reminded of the beautiful gift God gave us in His Son. There is much anticipation of Christmas Day when I will be able to enjoy trinkets again. Just like there is much anticipation in the return of our king , Jesus Christ. Every day as I forgo my trinkets, God is teaching me something new. There are times when it isn't easy but then I remind myself, "... for the joy set before Him..." Should be an interesting 21 more days.

Santa or no Santa?

Santa or no Santa; that is the question. Before the kids were born we had decided that we would not follow the tradition of Santa primarily because it meant lying to the kids. If we lied about Santa, would the kids believe us when we told them about Jesus? This has cause much dismay among the grandparents and countless family arguments but we have stood our ground. This year Josiah has been quite curious about the story of Santa and the traditions that go with it. He has lamented that Santa does not visit our house but he visits others. Despite our truth telling in the way the whole Santa thing works, Josiah actually believes in Santa! How did that happened? I have no idea. In any case, it has brought to light some retrospect on my part. I grew up with Santa and it was magical. To this day I still getting teary eyed when I watch movies about Santa Claus. He was such a wonderful part of my childhood. I do however remember when my parents told me the truth and I was distraught. I didn't want that to happen to my kids but I fear we have done it in the opposite way. They understand the reason for Christmas; the greatest gift that God could give humanity lying in a manger. And yet it seems that no matter how hard we try, the focus returns to what presents will I get? So we are going to prayerfully seek the Lord's guidance in how to handle traditions this holiday season. The goal is to follow in God's example as a humble servant, to demonstrate to fellow man love and mercy and to be generous as God has so graciously been generous to us. The question is how do we do that in a way that a 7 and 5 year old will understand.

My Cup Runneth Over

This has been a remarkable week. We have seen God's mighty hand in so many areas of our lives and our friend's lives that my heart is bursting at the seams.

We had been concerned for months that the upcoming social security hearing would be a stressor for another MS episode so I was meeting regularly with a psychiatrist and a good friend that is a psychologists to try to give me a good perspective on this whole thing and to give me some tools to keep my stress levels low. I was doing well but I knew that if anything I would more than likely ruin all the hard work the night before by stressing so much that I don't sleep which would then cause me to be susceptible to any virus I came in contact with. I have done this several times before so I know what I am talking about. But just as I was starting to feel the waves of worry and doubt and concern sweep over me, I happened to check my facebook page and saw a status update for one of the moms from the homeschool co-op.

I have known Julie for about 2 years and in that whole time she has had an oxygen tank connected to her to help her breathe. I don't know the whole story but I know her lungs were weak and in trouble. These last two months have been especially precarious and we have been diligently praying for her healing. Julie has been on the lung transplant list for some time so when I read on her update that there may be some lungs available, I was overjoyed. There was a link to her blog and from that point on, my stupid little hearing didn't seem so important. What a great joy it was to read the continuing updates as she was prepped for surgery and then the lungs were a good match, she was in surgery and is now out breathing on her own. Before we went to bed that night we prayed for Julie and her family and I realized that not only was God blessing her but He was keeping me from causing myself to become ill. I was so thankful and enthusiastic for Julie that I forgot about myself. We prayed earnestly for the family that had suffered the loss to allow Julie to live and we rejoiced and praised God for His perfect timing. It has been glorious!

Monday morning was the long anticipated social security disability hearing for me. We had been prepped by my attorney that it would take 1-3 months for a written decision to arrive in the mail. The only time a decision comes from the bench is when the client is there with a drool cup or as a quadriplegic. You'll have to take that statement with a grain of salt because he is a lawyer and a little prone to dramatics. The point is that getting a ruling from the bench is highly unlikely. After a couple of questions, the judge stopped and began to write a bunch of things and then asked to be put on the record and he began to dole out his decision from the bench! I was in complete shock. Isn't it like our great God to give us answers when we think none are to be had. The judge ruled that I was unable to work full-time and was indeed to be classified as disabled and awarded whatever social security benefits that I was entitled to. He then said to have a nice life and adjourned the case. The analyst from the social security office never even had a chance to question me or try to prove my capabilities at working full-time. Again, it was glorious!

After the hearing I had three doctor appointments so Dustin was like my chauffeur that day. At the first appointment we ran into a dear friend who let us know that a family member of his was receiving a newborn baby boy to adopt. Another moment of rejoicing! It was beginning to be too much for this fragile heart to handle. In so many ways God is moving mightily on behalf of His people. I see His fingerprints everywhere. And it dawned on me that this all happened the beginning of the Thanksgiving weekend. We have much to be thankful for. And even if God did not move in all those ways, we would still have much to be thankful for. For our God is a Living God. He paints the sky for us each day, sets the stars out for us to wonder at, He creates life and gives us love, and He even gives us these weak tents, made in His image, to live in so that we can see the work of His hands. Oh how glorious the love of the Father is for us that He would calls us his children, wholly and dearly loved.

It reminded me of the Nichole Nordeman song, Gratitude:

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between
What we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight
Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace

But Jesus, would You please . . .