Carrie sang one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard yesterday.
It's currently the profile song on my myspace page.
Captivated by Vicky Beeching
Your laughter it echoes like a joyous thunder
Your whisper it warms me like a summer breeze
Your anger is fiercer than the sun in its splendour
You're close and yet full of mystery
Ever since the day that I saw Your face
Try as I may, I cannot look away, I cannot look away…
Captivated by You
I am captivated by You
May my life be one unbroken gaze
Fixed upon the beauty of Your face
Beholding is becoming, so as You fill my gaze
I become more like You and my heart is changed
Beholding is becoming, so as You fill my view
Transform me into the likeness of You
This is what I ask, for all my days
That I may, never look away, never look away…
No other could ever be as beautiful
No other could ever steal my heart away
I just can't look away…
Monday, February 25, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Breaking the Chains
I was listening to a podcast today from Ed Young-- pastor of Fellowship Church in Ft Worth--called Pronoun-Us. ( you can get it on iTunes) Part of his message really made me think.
A man walking to a circus saw an elephant chained to a stake with a flimsy bicycle chain. He asked the trainer how the little chain held the big beast to the stake. The trainer laughed and said, I've had the elephant since he was a baby. When he was a baby, he didn't have the strength to break the chain. Now, if he wanted to, he could break it like a thread. But the memory keeps him teathered to the stake.
Why is so many times we are like that elephant? We've been tied to things that have had strongholds over us for so long. We have grown so accustomed to the things that tie us down, that we don't even try to break free. We just believe that where we are is all we're ever going to be. If we could only believe, if we only had faith, if we only had complete trust in the One that can break any stronghold... how much more fulfilling could life be?
A man walking to a circus saw an elephant chained to a stake with a flimsy bicycle chain. He asked the trainer how the little chain held the big beast to the stake. The trainer laughed and said, I've had the elephant since he was a baby. When he was a baby, he didn't have the strength to break the chain. Now, if he wanted to, he could break it like a thread. But the memory keeps him teathered to the stake.
Why is so many times we are like that elephant? We've been tied to things that have had strongholds over us for so long. We have grown so accustomed to the things that tie us down, that we don't even try to break free. We just believe that where we are is all we're ever going to be. If we could only believe, if we only had faith, if we only had complete trust in the One that can break any stronghold... how much more fulfilling could life be?
Thursday, February 7, 2008
A Light in the Darkness
Jesus said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." ~Luke 14:12-14~
When throwing a party, for eternal reward, you need a guest list full of the least likely people you can imagine, people who can never pay you back, never make you fell cool for inviting them. Sounds crazy, huh? Jesus' way of doing things was often hard to accept.
One night in Phoenix on out way to a sleeping spot we liked, Sam and I passed a five-star hotel with well-dressed people milling about in front of the entrance and luxury sedans pulling up to drop off more partygoers.
Sam and I walked across the red carpet at the entrance, trying our best to be invisible (it didn't work). Then we stopped to look thru the window into a beautifully decorated ballroom packed full of people. Toward the front of the room a large sign read, "Happy Birthday!" Waiters dressed in white tuxedos passed through the crowd carrying silver platters heaped with expensive appetizers.
We stated silently, separated from another world only by a window.
A waiter passed by with a full platter of baked chicken dripping with rich sauce.
"Sam," I said, only half-joking, "I'll bet we could run in there, grab one of those trays, and be back outside, no problem."
Sam laughed. "Check out the security over there!" Two very large and intimidating guys were checking people's coats at the door. Any dreams of tender baked chicken evaporated.
We felt like kids pressing our noses against the candy display at an old-time country store. Everything we so badly wanted was just out of reach.
Just then an older gentleman right in front of us grabbed a glass of champagne from one of the waiters. He tilted his head back for a quick drink and noticed us standing outside looking in. With a warm smile he raised his glass towards us in salute.
Sam and I gave an embarrassed wave, nodded, and walked away.
"That was awkward, " Sam said.
"Sure as," I said.
We walked away in silence. We needed to stop drooling, find our sleeping spot for the night, roll out our bags, and forget about birthdays, banquets, and chicken on a silver tray.
Just as I was about to drift asleep, I reached for my Bible. I remembered reading about Jesus' party tips.
"Sam, dude, listen to this," I said, and began reading in Luke 14 where Jesus talks about how to throw a party of eternal proportions: "When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
"Have you ever seen anything like that?" I asked when I was finished. "I mean, what would that kind of party look like today?"
"Dunno," said Sam. "I've never even been to a party with appetizers on a silver platter! But imagine-a whole ballroom filled with the weak, the drunk, the blind, the homeless. Let's do it!"
We both thought for a moment. The more we thought, the better the plan sounded.
"But maybe we shouldn't serve champagne," I said. We both laughed. We agreed that instead of party favors, at our banquet we'd hand out groceries or new sleeping bags.
Just before we dropped of to sleep, Sam asked the obvious question, "Do you think anybody would be willing to do what it takes to throw a party liek that?"
Probably not, we decided.
You have to ask, though: Why not? Why not throw a party Jesus' way? Why do thousands of Christians read this story every year but never actually do it?
We either add to the darkness of indifference... or we light a candle to see by. ~ Madeleine L'Engle, A Circle of Quiet
**Taken from My 30 Days Under the Overpass Devotional by Mike Yankoski**
In November of 2007 I sat in the experience room at the SOKC Campus of LifeChurch.tv as this was read before we went on the Block Party MicroMission. It moved me in a way I can't explain. I was about to be a part of something big, something life changing... not just for the homeless of OKC, but for me. Life Church in conjunction with Love Is An Action, Refuge OKC, and other area business set up a "party Jesus style"-- one that Mike and Sam believe no one would do. With donated food to feed 2000, 3 semi's full of clothing donated by many, people who donated their time to cut hair, take family portraits, and hundreds of volunteers that sacrificed their day to pour into the life of someone who may not have had a meal, much less a simple conversation with some one in quite some time. During the day, my sweet friend Marjorie and I along with a few others decided we were going to walk downtown and tell people about this party going on! We met up with a sweet couple in the Myriad Gardens and walked back to the mission sight with them. Joe had been in Vietnam, he's an alcoholic, we had a hard time communicating with him b/c he was pretty drunk that day. Bertha, his wife of 2 years was in a wheelchair b/c of her bad knees, and had the mental capacity of a small child. You could tell they really loved each other. Marj and I spent most of the day with Joe and Bertha--getting them food, and clothes to take with them. As we were sitting talking to them, a kid walked by with balloon he had gotten from the kids area they had set up. Bertha was intrigued by this. She asked where they got it, and I told her they had some stuff set up for the kids. She smiled and said I can be a kid! I told Marj I'd be right back, and slipped off to the kids area and got Bertha a ballon animal. She cried. Of all the things we had to offer that day, this simple balloon animal made her more excited than anything in the world.
As we were walking through downtown that day, we walked thru the library and around the office buildings nearby, I remember wondering what it would be like to work in that area, and what kind of opportunities it could open to make a difference being in that area daily. I really hadn't thought much about it since. Shortly after, I felt like God was telling me that I was supposed to make a change in my job... I wasnt' sure what, but I knew something was to come. At the end of this month, I am leaving my job of 12 years, and am going to be starting a new job, in one of the very office building that I wondered about... maybe there are bigger reasons, other than just a job change, I am supposed to be downtown? Maybe this is God's way of placing me in the area that I am supposed to be making a difference in? My eyes were opened big time when I went on my mission trip to NYC (see my blog at www.myspace.com/disneygirl17 posted 09/25/07), and again doing the block party. I really didn't realize the amount of homeless people in OKC. They are people just like everyone else. Some homeless by fault of their own, but others by unfortunate circumstance. Honestly as most of us live paycheck to paycheck. We literally are 1 or 2 paychecks away from homelessness ourselves. Some are only out for money for drug/alcohol. But most really are out for a caring smile, or a warm meal. So maybe this is my opportunity to be placed in an area to be a light. I don't know... just thoughts running thru my head.
When throwing a party, for eternal reward, you need a guest list full of the least likely people you can imagine, people who can never pay you back, never make you fell cool for inviting them. Sounds crazy, huh? Jesus' way of doing things was often hard to accept.
One night in Phoenix on out way to a sleeping spot we liked, Sam and I passed a five-star hotel with well-dressed people milling about in front of the entrance and luxury sedans pulling up to drop off more partygoers.
Sam and I walked across the red carpet at the entrance, trying our best to be invisible (it didn't work). Then we stopped to look thru the window into a beautifully decorated ballroom packed full of people. Toward the front of the room a large sign read, "Happy Birthday!" Waiters dressed in white tuxedos passed through the crowd carrying silver platters heaped with expensive appetizers.
We stated silently, separated from another world only by a window.
A waiter passed by with a full platter of baked chicken dripping with rich sauce.
"Sam," I said, only half-joking, "I'll bet we could run in there, grab one of those trays, and be back outside, no problem."
Sam laughed. "Check out the security over there!" Two very large and intimidating guys were checking people's coats at the door. Any dreams of tender baked chicken evaporated.
We felt like kids pressing our noses against the candy display at an old-time country store. Everything we so badly wanted was just out of reach.
Just then an older gentleman right in front of us grabbed a glass of champagne from one of the waiters. He tilted his head back for a quick drink and noticed us standing outside looking in. With a warm smile he raised his glass towards us in salute.
Sam and I gave an embarrassed wave, nodded, and walked away.
"That was awkward, " Sam said.
"Sure as," I said.
We walked away in silence. We needed to stop drooling, find our sleeping spot for the night, roll out our bags, and forget about birthdays, banquets, and chicken on a silver tray.
Just as I was about to drift asleep, I reached for my Bible. I remembered reading about Jesus' party tips.
"Sam, dude, listen to this," I said, and began reading in Luke 14 where Jesus talks about how to throw a party of eternal proportions: "When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
"Have you ever seen anything like that?" I asked when I was finished. "I mean, what would that kind of party look like today?"
"Dunno," said Sam. "I've never even been to a party with appetizers on a silver platter! But imagine-a whole ballroom filled with the weak, the drunk, the blind, the homeless. Let's do it!"
We both thought for a moment. The more we thought, the better the plan sounded.
"But maybe we shouldn't serve champagne," I said. We both laughed. We agreed that instead of party favors, at our banquet we'd hand out groceries or new sleeping bags.
Just before we dropped of to sleep, Sam asked the obvious question, "Do you think anybody would be willing to do what it takes to throw a party liek that?"
Probably not, we decided.
You have to ask, though: Why not? Why not throw a party Jesus' way? Why do thousands of Christians read this story every year but never actually do it?
We either add to the darkness of indifference... or we light a candle to see by. ~ Madeleine L'Engle, A Circle of Quiet
**Taken from My 30 Days Under the Overpass Devotional by Mike Yankoski**
In November of 2007 I sat in the experience room at the SOKC Campus of LifeChurch.tv as this was read before we went on the Block Party MicroMission. It moved me in a way I can't explain. I was about to be a part of something big, something life changing... not just for the homeless of OKC, but for me. Life Church in conjunction with Love Is An Action, Refuge OKC, and other area business set up a "party Jesus style"-- one that Mike and Sam believe no one would do. With donated food to feed 2000, 3 semi's full of clothing donated by many, people who donated their time to cut hair, take family portraits, and hundreds of volunteers that sacrificed their day to pour into the life of someone who may not have had a meal, much less a simple conversation with some one in quite some time. During the day, my sweet friend Marjorie and I along with a few others decided we were going to walk downtown and tell people about this party going on! We met up with a sweet couple in the Myriad Gardens and walked back to the mission sight with them. Joe had been in Vietnam, he's an alcoholic, we had a hard time communicating with him b/c he was pretty drunk that day. Bertha, his wife of 2 years was in a wheelchair b/c of her bad knees, and had the mental capacity of a small child. You could tell they really loved each other. Marj and I spent most of the day with Joe and Bertha--getting them food, and clothes to take with them. As we were sitting talking to them, a kid walked by with balloon he had gotten from the kids area they had set up. Bertha was intrigued by this. She asked where they got it, and I told her they had some stuff set up for the kids. She smiled and said I can be a kid! I told Marj I'd be right back, and slipped off to the kids area and got Bertha a ballon animal. She cried. Of all the things we had to offer that day, this simple balloon animal made her more excited than anything in the world.
As we were walking through downtown that day, we walked thru the library and around the office buildings nearby, I remember wondering what it would be like to work in that area, and what kind of opportunities it could open to make a difference being in that area daily. I really hadn't thought much about it since. Shortly after, I felt like God was telling me that I was supposed to make a change in my job... I wasnt' sure what, but I knew something was to come. At the end of this month, I am leaving my job of 12 years, and am going to be starting a new job, in one of the very office building that I wondered about... maybe there are bigger reasons, other than just a job change, I am supposed to be downtown? Maybe this is God's way of placing me in the area that I am supposed to be making a difference in? My eyes were opened big time when I went on my mission trip to NYC (see my blog at www.myspace.com/disneygirl17 posted 09/25/07), and again doing the block party. I really didn't realize the amount of homeless people in OKC. They are people just like everyone else. Some homeless by fault of their own, but others by unfortunate circumstance. Honestly as most of us live paycheck to paycheck. We literally are 1 or 2 paychecks away from homelessness ourselves. Some are only out for money for drug/alcohol. But most really are out for a caring smile, or a warm meal. So maybe this is my opportunity to be placed in an area to be a light. I don't know... just thoughts running thru my head.
Magnolias
I spent the week before my daughter's June wedding running last-minute trips to the caterer, florist, tuxedo shop, and the church about forty miles away. As happy as I was that Patsy was marrying a good Christian young man, I felt laden with responsibilities as I watched my budget dwindle ... So many details, so many bills, and so little time. My son Jack was away at college, but he said he would be there to walk his younger sister down the aisle, taking the place of his dad who had died a few years before. He teased Patsy, saying he'd wanted to give her away since she was about three years old!
To save money, I gathered blossoms from several friends who had large magnolia trees. Their luscious, creamy-white blooms and slick green leaves would make beautiful arrangements against the rich dark wood inside the church.
After the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, we banked the podium area and choir loft with magnolias. As we left just before midnight, I felt tired but satisfied this would be the best wedding any bride had ever had! The music, the ceremony, the reception - and especially the flowers - would be remembered for years.
The big day arrived - the busiest day of my life - and while her bridesmaids helped Patsy to dress, her fiancé Tim walked with me to the sanctuary to do a final check. When we opened the door and felt a rush of hot air, I almost fainted; and then I saw them - all the beautiful white flowers were black. Funeral black. An electrical storm during the night had knocked out the air conditioning system, and on that hot summer day, the flowers had wilted and died.
I panicked, knowing I didn't have time to drive back to our hometown, gather more flowers, and return in time for the wedding.
Tim turned to me. "Edna, can you get more flowers? I'll throw away these dead ones and put fresh flowers in these arrangements."
I mumbled, "Sure," as he be-bopped down the hall to put on his cuff links.
Alone in the large sanctuary, I looked up at the dark wooden beams in the arched ceiling. "Lord," I prayed, "please help me. I don't know anyone in this town. Help me find someone willing to give me flowers - in a hurry!" I scurried out praying for four things: the blessing of white magnolias, courage to find them in an unfamiliar yard, safety from any dog that may bite my leg, and a nice person who would not get out a shotgun when I asked to cut his tree to shreds.
As I left the church, I saw magnolia trees in the distance. I approached a house... No dog in sight. I knocked on the door and an older man answered. So far so good . . . No shotgun. When I stated my plea the man beamed, "I'd be happy to!"
He climbed a stepladder and cut large boughs and handed them down to me. Minutes later, as I lifted the last armload into my car trunk, I said, "Sir, you've made the mother of a bride happy today."
"No, Ma'am," he said. "You don't understand what's happening here."
"What?" I asked.
"You see, my wife of sixty-seven years died on Monday. On Tuesday I received friends at the funeral home, and on Wednesday . . . He paused. I saw tears welling up in his eyes. "On Wednesday I buried her." He looked away. "On Thursday most of my out-of-town relatives went back home, and on Friday - yesterday - my children left."
I nodded.
"This morning," he continued, "I was sitting in my den crying out loud. I miss her so much. For the last sixteen years, as her health got worse, she needed me. But now nobody needs me. This morning I cried, 'Who needs an eighty-six-year-old wore-out man? Nobody!' I began to cry louder. 'Nobody needs me!' About that time, you knocked, and said, "Sir, I need you."
I stood with my mouth open.
He asked, "Are you an angel? The way the light shone around your head into my dark living room..."
I assured him I was no angel.
He smiled. "Do you know what I was thinking when I handed you those magnolias?"
"No."
"I decided I'm needed. My flowers are needed. Why, I might have a flower ministry! I could give them to everyone! Some caskets at the funeral home have no flowers. People need flowers at times like that and I have lots of them. They're all over the backyard! I can give them to hospitals, churches - all sorts of places. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to serve the Lord until the day He calls me home!"
I drove back to the church, filled with wonder. On Patsy's wedding day, if anyone had asked me to encourage someone who was hurting, I would have said, "Forget it! It's my only daughter's wedding, for goodness' sake! There is no way I can minister to anyone today."
But God found a way. Through dead flowers.
To save money, I gathered blossoms from several friends who had large magnolia trees. Their luscious, creamy-white blooms and slick green leaves would make beautiful arrangements against the rich dark wood inside the church.
After the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, we banked the podium area and choir loft with magnolias. As we left just before midnight, I felt tired but satisfied this would be the best wedding any bride had ever had! The music, the ceremony, the reception - and especially the flowers - would be remembered for years.
The big day arrived - the busiest day of my life - and while her bridesmaids helped Patsy to dress, her fiancé Tim walked with me to the sanctuary to do a final check. When we opened the door and felt a rush of hot air, I almost fainted; and then I saw them - all the beautiful white flowers were black. Funeral black. An electrical storm during the night had knocked out the air conditioning system, and on that hot summer day, the flowers had wilted and died.
I panicked, knowing I didn't have time to drive back to our hometown, gather more flowers, and return in time for the wedding.
Tim turned to me. "Edna, can you get more flowers? I'll throw away these dead ones and put fresh flowers in these arrangements."
I mumbled, "Sure," as he be-bopped down the hall to put on his cuff links.
Alone in the large sanctuary, I looked up at the dark wooden beams in the arched ceiling. "Lord," I prayed, "please help me. I don't know anyone in this town. Help me find someone willing to give me flowers - in a hurry!" I scurried out praying for four things: the blessing of white magnolias, courage to find them in an unfamiliar yard, safety from any dog that may bite my leg, and a nice person who would not get out a shotgun when I asked to cut his tree to shreds.
As I left the church, I saw magnolia trees in the distance. I approached a house... No dog in sight. I knocked on the door and an older man answered. So far so good . . . No shotgun. When I stated my plea the man beamed, "I'd be happy to!"
He climbed a stepladder and cut large boughs and handed them down to me. Minutes later, as I lifted the last armload into my car trunk, I said, "Sir, you've made the mother of a bride happy today."
"No, Ma'am," he said. "You don't understand what's happening here."
"What?" I asked.
"You see, my wife of sixty-seven years died on Monday. On Tuesday I received friends at the funeral home, and on Wednesday . . . He paused. I saw tears welling up in his eyes. "On Wednesday I buried her." He looked away. "On Thursday most of my out-of-town relatives went back home, and on Friday - yesterday - my children left."
I nodded.
"This morning," he continued, "I was sitting in my den crying out loud. I miss her so much. For the last sixteen years, as her health got worse, she needed me. But now nobody needs me. This morning I cried, 'Who needs an eighty-six-year-old wore-out man? Nobody!' I began to cry louder. 'Nobody needs me!' About that time, you knocked, and said, "Sir, I need you."
I stood with my mouth open.
He asked, "Are you an angel? The way the light shone around your head into my dark living room..."
I assured him I was no angel.
He smiled. "Do you know what I was thinking when I handed you those magnolias?"
"No."
"I decided I'm needed. My flowers are needed. Why, I might have a flower ministry! I could give them to everyone! Some caskets at the funeral home have no flowers. People need flowers at times like that and I have lots of them. They're all over the backyard! I can give them to hospitals, churches - all sorts of places. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to serve the Lord until the day He calls me home!"
I drove back to the church, filled with wonder. On Patsy's wedding day, if anyone had asked me to encourage someone who was hurting, I would have said, "Forget it! It's my only daughter's wedding, for goodness' sake! There is no way I can minister to anyone today."
But God found a way. Through dead flowers.
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