Rejoicing with Song

I have a secret: I like to sing along with the songs on the radio when I'm driving.  But I don't like to get caught doing it!

Here's another secret: I make up songs to sing at home.  They're usually nonsensical little tunes that I sing to the dog or cat. I catch myself singing them when I'm cooking or cleaning or just doing routine chores around the house.  For some reason, they lighten my mood and make me happy.

God has a similar secret tucked into a minor prophet's book: He rejoices over you with singing. (Zeph 3:17).  You read that right: God Rejoices Over You.  

This has been one of my favorite verses in the Bible since I discovered it several years ago. It speaks to my heart, giving me assurance and great hope.

The whole verse in the NIV reads: "The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing. "

Knowing our God, it is a unique song for each person.  Now, it doesn't say that explicitly here, but let's look at God and what His Scriptures say.   He is The Creator of the Universe.  (Gen 1-2).  A universe which has new discoveries each day (recent reports say in just the Amazon a new animal is discovered every third day).  He loves us enough to send his Son to die.  (John 3:16).  He gives us each a new name (Rev. 2:17).

A lavish and extravagant God like this would surely give each their own song!

When I think of this verse, it makes me smile.  God is rejoicing over me!  When I think how much fun I have making up a silly song to sing, it warms my heart to think that God is doing the same for me.

And I suspect that when I hear Him sing it to me in Glory, it will seem like a familiar melody to my heart.


For more blogs writing on this verse, check out Women of Faith.

Expect Delays

"Hurry up and Wait" is a motto I live by in my job.  Daily I have to get to court a bit early to meet the client.  I wait for them to arrive.  Then we talk, and sit and wait for the Court to be ready to go.  We wait a bit longer for the court reporter to get there.  Then the other attorney.  Sometimes, the Court is several minutes late.  When I finally get done with the hearing, another Court and client is usually waiting for me.

Patience is not my virtue.  I value efficiency and waiting seems like a waste of time. Perhaps that is why I have a profession that requires waiting: God is teaching me to expect delays!

"O Come, O Come Emmanuel" is one of my favorite Christmas songs.  It laments the long wait for Messiah to appear.  Ever since Adam and Eve were cast from the garden, people were waiting for the Promised One to appear.  All Adam and Eve knew was that the Promised One was to be born of a woman, but would crush Satan (Genesis 3:15).

Several generations went by.  Abraham was called and promised a nation (Genesis 15:4).  King David was born and promised a son who would sit on the throne forever (2 Chronicles 6:16).  But Israel had added other gods to the One true God, and as punishment, He destroyed them and sent them into exile.

But people were still waiting for Messiah to appear.  Maybe more than ever.  Daniel prayed regularly in Babylon (Daniel 6:10).  It isn't hard to imagine that a wish for Messiah to arrive would be on his lips.

But Messiah was Delayed by man's standards.  And even though God had given numerous prophecies about where, when and how the Messiah would appear, people still missed Him when He arrived.

They missed Jesus because he didn't fit into their idea of what Messiah would be like. Messiah shouldn't die.  Messiah would crush the nation oppressing Israel. 

But Messiah did die.  And He rose again.  And He will crush those who oppress His people.

But, once again, we are waiting.  Waiting for His return to earth.  We grow impatient and forecast that His return is near.  Like generations of Christians before us, we yearn for Jesus to appear on the clouds and usher in His Kingdom.  To crush Satan under his heel once and for all, as God promised our father Adam and our mother Eve.  To fulfill God's promise to David that a son of his would reign forever.  

Messiah is again Delayed by our standards.  Someday, we'll come to know that Jesus' return was not delayed but perfectly on time.  God's time.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel 

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God Appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel 

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

For more blog posts about Delays, click this link: Women of Faith

NaNoWriMo: What?

The end of October is always a time of great anticipation for me.  Each November, I embark on a crazy 30 days of writing called "NaNoWriMo."

NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month.  NaNo is a 30 day sprint to a 50,000 word novel. This year will be my fifth year of participating.

The rules are simple.  Write.  Do not edit.  Write some more.

I have successfully written 50,000 words in November the past two years.  One of my novels is completely finished, the other has a few thousand words left.  The first two years I tried, I was not able to hit my goal.  Then I found a secret weapon to the craziness...

Other writers.  I belong to the Central Iowa Writers, a group who meet during NaNo.  Nearly every night, they meet at some location in the Des Moines area (with ventures to Ames, Oskaloosa, Marshalltown etc) and have a write-in.  Write-ins are simply sitting together, each working on their own story.  Amazingly, we get a lot written during those sessions, and we still have a great time.

So, if you need something fun to do this November.  You enjoy a challenge, and are a bit crazy, try NaNo.  And if you try NaNo, make sure to attend a write-in - you'll have a blast and leave with about 5,000 words!

World Vision: Price for Life?

I attended a Women of Faith conference this weekend.  As I have attended in the past, I knew that WoF is heavily involved in getting women to sponsor children through WorldVision.

I have always thought sponsorship would be a good idea, but I had never put my money where my mouth is.  So, this weekend I decided to sponsor a child through World Vision.  My reasons were that I do have enough money to afford the monthly sponsorship and it was a great way to help those less fortunate.

WorldVision is a non-profit organization founded in 1950.  There is much more to their mission than just child sponsorship - you can gift animals, medicine, small business loans, and other things to those in need.  The organization serves over 100 million people in 100 different countries.  Most importantly, 89% of the money given to the organization goes directly into programs, not into management (4%) or fundraising (7%).

The money they raise go to families to improve their way of life.  WorldVision encourages sponsors to write their sponsored children to develop relationship.  The sponsorship provides food, tools to grow crops, water, health care and education.

In short, sponsorship is a great way to serve the "least of these" in Jesus' name.

Further Down the Adoption Road

I feel like I am once again back to the brink of making a decision on the adoption.  Of course, brink for me means sometime in the next six months or so...

First, I am signed up to take the introduction course with Department of Human Services, which gets me into the foster/adoptive parents course.  Hopefully by Easter, I will be licensed and ready to be a foster parent.

On the international front, my heart is still with Haiti.  After the earthquake, I had yearned to help with the orphans, but believed that the process would take a long time to reopen.  "A long time" in a country that was 2.5 years behind under the best of circumstances, seemed to put things out of reach.

Now, however, it appears that Haiti is processing adoptions again.  Most are with children who were in orphanages pre-quake and possibly children who were placed in orphanages by parents post-quake.  If a child's parents are unknown will not be adopted until a process can be established to identify that the child is truly an orphan without family.

In short, it appears that Haiti may be an option again.  Along with this decision, I am contemplating doing an independent adoption, which means I would not have an agency.  As most international adoptions require copious amounts of paperwork, which the prospective parents have to assemble, I would not be losing anything by doing it myself.  Instead, I would be saving tens of thousands of dollars.  On the other hand, I would not have someone to help me navigate the international governmental process nor would there be someone to meet me as I arrive in country.

I have "met" online a few people who are going through the process independently in Haiti.  Many orphanages in Haiti are comfortable with allowing these independent adoptions.  And as a Non-Hague country (an international compact which governs how children are placed and accepted for adoption), Haiti has similar requirements as those countries that are Hague governed.

The big problem with adopting internationally is financing it.  So, I need to make some hard decisions on how I am going to save or generate some extra funds.  But, with an independent adoption, I would not have to save as much to get things going.

New Woes?

I've never enjoyed reading the "Woes" in the Bible.  There over 95 "woe" versus in the Bible.  As most of them are in prophetic books or poetry ones, they have been and are difficult for me to understand and apply to my life.

I find I don't want to apply them to my life, but I'm sure some hit closer to home than I really want them to. Who wants to think that God is unhappy with their behavior? Who wants to consider their choices may cause God to punish them?  And where am I blind to the flaws in my behavior?

But, since I have been revisiting my poetic side, I find myself thinking about "woe" and what would God say to us today.  What does He see in our life and culture that He wants changed?  Where would He heap condemnation on our ideas, actions, and behavior?

My quick list of issues are abortion/convenience at any cost, homosexuality (lack of faithfulness to God's word vs. lack of compassion for sinners), pride, consumerism/lack of compassion to the poor, and poor shepherds/preachers.

SEEL Retreat #2

Today I had my second SEEL (Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life) retreat.  Like my first experience, it was a "Wow" moment connecting with others who are seeking to deepen their relationship with God.  I was struck anew with the idea that we are all different, yet have common experiences.  Unique, but the same.

Humans long to be infinite.  Something about our finite physical life bothers us.  We strive to make a mark that is permanent, whether through achievements or children, fantastic deeds, power or wealth.  We want to be remembered for our time here.  We want others to notice us, love us, remember us when we are gone.

We yearn for infinity.  And the only one way we can achieve infinity is through God.

Some of us haven't figured that out yet.  Others of us need to be reminded.

That's Not the Law...

I have a number of cases that I am trying to resolve within the next couple weeks.  Some will end up at trial, which is OK.  Others will not, which is OK too.

Unfortunately, I have a high number of clients right now who have a misunderstanding about the whole process.  Some of these are urban myths, and others are attempting to make-up their own law.

1.  "They'll just have to prove to me at trial that I did it."  Umm...NO.  The State will try to prove to a Jury, not you, that you are guilty.  Your personal standard may be higher or lower than that of 12 average citizens. Whether you believe you committed the crime or not does not matter if a jury says you did (or did not).  Remember these are average citizens.  Not a group of your 12 best buddies.

2.  "The judge never told me (Fill in blank)."  Don't try to sell this one to a judge.  You are either accusing them personally of not doing their job or the judge down the hall.  Either way, it will not be pretty.  And as most have a system of their own to get through the things they need to say/do, it is pretty hard to prove they missed something.  And, by the way, those notes at the bottom show that the judge thought he did give you a copy of the restraining order.

3.  "I was never read my rights." And ... that means nothing more often than not.  Unless you are in custody and interrogated, they don't have to read you your rights. Both "custody" and "interrogated" are loaded with legal meaning that the average person may not get.  Being handcuffed is not necessarily custody, and asking a question is not necessarily interrogation.  And even if they did mess it up and forget to read them to you, all it does is get rid of some of the statements at trial.  It does not mean the charges have to be dismissed.

4.  "My friend/cousin/co-worker had the exact same charge and they got a better deal."  Comparison games really don't work well.  Each circumstance is different and even co-defendants charged with the exact same crime can get vastly different sentences based on criminal history, who the State believes is the "true" bad actor, what evidence there is for each, what county you are being prosecuted in, which judge you have and about 100 other things.

Sunday Sabbath

I've been trying to intentionally set aside Sunday as a day I don't do housework, homework, or other "work."  So far, it has been rather successful.

It was difficult to not worry about when I'd get things done during the day on Sunday.  But, as time has gone on, I am better at setting these things aside.  I also find that I have to focus on getting things done on Friday or Saturday that I would otherwise have let slide until Sunday (which lead to a scramble to get it done before Monday).

With this process, I am also trying to be intentional with what I do with the time - spending some of it in prayer, devotional reading etc.  It is very relaxing to have the day to do whatever: walk, rest, read a book, be creative or spend time with friends and family.

I am trying not to get legalistic with it either - I realize at some point, I may be forced to do homework or other things on a Sunday.  But I think the experience over all is worthwhile.

Oatmeal for Breakfast

I'm trying to add healthy food to my diet.  I added rice and beans a couple weeks ago (and I'll admit that it isn't my favorite, but it does fill you up).

This week, I'm going to add oatmeal for breakfast.  I have never been an oatmeal in the morning fan.  However, I found a recipe for the crockpot which has cinnamon and dried apples.  The recipe makes enough for a week, so I'll be trying to have this every morning.

Yoga for Christians?

Southern Baptist Seminary President Albert Mohler is decrying yoga use by Christians.  Mohler points out, correctly, that yoga is a practice originated in India and is derived from Eastern religions.  The  Hindu, Buddhist, and Jainism religions all use yoga as a part of their worship.  Yoga is also a part of the "New Age" movement.

It is not a traditional Christian discipline or practice.  However, I wonder if yoga could be embraced (with modifications) by Christians.  My basis for this belief is in 1 Corinthians 10, where Paul writes about  eating meat offered to idols.  Paul asserts in verse 8, that eating the meat is not a sin, for "food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do."

Paul cautions that we need to be aware as Christians that our use of these items may cause others to stumble and we need to make sure we are not causing a downfall for others in our freedom.  I think this is the crucial issue with yoga.  We need to make sure that it is stripped of its "pagan" meaning - by removing the chants, prayers to Buddha and others, and by making sure we are not worshipping the body through our yoga.

We should also take care that our use of yoga does not encourage or confuse others  and mix Christianity with Eastern religions.

In short, unlike Mohler, I do not see yoga as something Christians have to shun, but it is an area we need to proceed with caution.

Sodom & Gomorrah

Today, as I was reading The Divine Comedy by Dante, I came across "the Sodomites."  Clearly, Dante is using the term to mean homosexual conduct and is punishing it in purgatory as a form of lust. (Note that these are individuals who are on their way to heaven, not hell.  Once purified, they will proceed into heaven).

I find it interesting that our current debate is whether Sodom & Gomorrah were punished for homosexuality or being inhospitable.  Apparently to Dante, in 1300, it was very clearly for sexual sin, not the lack of charity and friendliness.  Granted, Dante doesn't have everything right in his epic poem (it is written 200+ years before Copernicus and nearly 300 years before Galileo).  But I find it interesting that what some are trying to rewrite/clarify is something Dante took for granted 700 years ago.

Spiritual Disciplines & Growth

The Idea of Spiritual Disciplines has been rumbling around my heart and mind for about a year.  How does the Church help people to grow in Christ?  How can we inspire people to spend time praying, fasting, reading the Bible, memorizing scripture etc?

Churches used to have sunday school to teach both kids and adults.  I'm sure some churches still do this, but in my experience, it is slowly falling into disuse - primarily because people don't attend.  Growing up, we also had Sunday night church.  Now, I suspect, if we have a service then, we'd have about 2 people there including the three pastors at church!  I understand that people are busy and do not want to devote more time to another activity, even if it is a church activity (myself included!).

This leaves the small group model as the primary way to disciple people.  Most churches also expect small groups to be the caring community and social network for their members.  

While I have been in wonderful small groups, I wonder if the church isn't leaving too much to the small group model.  One complaint I have with the small group model is that while I get to know 6-10 people really well, I don't get to know anyone else in the church body.  In a church over 300 members, this can be a problem; in a church of over 1,000 members, this is a tremendous issue.  This says nothing of the fact that the groups can become cliques to the exclusion of others.

Sometimes one thing or another is left out or ignored due to the composition of the small group.  By this, I mean that either the social or the discipleship issue is stressed - the group gets together to socialize with no discipleship in sight, or is glued to a book/lesson with no time to socialize.  

I wonder if these small group models aren't the Church shirking some of its responsibilities.  Did we get rid of Sunday night and midweek activities because we have gone to the small group model? I suspect the answer is yes.

The reality is that church attendance is shrinking in every state in the US except Hawaii.  We have more and more nominal Christians in our churches and we give them less and less opportunity to dive deep into Christ's love.

So how do we inspire the diverse ages, backgrounds, and people in the Church to pick up the traditional spiritual disciplines in a non-traditional way?  Can the Church make Bible study, scripture memory, prayer, fasting, community and good works fashionable again?  

I suspect the answer is yes!  But it will take effort to convince people that these activities are worth while, are not legalistic (which they can become), and that doing these things will help them live the life Christ desires for them - one that involves walking with Him.

My hope is to look at some spiritual disciplines and figure out ways to get these back into the church in my upcoming blogs.