March 28, 2012

CASTLE making me think????

On any given week, I have a number of shows that I DVR.  Many of them go unwatched and simply get deleted. Others get a cursory “play in the background ” as I clean, do some work for school…basically as I succeed at multi-tasking. But CASTLE, well CASTLE, gets my undivided attention each and every week.

I love the show.  I’ve watched it from day one.  I love Castle’s one-liners.  I love Beckett’s facial expressions that say more than her words at times.  I love watching the show move seamlessly between drama, suspense, and humor. 

And this week’s episode: Well let’s just say it was really speaking my language.  It seems as though the writers of CASTLE have been in my head.  Some of the very questions rolling through my mind and heart recently were put into words by Beckett and Castle:

Castle: Their future and all their plans…they were just gone in a flash.

Beckett: Makes you think about all those things in your own life that you don’t want to put off anymore.

Castle: All the opportunities they will never have…and I don’t want that to happen.

Guess I’m not the only one being contemplative about how I’m living today, not knowing what tomorrow will bring. Beckett and Castle may be fictional characters…but this week their words struck at the essence of why I started writing on this blog. So tonight I'm left with some questions to ponder:

What are the opportunities I don’t want or should not put off anymore?

Is there anything holding me back from taking those opportunities? Fear? Doubt? Apathy? Laziness? Even the simple thought..."there's always tomorrow"?

And then...what am I going to do with the answers to these questions? Will it change how I live tomorrow?

Thanks CASTLE for great entertainment and for making me think even more! 

March 23, 2012

“Sometimes you are delayed where you are because God knows there’s a storm where you’re headed.” Author Unknown

This past week I found this quote on Pinterest and it has not left my mind since reading it.  I have no idea who the original author was, but the words have been resonating with me ever since. 

How many times I’ve gotten so frustrated because I think I’m having to wait way too long for whatever it is my heart longs for at that time...and later (much, much later) I get to look back and realize how thankful I am God delayed me. Had my life progressed like I wanted the script to read, I would have ran smack dab into a storm.  And navigating a storm without the Lord’s blessing...that’s just not what I want to face.

It also makes me think about one of my favorite passages to share. I’ve used it with students, in adult bible studies, and it’s part of a devotional collection I’ve been writing. It’s a passage that describes the disciples’ experience when life was not delayed (and they probably wished it would have been!). They found themselves scared for their life in the midst of a terrifying storm. And they were flabbergasted that the Lord was sleeping through it.

Mark 4:35-41  (NIV)

There have definitely been times I’ve wondered, “God are you even listening to me?” or “God, do you really care?” or “If God really loved me, how could He let this happen to me?” 

Suddenly a large wrench is thrown into life’s plans.  Or my prayers seem to be falling on deaf ears as I continue to wait for something that seems like it may never happen. Or I wrestle with how God is allowing something like a family member’s death, a devastating fire destroying a home, a job loss, a battle with cancer to occur if He was really paying attention.

The disciples themselves who ate, slept, and walked alongside Jesus also wondered, “How could He let this happen to us?”  

Their actual question of Him: “Don’t you care if we drown?”

I can only imagine their fear and their bewilderment…here was their Master, fast asleep seemingly without a care in the world as they toss and turn in the waves to what seems like impending death.  But with just words, Jesus responded and quieted the storm.

What can I learn from this scenario? 

#1: Jesus told them where they were going…to the other side of the lake.  When Jesus said they were going to the other side, you can bet that they were going to the other side.  In a sense, a direction like that is a promise of an arrival at the other side.  He has given us a promise as well.  His PROMISE is that following time here on earth, followers of Christ will return home to Him in heaven.

#2 Then there is God’s PRESENCE. Jesus said, “Let US go over to the other side?”  We are never sent out into the stormy waters alone.  The promise to get to the other side includes God’s PRESENCE.  Right there on the boat, right next to the disciples in the journey, was Jesus.  His PRESENCE was with them.  As the storm came up and took over, it appeared that Jesus was ignorant to the circumstances they were in. 

Sometimes it’s so easy for me to think, “God, are you even aware of what I am going through?  Are you really paying attention?”  The disciples see that Jesus is asleep and wonder if he even cares.  If they thought outside of that moment, if they reflected on everything they had just heard him teach that day, perhaps they would have realized He really was in control.  But instead, they focused on the moment. Even in His PRESENCE they worry that they will not get to the other side.

#3 And then there is His POWER. We see that Jesus’ POWER rests in just words.  He had allowed in His Sovereignty for the disciples to live through stormy circumstances.  But in His timing, His POWER takes only words to refute the storms. 

If only.  If only I would remember His PROMISE.  He has told me I’m going to the other side. He has promised me He will return.  He has promised a home awaiting me in heaven. Sometimes I may think He is asleep on the cushion of the boat, oblivious to what is going on around me, but His PRESENCE is always there.  And there is POWER in His words...Perhaps I should rest more in the power of the words “It is finished” than wrestling with why my life’s not moving in the direction I think it should go.

After all…nothing beats His promise, presence, and power.  Regardless of whether life is delayed as He protects me from a storm or whether He protects me in His presence in the midst of a storm...He really does know best!

March 19, 2012

Mirror, Mirror: What’s around the corner?

New twist to an old phrase. Snow White’s rendition: Mirror, Mirror on the wall; Who’s the fairest of them all?  New version: Mirror, Mirror; What’s around the corner? 

That’s right.  The mirror pictured has a purpose. It's exclusive purpose is to reflect what’s around the corner. And yes, I use it every time I pull out of the Galleria. Otherwise I wouldn’t know what was about to hit me as I pulled out to round the corner.

Wow...how I wish the mirror I pull out of my purse would just let me see around life’s corner just once.  Then just maybe I could avoid, or at least prepare myself for the big Mack truck barreling my way to take me out. OR I could run headfirst with excitement to grab a hold of the winning lottery ticket. Good or bad. Whatever it is around the corner.  Don’t I want a mirror to give me a hint at what’s next?

You know though, the more I think about that very question, the more I realize I know the answer.  I DESPERATELY try to peak around the corner. In fact, I try to create my own mirrors.  It’s when I refuse to let something slip through my fingers because I’m afraid there may not be something better in the future.  So I hold on with a death grip even when I know what’s in the palm of my hand really is not what’s right for me. Or the way I try and force something to happen because I just don’t know if I can trust it will on its own.  It’s working myself up in either worry or excitement about something in tomorrow that’s never been promised to me.

But then I stop myself with the question: Would I live any differently if I held such a magic mirror?

I want to say YES!!!  If only I had that mirror, I could make the most of each and every moment knowing what is coming next!  And yet that’s what I need to do anyway.  And that’s what this journey is all about right now.  I want the mirrors even while knowing I need to live by faith.

For this week...I’m going back to an all too familiar verse to me:
 
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1

It may be a familiar verse to me....but not one I’m living in the truth of every day, every moment....

Sometimes a little visual of stepping out blindly...in faith....without mirrors is a perfect reminder:
http://youtu.be/r_ORj8gRjzk

So my challenge to myself this week: What are the “mirrors” I try to use to peek around the corner?  And instead of using these hand-crafted mirrors....do I dare take a step around the corner without one?

March 16, 2012

A legacy continues.  Celebrating the life of a friend, Sam, who passed away recently has led me to finally put pen to paper, or should I say, fingers to the keyboard.  What a way to start a blog right?  But that’s the point.  Sam’s footprint here on earth is anything but over; he’s left a legacy of living life that touched so many.  One small print = the beginning of this blog.

You see Sam had no idea “what was just around the corner.” A week that started out with him not feeling well and a visit to the doctor for an answer led to a prognosis of leukemia and within a few days, a reunion with His Lord. I’m just one counted among many who have been shaken and stirred and shaken some more by his unexpected death to consider the fragility of life and the uncertainty of tomorrow.

There are a number of things I admired about Sam: how he embraced life, his perpetual joy in living, his love for people, his unstoppable energy, and his ability to make everyone in a room feel comfortable and valuable...but most important: Sam loved Jesus. Wholeheartedly. You could not be around Sam more than a few moments before you learned who his first love was. His celebration service on March 5th was a testimony to the uncountable lives he touched.  Not just with his personality, but with his ardent pursuit of making Jesus known to those who were blessed to know him.

I’m not sure at all where this journey will go.  But as I continue to contemplate the mystery of what’s just around the corner, I’ll be scribbling out my thoughts, my questions, my wrestling matches with the Lord, and of course my encounters with whatever is just around the corner!