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Comfort us

by | Dec 17, 2012 | Uncategorized

Our hearts are weeping
the darkness is dark
the sorrow is heavy and
we don’t know how to pray.
We cannot understand so much pain and
we cannot understand so much brokenness.
Senseless tragedy
without a reason
deep hurt.
Lord hear the cries of your people and
comfort us.

Joining Deidra on jumping tandem and the Sunday community
(original photographers unknown)

A shared miracle

by | Dec 14, 2012 | Uncategorized

The relationship between Mary and Elizabeth was very special.
They were cousins with a wide age range between them.
They were two women sharing the same experience.
Elizabeth was past the child bearing years and miraculously expecting a son she would name John.
Mary still in her youth and a virgin miraculously expecting a son she would name Jesus.
They both shared a miracle and they both knew how miraculous each of those were for each other.
I am sure upon her visit with Elizabeth she wanted to talk and share and tell everything about
the story of the angel and what was said between them. I am also sure she was encouraged and affirmed through ‘this sharing’.
Elizabeth believed her story and believed the call on her life and affirmed her by saying “my baby leaped upon hearing you.”
How could she not believe for she was carrying a child and that certainly was not possible had it not been for a miracle given to herself.
Elizabeth ministered to Mary in such a way that I don’t believe we can realize.
She confirmed in her heart she was special.
I believe because of their age difference Elizabeth understood the important role that Mary would play in becoming the mother of Jesus. I even wonder can you imagine the hugs between them.
It would be a sister to sister hug no one would understand shared only between the two of them.
At first when Joseph heard about the baby he wanted to quietly send Mary away to protect her and her family from shame.
For to be with child and not married was a tremendous shame in that culture and Joseph knew that it would be hurtful to her.
Through his obedience he showed Mary love and compassion by taking her to be his wife.
That is what happens when we care for someone when we want the best for them.
Each person in the story were a part of the miracle.
The miracle of birth and life and peace and hope.
The story of their shared miracles continues through out history.
We are still reading the story of the baby born in a city called Bethlehem.
We still sing about the wise men who came from a far to see him.
Each of them were a part of a miracle and a story of love and redemption too.
If we opened our hearts and understand there was a reason for this ‘miracle’.
This shared miracle … of a baby born in a little town of Bethlehem.

As we remember

by | Dec 10, 2012 | Uncategorized

The Christmas story is the reason for the season.
In our hustling around and shopping for many assorted treasures.
Let us remember what Joseph and Mary were ‘treasuring’ in their hearts.
Let us remember
the importance of the moments.
Let us remember
the significance of each prophecy.
As we remember
the story that has affected so many and has been told for so many years.
Let us remember the journey.
 
Joining Deidra on jumping tandem with the Sunday community.
photo source unknown
 

He Knew

by | Dec 10, 2012 | Uncategorized

(re posted and revised from original written in 2010)

I have been thinking about the Christmas story.
One thing that has come to my mind is the parallel between the story and Psalm 139.
Psalm 139: 13-16 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
God knew and spoke life to the Angel… go tell Mary “I have chosen her.”
Just as he had chosen Elizabeth Mary’s cousin. Luke 1:13-15 the angel talking to Zechariah; “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. The way was being prepared. With Elizabeth first then with Mary. Luke 1:26-32 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent an angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” vs 32b vs 34. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
Mary’s response: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
(I wonder what her thoughts were after the angel left remember she was young and this would be very life changing for her) Reading further… vs 39. At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. (I wonder what the greeting was~we aren’t really told) vs 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Isn’t it awesome that God knew us… just as He knew them before we were born. Elizabeth was honoring Mary her relative and the baby heard and the baby reacted. Life in the womb is often a mystery but it is life and it is real and babies can listen. God knew they would be boys. God knew their names. God knew the call on their lives before they were born.
Before they experienced a breath He knew their name and who they would be forever in history. Before they breathed a breath of life God knew them.
Do you believe that God knew you too?
 

I often wonder

by | Dec 6, 2012 | Uncategorized

(originally written in 2010 revised version)

I often wonder
did Mary and Joseph talk about the angels who told them
about the baby arriving?
Each of them were greeted by an angel who spoke the life changing words “you will have a child”.
Wouldn’t that be something special to share with each other?
If we could listen in what would we hear:
“How did it appear to you Joseph and how did it appear to you Mary?
What did you feel or think? Were you scared?”
After all she was very young in her teens and he was just as unprepared.
Also I wonder how did it feel for them to move the engagement time up and become a family sooner than they planned.
The other thing I wonder about is if they ever talked about how Joseph saved her life.
For to be with child and unmarried Mary could have been stoned.
She knew the consequences and yet she said ‘I choose’.
I accept.
I will be obedient.
Joseph also knew she could not be with child and not be married.
He might not have fully understood it all but he knew his responsibility was to take her for his wife as the angel told him.
He had to follow through. There was no discussion it had to be done.
The angel said: Joseph… take Mary to be your wife.
There were so many questions that could have come between the two of them.
So many worries and fears.
I often wonder
what they were thinking in the quiet of the night.
Do you often wonder?

To be chosen

by | Dec 4, 2012 | Uncategorized

When we begin to look at the Christmas story in the book of Luke in the new testament.
The word tells us that Mary was only around age 12-14 when the angel came to visit her.
That is the age of my grand daughter who is in eighth grade.
That is an amazing and almost hard to believe part of the story.
Our Pastor said on Sunday,
“She was not thirty like most people think she was or as ancient pictures present her to be.”
She was young.
She was a teen.
She was innocent.
The God who knows all and
sees all and
cares about all
decided that out of everyone ever chosen to be the mother
of the son of God
Mary was chosen.
Mary who was a teenager and Joseph who wasn’t much older.
Was chosen to be a vital part of this amazing story.
The story we are still talking about and
singing about and
sharing over and over every year at Christmas time.
She was not well known nor was she rich or highly educated.
She was young.
Our Pastor said, “Don’t ever discount or minimize the importance of your youth”.
God chose Mary and the amazing part was her acceptance.
She knew and had heard the story of a Saviour coming.
What she didn’t know would change her life forever.
When the angel said, ‘Do not be afraid’ she was more afraid of the angel talking to her than what the angel was saying.
She was deeply troubled by the angels words but she also accepted them.
Isn’t that amazing?
Here she was an obscure peasant girl very few people knew and
she was the chosen one.
I wonder
would we have the heart of acceptance and attitude of submission
if asked to do something very important.
It’s definitely something for us to think about as we
remember the Christmas story.

The Reason

by | Dec 2, 2012 | Uncategorized

May we as we enter this ‘time’ of remembering… the story.
May we as we enter this ‘time’ of worship.
May we as we enter this ‘time’ of knowing~Who we remember
Who we worship and
Who we choose to know as our Savior.

Joining with Deidra on jumping tandem and the Sunday community.

Remembering the Story

by | Nov 30, 2012 | Uncategorized

( Originally written in 2010 revised version)

Advent has begun.
The remembering
is moving into a place in our minds and our activities.
We plan our decorations and our shopping and baking.
Oh can we plan a spiritual time too?
I so want to make it a spiritual season
not just filled with packages and stuff that most of us don’t really need.
Grandma will do fun special things for the children
but I want more than anything for them to know
that the season is not about more stuff.
It is about the story.
Matthew 1:18-24

The story of a young couple given a Divine order.
The story of a young couple choosing to be obedient.
Even when they didn’t really know what that meant
or what it would cost them.
The story of a young girl chosen to be a mom
the mom….of a saviour.
Her saviour and ours.
What did she feel like?
What did she think?
When the angel appeared and said to her ‘fear not.’
It would take your breath away.
Fear not… Mary Fear not…
I am standing in the presence of an angel
and I am told to Fear not?
Mary could have said that or at least thought it.
How can I not question
for I am pure of body and heart.

How did she do it and how did they both sleep at night
knowing there would be a son born to them.
I would toss and turn and be forever restless.
Perhaps since she was carrying the saviour of the world
she had an intense peace
‘that passes all understanding-deep within her heart.’
Perhaps as she sat with Joseph and whispered to him,
as he held her shaking hand…
“I am scared, I don’t understand it all but I choose… I choose…
Joseph choose with me…stay with me so we can see…
what the angels have told us.”
Oh what a moment between them.
The choice of obedience and trust.
What a precious little couple…
We sing, “Oh little town of Bethlehem and We three kings of Orient are.”
We sing, “Away in the manger and O Holy Night.”

But can we grasp the HOLY MOMENTS of the passage of time
when it began?
Where everything around them anticipated the birth of a special baby.
The moment when the stillness of the night and the light of the stars were so bright.
The moment and reflection of a scared girl becoming a mom
and a scared dad holding an infant
SO full of power
and yet so full of innocence
as it all began.
They were young.
They were beginning a life full of such uncertainties and yet
they loved the child just as we would love our newborns.
I have held my own grand children and I have seen
how precious
how miraculous
how innocent
how beautiful.
And this baby in the manger
was just like my precious grandchildren.
The difference…
When she held his tiny warm body
she held the SON Immanuel God with us.
Advent is here
may we never forget the journey to the manger
along the path leading to the story.
Lord Jesus Help us to remember
the most important story of all time.
Your story…
this O Holy Night…
as we remember
may we fall on our knees and praise you.

All the Poor and Powerless – All Sons & Daughters

by | Nov 29, 2012 | Uncategorized

Love this song…we sing it at church and it is so deep and full of meaning.
Alelujah… shout it … tell it… and don’t ever be quiet.
I have had tears so many times… singing this song.
Shout it,
go on and tell it…
That HE is God.
As we enter into our ‘Christmas’ season let us remember the reason for the season.
Shout it…
we will cry out hallelujah…
For HE is our God.
Our reason.
For all we do … and all we are.

As we wait

by | Nov 26, 2012 | Uncategorized

Time to take down the fall decorations and move towards the Christmas ones.
Changes are happening again.
Sometimes in the process we can do a little internal mood adjusting too.
Change is hard for me.
I don’t like change.
I don’t like the hassle of re-arranging and re-organizing but when
I finally get it done
I like it.
SO the fall oranges and reds will be packed away and the Christmas greens and burgundy’s will come out of the boxes.
The stockings will be hung on the mantle above and the music will play as the tree is decorated.
The traditions of Christmas will be with us soon.
As we wait for the Holy Night.
Joining with Deidra on jumping tandem and the Sunday community.
Photo by Sharon O of Oregon

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