Happy Valentine's Day!

Why is Love the "Greatest of These?"

(1 Corinthians 13)
The tongues of men and angels...will be stilled
Prophecies will cease.
Knowledge will pass away.
Mountains will crumble.
Faith--is needed in this life, not when we see God face to face.
The giving of money or of human life is of this world.
Hope looks to a future that is not yet ours.

These are all temporal; love is eternal.  Love is forever.


See also:  Loving our Kids

Healing - When the Miracle Doesn't Come

The accuser is constantly hissing in our ears:  "Where's your Jesus now?"  When we read the New Testament, it seems healing is everywhere.

"Jesus doesn't really care about you..."  "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean," the leper in Matthew 8 said to Jesus.  Jesus was willing then, but not now it would sometimes seem.

"You're not good enough."  Really?  He counts our hairs (Matthew 10:30) and gathers our tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8).

"Your faith is worthless!  If you were really a Christian..."  Jesus said it only takes the faith of a mustard seed--the tiniest of seeds.  He didn't turn away the one who had just a modicum of faith.  "Help me in my unbelief!" the father in Mark 9:24 begged, and Jesus didn't reject him--he healed his child.

The tempter hissed in Jesus' ear too.  "If you are the Son of God..." he challenged Christ.  The lie was powerful to a parched and hungry man, a sock in the gut when he was already down, a blow of pure hatred at his weakest moment.

And in that moment, Jesus had a choice.  He was fully God, he did have the power to turn stone into bread.  But in his very first words, he chooses instead to identify fully, completely with us.  "Man..."  He is not only God.  He is man.  And he chose to live as we do.

Most of us don't have the ability to snap our fingers and make trouble or pain go away--and I don't think it's a lack of faith, though sometimes that may be an issue.  I think most Christians have at least as much faith as the father who asked Jesus to help him in his unbelief.  At least as much as a mustard-seed.  But our mountains don't always move.

Jesus in that moment chose to identify with us, in our pain, and told us in effect, you don't need the removal of pain to live.  "‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’"

His words echo Deuteronomy 8:2-3,

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.  He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Jesus spent a day in the desert for every year they wandered in the desert.  God's spirit led him into the desert to starve--the very thing the Israelites accused God of leading them into the desert to do, despite the food and water and clothes that didn't wear out that God provided for them.  And we, too, wander in our faith at times, in our deserts of pain and trouble and silence from God.  And we wonder, why has he brought us here?

Jesus identified with us.  Maybe he brought us into the desert that we might identify with him.  That we might be able to see beyond the pain, the trouble, the thing we think we just can't live through--and see that he, the Bread of Life truly knows, truly understands, lives through the pain with us--and he will see us through.  He is what we need most of all.

See More Stories of Hope

Write the True Truth

I don’t remember who first said it, but I’ve heard this phrase often at the Write to Publish conference, and among other writers.  Whenever I sit down to write about our lives, this thought goes through my mind and frames what I say.  If I express only part of a truth—my faith in God for example—without the bloody battle to hang onto that faith that also is part of the journey in this war-torn world, then I risk propagating a lie. 

And that means…sometimes the pen must wait.  Here’s a journal entry from one of those times:

*     *     *

September 17, 2007

Dave has often said that he'd give up the use of his legs to be able to have his mind back.  I don't want that for him!  But I do wish and pray that somehow he could have a vibrant faith whether God chooses to heal him or not—either would be a miracle.  When you can't concentrate, can't read or listen to tapes long, can't think straight half the time, when your mind always plays tricks on you and makes you remember things wrong, and when sensitivities to motion, light, sound, and chemicals drive you away from people all the time—it’s hard to have a vibrant faith.  I just think, what kind of life is this, and why does God want it for Dave, and what possible good can He be bringing out of it? 

We have a beautiful park in our town and this past year they did a major overhaul on the parking areas and roads, and put in a memorial garden...  I can't get used to it.  I drove through the winding roads tonight after study and came again to the sign that says the exit is the opposite direction from where we used to go, even though the exit is exactly where it was before.  I always think, how can this sign be correct?  How can I turn right here, and finally end up left?  How can this road possibly take me out of the park?  I drove that long, dark, counter-intuitive, winding road tonight and thought, this is our life.  Long, dark, going the wrong way and yet God says it will be the right way...and I don't understand it. 

I believed the first 3 years in a promised land in this life.  I lived it.  And now...my theology is far from my reality.  My faith hesitates in the gap and says, is there really anything at all for us in this world?  I'm asleep, holding on to truths I know but not experiencing them now, waiting for the next life instead of expecting anything more out of this life.  It's why I've not been able to finish my book.  If the truth was burning in my breast, my pen couldn't rest. 

But I can't continue until it's real.  And I know there's something real out there.  And the people who hurt like Dave need it.  I need it.  I'm so tired of the battle that I've laid down my sword and my shield, and I just exist.  Sometimes I'm stirred, yes—I can't be where I've been and not have embers.  But it's not the same.  It's not where I was.  It's not where I want to be.

*     *     *

I don’t regret waiting until I could write the true truth, waiting until God again woke me up from my fog and said, “It’s not imagination.  I’m real.  And I want you to know me more deeply, more intimately.”  The Christian life in the midst of pain is not a fantasy.  He wants us, he cares for us.  He desires to be known.  Seek him.  Meet him.  And write—even if only for you.

Links for Writers

Thankful Thursdays-Our Portion Forever!

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

~Psalm 73:26

Today I'm thankful for a husband who loves me and a God who gives us strength to endure what seems un-endurable.  I remember at times thinking, we can't live like this!  But here we are, almost 12 years later...and God has brought us through!

But as for me, it is good to be near God.

I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;

I will tell of all your deeds.  

~Psalm 73:28

It's good to be near our Lord!  He feeds our souls.  

What are you thankful for today?

Invisible Illness, Visible God - Finished!

Some of you know that I've been working on a book for the last 10 or so years (longer if you count the years early in Dave's illness that I journaled, before I ever thought of writing a book).  In between taking care of Dave and the kids, homeschooling, working part time, and trying to breathe, I found snippets of time here and there to work on it.  Some years I worked on the book a lot, some it lay dormant, like a seed in the ground.  Cold, dark, resting--waiting to grow.

Last fall I attended a Women of Faith convention, and learned about a contest that WestBow Press was sponsoring.  The deadline gave me just under 4 months to finish up, and I wondered if I could do it.  I prayed and God cleared my Thursday afternoons and many Saturdays, so I set those aside for writing and revising.

My original journals went through several evolutions.  The first draft was mainly for me.  Sometimes I joke that I "unwrote" a book because my journals were so lengthy!  During the second draft I was trying to find my way...could this be a book that might interest and help others?  Two trips to Write-to-Publish and countless conversations, prayers, and experiments later, I settled on a devotional format.  Last fall I had a revised draft of about 2/3 of the book finished, and I spent the last 4 months finishing the final third and reworking the whole.

This week I finished, and entered the contest.  You can find a "sneak peak" on the page at the top of my blog:

Invisible Illness, Visible God
When Pain Meets the Power of an Indestructible Life
101 Devotions for Those with Chronic Illness and their Caregivers

The Grand Prize, of course, is publication of the winner's manuscript courtesy of WestBow Press, with the option that Thomas Nelson might decide to pick up the book.  Hundreds of people enter, and last year's winning entry looks like a quality book (I love Marcia Moston's title:  Call of a Coward).  The winners will be announced on March 31st.  While I'd love to win, my prayer is that a quality book will be chosen that glorifies God, and that whether through this opportunity or another, my book will be published.  I'm so thankful to be finished, and truly appreciate the support and prayers that many have given us.  The encouraging emails kept me going when I wondered if I should give up on such a big project.  Thank you!

Lyme Disease Epidemic Message on the Superbowl Jumbtron - ILADS

Hopefully one day there will be a cure. Merry

Lyme Disease Epidemic Message on the Superbowl Jumbtron - ILADS

Super Bowl just the ticket for Lyme disease education.

The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society is running a powerful public service campaign to create greater awareness of the misdiagnosis of Lyme disease on a JumboTron outside the XLVI Super Bowl at Lucas Oil Stadium.

"Lyme disease is a silent epidemic in America. We want to alert and educate consumers about this disease, which is often misdiagnosed. Left untreated, it will become chronic and debilitating," said Leo J. Shea, III, PhD, President of the non-profit International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS). "Tick-borne illnesses compromise your immune system and the diagnosis, which is largely based on symptoms, can be elusive unless a physician is Lyme-literate."

Open Eye Pictures and Burgess Communications partnered to create and edit a pro bono spot for the Ilads Super Bowl use. The thirty second spot was created by selecting and assembling footage from Open Eye Pictures' Oscar short listed movie UNDER OUR SKIN and sends viewers to the ILADS.ORG website for more information.

"After four years of research and production — and over 375 hours of footage, what we uncovered is a chilling tale of microbes, medicine and money," says filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson. "I want to show the horror of an illness and ill system that too long has been ignored."

Donna Weidel, President of Burgess Communications, adds, "I suffer from Lyme disease and from years of misdiagnosis. Finally I was tested for Lyme - and found a Lyme-literate doctor. Lyme is estimated to be growing faster than AIDS and has become a global health problem. This pro bono spot will draw more attention to the need for better diagnosis."

ILADS is a nonprofit, international, multi-disciplinary medical society, dedicated to the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of Lyme and its associated diseases. ILADS promotes understanding of Lyme and its associated diseases through research and education and strongly supports physicians and other health care professionals dedicated to advancing the standard of care for Lyme and its associated diseases.

DONATE TO ILADS EDUCATIONAL NON-PROFIT

ILADS Board of Directors is very appreciative of any financial support to further Lyme disease educational efforts.