Welcome to week 3 in the new home of Echoes of Grace. I’m thrilled you are stopping in!

Remember to sign up at the right for the Echoes community. I’m excited to be sending this special group of friends a copy of my new eBook later this year.

And will you help me pass the word about Echoes? Share it on your Facebook page or email the link to your friends. If you have been encouraged by the message of Echoes, I bet your friends will be too.

And, btw, Echoes of Grace is expanding.  I’m getting a new room painted and ready to invite you in on Monday, October 3. Stay tuned.

This week Bill and I are attending a family funeral. So I’m blessing you with the words of one of my new friends … her message appropriate to meeting new friends.

Some of my Best-ies …

Her email and the blog post collided. Their encouragement put new wind in my sails.

Interesting, three years ago I would have never been blessed by either; I hadn’t yet met Nancy or Mickey or Sara. They are all new friends, our paths intersecting because of need. Yup, need brought us together.

Mickey (bless her) introduced me to Sara who penned the blog that touched my heart and added fuel to the fire that I’ve been tending lately. (Really, Sara is a new on-line friend. Can I call her ‘friend’? She doesn’t even know I’ve read the words she published.)

YES, she is a friend; friends encourage; and she encouraged me.

Friendship can be messy and hard to create. I remember going into our new church in the city we had recently moved to. I initiated toward a lady I recognized from the previous week, it felt like I bumped into a closed circle. Ouch!

But the welcome was totally different in two other cities – thank you Trisha and Marion. Their circle was broken and they allowed it to expand.

Last spring one of the leaders in our Sunday school community invited me to be a shepherd for the class. As he explained, I responded I think you’re asking me to be a friend. Yes. I can do that except I kind-a didn’t want to be a friend with everyone. I liked my circle the way it was. I had to do some business with God on that response.

Sara’s blog entitled, Keep Your circle Broken exhorted me to always make room to welcome new friends. I hope you’ll enjoy reading her words  here.

                      “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”                                                       Proverbs 17:17

 

 

As a reminder … please sign up … to become part of the Echoes of Grace community. Not only will you receive regular reminders of new posts, also I’ll be sending you a thank you gift later this year.

Mana’s Writing Room, my writing room is sacred space.

• A re-purposed bedroom.
• A piece of our home that shapes me more than any other room.
• My belovedness is affirmed there.
• My purpose is re-energized there.
• God’s truth meets me there.
• Ministry springs from there.

I come in the morning hungry, needy, wanting. I leave full, able, giving.

Mana’s Writing Room is a bit of a misnomer. Yes, my writing happens here. But my writing follows my sitting, my staring, my wonderings. My comfy chair facing the triple window precedes my computer chair facing the screen. Just as the natural precedes the supernatural, small moments precede big stories. Remembering precedes ministry. The comfy chair precedes the computer chair.

“Our lives are stories built of small moments.” Roots and Sky, p.18

The other rooms in our home also call – no – clamor for my attention.

• Clean laundry needs to appear from that closet off the back hall (my husband is preparing for a trip).
• Our guest room needs attention before our friends arrive.
• Our dining room needs to transform into a tea room for a grieving friend.
• The kitchen summons me to marinate our favorite recipe for guests.

Each room affirming the opportunity for love. Each a sacred place, a springboard for ministry.

“Something significant happened to our world because Jesus walked here … while God had always met with people in sacred places – like mountaintops or the temple – Jesus cracked open the familiar mold. Since Jesus, every place has the potential to be sacred.” Roots and Sky, p.58

And if these rooms could talk, oh, the stories they would tell.

• We’d rejoice again.
• We’d wipe the tears again.
• We’d pray together again.
• We’d plan and scheme again.

When we gathered in our living room around the husband, his tears flowed freely as he choked out the story of their prodigal son. Gently, we laid our hands on his shoulder and prayed. On another evening at the dining room table, he asked for wisdom as he struggled to launch a new ministry venture. We prayed with him again. Giddy is the best verb to describe the evening when, this time in yet another living room, he shared about the upcoming marriage of their second daughter. We joined him in prayers of rejoicing.

Splendid Friends … as we call ourselves, from 2009

Home – a sacred space. Each of these stories began as three small moments in the life of one of our friends, in one of our homes. Each of these stories has new chapters. Each shared in a home among five couples committed to each other and committed to hospitality.

“The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” Luke 8:38 and 39, ESV

“Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” Romans 12:13, ESV

Welcome to the new home of Echoes of Grace!

I’m glad you stopped by.

Do make sure and read my bolded note at the bottom of this post.

GRAND, Ashlyn under the beautiful fall tree.

It started with school days, then teaching days coinciding with collegiate ministry, followed by church ministry. That’s a lot of years of September beginnings. My calendar, a 9-month, 3-month schedule kicks off (pun intended) every September. Old habits die hard.

Leading Bible studies and other small groups often kick off in September too. Beginning in my college years, it continues today. I bet many of you are also blessed to lead small groups.

As this September new year rolls around again, it’s good for me to remember … and I’ll share with you … my top 10 lessons of small group leading. Perhaps these will help you too.

1) Don’t go to my closet and pull out my leader hat. Be who I am. Share vulnerably. Everyone is growing.

2) Keep peeling the layers of the onion in my life. No matter how many times I’ve been through the material, approach it as if it’s the first time.

3) Partner in leading. Invite your friend to lead with you; take advantage of her strengths. Affirm her often.

4) Communicate regularly. Invite the people in your group to meet for coffee or come for lunch. Call, text, email – let them know you want to be a friend.

5) Share other resources you happen upon freely. Learning doesn’t always initiate with me. Blogs, magazine articles, you-tube videos. The resources never end.

6) The value is in the group! Listen and learn from the others. If I don’t, I miss out big time. Give them the pedestal.

7) A leader, no. God gave me this group to help facilitate what we are all learning. We’re in this together.

8) Pray, pray, and pray again. For yourself, for your friends in the group. For wisdom, for ears to hear, for the Word to truly be living and active for each group member.

9) Set up anticipation. I’ll share how I heard from God next week. Or something similar.

10) Know when to take a semester off to re-charge your spiritual batteries.

 

I’m designing a gift (a brand spanking-new eBook) for you
as a THANK YOU for signing up for the new Echoes of Grace.

So, before you leave the site today, do sign up to be part of our Echoes of Grace community. That way I’ll have the address to send your gift to you.

Blessings, sue

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Emotional Suicide

 

Physical suicide never considered.

Spiritual suicide never entered my mind.

Emotional suicide—reality.

As Lent draws to a close, the scattered pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. The beauty of the picture becomes apparent. Emotional suicide, coming to the end of myself, brokenness redeemed.

I am a broken woman. Broken exposing need; broken so my insides leaked, desires known; broken to be part of community; broken so his light shines. Brokenness seemed to be a theme these past 40 days.

Praying Psalm 139:23 and 24 daily.                                                                                                      Planning an evening of honoring special friends around II Corinthians 4:7.                                      Reading the book below.                                                                                                                      Once again writing about that time in 1997 when I gave up and pulled my mask on tight.                    Reading Holey, Wholly, Holy by Kris Camealy.

These words of Charles Martin from his novel, Unwritten, capture for me part of God’s purpose in
brokenness…

“I used to think that a story was something special. That it was the one key that could unlock the broken places in us. What you hold in your had is the story of a broken writer who attempted to kill himself and failed who meets a broken actress who attempted to kill herself and failed and somewhere in that intersection of cracked hearts and shattered souls, they find that maybe broken is not the end of things, but the beginning. Maybe broken is what happens before you become unbroken. What’s more, maybe our broken pieces don’t fit us. Maybe all of us are standing around with a bag of the stuff that used to be us and we’re wondering what to do with it and until we meet somebody else whose bag is full and heart empty we can’t figure out what to do with our pieces. And standing there, face to face, my bag of me over my shoulder, and your bag of you over your shoulder, we figure out that maybe my pieces are the very pieces needed to mend you and your pieces are the very pieces needed to mend me but until we’ve been broken we don’t have the pieces to mend each other. Maybe in the offering we discover the meaning and value of being broken.” (Italics mine) I love that last sentence.

“There is no shame in brokenness. We are all shattered pieces of the body just trying to heal up and close the holes that sin leaves behind. replacing the darkness with light. Hope lives. Resurrection awaits.” Holey, Wholly, Holy page 28.

“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given to you. Do this in remembrance of me.’” Luke 22:19 (bold, mine)

Easter is coming!

Responding to Easter: Zero Faith

Two messages converged into one; they rattled my faith and clarified my desire—I want to live like I know the resurrection is true. (Thank you to recording artist, Michael Card and my pastor, Mark Bates.)

“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away … they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, … He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, … And they remembered his words …” Luke 24:1-8

The women forgot—I identify.

They were perplexed—I understand.

They remembered when they were reminded—I get that too.

During Michael Card’s concerts, he often shares the thoughts from scripture that birthed his songs. That night he spoke of the women who went to the tomb early on Sunday morning. When they found it empty, their immediate response was that someone had taken the body of Jesus. They totally forgot Jesus telling about the resurrection. Michael Card named their forgetfulness Zero Faith. He reminded us of several other scenarios of Jesus’ friends who after the resurrection also forgot the many times Jesus prepared them with words before his resurrection.

My mind wandered back to our pastor’s sermon on David and Goliath. David was an unlikely candidate to represent the Philistines before Goliath. David, a youth, paled compared to the seasoned warrior Goliath. But David’s faith did not rest in his size, or his armor (or lack thereof), or the size of his enemy; his faith rested in his God. He knew God’s faithfulness from personal experience. Unlike Jesus’ friends, David remembered.

Forged in David’s normal everyday activity while living with and caring for sheep, his faith grew in the solitude and silence of those hills over Bethlehem; the reality of God’s provision and protection happened regularly for him. “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.” I Samuel 17:37.

Solitude and silence—two of the keys for David that locked God’s character in his mind and heart; that prepared him for Goliath. Those same keys help lock the character of God in my mind and heart; that help me prepare for my goliaths; that help me believe the reality of the resurrection.

Another Mark comes to mind, our Sunday school teacher from the years when our sons were in elementary school. Mark and his wife have 7 children; their youngest, Paul, is the same age as our oldest, David. Mark had the gift of story-telling and we sat in rapt attention knowing the lessons from his family may well be the encouragement we needed in our family. One Sunday he introduced himself as “doubting Mark” because he identified with doubting Thomas and his need to see in order to believe. John 20:24, 25. He suggested that perhaps we are too hard on Thomas; that we too have a hard time believing. His arrow hit the intended target in my heart.

First the long term forecast; then the next several days; finally, the current weather. It amazes me how accurate these forecasts are; especially when big storms approach. Sometimes all the ingredients are there to create the perfect storm – a frightening reality.

A forecast predicting weather storms parallels the storms of my life – although I don’t often see the pattern in the making quite so clearly – the pattern is there.

I am living in an in-between place; between identities – that is the identity that I voice to others. It is a hard place to be; who am I? I feel severed; I feel alone; I feel unimportant. I retain my badge; I keep my email address; it all seems hollow.

The long term forecast is over three years old; I know it is coming; I live like it is not. As the storm approaches and the signs concur, God moves in with gentle reminders. I hear,

Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
Jonah 2:8

I memorized that Scripture years ago. Why? I don’t remember; maybe for this time. Am I clinging to worthless idols? I wonder; I don’t think so – but then why these feelings?

There are other signs; they confirm the storm. I’m aware and unaware. I am unmasked – at least and hopefully, only to me – probably not.

I remember; I review; my only hope to weather the storm.

• When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Isaiah 43:2
• …for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10
• God not only loves you very much; He has His hand on you for something special; something happened in you; your life is echoing the master’s words.
  I Thessalonians 1, The Message
• And others renew my hope.

The storm arrives. Am I listening to God or am I licking my wounds?

“… you make him glad with the joy of your presence.”
Psalm 21:6b

My first best friend is Connie. She lives one house away in our very family friendly neighborhood. Connie’s family is Catholic and she gets to wear a uniform to school (I attend public school – no uniforms required). I remember being jealous of that uniform. Crazy, isn’t it?

My next best friend is Marilyn, my college roommate. Marilyn graciously includes me in her family’s Thanksgiving celebration. She warns me though to not take the name of the Lord in vain in her parent’s presence (“oh God” was a fairly common exclamation of mine in those days).

Then there is Liz, Barb, Kathy, Carol, Paula and many others. We raise our children together through their elementary years. We spend a lot of time together. One especially fun memory is coming home from a weekend retreat and stopping for dinner. As we consume our food, we remember, we tell stories, and laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

More recent best friends are my gramma friends: Kay, Louise, Mary and Melissa (the  female half of our couples group). We are doing life together and encouraging one another on the journey.

As I recall these various friends,
I realize that they parallel my journey with God.

Connie’s uniform signifies to me that God is important to her. I could not have voiced this in junior high school but I believe even back then, God is important to me too. Her uniform reflects my heart.

I mark my college years as the time when my friendship with God really begins; I am surrounded by friends who love God, I participate in personal Bible study, I attend retreats to spur on my relationship with God, and I hear God’s voice whisper in my ear for the first time. I remember the place. I remember who else is there. I REMEMBER HIS WORDS! That is HUGE! God speaks into my circumstances in His still small voice! A personal message – kind of like Marilyn warning me about my speech.

Although the still small voice is my first remembrance of a friendship with God, more often I hear God’s voice through His Word – a certain verse or passage jumps off the page as I read and I know God is speaking to me. Romans 15:5 and 6 is one of those special passages. It is God’s word to me for our marriage. To this day, I write the words of that Scripture on every wedding card I sign.

Often I hear the voice of God through the words of my friends; sometimes as we do Bible study together, sometimes as we pray, sometimes as we take walks or share lunch together, almost always in church. What a wonderful gift friendships are! I appreciate the Truth I hear through the words and see in the lives of my friends. As we celebrate together and as we cry together, God is reflected in them and they challenge me to keep developing my friendship with God.

Thank you my friends – those who I have named and many who were not named.

Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.
I was a Girl Scout once.  J

“…but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
Proverbs 18:24

She said, “I really want to find something that will help me learn how to apply the Bible.  I don’t just want to read it; I want to learn how to live it out.”

He said, “I don’t read the Bible; I listen to it.” Did he mean he has the Bible on his iPod? No. He means that the Bible is the voice of God speaking to him.

These two clarify my heart’s desire; as I read my Bible I want to be in tune with God; in tune with His personal words for me. I want to capture the moment; enjoy a conversation with Him. I want to listen to my Bible.

I have read Psalm 139 many, many, many, many, many times. I have been reminded about and am very thankful for God forming my inward parts and knitting me together in my mother’s womb (verse 13); I love that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (verse 14). But last week was different.

I’m not sure why I turn to Psalm 139 on this day – perhaps God is speaking before I even begin to read – because that’s where I went. God continues to speak. In the first three stanzas three similar thoughts jump off the page of my Bible that particular day and I ponder them: you hem me in (verse 5); your right hand shall hold me (verse 10); days that were formed for me (verse 16).

I’m not sure I like these words; they sound constraining. They might affect my freedom. Do I want to be hemmed in? Do I like someone holding my right hand? Do I want my days planned out for me (sometimes I do). It sounds like I’m a little kid who needs to be held back from running across the busy street.

Two other similar phrases are magnified that morning: Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; (verse 6); and How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! (verse17). I ask myself, do these phrases describe me; do I want them to be my testimony; are these really precious thoughts to me?

Then I remember, I am a little kid; I am God’s child; that is my identity. It’s not many thoughts later that I concede, I need God holding my hand; I need God hemming me in. I’m thankful my days are planned. I pray, God, please help me believe that your thoughts are precious; I know I don’t get it – your knowledge is too wonderful for me. I need to be hemmed in; I need you to hold my right hand; I’m thankful you plan my days; I need your protection. Amen.

As I say amen (so be it) and close my Bible, there is lightness in my heart; there is new energy in my step. I have enjoyed a conversation with a good friend – like Moses in Exodus 33.

“You are my friends …”
John 15:14

You see a crust; we see a canvas advertises California Pizza Kitchen. I love it. They desire to create pizza that not only pleases the palate but also the eyes. Their everyday work becomes their work of art. What a concept!

Last week my friend and I attend a tea; the setting is lovely; the speaker is too. Her topic is the many forms of beauty. Driving home I ask my friend, What did you hear? Without hesitating she responds, I need to get back to my home. My friend has a lovely home. It is her canvas, her work of art. Her response spurs my thinking. For my friend, homemaking – including housecleaning – is a pleasure; it energizes her; it satisfies her; it’s her desire; it’s her gift to others; it’s the artist in her; it’s a reflection of our creative God in her life; it shows. Gosh, a new thought, creating a beautiful home, or creating a pizza is a work or art, a reflection of God in our lives, a gift to others.

Later I receive an email from her … I was blessed (by the tea)  and continue to think about how I can make our surroundings beautiful…whether with flowers, a nicely set table, music, candles, or just an attitude adjustment!  Beauty takes on many forms, eh? My friend is right.

Although I too enjoy offering a beautiful home for my family and friends, housecleaning will never energize me. My canvas is different.

I love how personal and how creative God is! His beauty and creativity are displayed in so many ways.

“Love of Beauty is taste. The creation of Beauty is Art.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”
Romans 1:19, 20

We’re all in a race
A complicated race
Where many opportunities abound
Good opportunities
Right opportunities
Seductive opportunities
Necessary opportunities
Opportunities like a rubber-band ball ~
Tightly wound
Criss-crossing, intersecting
Colors alluring and inviting
And sometimes
All knotted up.

We all need space
Time
And Place
to ponder our rubber-band balls.
We need to meet God
Our Shepherd, our Friend
We need to meet God
Face to face.
We’re all in a race
A complicated race
Where many opportunities abound.
We need to meet God
Our Shepherd, our Friend
We need to experience His grace,
His overflowing grace.

Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend.”
Exodus 33:11