Feed my Sheep & Clean the Deep Freeze

Hello Friend,

I've missed you!  

I was on a trip to my hometown and had a lovely time.  It was one of those visits you spend looking over your shoulder for ghosts, feeling all the time as though you were missing something but never quite remembering what you forgot. I passed the days walking with my daughters, telling stories and answering questions.  It was delightful but very, very busy.

Ever had a day like that?  Perhaps a week or a fortnight?  Where you wanted to slow down, you knew you had too, but life wouldn't cooperate?  It was that kind of visit. 

My hometown sits on the sea side, sleepy yet insisting that it isn't tired, much like a child dressed for bed.  The marina is at the old town’s core and the whole town smells like the sea.  The place has grown up over the years and now boasts of new building developments, yet it is betrayed by the fact its main street is empty by 9:00 each evening.  It is simply one of the nicest places on earth.  I miss it.   

This visit, I planned to spend some time with the Lord at my favorite beach.  I seem to be collecting worries lately and was looking forward to climbing the cliff on my favorite beach to spend some time in prayer.  My version of a pilgrimage.  Another desire was to catch up with a friend whom I had not seen since last summer.  Phones are wonderful things, but nothing can replace face to face, blanket sharing, chocolate munching tea time.  I was longing for both.

One morning, I got up early in order to get my errands out of the way.  I plugged the girls into media in order to finish my tasks.  I planned to take the girls out and then have an epic tea time with my friend when I happened into a predicament.  An undetected power outage had turned a deep freeze into a murky puddle and it needed prompt attention.  The girls were more than ready for an outing yet the need was immediate.  Frantic, I called my epic tea time friend. 

“What are you doing right now?”

“Just got the baby down for his morning nap, why?”

“Because I’m desperate, I need to bring you the girls and have you entertain them.”  With those three sentences, my plans for a cozy tea time when up in smoke.  My girls were very happy to go spend time with my friend, but I have to confess I was feeling a bit sorry for myself.  How would my friend know I loved her if I couldn't make the time?  How could I make up for a year’s worth of missing someone?  The truth is I just couldn't.

I dropped my brood into my friend’s lap and ran out the door.  That afternoon was taken up with garbage bags and bleach.  I realized that my desire to get to the beach to visit with the Lord was not going to happen either.  As I was wrestling a tepid ziplocked curry, my mind happened to wander to the meeting between Peter and Jesus at the seaside after Peter’s betrayal and Jesus’ resurrection.

Jesus and Peter

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” John 21:15-19

This commissioning of Peter paints a beautiful picture.  The disciples, out all night having caught nothing, Jesus cooking breakfast for them awaiting their return.  A conversation with a stranger at the shore, a sudden realization, a plunge into early morning water, everything about the account thrills me.  But every time I read it, I am struck by the fact that loving God means tending to others.  I’m not always interested in that.

Do you love me?  Yes Lord. I spent a wonderful evening with you.  I poured out my heart and soul, I was lavish with my time.  I prayed for 3 hours straight.

Do you love me? Yes Lord.  I have gone on a spiritual retreat every 6 months for the last 10 years.  I have come away with you.

Do you love me?  Yes.  I am neck deep in a soggy deep freeze cleaning for someone I love while my children are eating my chocolate and drinking my tea with my dear friend.   

Do you love me?  Yes.  I am here cleaning vomit and feeding someone their medication because they are sick and need help.

Which examples sound more spiritual to you?  Which examples sound more spiritual to the Lord?

Please don’t get me wrong.  We are to come away and spend time with the Jesus.  We are to be generous with our time and seek His face.  But sometimes dear friend, loving God means putting your desires for spiritual encounters on hold and tending to the needs of others.

I didn't get to have my epic tea time with my friend last visit.  We were both sad and a little unimpressed. But sometimes, when you love someone, you share each other’s burdens and feed their sheep, because that is what Our Father taught us.

Praying for you this week,

xoxK 

Safe Harbor

I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.  1 Cor 4:14-15

It makes very little sense to get upset about things that are difficult to change.  Grumbling about lobbyists in government, environmental policies or the inconsistency in women’s clothing sizes, will not cause transformation.  To effect change, one must commit their resources and work with dedication toward a goal.  This is how people throughout history have made great things happen.  In theory it makes perfect sense but in practice, it can be really messy.

I found myself caught between the best of intentions and a real mess this week and frankly, I needed a hero.  Sadly, it wasn't a local situation or I would have asked my husband to don his proverbial cape and fix things.  Something he is very good at, after 18 years of marriage to his eternally well-meaning spouse. 

For the sake of clarity, this week I needed a hero, not a heroine.  What’s worse, I’ve needed a hero before.  One of the hats in my church wardrobe reads “Supporter of Single Mums.”  I have been blessed over the past 20 years, to walk alongside some amazing women who have embarked on an unsolicited journey.  The stories are sad, painful, glorious and hopeful.  While each voyage is unique, I have noticed that at some point in the expedition, Mum will take her boat onto the high seas and happen upon a storm. She will need to find shelter and inevitably she will end up in a harbor called Fatherlessness.

Can I confess something to you Friend?  I hate that place.  Her boat enters the harbor and we hit our knees.  In fact, the only way to get through that vexing town is with your face on the floor.  I cannot tell you how many tears I have wept there.  I was there again this week, hating every second, trying to find hope.

Don't think the Harbor of Fatherlessness means there are no good men present.  I know there are.  I've seen them.  In fact, the town actually has a large number of fathers, men who attend to their families and churches.  They read the bible and faithfully steward their possessions.  I think that is where the problem lies.  They are faithfully stewarding their possessions, not God’s. 

God owns a lot of stuff.  More importantly, God’s owns a lot of people and frankly, many of them are a mess.  If you haven’t noticed, where there are messes there are children.  I suspect that’s where an understanding of God breaks down.  The definition of fatherless is “not having a known or legally responsible father.”  As Christians, we don’t pray to “Father God” for no reason.  We are called to pray to our Father, because he alone is worthy of our praise and all together faithful to His covenant. 

So then, if God owns a host of fatherless children, wouldn't it be great if some of the men who knew how to be fathers shared a little bit of God’s heart with the motley brood?  I’m not saying it’s easy, because it isn't.  The only thing that is harder is trying to be father to a child when you are a mother.  That’s a really tricky one.  I've spent time here friend, I know what I’m talking about.

The other problem seems to be in the realm of unrealistic expectations.  Maybe the Father’s don’t know how much impact a little interaction with a Fatherless child can have.  As someone who walks alongside broken families, let me share some of the requests I have overheard before the throne of God.

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         -Lord, would a man at Sunday school please ask my son how he is doing?

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         -Father, if you could motivate her uncle to include her in the next family outing I would be so grateful.

-                       -

         -Jesus, if a man could just tell my son his new haircut looks sharp I know it would help.

Friend, these are not huge investments of time or resources.  They are small, mindful acts that might be a bit inconvenient.  I have heard these prayers from broken hearts.  God hears them.  He cares.  He calls us to care for his treasured possessions.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

Don’t know how to get started Man of God?  Here are a few suggestions.

        

       -Ask your wife or a friend how much money she would spend on a baby shower gift.  Purchase that amount of money in bubble gum.  Ask a Sunday school teacher if there are any fatherless kids in your church.  Meet their parent, go out of your way.  Tell them God put their child on their heart, ask permission to give them gum.  Meet the child.  Say “Little dude!  God thinks you are awesome!  Have some gum.”  Smile.  Tell them they are amazing.  Then go drink coffee.

        

       -Look a fatherless child in the eyes and say, “Little man of God, you are amazing!  How was your week?”  Repeat every week until they can look straight back at you.

        

       -Ask a hoodlum looking fatherless teen how they are doing.  Ask if they have any prayer requests.  Then ask them if they can pray for you that week.  Share a small problem with them.  Tell them you know they hear God, ask them to let you know if they get any scripture for you.  See what happens.  If they come back with scripture, listen, write down what they say.  Buy them a mocha-frappe-latte at the caffeine station.   

Man of God it is not difficult.  There are so few who invest their lives in little people.  I pray that God would inspire you this week.  That you would start to invest in His kingdom, and that you, like our forefather Abraham, would rise up and "father" many.

I’m praying for you this week.

xoxKaren

My Dad looked after "little people" in my home town as a pediatrician for 33 years.  He used to paint. This is one of his miniatures.

Best Foot Forward

Hello Friend,

I wanted to write because events had me thinking of you this week.  Our conversation Tuesday wasn't long enough, you asked a question and I didn't answer it very well.  I tried but at that point my youngest had added twice the needed soap to the laundry.  It was about to get ugly. I’m sorry our time got cut short.

There isn't an easy answer, but I had a few thoughts that might help.  Do you remember asking why life has to be so hard? I don’t think you were feeling sorry for yourself, just to be clear.  It’s a brilliant question.  But neither do I think you were asking me to start at the Garden of Eden and recite “how sin entered the world.” 

If I was hearing your heart correctly, you were asking me how to keep going when the demands of life overshadow your ability to cope.  How to find the strength to keep going when you don’t have it?  Maybe more than that, what on earth does God expect when he keeps making life so hard? 

I confess I had to smile.  Not that I think accusing The Lord is a wise strategy, but I can relate to the feeling.  The sovereignty of God is a weighty subject and we will spend eternity measuring its magnificence.  But when we feel overwhelmed, everything carnal views God’s sovereignty as an opponent to our desire for a carefree existence.  We tire of trials and want God to put life on pause while we catch a moment of stress free living.

Truth is dear friend, it doesn't work that way.  No living creature becomes stronger physically or spiritually by avoiding trials.  Somewhere along the way, you realized that you were God’s enemy and asked Him to forgive you based Jesus' sacrifice.  You asked Him to become sovereign in your life.  You were saved, cleaned up and delivered.  You sang many songs, declaring God’s sovereignty and rejoicing in His ability to save.  At some point during that worship time, you asked God to remake your heart and bring your desires in line with his.  You asked for him to become the Lord of your life.  The ironic part is we beg the Lord to remake us, then pitch a fit when He begins to answer our prayers. 

Think back to some of the worship you have experienced.  Any of these lyrics sound familiar?

I want You more than gold or silver

    Only You can satisfy.

You alone are the real joy Giver

    And the apple of my eye.

You're my friend and You are my brother

    Even though You are a king.

I love You more than any other,

    So much more than anything.[1]

Or perhaps this one?

Purify my heart

Let me be as gold and precious silver

Purify my heart

Let me be as gold, pure gold

Refiner's fire

My heart's one desire

Is to be holy

Set apart for You, Lord

I choose to be holy

Set apart for You, my Master

Ready to do Your will[2]

Now, as much as we might like to blame people like Marty, Brian and the entire Hillsong organization for their gifting, it won’t benefit us much in the long run. Only God’s word can help you when you find yourself at odd’s with God’s plan for your life.   

Can I encourage you friend, to go back to the basics?  Jesus told us what we would face.

These things I have spoken to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33).

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:6-7

Sometimes dearest, the answer to, “why is it so hard?” is simply; because that’s how faith works.  You just have to pick yourself up and try to make it through one more hour by putting your best foot forward regardless of how insufficient it seems.  We can do that because we have a God who loves to shore up lack, whose power is perfected in our weakness (2Cor 12:8-10). 

One of my girlfriends did something splendidly stellar this week.  For years she has disciplined herself to wake up before the roosters and head to the gym for a workout.  On this particular morning, she found herself in dark, groping for her shoes.  She found them, grabbed her bag and headed for the car.  As she drove to the gym, she tied up her shoe laces whenever she came to a stop light.  Somewhere during the drive, she realized her shoe laces didn't feel right.  It was too late to turn back. Realizing her mistake, she forged ahead and completed her work out in style.  She was generous enough to share the photo with me when she came home. 

This picture made me think of our conversation.  Life can get very, very difficult.  But when it is, we must remember we aren't alone.  God promises to share the days with us.  We can put on one of our shoes and one of His, knowing that He will bring us through, regardless of how ill equipped we feel. 

Put your best foot forward this week dear heart. 

I’m praying for you,

xoxKaren

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[1] As the Deer Pants for the Water, Marty Nystrom. © Copyright 1984 Maranatha Music (ASCAP)(admin. by Music Services).

http://martynystrom.com/

[2] Refiners Fire, Brian Doerksen.  Words © 1990 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing (Admin. Music Services)

http://briandoerksen.com/