kiss your life

“Kiss your life. Accept it just as it is. Today. Now. So that
those moments of happiness you’re waiting for do not pass you
by. Kiss your life. Today. Now. Just as it is.”

I found this quote on someone’s blog. It was printed on a canvas that the writer displays in her home. I don’t know who said it…but it speaks to me.

When a significant someone (or something…like a dream or an idea or a belief) leaves, you have to reevaluate life…you have to refocus. You can (probably will) go through depression…you can question the need to go on with life as usual…The thinking might be: “If this can happen once, it can happen again.” “What’s the use?”

Anything becomes possible…especially the unspeakable…the things of nightmares and worst case scenarios. The monster is under your bed…there is a big, deep, black hole waiting to gobble you up….

So much of life consists of searching for the gold at the end of the rainbow….The “If I could just make (win) this much money....” “If I could just get this…go here…go there.” If I had just married that person (or not married this person).” “If I could move.” “If I could stay.” “If I had done this.” “If I had not done that.” “If we had only known….” This kind of thinking can multiply quickly in times of trouble…in times of life and death…

I have found that the sooner I accept life as it is…warts and all…looking not for that which is perfect, but for that which is sustaining…
like: time with family, a child’s genuine enjoyment of little things, learning something new, God’s presence…These small, quite things of life have made my heart smile again…. Not for long. Not forever. But for today. For now. I’m trying to learn to kiss my life again.

g

not as it should be

Today, I wrote to the family of a young man, who is fighting for his life, in a hospital, after a traumatic car wreck:

I have been reading Mary Beth Chapman’s new book, Choosing to See. She and her husband, Steven Curtis Chapman, lost a five year old daughter, when their 17 year old ran over her with his car two and half years ago. Her new book chronicles their family’s journey through the shock and grief. It spoke to me in the place I’m in.

She sites a quote from CS Lewis:

“We’re not necessarily doubting the God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”

This is a song that she and her husband co-wrote:

“This is not how it should be
This is not how it could be
This is how it is
And our God is in control

This is not how it will be
When we finally will see
We'll see with our own eyes
He was always in control

And we'll sing holy, holy, holy is our God
And we will finally really understand what it means
So we'll sing holy, holy, holy is our God
While we're waiting for that day

This is not where we planned to be
When we started this journey
But this is where we are
And our God is in control

Though this first taste is bitter
There will be sweetness forever
When we finally taste and see
That our God is in control.”

I’m adding this, here on my blog:
So much of what happens to us, this side of heaven, is puzzling and painful. “Why, God, why?” we ask. “Why, does it have to be this way?” The truth is, though, bad happens…very bad happens…but our trust is in our God who has control of everything… the waves in the ocean…the sun’s rise and set…even life’s circumstances that take our breath away…Our God is in control…even when it is not as it should be.

Thank you, God,
g

looking back; looking to future

This is some of what I wrote on my blog, July 07, 2005. I had no way of knowing the way I would need the understanding of these words just three years later. This is what I wrote:

“I am thinking about the following words of hope:

Psalm 91:2:

"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God; in him will I trust."

I also like this quote from Francis of Sales:

"Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear; rather look to them with full hope that, as they arise, God, whose you are, will deliver you out of them. He is your keeper, He has kept you hitherto. Do you but hold fast to his dear hand, and he will lead you safely through all things; and, when you cannot stand, he will bear you in his arms. Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow. Our Father will either shield you from suffering, or he will give you strength to bear it.’”

So this is what I know…five years later: Pain and suffering do happen. In this life, we can lose that which is most precious, and our hearts can be broken to pieces. But, through it all, God is close. He holds us, and gives the strength we need for this moment…not for tomorrow, but for this moment…

g

to be loved by God

Can I fully comprehend the love of God? I think not. It is so wide and so high…it is far beyond my ability to grasp the truth of it. I suppose the best thing I can do is to: accept it, allow it to permeate my being, and share it with others.

I like what Richard Baxter says about this love:

"Is it a small thing in your eyes to be loved by God--to be the son, the spouse, the love, the delight of the King of glory? Christian, believe this, and think about it: you will be eternally embraced in the arms of the love which was from everlasting, and will extend to everlasting--of the love which brought the Son of God's love from heaven to earth, from earth to the cross, from the cross to the grave, from the grave to glory--that love which was weary, hungry, tempted, scorned, scourged, buffeted, spat upon, crucified, pierced--which fasted, prayed, taught, healed, wept, sweated, bled, died. That love will eternally embrace you."

In this season…one of gathering and reflection…I want to embrace this love of God, as he embraces me…to deepen my relationship with him…to be awe of it...and to prepare for a new year of sharing it.

g

you miss the beauty

At times, life comes so fast and so hard that it is hard to process all that has transpired. There are so many demands, and so little resources (like time, energy, money). It seems a blur, and like I’m living on auto-pilot.

I have kept this quote for a few years…don’t know where it came from…or when I got it…but I suppose I have kept it for this time and this place in my life. It says:

“You miss the beauty you live in.”

The fall foliage in East Texas has been spectacular this year. It was here…breath-taking, for a short time…and then it was gone…most of it got blown away over the Thanksgiving weekend. I would soak in the beauty of it as I drove home each day, thinking, “Wow, what a surprise. I didn’t think it was going to happen this year.” But it did…just like clock-work…and God spoke to my spirit about his continuing presence and control of it all.

Then, there’s the research project, about reindeer, that I’ve been involved in with my class at school. As it is every year, my students are so carried away with it, and I’m in awe and wonder, thinking: “How can something so spectacular and inexplicable continue to happen over and over…generation after generation …over thousands of miles…year after year after year. There, again, God has nudged me….whispering, “Don’t miss the beauty…don’t miss the miracle….” I’m here…I’m in control.

I need to hold fast to the truth…even when it seems to be the only thing I can hold to…the thing that never changes…God’s got it, and He loves me as I have never been loved…I need to remember to not miss the beauty of it.

g

god keeps us

I’ve been in a funk, lately. Probably because I am tired to my bones. I have been needing a brighter outlook. I commented on Jon and Emily’s blog today. What came out of my brain, and what I left as a comment, was exactly what I needed today:

“The God we serve is good and faithful. He loves us completely and always. "He keeps that which we've committed.’”

When I keep giving it to him; he'll perfectly care for me.

Help me remember this.

g

you are blessed when you make peace

Max Lucado says this about making peace:

“Want to see a miracle? Plant a word of love heartdeep in a person’s life. Nurture it with a smile and a prayer, and watch what happens.

An employee gets a compliment. A wife receives a bouquet of flowers. A cake is baked and carried next door. A widow is hugged. A gas-station attendant is honored. A preacher is praised.

Sowing seeds of peace is like sowing beans. You don’t know why it works; you just know it does. Seeds are planted, and topsoils of hurt are shoved away.”

In this place we live, we don’t have many peacemakers. What we have are: chaos-makers. We have lots of snatching and grabbing for a lot of entitlement…you can see it in your home, in your town, in your country, in your world, in your church, and even in your heart. Everyone wanting what they have coming to them. Adam and Eve did not make peace. Cain did not make peace. There were times when King David did not make peace. The disciples did not always make peace when they were with Jesus. Many times, the church has failed to make peace in our world. I am not always a peacemaker.

If we want to be called Sons of God, though, we have to be peacemakers. Lucado goes on to end this chapter with these words:

“’ Be a power broker,’ the snake lied,’ and you will be like God.’

‘Be a peacemaker,’ the King promised, ‘and you will be a son of God.’”

How I need the peace of God to have any peace to share. Please, Lord, bathe me in your peace. Fill me with your peace…calm the chaos…help me to realize, daily, that I don’t need what the world has to give…that will pass away. I do, however, need what you have…for that is what will last for all eternity.
g