Navigational Errors

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace.  Romans 8:5-6

I go on a lot of road trips, traversing through Michigan’s back roads and countryside. Most of the time it’s with an easy attitude of exploration, just out there to see what’s there and not really concerned with a destination. But there are times when the routes need to be planned…or we need to find our way home and when those times come we turn to our trusty road atlas. Our Michigan road atlas has gotten us home plenty of times, but even it doesn’t always tell us everything we need to know. There have been times when the atlas shows a big road and it’s more like a deer path in real life. Or times when we pass a road driving but the atlas swears there is nothing there. My favorite time was when I navigated us all this section of Michigan trying to find a mountain that the atlas swore was there and we never saw a thing. There are times when I think that atlas is more trouble than its worth.

Yesterday I made a concentrated effort to praise God. When I went for a walk I praised God for the cold weather and the fact that cars didn’t hit me. When I drove downtown I praised God for the chance to see the sunrise. When I did laundry I praised God for the fact that I had working legs to go downstairs (okay, laundry is not my favorite task…it was hard). I praised Him for things that went well or didn’t go so well, I praised Him for people and situations and finally I just praised Him for giving me the chance to do so. It was amazing how much better my day went, how much better my attitude was. Things that would have normally tripped me up just didn’t. Since my heart was focused on praising God, my head didn’t have a chance to steer me wrong. God has pointed out pretty plainly in scripture how to live by the Spirit, how to have peace by focusing our hearts on Him and despite knowing that I still spend plenty of time trying to navigate my own way. Maybe it’s time I let someone else drive.

 

B Movie Baddies

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.  Psalm 113:3
I’m a huge fan of old cheesy B movies. Giant rabbits, misunderstood robots, bad dubbing, you name it and I would probably get a kick out of watching it. My favorite would have to be Godzilla-esque movies. I think they’re awesome because of the giant monsters stomping the cities to bits; I’m a simple girl who loves movie destruction. The thing is, I’m a fan of those things in movies, not in real life. If a giant monster invaded the city, I wouldn’t be cheering them on…I would be screaming and running along with the rest of the crowd. As fun as it is to watch a movie about an evil brain, it’s much less fun my own brain turns against me.

I am struggling with today’s verse. First, I couldn’t find one that I liked. I went through my whole stack of verse cards that I picked out for Lent and nothing struck me. Then I skimmed through my bible and came up with squat. Finally I delved into my inbox and looked through all the devotionals emails I’ve gotten and still nothing. It’s like my brain just isn’t into this today. It’s not that I think that my brain is suddenly evil. It’s just that…well, actually my brain is sorta evil. I’m a fallen human with a sin nature and doing the ‘wrong’ thing is always so much easier than doing the right thing. But thankfully I was reminded of my problems this weekend and how leaning on my own understanding was a TOTAL disaster, so I’m not going to let my brain win this round. If my life was a cheesy B movie, this would be the part where the heroic astronaut saves us from the evil brain; in real life, it’s where the Holy Spirit gives me the strength to overcome my sin nature and find a verse about praising God. This verse is pretty straightforward, it doesn’t matter what time it is or what is going on, we ought to be praising God. Which is a good job for me today. Praising God is probably the best way to beat my evil brain.

16 Hours in a Car

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.  Psalm 119:18One day my mother came to me and asked if I wanted to drive Up North. Our family was planning on a weeklong vacation later in the year and she wanted to scout out some cottage sites. It was late on a Saturday morning, and we started off driving to Marquette, 8 hours away. We found a hotel in Marquette that looked okay but had the worst beds I’ve ever slept in, sunken in the middle and no padding. Since sleeping wasn’t easy, we ended up leaving in the middle of the night a nd driving across the Upper Peninsula in the early dawn. Finding a beachside park, we pulled over to watch the sun’s light creeping across the water. It was dark and so quiet and I was half terrified we were going to get eaten by a bear. Lake Superior was cold and the waves lost some of their wildness when painted with pink hues. We sat on the top of a picnic table and stared up at the most stars I’ve ever seen. There were so many, so clear and bright that they didn’t look real. I don’t remember the cabins and hotels we looked at during the trip, I can’t remember where we ate or the songs we listened to…but I do remember those stars and the feeling of wonder I had. I was amazed by the scope of the stars. The feeling that I was so blessed to see God’s creation and be a part of it.

When you read deeper into this verse, you find that the word ‘open’ means to reveal and I like the action in that word. It’s not just that your eyes are going to be opened…but that something is going to be revealed, to be shown to you. Something you couldn’t see on your own otherwise. ‘Wonderful’ has its basis in a word that means extraordinary, marvelous, surpassing and beyond ones power to understand. Those aren’t little words there, those words have weight. When those words are used to describe something, you know it’s a big deal. In this case, those words are being used to describe God’s law. That’s what we need to be revealed to us. That’s what is marvelous, extraordinary and wonderful. It’s the word of God. As I start out this day and this week, I’m going to use this verse as a prayer. That God opens my eyes to His law. That He helps me see the wonder of it and that I learn something new from it. That like looking at the stars on the shores of Lake Superior, when I am reading God’s word that I am filled with wonder.

Downward Facing Jen

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.     Proverbs 3:5-6

In my yoga workout there is a pose called Triangle and it involves standing with one leg stretched out in front, one leg in back turned sideways and then you bend your upper body forward with your arms outstretched till one hand touches the floor. I’m not great at describing yoga poses (or doing them sometimes…) so take a look at the picture. It’s not the hardest pose but it always trips me up when the instructor talks about keeping your balance. “Just lean like there is a wall supporting you at the side! Lean!” I may not be an expert but I don’t think anyone actually leans against walls looking like this. But if they did, I wonder if they would be more stable than I am while doing this pose, because try as I might, my ‘leaning against a wall’ usually ends up with me ‘falling to the mat’.

Yesterday was not the easiest day for my Lenten fast. Part of it was hard because it was a lazy Saturday where I’m not adhering to a schedule or dinner plans. Part of it was because it’s been a hard week emotionally and a portion of the day was spent attending a funeral. Those are all excuses though, because the main problem was that I was trying to do it all myself. I had decided that it was going to be a rough day and then told myself that I could handle it. Did you notice how many times I mentioned ‘me’ in that last sentence? Yeah, that was my problem. Way too much of me and not enough God. I actually visited a grocery store, a restaurant and two fast food places trying to come up with lunch for myself. I struggled to make any decision at all because I was trying to make that decision on my own without God.

Life is not really like the Triangle pose in yoga. I don’t have to balance precariously, trying to find support in an imaginary wall. God has thankfully given me support with the Holy Spirit, the Bible and my fellow Christians. He has blessed me with the chance to stop leaning on imaginary things and start putting my faith in Him. I’m praying that today I stay off the mat.

Don’t Just Sit There

I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Psalm 77:12

When I think of meditation, the first thing I always think of is trying to teach my mother. I’ve practiced meditation many different times and ways during my life and often found it beneficial. Teaching my mother should have been an easy task, sit her down, explain the principles, give her an example and that would be it. Unfortunately it didn’t go that smoothly. From the moment we sat down she was cracking jokes and making snarky comments. I think at one point she even blew out my candle. By the time I gave up, she was relaxed but mostly because she had amused herself. 

This verse used to make me think that you needed to sit down with a list of what God created and say thank you. (Not that couldn’t be a valid and worthwhile exercise) But after looking up the Strong’s concordance for this verse, I think it changes how I think. The word for meditate is hagah which in addition to meaning ‘growl’ also means ‘imagine’. And the word for consider is siyach which can mean ‘talk or sing’. So this verse that made me think of long lists and rote gratitude is suddenly something much more active. I’m ‘imagining’ everything that God has done and will be doing and then I’m ‘talking and singing’ about it! To me that seems like something much more joyful than just sitting around. 

Snow Reason to Panic

The day is yours, and yours also the night, you established the sun and the moon. It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth, you who made both summer and winter.   Psalms 74:16-17We’re under a winter storm warning here today and to listen to the natives, it’s the worst storm since the ice age. The news is constantly updating from their “winter weather centers”, the stores are packed with people stocking up and even the librarians were all a tizzy with talk about the big snow. We are in Michigan and we’ve been known to get major snowstorms before, so I understand that there is a valid reason behind all this panic. But I believe that part of the panic stems from the fact that we have been having a very mild winter. Reasonable temps, loads of sunshine and very little snow. It’s been mild and lovely, but with the oncoming storm we’ve suddenly realized we aren’t prepared. Our shovels are in the sheds, our boots are back in the closet and we’re all afraid of driving on snowy roads in the morning. We’ve all forgotten that we’re Michiganders, that a few inches of snow (or a lot more than a few) isn’t that big of a deal. We’re made of tougher stuff.

It’s easy for me to get panicked by my current situation. Sometimes it’s because it’s justified…there are some situations that are just plain scary! Other times it’s because I’ve gotten accustomed to easier times, complacent in my ability to handle things and then when something harder comes along I get completely blindsided. I forget who I am, a child of God. I forget that nothing is bigger than the God that I serve. A God that is more than capable of handling any situation I find myself in. A God that is never blindsided by the next big thing. A God that not only can help me cope with life’s storms, He can conquer them.

In Character

Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. Matthew 6:6 (The Message)

A few years ago I joined a role playing game online. It started as a fun writing exercise and ended up being a great way to meet friends and kill all of my free time. I loved the challenge of writing dialog and plot in a fast environment and interacting with other people who were doing the same. I learned how to write fight scenes, how to make my plots virtually hole-free and best of all, how to flesh out my characters.

At the peak, I think I played three different characters but my main one was a teenage boy who was smart, opinionated and passionate. He hated violence, loved new experiences and earnestly thought he could change the world. He had a seed named Hank that he planted in a pot and encouraged to grow over the space of several months. He bowled with socks. He had a best friend who was terrifying and a girlfriend who could squash him like a bug. As you can tell, this character was pretty real to me. As the time I spent in-character wore on, it was easy for me to look at a situation or conversation in game and know exactly how my character would react, what he would say and how he’d respond. It had become natural.

There are times when I struggle to be that natural with God, to put aside all the roles that I play and just be me. I get tripped up with being ‘perfect Christian’ who knows the right words to say and says them eloquently. Just as easily I’m waylaid by ‘baby Christian’ who uses any excuse to stay in a shallow relationship with God. Those are just the tip of the iceberg, there are roles for ‘busy’ and ‘lazy’ and ‘shameful’; each one just a different way that I try to keep the focus on myself instead of God. I don’t know why exactly, maybe I’m afraid if God is focused on the real me that He’ll point out all the ways I’m failing. Maybe I’m afraid that He’ll point out something that I’ve missed, something big that needs to change. Maybe I’m just not sure how to be stop being a character and just be me. I think it’s time I learned.

You Better Recognize!

Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.              Deuteronomy 4:39

You better recognize! I may not be hip enough to pull off that phrase in real life, but that’s really what the thought behind today’s verse choice. Moses was talking to the people of Egypt and there are parts of this chapter that makes me think that he was talking to them like there were morons. I can just imagine him shaking his head as he mutters, “you saw with your own eyes what the Lord did.” Or maybe he was earnest, empathically waving his arms and yelling as he tried to get Israel to understand just how blessed they were, “what other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?” Moses wanted the people to understand, to recognize God’s power and authority in their lives and act in obedience.

In my life, it’s pretty easy for me to ignore God’s authority. I tell myself that this little part doesn’t matter, or that I can handle this situation on my own. But just like the Israelites, I need to acknowledge that God is in charge of my life and I need to respond to that truth with obedience. For Lent, that means honoring God by sticking to my chip fast, but I’m sure God will show me other ways in which I need to acknowledge Him.

Happy Paczki Day!

Or as Danny in Hawaii Five-O would say…malasadas!

Everything worked out perfectly this morning to make a stop at Quality Dairy for paczkis. They had racks and racks of delicious looking treats, filled with apple, cherry, raspberry and banana! I was so tempted by the banana but I opted for custard. Because you can’t go wrong with custard. It was awesome.

Of course the other side of today that is not filled with fried dough and sugar is coming up with what I’m going to give up for Lent this year. I’ve done desserts, I’ve done soda, and I think last year I didn’t give up anything. This year I’m leaning towards another comfort food, chips. The reason why I would give up that luxury is that it’s a comfort food, a thing that I eat when I’m feeling down or upset. Since my response to those emotions should be to seek solace with God, I think it’s a good idea to focus on something that I’m going to for comfort instead.

But for now, I’m going to focus on the taste of fresh fried goods with funny names.