Reading His Messages

The woods spell out words. I need a lens to read them. Every dark woods has words. And every moment is a message from The Word-God who can't stop writing His heart. ~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

I just happened upon this video today...and was touched.  It spoke to the busyness and the chaos that is so much a part of my world... The "stuff" that is part of my world, yet I often simply "walk through blindly."

A couple of years ago I had cataract surgery on both.  Now, this surgery was SUPPOSED to remove the cataracts AND give me perfect vision, something I had not enjoyed since pre-school days.

It didn't.

The surgeon made mistakes and for months I struggled with poor eyesight until I finally canned the surgeon and returned to my original optometrist.  She immediately diagnosed the problem and put contacts in my eyes.  I can still remember my excitement.  I even called the optometrist's office to exclaim, "I can see the numbers on license plates!!!"

Ann shares a similar story of asking her dad why anyone would bother putting a sign up in their woods if no one could make out the words.

She was taken to see an optometrist. and the next time she went past the woods she saw the words "as clear as a bell and I read them plain:

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. (Acts 16:31 KJV)

The woods spell out words. I need a lens to read them.  Every dark woods has words. And every moment is a message from The Word-God who can't stop writing His heart.  But who can read His messages? 

These few sentences caused me to stop and consider.

Just recently I listened to, what I labeled as "horrific" stories, of some individuals and families.

A fourth grader who had heart surgery this week and will need ANOTHER halo screwed into his head in 2012 to correct something about how his head does/does not grow.

A young mother given a few months to live.

A young man facing another surgery to correct injuries from an accident....a surgery that promises to be painful but does not promise to offer relief.

If God is writing His heart in the world, what do these words spell out?

I've been reading the book of Job.  In 33:13-14 one of Job's friends say:

God is far greater than any human.So how dare you haul him into court,
   and then complain that he won't answer your charges?God always answers, one way or another,
   even when people don't recognize his presence. (MSG)

Psalm 19:1-3 reads:

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
   the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
   night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
   no sound is heard from them. (NIV)

Hebrews 4:12...God's words making a careful incision into a life, blade words that kindly cut the tissue back to where soul and spirit join, tenderly laying bare the intents of the heart:

God's word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword. It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones. And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. (NCV)

Yesterday, I was frustrated trying to figure something out.  One of my daughters jokingly said, "Mom, there should be an 'App for that'."

This morning I am wondering, "Is there an App for all the pain I hear and see?"

Considering all the words written in the world, Ann to wondered how to deal with the pain in her own life, in the lives of others.

I hold the medicine bottle, but have I found pills for the pain?

To read His message in moments, I'll need to read His passion on the page; wear the lens of the Word, to read His writing in the world. Only the Word is the answer to rightly reading the world, because TheWord has nail-scarred hands that cup our face close, wipe away the tears running down, has eyes to look deep into our brimming ache, and whisper, 'I know, I know.' The passion on the page is a Person, and the lens I wear of the Word is not abstract idea but the eyes of the God-Man who came and knows the pain. (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, p 87)

Some heavy thoughts for me to consider and hold this morning.

Good Morning America is on and I can hear about words regarding devastating winds, war, economy.... I wonder, "How does the Word read the world?"

Many Blessings ~ Sandi

Gather Up the Crumbs - Celebrating/Feasting/Moving On

"We stand in the midst of nourishment and we starve. We dwell in the land of plenty, yet we persist in going hungry. Not only do we dwell in the land of plenty; we have the capacity to be filled with the utter fullness of God." (Eph. 3:16-19)


Lord, I have wandered through my life, searching for purpose, love, meaning... It wasn't until I learned to pause, to be silent, to become vulnerable did I realize you were offering me manna along the journey, manna that would lead me to you, my true love, my true purpose and meaning.  Thank you, O God of never ending second chances! If it weren't for your love, I would still be wandering, missing the nourishing crumbs of blessing that you have strung along my path. AMEN.

Words/Insights/Quotes/Poetry:

We are "made" by words.

I've a good friend who I lovingly refer to as "My Word Maven".  He reads and retains at a level I can only stand and be amazed. Others, who do complicated crossword puzzles or excel at Scrabble, amaze me. Or, there are the pastors who give wonderful prayers at the drop of a hat, using and connecting words in a way I never think of connecting.

I do not feel as though I am good with words, yet I appreciate the power and the beauty of words.  I love this image that is made by using words, it reminds me that there is great truth in the saying, "You are what you eat."

Jesus is referred to in scripture as "The Word". If that doesn't give me a clue to the power and importance of words, nothing would! My choice is one, how I respond to the words that fill my world.  Two, my choice is also to discern which words are nourishing crumbs and which will make me sick.

Listen! Jesus said, "May those with eyes, see...and may those with ears, hear." Elijah did not find God in the wind or in the fire, or....Elijah found God in a whisper.  In order for me to be fed by the crumbs of words, I have got to LISTEN!  When I am still. When I let go of my agenda. When I take intentional time to pause. When I....I can hear and I am fed.

Two, there are MANY scripture passages that remind me that not all words are nourishing. Just a few from Proverbs:

• The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:4
• Whoever derides their neighbor has no sense, but the one who has understanding holds their tongue. Proverbs 11:12
• A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin. Proverbs 26:28
• She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. Proverbs 31:26

I mentioned poetry.  Carl Sandburg expressed so well the nourishing crumbs of these words.

Poetry is the journal of the sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the air.  Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable.  Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away.                           ~ Carl Sandburg Poetry Considered

Words connected together within insights, quotes, poetry, scripture....nourish me and build me up.  These words help me to pause and be still.  These words remind me of the love that is mine, if I am only awake to hear.

People/Connectedness:


Without others to speak the truth to me in love.  John Donne said, "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main."




God created me to be a part of the world and this world is full of others!

Life is about relationship. Not only relationship with God, but relationship with God's creation, and that includes a whole lot of people who were created differently than me.

When I am awake and open, I can gather the crumbs of blessing from other people.  Sometimes those crumbs are offered within words of affirmation and sometimes they are offered within words of criticism. Notice I am back at the word thing?

My crumbs are separate, yet a piece of another.

I am thankful for the relationships in my life that build me up, encourage me, guide me, care for me...and I am thankful I am learning to see these acts of love expressed in ways that might not always "feel good" but are offered in love.

Prayer:

To pray is to ...

I so loved Macrina's insight that "To pray is to touch God and let God touch us."


Honestly? I am only just now beginning to fully appreciate the power, the love, the EVERYTHING that is prayer.

I've "prayed" for most of my life, yet my prayers often felt rote or empty. I am only now beginning to appreciate that my prayers do not have to be the "WOW" kind of prayers that carry full images and wonderful insights.

I am only now, beginning to appreciate that I am praying much of the day, some times without even realizing.  I have caught myself reading a poem, or watching a video, or witnessing an act of love...and I will whisper, "Isn't that great!" And as I have thought more about prayer, when I utter those words, I realize that they are a prayer.

As I continue to walk along my journey, my hope and my prayer is that I am in a place of prayer throughout my day.

By using the gifts God gave them, and by observing the
crumbs along the path, they found their way home!

Lord, writing within this journal, is also a form of prayer.  I often find myself wanting to stay, and soak up more of the nourishment that is mine within this time.  But, I am looking at the clock and I realize I will miss the opening program of VBS this morning.  I thank you and praise you that this congregation is quite capable to doing things without me always being present!  They are wonderful and nourishing crumbs that you have blessed me with during this time in my journey to you.  I thank you for them and for all the children who will walk through the doors of the church today.  Bless each one.  Bless me, Lord so that I might find my way home by gathering the crumbs you have placed along my path.  AMEN.

Here's a video that is not a worship video. This video is a great reminder that what is held up in this world, what seems so very important and "real" is so fleeting.  It is a good reminder for me to Follow the Son rather than the stuff of this world.

"I'll Follow the Son" the Beatles...

Many Blessings ~ Sandi