The Power of Showing Up & Being Present

 This past Sunday at church, we took some time to remember those in our church family who we had lost over the last few years of COVID. Something as simple as a picture, a name, a birthdate, and the date someone took their last breath on earth, had an impact on me in that moment. As I watched the pictures of my great uncle and then my Grandma appear on the screen, along with so many others I've known as part of my church family for years, I was reminded of another lesson my Grandma taught me over the years. 

As I've thought about it since, I've come to realize it might be the mort important thing, after following God, that my Grandma taught me. It's something that has come up over and over again in memories of her. And from so many different people.

That lesson: the power of showing up and being present.

When I think about it, growing up, one of the things I could always count on was that if something was happening - good or bad - my Grandma would be one who showed up. She was just there all the time. Whether it was sitting in the audience at more band concerts, school awards ceremonies, & school sports games than she probably ever thought she'd sit through. Or being the one to pick us up when we weren't feeling well at school and Mom was busy. Or the hours spent with us at her house through all seasons. Or when something went wrong or was hard and you just needed a hug (. . . & a cookie).

There was something you could count on . . . Grandma was there. She showed - usually with Grandpa at her side.

But, more than her showing up, she was present in those moments. Even when you knew she had other things she could be doing, she was present in her conversations with you. She was present in the moment and whatever was happening.

And, in doing so, she made sure you knew she thought you were important and valuable. That you were worth her time and energy.

One particular night stands out for me when I think about how she did this. It was a Friday night not too long after I moved home after finishing my degree. I was not looking forward to another evening alone. My Grandma happened to phone my Mom that afternoon & I answered. As usual, she talked to me first, & when I said I had no plans, her first thought was to invite me to come over for supper that night. A little thing in so many ways. But, it reminded me that she cared.

It challenges me in my own interactions with people. 

How do I do at showing up for the people I love? How do I do at being present with the people I'm with?

These days, it's easy to be distracted, even when we're in the same room as people. We carry around distracting devices that keep us from being present - even if we leave the phone away, when the phone calls, texts, & emails come through to you watch, the distraction is still there. I know I'm good at being distracted.

But, it's not how I want to be. I want to be someone who shows up & is present with the people in front of me.

How about you? How are you doing at showing up? How are you doing at being present?

The Hard, the Messy, & the Broken

 As this is Christmas week, it seems fitting to take a few moments to stop and reflect on the Christmas story (I'll be back to my series I'm in the middle of in the new year.)

I opened my Bible to Matthew's record it only a few minutes ago for the first time this season. Much later in December than I usually begin to dive into this familiar story each year.

But, this year, I've struggled with Christmas. If I'm honest, I haven't felt much like celebrating anything at all this year. Even as I sit to write this, there's very little in my house that would indicate it's Christmas.

The only thing I have even put out in the nativity set. The simplest, but maybe the most fitting, for this Christmas.

A few days ago, I came home to find a gift bag at my door. An anonymous friend dropped it off while I was at work. One of the things inside was some beautiful cards with Scripture about the Christmas story and the lyrics to some Christmas carols that tell the story.

Until that delivery, not the nativity set had made it out. I just simply had no interest. But, as I read those cards, I was reminded of what this time of year is really all about for us as Christians . . . the birth of Jesus.

And not into a neat and tidy world. The world Jesus was born into was hard, messy, and broken.

Much like our world today. If I had to give three words to describe our world, those are exactly the words I would use.

Hard.

Messy.

Broken.

That brings me back to Matthew 1. I don't often read the genealogies in Scripture carefully. I skim through the long list of names I can't pronounce, working to quickly get to the other parts. Today, I slowly, carefully read each line, each name.

As I read, I realized something. It wasn't new, but I needed to be reminded of it again today.

Yes, the genealogy show how the prophecies of Jesus' birth were fulfilled. The tribe of Judah. The root of Jesse. Of the line of David. All good stuff. But, not the important stuff for today.

The genealogy of Jesus that Matthew records is full of messy, broken people who have hard stories.

There's women. Not just inferred, but mentioned when that wasn't normal for that time.

There's prostitutes.

There's outsiders to the Jewish people.

There's adulterers and murderers.

There's people who didn't follow God with their lives.

There's people who were led astray.

All mixed in with those who were faithful followers of God. Sometimes the faithful follower of God is also the one who messed up.

Jesus' earthly genealogy doesn't hide the hard, the messy, the broken. It includes it for all to see and be reminded of.

Why?

Because God has redeemed it and used it for His purposes. It's God's specialty.

God takes our hard, messy, and broken and He redeems it. He uses it for His purposes and His glory.

I don't know where this Christmas finds you. 2020 has been a year like no other we've experienced. And we're all approaching this Christmas differently. 

But, can I remind you today that whatever hard, messy, and broken your life holds right now, God's not done. 

If you'll let Him, He can take it and turn it into something beautiful. It may not be exactly the beautiful we expect or happen the way we want it to, but, if we allow it, God will turn our hard, messy, and broken into beautiful - just like He did with Jesus' earthly genealogy.

I know that's hope I'm choosing to cling to right now. Even when I don't feel like celebrating the way I usually do this time of year, I can choose to celebrate because I have a God who specializes in turning hard, messy, and broken into beautiful for His purpose and His glory.

Growing Through Challenge or Yearning for "Normal"

 "I'm just waiting for things to go back to normal."

"Can we ever go back to normal."

"I wish things were normal again."

You've probably though, or even said, those words or something like them in the last five months. You're probably heard them from other many times.

We're living in a world that's been turned upside-down by something we can't even see. Our normal has been taken away. Everything feels strange.

And we're struggling with that.

I know I am. All I want to do is go to a gathering with friends and give them all long hugs. And, for someone who doesn't usually often struggles in large group gatherings and doesn't just hug everyone, that says a lot. If I'm feeling this way, I know lots of others are too.

We just want normal back.

We talk about a new normal. About what it might look like. What it might mean. How we can manage.

But it's not what we really want.

When you get beneath it all, we're longing for normal. For how things used to be.

Before I go on, let me be clear on one thing: I'm not here to debate whether we have a new normal. I'm not going to debate the choices made or not made. While our current reality has prompted some of the thoughts in this post, I'm not writing about opinions on it. You can agree or disagree, but this is not the place to debate that. I will delete all comments along those lines without notice or comment from me.

Whatever happens, there is one thing we know, this has changed and will continue to change us all. Just as any difficult time will do. When we walk through something hard, we will come out of it different than we were when we entered in.

I've been reading Beth Moore's newest book Chasing Vines and working on the study that goes with it. A couple days ago, I read a chapter that challenged me on how hard times change us. In the book, Beth writes:

"When we're going through a difficult season, wouldn't the best news of all be that life would simply go back to normal someday? When the framework of our daily existence gets completely dismantled and the landscape around us grows increasingly unreliable, our strongest longing is seldom prosperity. What we yearn for is normalcy. We don't tend to ask for the moon when we've lost all we've known. We just want some semblance of our old lives back.

The hard truth is, there's no real going back. But once we get up again, there can be a going forward. In His faithfulness, God sees to it what we thought was the end isn't the end at all. And eventually, perhaps not terribly long after, we realize we transitioned into a new normal."

We can't go back to what was normal before because what we've walked through has changed us. We're not the same person, so even the same things will be different because we've changed.

The danger for us comes when we become so focused on getting back to "normal" we miss God's new in our lives. When we do this, we stop producing any fruit for God's kingdom in our lives.

A little later in the same chapter, Beth writes:

"But in time, finding fruitfulness again will make more difference than you can imagine. If we can't have our treasured yesterday back, at least tomorrow can matter. The wonder of fruit bearing is that something meaningful can come from the meanest of seasons. What we endured matters."

If we allow God to work through our hard times, He will produce something beautiful in our lives. That is always His plan. But, we can't hold onto and keep looking for what once was.

So, how do we do this? How do we move through hard seasons and allow God to bring something beautiful out of them?

In the Bible study that goes along with the book, Beth writes:

"It is human nature to focus on what has changed in our lives and to long for what we once had. But when we're faced with the pain and anxiety of loss and change, perhaps we should fix our minds on what remains the same in our lives. God is constant even when our circumstances are not."

We get through and begin to live the new life God has for us by fixing our eyes on Him. He doesn't change no matter our circumstances.

So, where are your eyes fixed right now?

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:18

"Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." - Hebrews 12:1-2

God's Hands

Cold, dark, unresponsive

A lifeless heart weighed down

By life’s burdens crushed beneath

The heaviness of struggle

Waiting for rescue and release

Waiting to be set free

How long must I wait?

How long will this go on?

Will this weight be lifted?

Will I walk again?

Or, is this my new home,

My new way of living life?

Warmth, light, a hand reaching

Taking my lifeless heart

In gentle, loving hands

Hands that lift the crushing weight

Hands that gather the pieces

To tenderly rebuild, bring life

A beautiful, new creation

Shining in His glorious light

His brilliant Masterpiece

Restored to the fullness of it all

The joy of all He designed me for

And He delights to gift to me

Worship the Creator

Crisp, cool, early morning air

Sun rising over the mountains behind

The quiet, stillness of it all

Draws me to my knees in worship

 

Only a God of masterful creativity

Who desires the grandest of beauty

Who cares deeply about smallest details

Could have created all I see

Greens, oranges, blues, and browns

A vast array of brilliant colours

Highlighting intricate details

Of all I am surrounded by

Worship of the Creator of it all

Seems the only fitting response

Remember He loves me more than these

More than could ever be understood

But, it's Just so Small!

Our culture tells us that bigger is better. That more spectacular is better. That we need to always be looking for the next big thing.

In the midst of that we usually miss the small things. We may talk about needing to pay attention to the small things, but the truth is that it's almost always just talk. We don't just miss seeing the small things, we often come to despise them.

Despising the small things doesn't go well in any of life, but it is especially dangerous in our spiritual lives. It's dangerous because the small things is how God often works.

Yes, God does the big and spectacular sometimes. But, I would say that those times are the exceptions. God works through the small things far more often. Sometimes we might not notice the small things He is doing in the moment, but when we look back they become clear.

Sometimes when we look back, we see how the accumulation of small things led to a big change over time. A change we would miss if we were looking for something big to happen in an instant.

Last week, I was reading in the writing of the prophet Zechariah when I was challenged on this. Zechariah 4:4 begins this way, "Who dares despise the day of small things . . . ?"

When I read that God pointed out to me that I had despised the small things, by getting caught up in looking for the big things, in looking for the spectacular. Then He showed me how the small things I was despising added up to be bigger than the big things I was looking for. I've had to allow God to change my view of the small things and learn to love and celebrate, rather than despise, them.

What are you usually looking for God to do? Are you caught up in looking for just big things?

Or are you allowing God to teach you to really pay attention to and celebrate the small things?

Are You Afraid to Live a Creative Life?

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong." (Joseph Chilton Pearce)

I stumbled across this quote recently and thought it was a valuable one to remember.

At it's heart, creativity don't have a right or wrong. Yet, we often live as if there is. And in the process, we miss out on much of the creativity we have to offer. I know this has been true for me.

If we are always fearing that we will do something wrong, we will try to make our work conform to what others expect it to, rather than allow it to be what it really could be. When we try to conform our work to what we think are the expectations of others, we will fall well short of what it could be.

But when we let go of that fear of failing someone with our work and the expectations we think others have for us, our creativity is allowed to shine. And we produce our best work.

We serve a creative God. And He put that within us. He gave it to us to use. The ability to create things that you and I have comes from God. We need to be using it to His glory.

Using that to God's glory means we have to let go of the fear of being wrong. It holds us back from the full potential of what God has put in us.

Seasons

Snow-capped mountains

Fading into clouds come low

Grey skies above

The world seems small today

 

Changing seasons

Summer becomes fall

Fall turns into winter

 Temperatures dropping

 

Bare tree trunks and branches

Leaves long gone

The death that always comes

The death that winter brings

 

At least it looks that way

But deep inside

Life still breathes

Waiting for spring to come

 

A world covered in white

Until the day comes

That it all changes

Snow melts

 

To reveal new life

That was buried deep within

Bursting forth in glorious colour

Bright, beautiful, new

 

Without the winter

Without the death

That winter brings

We would miss spring

 

The new life bursting forth

Would be unnoticed

In the busy-ness of life

As we hurry through each day

 

We all have favourite seasons

Each beautiful in its own way

And each one needed

To see the beauty of the others

 

Snow-capped mountains

Reflect the brilliant sun

Blue skies above

The world seems big today

 

Spring has come

New life has come

Five Minute Friday: Beautiful

Joining in with everyone over at Lisa-Jo Baker's blog again for Five Minute Friday. Five minutes of writing on a given word. Just writing what comes to mind, no serious editing or back-tracking in it for this one. This week's word is BEAUTIFUL.


Beautiful.

Early morning. Sun rising over the mountains. Mist rising off the lake. All was quiet, except a single loon calling in the distance. I was alone in my kayak in the middle of the lake, bathed in the warmth of the rising sun.

Photo taken by me on a hike.

 

Beautiful.

Late at night. It was a little bit cold as we lay on the edge of the field looking up at the sky. The Northern Lights danced above us. A multi-coloured show filled the sky above us.

Beautiful.

Snow falling all around me. The world is turning white before my eyes. Silence surrounds me - the only noise heard is the sound of my feet crunching on the snow with each step.

Beautiful.

Sitting atop a mountain. Sun setting behind the mountains across the lake. The city below a glow of light. So close and yet it feels so far from the noise of the city. Birds chirping are the only sound I hear.

Beautiful.

The world that surrounds us is so beautiful, but I don't notice most of the time. I'm too busy getting to the next thing. And I miss the beautiful creation that surrounds me.

The beautiful world that God created and then allowed me to live in. I need to learn to see the beauty of it more often. God's world is beautiful.

Beautifully Broken

Jagged shards of glass covered the floor around me.

I was trapped by the broken vase. No where to step next without stepping on the broken glass. The broken pieces kept me stuck.


Often that's how I've felt about the brokenness in my life. I look around and all I see if the brokenness in me. And I end up feeling trapped by it.

Held back.

Kept from doing many things.

Trapped. Captive.


Slowly. Carefully.

I begin to gather the glass off the floor around me and piece it back together. The vase was a favourite. I didn't want to lose it.

So I began the difficult and sometimes painful work of putting the broken pieces back together again.


God wants to do the same with our lives. He wants to put the brokenness in our lives back together. He takes on the task of putting them back together if we allow Him to.

A slow and sometimes painful process as God puts lives and hearts back to how they should be - the way He created them to be. But He has the patience and the love to do the work. If only we allow Him.


I knew the vase wouldn't be perfect any longer.

There were gaps in it that allowed the water to pour through.

But it was still beautiful.

More beautiful than before it had been broken.


Our lives are that way too. When we allow God to put our broken pieces back together, we're more beautiful than we were before.

And the cracks that comes from putting the broken pieces back together allow God's love to pour through us to the people around us.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay

to show that this all-surpassing power

is from God and not from us."

2 Corinthians 4:7