A Lighter Load

“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:30 (NIV)

The other day, my 10 year old daughter came home with a backpack so heavy, she couldn’t barely drag it a few footsteps to the kitchen counter for me to look at its contents. I picked it up. GOOD GRIEF! That thing weighed a ton. Well, maybe not a ton, but I put it on the scale and it did way 25% of my little girl’s total body weight! This wasn’t the first time my husband and I have had discussions about this crazy backpack. Just the day before Dan watched in amazement as she lifted the backpack to her shoulder and spun around 3 times before she could balance the weight. When she finally did, she couldn’t stand upright. He had to chuckle a bit despite his disgust at his precious little girl having to carry such a load. The decision was made that the next day I would go find her a backpack with wheels.

Rather than make her carry that load to school the next morning, I removed two heavy books and a recorder (for music class). I sent a note to her teacher explaining the situation and asked that she be able to share books with another student if necessary that day. I thought Lauren would be thrilled when she lifted the bag to find it 5 pounds lighter. WRONG! She fought for the weight. “But Mom, we need those books! I have to have my recorder! If I don’t leave it in my backpack, I’ll forget it on music class day. It will affect my grade! NO! I need them!” She actually fought to carry the load. I really had to stick to my guns. I just couldn’t let her carry it. She might hurt herself! Something was wrong with this picture.

I didn’t get it until I realized that Lauren is a lot like me. I carry a load much heavier than necessary all the time: guilt, anxiety, fear, judgment, a schedule hurried for the tasks that I’m certain must be completed to please others and even God. I pack more and more into my bag until I walk through life hunched under the weight I've placed on my own shoulders. All the while, God is saying, “Let me take that. I have a much lighter load for you. It’s easy to carry.” My response? “No! I might need that today. Someone, maybe even you, might be disappointed if I don’t complete that task. If I don’t worry about tomorrow’s provision, who will?”

The difference is that Father God doesn’t demand that he lighten my load. If I choose to, he’ll let me carry it; gently urging all the while, “Come to me Heather. You’re weary and burdened. I’ll give you rest. Take my ‘pack’ on your shoulders. Learn from me. Find rest for your soul. My pack is easy and my burden is light.” Until wearily, with strained and soar muscles, I willingly come to Him and place my pack at His feet.
(from Matthew 11:28-30)

Gray Days

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:25 (NIV)

Have you ever had a gray day? How about a gray week? You know, when the skies aren’t black, but they are simply drearily gray. That’s the kind of week I just had. The clouds rolled in on Monday morning. Not literal gray clouds. I’m talking about the clouds that roll into your heart and mind, sinking deep into your spirit. News came that the long reaching fingers of the sinking economy had alas grasped hold of the company my husband works for. His position was safe, but 49 others were not, including two of his employees. We were heart broken as we sat together with tears and prayed.

That morning seemed to set the tone for the week ahead. My husband had to deal with the emotional strain of walking through the details of Monday’s news. My girlfriend’s baby was rushed to the ER. Another friend lost his job. Each day had its own various shade of gray, but each was gray none the less. By Saturday we just needed to get out of the house. We needed some sunshine. Unfortunately the weather had decided to join in and provide a backdrop of dreary, drizzly rain.

Have you ever faced a Sunday after a week like this and wished that you could just stay in bed? Its times like these I find myself tempted to isolate myself and take a day off. It’s a good thing we’re involved in our church. It forces us to get up and go, even when we don’t feel like it. So this week, although we wanted to stay in our cozy, warm bed and hide, we got up and went to church. I am so glad we did. We went to worship together with our “family”. Just the thought of it brings a feeling of comfort to my heart. After services, we had the joy of spending the afternoon in our home with a group of friends talking about the Lord, sharing our lives and praying together. What a blessing.

Somewhere in the midst of that day, our gray skies began to clear and our dispostion changed. The situations and circumstances in our lives were the same, but they no longer consumed us. We knew it was the day of worship together with others that made a difference.

The next time you wake up on a Sunday morning feeling discouraged with the temptation to stay isolated, let me encourage you not to give in to that temptation. The author of Hebrews knew what he was talking about when he said that we should not give up meeting together with the body of Christ. We are here to encourage each other. We need each other. There is something about joining together that lightens the load and brightens our outlook.

Thank you to my “family”. You brightened my day!

Caught Unprepared

"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut." Matthew 25:10 (NIV)

I've lived in Northern VA for 3 1/2 years now. I love this area, especially having 4 distinct seasons. They did however, take a little getting used to for this CA girl. My first winter here, I discovered that as soon as the weather man suggests the tiniest bit of snowfall, everyone must make a mad dash for the grocery store to stock up on bread, milk, and any other essentials. I have to admit, I joined the mad dash. After a year or so, I realized that this was simply crazy. Come on! A dusting of snow isn't going to keep us from the store. It's not like we live in Alaska or North Dakota and are going to be snowed in for a week. Good grief! We have pretty mild winters here. So I relaxed a bit. I no longer run out to the store at the first warning of a storm. Besides, I usually have enough here to hold us over for a couple of days.

So Saturday, when I heard that there was going to be snow on Sunday, did I respond? Of course not. Did I care that this time they were calling for up to 8 inches? Yea right! I don't think we've had 8 inches of snow accumulate over the entire last year. I got up Sunday morning and went to church as usual. After church, we went out to dinner with some friends. (I just have to add that it was such a blessed and wonderful visit.) Then, while the kids played I took a nap on the couch. RELAX! Right? At about 5:30 we went to deliver my daughter's girlfriend back home on the other side of town. It was a nice family outing as the snow began to fall. Now, I knew that we were running low on milk and a few other things to make actual meals for the next couple of days, so do you think I asked my husband to make a quick stop at the store before we came home? NO! Of course not. I could just run out Monday morning and take care of that little errand. RIGHT????

WRONG! I woke up this morning to SNOW!!! It really snowed! I couldn't tell where my front curb met the street. The plows hadn't arrived to clear the roads. What in the world? How am I supposed to go to the store like this? Remember, I'm a California girl! My friend, having grown up in this area, called to check on me. She giggled as she informed me that I should always be prepared when the storm comes from the south. NOW SHE TELLS ME! I love you Beth, but couldn't you have called me yesterday?

Well, I shoveled the drive and waited for the snow plows to clear the neighborhood streets. They finally arrived after noon and out I went to the store, driving way too slow for my liking, on snowy, icy streets. How foolish could I have been?! I should have been cozied up with a good book. Instead, I had been foolishly unprepared.

I was suddenly reminded of one of Christ's parables about 10 virgins who awaited the coming of the bridegroom. Five of the girls were prepared with enough oil to keep their lamps burning no matter how long the wait. The other 5 were foolishly unprepared and eventually had to run out to buy more. While they were out, the bridegroom came, taking the 5 wise girls into the banquet. The doors to the banquet were shut and the 5 foolish virgins missed out on everything. The message: many will be unprepared and miss Christ's coming.

I was lucky; my foolish unpreparedness left me little more than inconvenienced. How sad the thought that foolish unpreparedness will cause so many to miss out on eternal life. The thought of my crazy, somewhat funny day, came to a sobering stillness. Oh God, may my heart be broken at this thought. Then came another thought. How many people will be unprepared because I didn't do my part to make sure they knew they needed to be prepared? Just like I wished Beth would have called me one day earlier, will others wish I would have told them?

Oh how I pray that every person who reads this is prepared for Christ's coming. We so often think, "I don't have to worry about that yet." Yes you do. We never know when He might return. And oh how I pray that every person who reads this is prepared for whatever Christ asks you to do today. It might be just what someone else needs to be prepared for eternity, or maybe even a snow storm. :)

I'm a WIMP!

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
Matthew 7:3 (NIV)

Yes it's true! I'm a WIMP. On so many levels actually. But this week, my wimpiness completely revolves around being sick. YUCK! I'm sick. REALLY sick! I've been sick for a week and I'm sick of being SICK! So this week, no grand scriptural or spiritual insight for the post, just regular every day stuff. Why? Because I'm sick.

Now why am I announcing to the world that I'm a wimp about being sick? I have to confess, I'm one of those women who tends to tell people that I have 3 children in my house when my husband is sick, instead of the usual 2. After the past week's experience, I am convicted and must set the record straight. I AM THAT WIMP! I was the 3rd child this week.

A few weeks ago, my husband came down with this terrible head/chest flu. I told him he should stay home in bed. NO. Not this man. He kept chugging along, continuing his regular work routine, driving his usual 1 1/2 - 2 hour commute (each way) into MD 3 days a week, giving them his all the whole time. He then arrived home to a sweet and tender nurse of a wife? Well.... kind of.... I was nursing our daughter who also had it. The poor guy just didn't get too much sympathy that I recall.

So here we are a few weeks later and it hits me. You know how moms are. When we get sick, we just keep going. There really is no option. Well last week, the only option for me was BED! You would have thought that I was on my death bed with the way I behaved. I was simply miserable: headache, nausea, sore throat, cough, body aches, fever, THE WORKS! It all reached a peak one day when I picked up the phone and called my mom on the other side of the country. In my weakest, most pathetic voice I squeaked, "I Want My Mommy!" My mom, being wonderful as she is, offered to call the local Papa John's pizzeria and have pizza delivered for dinner. Come to think of it, I really don't remember what my family ate most nights last week. There wasn't much in the house as I hadn't been to the store for my weekly shopping when the dreaded illness hit.

So what have I learned from this brush with great illness?
1. My 10 year old daughter is an angel who is capable of tidying up a kitchen after school so her mom won't have to come down to face the explosion that is still there from breakfast. :)
2. My husband is capable of cheering (or scaring) the children into getting themselves ready for school without arguing so mom can sleep a bit more.
3. My husband is capable of styling my 10 year old daughter's hair very nicely.
4. My husband is still my knight in shining armor. For 2 days, when he worked from home, he allowed me to stay in bed while he got the kids ready and out the door to school. When he did have to drive into the office, he arrived home after stressful days, Northern VA traffic and headaches and never stopped. He walked in, made dinner, cleaned house, made sure kids showered and tucked them in bed. He even cared for his poor pathetic 3rd child. :)

So, never again will I say that my husband is a "wimp" when he is sick. NO WAY! He's my hero! I guess I've learned not to point out the speck of dust in someone else's eye until I take the plank out of my own. Maybe that's my great insight for the week.

An Arm and A Leg!

“But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”
1 Corinthians 12:18-20 (NIV)

Yesterday was President’s Day. Originally dedicated to honor our first president, George Washington, we now often associate it with President Lincoln as well as the many other presidents who have served this great country. I must be honest, until recent years the most meaningful part of this holiday for me was the fact that it meant a day off of school. Maybe it’s maturity or the fact that I now live only 45 minutes from our nation’s capital, but holidays such as President’s Day seem to hold much more meaning now.

When we first moved to Northern Virginia, my husband and I decided that our family should take full advantage of living in an area with such rich historical surroundings. It seemed only appropriate that our first President’s Day here should be spent visiting Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington. WOW! Now if you’ve grown up in Northern VA that may seem like a nice gesture. But if you were raised on the other side of the country, visiting Mt. Vernon ON President’s Day is a huge deal! Plus, admission was free on this special day of the year! COME ON! How can you pass that up? You simply can’t!

So there we were, walking through the parking lot, when my husband commented on his favorite justification for this day out…FREE ADMISSION! His comment went something like, “Any other day it would cost an arm and a leg to get through the gate.” To which our 4 year old son responded, “Yea! And the leg’s a lot more because it’s bigger!” I couldn’t help but laugh out loud! Forevermore, President’s Day will bring about that memory for me.

So yesterday, as I recalled those words with a smile, a thought came to my mind. I sure am glad that’s not how God’s economy works! 1 Corinthians 12 tells us that the body of Christ, just like the human body, is made up of many parts, but it is ONE body. To each one of us, God has given a different gift and purpose. Some gifts and purposes, through our human eyes, may appear to be bigger or more important than others and therefore worth much more. But with God, every part is important and of GREAT value. Each one of us is NEEDED and VALUED in the body of Christ.

So what is your gift or purpose? God created you specifically for it! You may not think much of it, but God does, and so should you. After all, the leg can go, go, go but can’t do much once it gets there without the arm. And the arm may have a lot of reaching out to do, but without the leg to get it somewhere, it wouldn’t reach very far.

The Rod of God

“Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”
Exodus 17:9 (NIV)

Over the last few weeks a certain picture has been ever present in the back of my mind. My mind’s “wallpaper” shall we say, is a vision of Moses, sitting on a rock with Aaron and Hur standing on either side of him holding up his arms. In his hands, high above his head he holds a staff… a rod. So many times I’ve read Exodus 17 and not thought about why Moses raised his staff in the air. I just skimmed over it and took the details for granted. But the more I study God’s word, the more I realize there is purpose in everything. I began to look back at the history of that staff or rod as it is also referred to.

This was the rod that Moses held in the wilderness when God revealed himself in the burning bush. This was the rod that God miraculously turned into a snake when thrown on the ground and then a rod again when it was picked up. Through it, the Israelites saw the power of God and believed that He had sent Moses to them. Through it, Pharaoh witnessed the power of God displayed. This same rod was held over the Red Sea as God parted it and made a way for his children to be delivered out of bondage. With this rod, Moses struck the rock and fresh water flowed, quenching the thirst of a dry and weary people. This rod was known as the rod of God. It represented the power and miracles of God Almighty.

As Moses looked down over the valley and saw the Israelite army fighting the battle before him, it was the representation of the power of God that was held high above his head for all to see. When it was held high, the Israelites would remember the miracles and power of God in their past and know that it was He who would deliver them once again. As it was lowered in man’s weakness, it became evident that this battle could not be won through their own mortal power and earthly weapons.

So where does that leave me? I don’t have a big stick to hold in the air, but I do have the memories and evidences of the power of God revealed in my life. I look back and recall the times he has delivered me from the hands of my enemies…sickness, depression, fear. I remember the times he has brought refreshing and provision in times of need: physical, emotional and spiritual.

As I said in my post a couple weeks ago, we all face battles in our lives which seem to be so completely overwhelming that we see no hope of victory. It is in those overwhelming moments that we are tempted to forget the power of God and his ability to bring us through. You might say that our arms become weak and we lower the staff from high above our head. These are the times that we must recall the miracles and faithfulness of God and allow brothers and sisters in Christ to come along beside us, holding up our arms, supporting and encouraging one another with testimonies of God’s power.

Recently I find myself surrounded by people in overwhelming situations. Maybe you are the same. I’d like to encourage you to take a moment to ask God to remind you of the works of His power and faithfulness in your life. If it’s something you can share, I’d love to have you share it in the “comments” section here. Your testimony may be just what someone else needs to lift their arms high today.

Mama Bee's Buzz

“Her children arise and call her blessed…”
“…a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
Prov. 31:28 & 30 (NIV)

This last week my mom celebrated her birthday. Being on opposite sides of the country, I couldn’t spend the day with her, so I’ve been thinking about her and the many things I’ve learned from her over my 38 years. Now, we all learn something from our mothers, whether great or small, good or bad. But my sisters and I have been blessed to have gleaned many grand and insightful treasures of truth from our mom. Treasures that I think everyone should have the opportunity to learn. So here they are…

MAMA BEE’S BUZZ
The many things my sisters and I have learned form our Mom.
• Every pot has a lid. (no matter how funny the shape)
• You really should go to bed early because morning comes so fast. (I could never figure out how those hours somehow ticked away faster than any others.)
• When you’re thirsty, your mouth is “dry…(lick lips)…like cotton”.
• If you’re REALLY thirsty, you can “smell a coke”.
• No matter how warm you are, you always need another blanket put on you.
• You can never have enough tables (especially when you find a good yard sale).
• Everything you ever needed to know you can learn from a magazine article. (My mom reads more magazines than anyone I know. She’s really smart.)
• No matter how humble the meal, a beautiful table setting makes it a King’s feast.
• Use the good china.
• Grandchildren get special privileges that your own children never did.
• Grandma’s can make it to a hospital faster than a mom can.
• Everyone needs to know how to type. (You never know when it will get you a job.)
• Hurtful words should be taken with a grain of salt.
• Work hard. Give your employer your best.
• Mom can take care of you like no one else can.
• Get a pedicure! You deserve it.
• Regardless of your past, you can always make good choices.
• Give…Give…Give!
• Find a church you can call home and be faithful to it. You simply don’t skip a service.
• Love the unlovely.
• God is the greatest counselor you can ever have.
• Sometimes you need to close your bedroom door to weep before the Lord. (Sorry, Mom. I peeked. The best lesson I ever learned.)

I’m not limiting the things we’ve learned to this very finite list, but I can’t go on forever. The fact is, my Mom loves the Lord with all of her heart and is devoted to serving Him. I am so honored to have gleaned that “treasure” and hope I pass the same on to my own children.