Remember

Erica is our oldest daughter and she turns 18 today. Throughout this, her senior year, Patti and I have often reflected on Erica's journey to this point. "I remember when we found out when she would be born" or "I remember when she started school" or . . . on and on the list goes. It always brings a smile or perhaps a tear, but it seems to bring me to a moment in time when I reflect on who she was at that time. This in turn brings me back to who she is now and that always ends in a smile.

My spiritual journey can be viewed in much the same light. Over the past couple of years God has brought me to a point of some in depth reflection in my life . . . a season of reflection, with a full view of the present. Sometimes smiles, sometimes tears, but always back to where I am today . . . in the present.

You know God is all about remembering, He said it all the time throughout the old testament . . . that you might remember My name . . . garments made in certain ways to remember to obey . . . the passover meal set up to remember God and His love for the Israelites. Of course communion . . . "do this in remembrance of Me."

I used to think that all the "remembering" was simply so the oral traditions of God's interactions with man would be carried on until they could get written down in scripture. That may be true, but I have come to realize that God told them and us today to remember, because He knows how easily we forget . . . Him. This is what happened to me. God had to take me through a reflective journey of who I was and the path that got me to who I am today. As I did God began to grow much bigger. He reminded me of who He is, and He brought me back to Him in the present.

May I encourage you to spend time remembering in your quiet time with the Lord. Just reflect on your path of pursuing Him. Like looking from above a maze you may, as I do, see how you wandered, bumped into the walls, bumped into the same wall, and then turned to wander into another dead end. Then in that golden moment when you find yourself in a dark corner and you are at your end, you will realize how He has laid His hand upon you . . . even on the far side of the sea (Psalm 139). Now, in view of where you have been, embrace this day, every moment, no matter how seemingly small, and realize that He is really big. Then turn it all into a chance to share Him with your children so they in turn will remember. . . Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

The Message sums it up nicely in Psalm 18:20-24

God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before Him. When I got my act together, He gave me a fresh start. Now I'm alert to God's ways; I don't take God for granted. Every day I review the ways He works; I try not to miss a trick. I feel put back together, and I'm watching my step. God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to His eyes.

Thoughts for Today

Tim and I have come to realize that the strength of our marriage and our family is based on our relationship with the Lord. If that isn't right, everything else is much harder and messier. For me, it took realizing that I was spiritually spent and dry and spinning my wheels in order to wake up to the fact that I had to get it together spiritually before the rest of my life was going to straighten out. I have been in church my entire life and knew the game. I had moved away from allowing God to be at the center of my life though, and was trying to just make it on my own power......Fail (as my children say).

It wasn't until I started setting aside time every morning to read, pray, and journal that God really began to work in my life in a real and powerful way. I am not a morning person, but you do what you must do. And this is something I must do. I love it now. It was hard at first and I didn't know where to start reading, so I started with Psalms. I read them all. David had great insight and was so real. It's beautiful poetry, but it is also very human and his emotions are all over the map. Just like us! I want to encourage you to get some kind of journal or notebook too. Sometimes I write verses that I come across that I want to remember, sometimes I write out words to a chorus or song. At times I write out things I'm thankful for or things I'm concerned about, or just recapping what we did the day before or that we're about to do that day. There's no real rhyme or reason, it's just what's on my mind. Tim started this several years ago and it has been a great help to him as well. Every so often we make it a point to share with others what we've read or what we're studying.

Something else Tim and I do is to pray together before we go to sleep each night. It has been an important element in our relationship and something we look forward to. We pray for each other, for our girls, for concerns, for friends, etc... I would encourage you to do this if you are married or involved with someone. If you are not, find a prayer partner. Of course it's important to have a private prayer life as well. Be honest with God. He already knows anyway.

If there is anything we can teach our children, it is to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. It has to start there. You can't expect the other relationships in your life to be healthy if the one with your Lord isn't. You will end up spiritually spent, dry, and spinning your wheels.

Leap of Faith

Tim and I read from Proverbs every day. There are 31 chapters so that makes it very easy to read through the book once a month. You may think that once you've read it, that should be enough. This is certainly not true. Every day something stands out to me that I can think about and use. His word will not return void.

Proverbs 16:9 says that "a man's heart plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps. On Saturday my family, along with some other friends will be leaving for Nigeria. For my oldest two girls and me, this will be our 2nd trip to Jos. We went in 2008. It was an experience that changed us. It gave us a look into another culture, yes. It made us thankful for our life here in the USA, yes. But most importantly it took us out of our comfort place and (for me especially) forced us to rely on Him and trust that He had a really amazing plan for us. What I learned on that trip was that He is much much bigger than I ever allowed Him to be.

This week is filled with much planning. One of the first things we'll do when we arrive is to hold a day camp/VBS for about 130 kids for five days. Everything has to be done ahead of time....all copying, planning, cutting, sorting, supplies. We have to take everything with us. There is no Wal-Mart that we can run to if we forget anything. There is also no electricity in the place where we'll be. What we DO have are eager people wanting to share the love of God, and eager kids ready to hear that. So, we plan our ways, but with the clear knowledge that the Lord will direct our steps. We're counting on that!