Saved...

 

This week we took advantage of the amazingly warm weather to visit McConnell's Mill State Park.  This has been a favorite place of mine since college as it is so beautiful and so different from the farmland and rolling hills that surround it.  The river rapids, the enormous boulders, strewn all throughout the park as if tossed there by some giant...I can't help but be amazed every time I go.

The kids spent the first hour fishing, with only Reese catching a tiny minnow.  Then we embarked on our longest family hike ever, about a four mile round trip.  The kids knew that we were hiking until we reached a bridge...again and again they asked, are we there yet?  Along the way, maybe every 1/8 mile, there are life preservers.  Eva asked me, "What are those for, Mama?"  I explained to her that the rapids along the path can be extremely treacherous during rainy times of year.  As one of these preservers came into view, the sun was shining down through the trees, illuminating it in a very noticeable way...almost beautiful.  I stopped to look at it for just a few seconds and a spiritual parallel came to mind.   Our journey of life can be incredibly difficult and perilous at times.  We have to struggle over rocks and boulders and avoid falling into deadly rapids which come in the form of so many trials and temptations: financial problems, lies, broken relationships, addictions, disease, grief, loneliness, misplaced priorities, ingratitude and jealousy....

And finally, the bridge came into view.  The kids sighed in relief...we made it...finally!  Oh, but were they in for a shock.  "Guys, this is just the half-way point.  Now we have to walk all the way back."  After many groans we made our way back along the path, stopping to admire rocks and trees and flowers and the river that ran alongside us.  We passed by those life preservers again.  And it struck me all over again.  Christ is our "life preserver."  He is ready and waiting to save us, all of us, if we will only call out to Him, believe in Him, and follow Him.  It is so deceptively easy to rush through life without giving much thought to Him, and to our need for Him.  He is just like that life preserver...ready, waiting...able to save us if we will take hold of Him.  But it's a choice each one of us must make.  And in doing so we can finally "take hold of the life that is truly life." (1 Tim 6:19)

In the Presence of Giants....

 December has been a whirlwind of excitement and morning sickness for me!  Yes, we will be welcoming baby #6 in July of 2020, and yes, perhaps we just may have lost our minds...ha!  But the excitement in the house is certainly palpable and we are excited for what God has in store for our family in the new year.

In the past few weeks, Eva turned 3 and is now almost entirely potty trained, Hallelujah!  We chopped down a Christmas tree and had lunch in a castle afterwards. We've made about  20 dozen Christmas cookies, watched lots of great Christmas movies, the kids decorated the entire Christmas tree by themselves this year...and I didn't even "fix" it (yikes!), the kids have hunted for their Elf on the Shelf with great enthusiasm every morning, there have been a few fun days of ice skating in the backyard, we've been reading the Christmas story verse by verse each day, we got to go to a Penguins game because a very generous neighbor gave us tickets, and this week we had an amazing field trip to see the Goodyear Blimp.  And did I mention I've spent most nights sick on the couch???

When I look back over all that has happened this month, it brings me such joy...because in spite of all the high and lofty expectations we put out there every year for what Christmas should be like, it never really goes down the way we expect it to, does it?  The house has been a crazy mess most days. My to-do list seems to grow longer and longer.  I guess that's why I'm trying not to put my hopes and expectations in a perfectly executed Christmas, but in a perfectly faithful and trustworthy God. 














Standing in front of the blimp this week, I was just astounded by the sheer size of it.  I couldn't even capture it all in a single picture.  I've seen it many times, over the years, flying in the sky, but never imagined what it would be like to stand right beside it, and even touch it!  And even there, right in the same room with it, I still felt like I would never fully be able to grasp the full magnitude of it...it was just too big.

Isn't that how God is to us...but so much more?  His glory extends so far beyond our horizons of comprehension.  His love for us is so much deeper than anything we have ever or will ever experience from anyone else.  His grace and forgiveness, again and again, are so incredible they leave us speechless.  But He didn't leave us to only wonder about Him from afar...He became close and personal with us.  And His humility, to come to earth as a tiny, helpless baby...to give of Himself that much for people who deserved nothing from Him...is absolutely incredible. 

At Christmas, we think of God in terms of His incarnation as a tiny baby...but let's not limit Him to that image alone.  He humbled Himself so much, and He wanted us to be able to grasp Him, to be able to be in the same room with Him and not feel overwhelmed, to feel like we could actually reach out to Him and have a close relationship with Him.  And when I think of this, I am truly speechless, I am flooded with a same sense of awe and wonder, that a God so vast and magnificent and perfect and powerful would do that...for me.  

How many people can say they touched the Goodyear Blimp??

This Christmas, whenever you see a Nativity scene, think about how the God of the Universe, too vast to comprehend, has made Himself accessible to you and me.  Born in a dark and dirty stable with farm animals, growing up not as a King but as an apprentice to a humble carpenter.  What better gift could I ever ask for at Christmas?  How much I want to abandon all the materialistic trappings of "Christmas" as we have come to know it so well, and put more focus on this one simple truth.  At Christmas, when you stand before the Christ child, lying in a manger, you are in fact standing in the presence of a Giant God.  May He flood your heart with joy and peace this Christmas season.  May you be filled with wonder at the thought of being loved so deeply and so unconditionally as He loves you.

The Keeper of Light

We spent the day in Erie, PA on Friday...a wonderful opportunity to get away from our crazy lives...to be crazy somewhere new!! The kids had a blast, first at the Erie Zoo and then at Presque Isle State Park. Though the winds were whipping and the waves were crashing on the beach, they still managed to have fun for almost 2 chilly hours. The girls and I decided it would be fun to do the tour of the small lighthouse and we greatly enjoyed our time learning about the history of the lighthouse and the keepers. 

It was by no means an easy or glamorous job, being a lighthouse keeper. In fact it was one of the most isolating and demanding jobs you could do for the meager pay of $500 per YEAR back in the mid 1800's. From April to November, you began working at sunset and worked until daybreak, ascending the very steep stairway to the top of the 57 foot tower with new kerosene to keep the lamp burning bright. The light could be seen from up to 15 miles away and warned ships that they were nearing the coastline.

There was no room for error.  The light had to shine brightly, night after night, or ships would be in grave peril.  As soon as the captain saw the beam, he recognized it as a warning and paid heed to it's message.  No one was foolish enough to forge onward toward the coast once they had received that warning message to turn back.

I've been to the top of many lighthouses over the years and always appreciate the beautiful imagery that can be drawn between a lighthouse and Jesus. He is our Light in this dark, dark World.  He came to warn us, to guide us in the right path, to try to prevent us from making choices that would cause us to shipwreck our lives.

I am so thankful for that life saving, life giving Light. 

John 8:12 say “I am the light of the world. 

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, 

but will have the light of life.”

Psalm 118:27  "The Lord is God 

and He has made His light shine on us."

The Faintest Whisper

Thursday was a gorgeous, warm day in Pittsburgh.  After spending most of our morning playing in the backyard, I decided to take the kids for an extra special visit to their favorite playground where they LOVE to play in a creek and look for minnows and water bugs.  As the kids played and I enjoyed sitting on the riverbank watching them squeal with delight as they scooped  up "treasures" in their little nets, I tilted my head up to gaze above me.  Towering trees stood over me and as the wind picked up, I listened.  I heard a gentle, lovely sound...the sound of the wind rushing through the many new leaves that have just recently grown back after the long winter.  It is a sound I haven't heard for many months...and a sound that, when present, I often don't even take the time to listen to. 

As I sat there in the warm sunshine, listening to that beautiful almost imperceptible noise, I felt....peace.  It was as if God was speaking directly to my heart, reminding me of His presence, reminding me that He is still right here with me, even on my toughest days.  It was a sound of love....a reminder that hope springs new.  It was a sound of strength...a reminder of His power and His might.

For no apparent reason, hearing that wind brought so much joy to my heart.  I could hardly help but smile...God's presence, His love for me, His awareness of my circumstances could not have been more real to me.

Yesterday I was mowing the abundantly tall and thick grass in our yard.  The frequent spring rains have led to a very lush and green spring!  I turned off the mower to pull our some weeds that were out of its reach.  As the loud and abrasive mower went silent and I bent over to grab the weeds, again I was aware of the gentle sound of the wind.

How often do we get so wrapped up in our agendas, in all of the distractions...the noise...that we fail to see, to hear, to recognize the very real presence of God in our lives?  He exists in the day in and day out, sometimes as just the faintest whisper...He gives us the freedom to choose what we will focus our attention on, what we will listen to...  And how often do I go hours, even days, without stopping to acknowledge Him?

I am reminded in these examples of a favorite story in the Bible, where God is speaking to Elijah.  Elijah is trying to determine when God is passing by, and instead of appearing to him in a mighty wind, or and earthquake or a fire...God appears in a still, small voice.

1 Kings 19:11-13

Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still, small voice. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

This weekend, as we celebrated Mother's Day, I mourned.  Though my mom is still here, in a very real sense I mourned the loss of her as she used to be. 

"What are you doing here, Shelley?"  I seemed to sense Him saying to me today.  Elijah was in a place of great desperation...oh how I can relate to that.  And at the same time, I am reassured just by knowing that He knows of my troubles, that He cares, and that He still has work for me to do here, even in my place of pain...He is sending me back out.

If I stop, calm my heart, tune out the chaotic noise that always surrounds me, I can hear Him.  Oh how I long to hear Him...that faintest whisper... 

Day after day, He is calling to you too.  Have you stopped lately to really listen?

And Now I See....

We happened on a fun diversion for the kids after church yesterday.  We visited a pond with ducks after  church at the kids request and on our way back to the car, we happened to find a huge mister for the kids to play in, much to their extreme delight.  Every couple of minutes, towering silver poles would release a cloud of mist, which settled down on the kids so thickly that they were completely obscured from view.  For about ten seconds, the mist was so thick they could not see anything, and we could not see them.  Then, one by one, they emerged from the cloud, gleefully screaming, smiles on their faces, and water dripping from their glistening heads. 

Again and again, they positioned themselves back in the midst of the poles, waiting for the cloud to reappear.  Again and again they begged us, "Just one more time?"  And we obliged them for a while...

Do you feel like your life is lived in a fog sometimes?  You are looking for clarity...answers...meaning to the things that are happening?  Do you struggle and grope your way through your days, stumbling because your vision is partially obscured? 

If there is any truth I can share, any observation I have made, it is this...that my life has never been more clear, my path more certain, than at the times I am following God.  Ask Him to open your eyes.  Ask Him to help you see through the haze of distractions that surrounds you, surrounds us all while we live out our days. 

And when you do this, when you wait on Him and His answer, you will find so much joy.  You'll suddenly see with a new purpose and clarity. 

Dear God, help me today not to focus on the clouds but on You and Your promises to me.  Lead me in the path that I should go and make my paths straight.  Give me meaning in my days.  I ask that You would draw near and reveal Yourself to me.  Bring abundant joy to my heart as my path becomes more clear and my understanding of your Word deepens.  Amen.

Psalm 119:18(AMPC)

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law.

The Fountain...

Psalm 36:7-9 How precious is your unfailing love, O God!  All humanity finds shelter
    in the shadow of your wings.
8 You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights.  For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see. (NLT)
 I never realized, until today, how many beautiful fountains there are in the city of Pittsburgh.  Places I've driven past dozens of times, and missed because I was in a hurry.  But today, as we traipsed around the city on a gorgeous sunny morning for a tour of the fountains, my eyes were opened to their beauty and the way they truly enhance the city for everyone.

I never really stopped to think about fountains much before.  Water in general has such a calming and healing property.  The sound of it, in the midst of the noisy city, is almost startling.  Several of the fountains, when we were standing close by, were so loud that they drowned out nearly all other sounds.

Fountains have this almost-magical property of shooting out water which reappears over and over again...in an infinite and endless cycle of beauty.

I love to think of this as it parallels to the comparisons in the Bible of fountains.  The Lord is described as "the fountain of life."  He pours out life, for us, day in and day out.  It flows forth from Him in an endless gush of beauty and reveals truth to us.  His awe-inspiring presence drowns out the din and distraction of everyday life.  When we draw near to Him, we are enveloped in His beauty, His love for us, the peace He brings, an overwhelming sense of security and purpose.


I stand in the presence of the greatest Fountain known to man.  Here I find such intense joy, such pure love...He shines forth the light by which I see....

Water and Sunshine...

 It was another windy morning as I sat on my bed, looking out the window to pray.  The force of the breeze shook the trees and blew the leaves every which way.  The sound was powerful...rushing...

We spent a morning this week visiting friends with a lake in their backyard.  The kids absolutely loved exploring this mini-ecosystem...it was truly magical.  Fish ate right from their hands.  Some baby mallards came very close for some bites of bread.  A big, green frog gave a great show of his powerful legs as he swam away from his gleeful onlookers.

The fingerprints of the Lord are all over Creation, everywhere I look.  Though we may not be able to physically see Him, just like that early morning wind, He is undeniably there, making His presence known through the complexity, the order, the dramatic beauty and creativity we see, if we only take the time to look.

 It's the moments that are most easily overlooked...the leaves blowing in the breeze...a peaceful morning at the pond...that speak to me most powerfully.  God gives me these opportunities to see Him...to recognize His involvement even in these everyday things.  He beckons for me to step away from the din and fellowship with Him.  I love a passage in 1 Kings 19 where Elijah is waiting to encounter God.  There is an earthquake...and then a fire...but God is not in either of those.  Then he hears a gentle blowing...a mere whisper....and that was where he met God.

Don't ignore those whispers...don't mistake the miraculous for merely mundane.  There are moments every single day where I am in awe by some aspect of Creation...an awe that reminds me to reflect on the love of a Savior who delights in the details.