He is with us

“O Lord, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim!

You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth.

You alone created the heavens and the earth.

Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see!

2 Kings 19:15-16a (New Living Translation)

It is New Year’s Eve and as I read King Hezekiah of Judah’s prayer in the face of the great Assyrian enemy encroaching in upon his tiny nation, I think of the Assyrians in my life who seem to be encroaching in upon me. I do not think about them long, however, when I listen in on King Hezekiah’s prayer.

Enthroned between the mighty cherubim

He bends down, and He sees and hears me…and you! Happy New Year!

Dawn

Scripture and a Snapshot #28 – Job 37:10

The parking lot beside my house fills with water after several days of rain and it did that at the beginning of this week. I was hoping the temperatures would plummet because I really really really want to ice skate. My friend, Susan, posted pictures of ice skating with her son this past month and that DID IT! Well, yesterday this “pond” was still not solid, but this morning it was. I think another night and it will be firm all the way through. Now I just have to hope that no one comes along and runs their car over it or deliberately chips at it. It is smooth and sleek and calling to me right now.

Where did I put those skates?

Dawn

Kingdom Recycling

It is 7:00 am. I have not really slept all night. This happens sometimes, but I was lulled out of my drowsiness by the crashing of glass made by dozens of bottles being thrown into the recycling bins by my house. It is one of the drawbacks of living in an industrially-zoned neighborhoood. I live across the street from the recycling center, and, yes, people recycle 24/7! As I lay in the hazy shadows of my bedroom as dawn breaks outside, I think about recycling. It is almost New Year’s and measured time is bringing my cosmos to the end of one year and the beginning of another. It is a time to think of new beginnings.

All of a sudden I am Nicodemus and I am looking into the eyes of Jesus. What must I do? I want my life to be more relational, less religious. I want relationship to trump tasks and time. When asked by Nicodemus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Unless you are recycled, born again, like glass and aluminum being melted and recast or newspaper being processed again for another product, you can not see what I am doing. To have eternal eyes you must be born again. To turn from unbelief to belief in Jesus is being born again. It is an acceptance that Jesus saves you from your sin and that you can not earn your way to heaven. Once Jesus is your Savior, you have new eyes to see, but you will not see if you don’t keep focused. Andrea Dawn says. “Every happening great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us . . . and the art of life is to get the message.” My prayer is that I get the message. John Wesley believed in being saved–making the decision of your life to follow Jesus, but he also believed Christians are being saved every day.

I think what John Wesley meant by being saved every day was that yielded Christians are always in process. We are in constant need of refinement. I don’t necessarily like the idea of being melted like aluminum or glass, but Malachi 3:2 says the Lord will come like a refiner’s fire. That sounds like melting to me. John Piper says, “Purity comes through the refining fire. And the fire has two forms: one is the fire of affliction and the other is the fire of intentional self-denial.”* Well, I have a strategy of intentional self-denial that I will be unveiling next Wednesday when linked to Ann at Walk with Him Wednesdays. The fire of affliction, however, is especially unnerving to me because I can’t plan it or control it. On the pathway to heaven and to purity no pain equals no gain. Really? It takes the heat of affliction to burn off the impurities and barriers to real Kingdom living. I am not confident I can pass the test, but I have confidence in the love of God for me. He promises that all things work together for my good because I am His. (Romans 8:28) He is faithful and will be with me even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23). What He began in me the day I accepted Him as my Savior, He will carry on to completion until the day of Christ. (Philippians 1:6) I plan to hang on to these promises when the going gets rough.

Thanks for reading as I work through this and please comment if the Lord nudges you while you read,

Dawn

*John Piper quotes from http://www.worshipmap.com/sermons/piper-mal3,1.html

A habit is a New Year’s resolution that lasts

Ann asked the community of Walk with Him Wednesdays to write about a habit they wish to develop in the new year. A habit by definition is  “A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition.” (Online Dictionary) So Ann wants us to consciously, intentionally name something that we will repeat so frequently that it will become a recurrent pattern, perhaps even an unconscious pattern by the end of 2012. What a novel strategy for making a resolution that will last! The time period of a year is my own addition. Ann didn’t say that, but if I keep with my own interpretation of a habit as the re-framing of a New Year’s resolution, I will use the year as my transformation period.

I’d like to develop the habit of placing relationships first in my life and tasks, time and trivia second. This is not natural for me. I am time- and task-oriented. I say I show my love by doing, but that is an excuse. I “do” because I like to do. Relating tires me. I need to learn to relate joyfully so that it becomes an unconscious pattern not a chore I feel forced to face kicking and screaming.

Some of you reading this may be nodding and saying, “Yes, I can relate to this.” (N0 pun intended.) I bet, however, the vast majority are saying, “I don’t get you at all, Dawn. I love to talk, entertain, chat on the phone and party.” I know because I am surrounded by people persons all the time and I wonder why the people gene didn’t get passed on to me. My sisters both love to be in crowds. My one sister is a bartender and my other is a receptionist. You can’t deal with people much more in a day than they do.  Those of you who know me are probably thinking, “You are a nurse. You are in a people profession, too.” Yes, I am, but I work mostly newborn nursery and intensive care nursery and I really don’t have to make conversation. I love it. Most of the nurses I work with hate to be assigned to the nursery because no one ever checks on them and they go “crazy” in there with no one to talk to. I NEVER have a low moment in the nursery. I love the peace and quiet when we are slow. I get to hum to the wee ones, walk a fussy one in a sling around my shoulder while caring for others and pray over each one. When we are in an emergency situation stabilizing a sick one, I know what to do and I like that, too.

So there you have it…I am a true phlegmatic if you know Tim Lahaye’s spirit-controlled temperament theory. Tim says, “The Spirit-filled Phlegmatic will become less stubborn, fearful, and indifferent, while becoming more open, self-controlled, and much more motivated, to make a great, personable leader for Christ.” My quest is for the Holy Spirit to so fill me with His power that I lose my fear and indifference so that I can be open, self-controlled and motivated to become a more people-oriented disciple for Christ.

The details of how I plan to effect this change will be the subject of next week’s Walk with Him Wednesdays’ post. Please come back and if you have any suggestions to help me with my plan of attack, comment here!

Dawn

Heavy Metal Gratitude?

Talking with my firstborn, Harry, is always enlightening. He is a deep thinker who researches subjects long and hard and holds strong opinions based on his scrutiny of the subject matter from all sides. When he was a long-haired teenager he loved heavy metal music, and although he tried to listen to Christian heavy metal bands, he did not think their music was as “cutting edge” as the secular bands. His “cross to bear” in all this was that he was a preacher’s kid. Long hair and heavy metal music didn’t exactly fit some people’s idea of acceptable in the Christian circles in which he traveled. It, also, wasn’t always Christians who took exception with these attributes. Harry was told to leave stores for fear he was shoplifting and turned down for jobs even though his resume was far superior to those with shorter hair.

Today we had some superior mother-son time. (I have to say it is always like this when we can steal moments to talk away from the hustle and bustle of his busy family/work life.) He was talking about this book he was reading, The Day Mettalica Came to Church, by Pastor John Van Sloten of New Hope Church in Alberta, Canada. He really likes the book, he said, because Pastor Van Sloten has down in print what Harry says he has always thought, “that God can speak through everything, even what some consider crap.” He told me how many times the heavy metal bands articulated the ideas he had of the world when he was a teen and they expressed them in a way that was relevant to him at that time in his life.

As the conversation unfolded, I was able to share with him about a book I had read this past year with a very similar theme that “God can speak through everything, even the crap.” I shared with him about 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp and how the opening chapter tells of the tragic death of her sister at the age of 2 and how Ann, then 4, remembered her little sister’s bloody body lying in the driveway. The book continues on from there to describe in detail one woman’s revelation of how all life’s experiences are known to God and that because He is a loving God, He is there with us in everything. When we realize this, we must give thanks for all things because He is in all things. That is rather like what Pastor Van Sloten says, is it not?

My son, who carries an iPad with him everywhere because that is how he does business, went to the Amazon website and put Ann’s book on his wish list. Good sign that he thinks Mom may be onto something?! I think St. Augustine would have applauded our struggling together today. What do you think? Has anyone out there read both books?

Pressing on,

Dawn

Thankful at the end of the year of now

Last December about this time Ann asked us to name the year 2011. I named it the Year of Now because I wanted to really live in the present moment not always be hoping for something in the future or pining about something in the past. This has been a special month of traveling to Bethlehem day by day, not just trying to get things done for Christmas Day. I’ve been able to live Jesus’ coming each and every day through using the Jesse tree and cradle to cross advent wreath. In the Multitudes on Mondays community at Ann’s I was also able to read about others’ journeys, too, and this enriched my own. Today I am thankful for

#415 Ann Voskamp’s free download of the Jesse Tree book and ornaments. It is a road map for the journey through the genealogical line of Christ that my husband and I enjoyed this Advent season.

#416 my ficus. It made a perfect Jesse tree presenting the genealogy of Jesus Christ through ornaments that sparkled in the light of my sun room.

#417 a young teen in my church who obeyed his mother and played the violin for the special music his mother and I sang.

#418 a new hairdresser who gave me a sensational hair cut for less than I usually pay.

#419 a blessed time of wrapping presents that really reminded me how very unique each and every one I buy for is!

#420 my daughters-in-law who tries to make time to visit around my crazy work schedule.

#421 the blaze of light when all the candles are lit on the advent wreath. (This is for Susan and Andrea Dawn.)

#422 that my husband can still preach although it tires him a lot.

#423 children and grandchildren and the fun we have together. I am thankful they know to keep visits short, however, because my husband has very little strength and can not have a lot of activity for too long. I am thankful for my daughter-in-law’s family who have lots of energy to keep them occupied.

#424 unexpected help from my 5-year-old grandson while preparing Christmas dinner. He would do everything I asked and listened attentively when I showed him how to place the silverware and fold the napkins. He really is a good helper.

#425 sons who break down instructions for little ones into bite-sized pieces of information that their children can follow easily. They must have learned it from their wives. I can’t remember being so wise. This is yet another good reason for marriage, one makes up for what the other lacks to make an entire whole.

#426 for work to do with the skills I have.

#427 frozen and canned goods from people’s gardens as gifts for Christmas. My refrigerator freezer and cupboard shelves are full.

#428 my dog, Sebastian, sleeping quietly most of the time, seemingly not suffering.

#429 a colleague at work who shares my vision for excellence in care delivery and is not afraid to takes risks to accomplish it.

#430 instant mashed potatoes…it’s a long story!

With the multitudes giving thanks,

Dawn

Scripture and a Snapshot #27 – Isaiah 62:10,11a,b

At the beginning of the month a friend and I took a day and went shopping. We go to a quaint old town in the northcentral part of our state. It has an old department store there that has EVERYTHING and up the street from the great department store is a 50’s diner. May I just say we had a grand old time. I picked my friend up at her house. As I was walking down from her porch onto the sidewalk to get to my care, I noticed this great snapshot. The gate opening onto her driveway was…a Kodak moment! It was a great beginning to a perfect day!

Merry Christmas!

Dawn

Shopping with Nancy

Church mice

During choir practice at my church for the Christmas Eve service this coming Saturday evening, I saw an unusual arrangement on the communion table. The candles were on either side of the cross as usual, but this is what I saw. The candle on the left looked like this

and the candle on the right looked like this. If you have a keen eye and have used the utensils on these candles you know that they are vacuum cleaner attachments. It seems that mice are coming into the church and gnawing on the candle tips so Jesse, who is a high school senior, placed vacuum cleaner attachments over the candles to keep them safe from gnawing teeth. Jesse’s mother is the organist and she is  petrified of mice so a S.W.A.T. team was formed consisting of Jesse and his mother’s sister, Aunt Lynn. Aunt Lynn is in charge of getting rid of the mice. I don’t know how she’s going about it, but she’s “on it”.  We didn’t see any mice during choir practice! That may be a good sign.

Speaking of signs, are there signs that Jesus is coming around your house? It is almost time.

Have a wonderful Christmas. God is with you.

Dawn

In the days of King Harold

The Advent reading at my church this past Sunday was Matthew 2

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ²and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.^‘”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

During the entire reading the name Herod was read as Harold. This caused my mind to wander back to a day when I was teaching Sunday School to young children and the one little boy thought that the angel who came to announce Jesus’ birth was named Harold. Most likely this was in response to the song “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”. The name King Herod and the adjective herald to describe the angels are not common words in modern everyday life. In his book, Mind Matters, Michael Gazzaniga tells us when our minds think our ears have misheard, it tries to right itself with the closest familiar match. In fact, sometimes writers use these “mismatches” for comedy effect.

In the 1992 made-for-television Christmas special It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown Harold Angel comes looking for Sally when she miscalls for him in the children’s Christmas play. Sadly, though, children aren’t being “mislead” much these days as Christian Christmas specials are practically non-existent. I remember looking forward to seeing Amahl and the Night Visitors every Chistmas season as a small child. This operetta about the Kings stopping to rest at the home of a poor crippled boy and his mother has stayed with me my whole life even though I had not seen it for over 40 years. This year my husband bought a DVD of the original NBC broadcast and we watched it together. The date of the recording was 1955! I was amazed at how accurately I had remembered the one-act opera.

This was how I waited for Christmas as a child. There were lots of images and stories of people waiting along with me for Jesus to be born. This continued as I became a young mother. During the 1970’s and 1980’s, my children could sit down and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas or The Littlest Angel or The Little Drummer Boy. But then, something started to change. By the end of the 1980’s it was becoming more and more difficult to find a Christian Christmas special. Today there is nothing like them on television. Today’s families cannot just happen upon a nice Christian special by flipping the television dial. Today’s families must be more intentional.

We Blanchards have our Jesse tree and Cradle to Cross Advent wreath. We read books and have VHS or DVD copies of the old programs. My grandchildren can recite Luke 2 because they have heard Linus recite it to Charlie Brown by watching  A Charlie Brown Christmas every Christmas for as long as they can remember. Do you want a blessing that will make you smile? Please click on the link below for Linus’ beautiful rendition of Luke 2. It will bring back memories for some of you, I’m sure!

Linus Tells What Christmas is All About from A Charlie Brown Christmas

Waiting for Jesus to come on Walk With Him Wednesdays at Ann’s,

Dawn

With Haste

I was reading in Luke 2 and came upon verse 16 which says

¹⁶And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

An angel of the Lord had just visited the shepherds on the hillside outside of Bethlehem telling them that God the Savior was born and that they would find Him wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. The shepherds were trembling with fear at the sight of the angel and the glory of the Lord shining about them. All of a sudden a “multitude of the heavenly host” lit up the sky singing “Glory to God in the highest!”

When the angels left the shepherds discussed with one another what they would do. Oh, how I love their decision. I wish it were more often mine. They said, “Let’s go see this thing which has come to pass that the Lord has made known to us.” Ah, yes, let’s go, let’s do it. There is a compulsion when the Lord speaks to you. For me, it is an urgency that makes me tremble. It is the trembling that gives me the assurance that it is God. If it were me, I would do something comfortable. When He speaks to me, it is usually because He has to give me a push. And so, God sends His heavenly messengers to push the shepherds, but unlike me at times, they go at His bidding.

This could not have been convenient for them. It was night. They had sheep to care for. They had no idea what they were going to see or where they were going to see it. They simply went to Bethlehem. All the great people of faith had a bit of that “Just Do It” spirit. Abraham left Ur for a land he did not know. Peter left his fishing nets. Moses left his position in Egypt. The widow gave all that she had. And I think of Mother Teresa, Bruce Olson, John Wesley, Arthur Blessitt, Heidi Baker and Joan of Arc.

Today I am thankful for:

#333 the giants in the faith.

#334 the mercy of God because there are so many time I have hesitated.

#335 the miracles happening where I work.

#336 healing of a co-worker.

#337 notes from sermons of Christmases past in the margins of my Bible that make my reflection richer.

#338 the Jesse tree that points me to Jesus.

#339 many mini-Christmases this week: with sisters, with friends, with church family, with family family.

#340 for good friends who share great ideas. Thanks Andrea Dawn for the link to the envelope tutorial.

#341 for a husband who leaves love surprises all over for me to find them.

#342 for you who read this: May God bless you. You are my mini Christmas in cyberspace.

With the multitudes today at Ann’s,

Dawn