Experiential Truth or TRUTH?

So far May has been typical with long and beautiful spring days that have unfolded in a slow pace. I have been trying to put together documents for a little project I'm working on thats, well, let's just say......pretty important which has made this month a little more anxiety ridden than....well.....maybe there's always anxiety.......

Anxiety and out of control feelings due to the fact I live in a country where EVERYTHING is out of my control can sometimes lead to a lot of second guessing about decisions and even about myself when I start thinking about things too much and try to look for answers. 

Second guessing everything leads me to look at the experiential truths that have happened to me over and over to me in the past and then my head tells me definitely and repeatedly, "THIS is the way things will turn out in the future."

Guess what?  I have no clue how things will turn out.

Okay, sometimes I'm right.

Occasionally.

But really, if you think about it.  None of us really knows how a situation will turn out.

But this week I was convicted that if my experiential truths don't line up with the Word of God, then something is out of whack.

And if I'm labeling the experiential truths as TRUTH and not allowing myself to see any other way to how things will turn out, then chances are, things are going to turn out the way I expect them to happen.  And experiential truths are not necessarily the actual truth of a situation.

And I was also convicted that sometimes I even make an IDOL out of my idea of "the way I think things will happen." 

This is where the fleshly part of me is jumping up and taking control and guess what?

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain".......John 12:24  (NKJV)

The experiential truths in my head that don't line up with the Word of God need to die.

So I took my cursor and put them all in the little waste basket and clicked "delete" and imagined that little crinkly sound which is so cool when the trash leaves the little metal basket. 

Now, I'm ready to go out and produce much grain, because God knows how things will be resolved.

Just Believe

The 40 million tons of snow from the Snowpocalypse snow storm has either been hauled or shoveled out of the city.  What's left behind is a bleak, brown, and dirty city.  The time has moved forward so it now stays lighter for longer during the day, but the skies are still mostly grey, and cloudy with just an occasional peep of light blue sky.

It's April 8th and for Ukraine, it's been one very long winter season.

Have you ever felt that longing like something is never going to come to pass?  That feeling that you know what you want but everything keeps getting messed up and you yourself can't figure out how to get from A to B?  It should be simple but nothing is?  It's like when you pray for something but get no immediately answer.  You pray for something you obviously need but......no answer, it doesn't happen.

Technically spring should be here by now.  But it has to come doesn't it?  I mean if global warming is real, then shouldn't it be warm by now?

It's by faith that we believe that winter will end and then turn into spring and spring will turn into summer and so on and so on.

"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.".......Matthew 11:30  (NKJV)

You have to believe that.

You have to make the choice to walk by faith or walk by sight.

And believe that your spring is coming soon.

Abide

Who doesn't like to make plans?  I do.  I am a planner and want to have everything organized ahead of time.  Well, some people don't plan and seem to do well in life and that works for them, but as for me, I am a planner.

I currently live in a country where the antithesis of planning is survival.  Does what I wrote even make sense?  What I mean is planning and being organized is not a survival trait in Ukraine therefore, planning something actually goes against accomplishing your goals.  If you want to survive, then sometimes you have to work against your goals.  That can make life very, very complicated.

Goals? 

Yes, they are important.

I have some.  We all should have some.

"Where there is no vision, the people perish." - Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

How do you deal with setting and achieving goals in a world full of chaos?

You set your goals and you pursue them.

And when you hit the wall you remember:

"Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit:  for without me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned." - John 15:4-5 (KJV)

Before I left for Ukraine, I was drawn to this passage as I sat in my parents backyard reading my Bible in +70F sunshiny weather, working on a tan while the hummingbirds fluttered above me.  Yes, I digress a little to give you some color in this post.  It WAS a bit like a Disney movie.

I like to accomplish things, so I came back to Ukraine very excited and ready to start doing everything that I thought needed to be done.  I had goals.  I had ministry to accomplish.

And then those plans took a sharp turn in the wrong direction.

I found myself sitting in my warm flat with sub zero weather outside and snow falling outside my windows.  I viewed a winter wonderland before my very eyes.  (More color for you)  I then read these verses again.

As Christians,  we need to abide in him.

Abide means:
to act in accord with.

to submit to; agree to

to remain steadfast or faithful to; keep: If you make a promise, abide by it

If we want our lives to bear fruit, and live in ways that show others that we truly know him and are serving him, then we need to abide and stay close to him.  Because people watch each other all the time, and they can tell who is sincerely bearing fruit and who is faking it. Faking it doesn't count.  Faking it means doing nothing.  Faking it means your life is just a show. And the serious part about faking it is that God knows when we do it and he will prune that falseness right out of our lives.  He wants our lives to bear fruit that will bless others around us, not bring people constant problems.

Who wants to be a fake?  Who wants to live out a show all the time?  That's tiring and exhausting and does not really accomplish anything.  It bears fruit to a situation full of striving, strife and confusion.  Who wants that?

Better to abide.

Better to submit.

Better to be steadfast to the one who will always sustain you and never leave your nor forsake you.

Better to accomplish the goals he has for you.

The Bigger Picture Is More Important

 The following is an excerpt from Part 2 of my March newsletter.  If you would like to subscribe to my monthly newsletter, you can do so in the box to the right on the sidebar.


I am safely back in Kyiv and I appreciate your prayers as I had quite an interesting trip.  Because Ukraine is so far away, I have to change planes in Western Europe and this meant a night in a hotel room.  I woke up at 5am and rushed outside to catch the bus to the airport and was met with what could only be called a "Seinfeldian scene."  About fifteen Africans were holding up the bus to the airport with about 30 pieces of large luggage.  One woman had a cute little sleeping baby strapped to her back.  Half of the Africans and luggage were on the bus which had the luggage holds completely filled.  The rest of the luggage was strewn about the sidewalk and everyone, including the driver was screaming at the top of their lungs.  At the back of the bus sat two miserable looking passengers too afraid to do anything but look at me miserably through the window and send me telepathic signals not to get involved.  This was all happening at 5:45am in the morning.  After about 3 minutes of watching this and then watching the bus pull away with half the group left behind as they continued to scream and throw their luggage around, I realized that I probably wouldn't be getting on the next bus. So, now I had to make an executive financial decision so I wouldn't miss my flight.  I headed indoors to have the hotel call me a cab. The hotel workers told me the group was trying to hijack the bus and get it to go to different airport an hour away!

Once at the airport, security found my carry on that I have been using as a standard size bag for six years "too big," even though it is within the size limitations listed by my airline on my ticket.  They made me check it.  I was then informed I had to pay an extra $60 for this extra security I was providing for them.  I was in near tears as I had already had to pay for an extra checked bag and did not have the extra money to spare, but no grace was going to happen this early in the morning.  Then the lady punched her computer and told me that the computer would not accept a fee for my bag, and since she didn't know what to do, she let my bag get checked for free.  Nowadays, computers are kinder than customer service agents!

I then headed to a different security gate to avoid the very grumpy agents.  After entering the security area, I was told get in the "family security line" which is a special line for people traveling with large amounts of children.  Now, as you all know, I LIKE children, but I could see shorter security lines behind the guard with very travel smart, business type people who know how to go through security really quickly without having to unpack all the juice to be dumped and slowly get their four children to take off all their clothes and shoes so they could be patted down like convicts.  I asked if I could get in one of those lines as I stared at them lingeringly. "NO."  "But I'm not a family.  I'm single! I don't have any children. There's only one of me."  "NO! GET IN THIS FAMILY LINE!"

An hour and a half after I had left the hotel, which was located right next to the airport, I actually entered the passenger waiting area.

Why do I share all this?  Hopefully to make you laugh.  But I realized as I sat down drained, to wait for my flight to be announced, that all this crazy stuff is the details.  They are details of what I go through to get to the bigger picture.  The bigger picture is being able to be in Ukraine.  The bigger picture is to be able to help young moms change their lives for the better.  The bigger picture is to help orphans have a chance to grow through sports. The bigger picture is to tell babushki in the market that Jesus loves them and hand them a loaf of bread when they are hungry.  The bigger picture is advocating for orphans and at risk children.  When I take my eyes off of the details of the hassles I am going through, then could see the bigger picture that God has for me.

Whatever crazy hassles you are going through today, know that God has a bigger picture for you.  I encourage you to take your eyes off of the crazy and inane details and put your eyes on Him!  Put your hope in him, not in the stupid details whirling around you.

"I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence comes my help?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.".......Psalm 121 1,2 (NKJV)

Happy Thanksgiving!

"A thankful mind set does not entail a denial of reality with its plethora of problems.  Instead, it rejoices in Me, your Savior, in the midst of trials and tribulations." - Sarah Young - "Jesus Calling"

"Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers."......John 3:2  (NKJV)

Be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We All Have Something To Give

I have an informal little "babulya" ministry at my local market.  "Babulya" means "grandma" and  unfortunately there are quite a few of these ladies haunting the markets and asking for money to live on.

These ladies have always touched my heart because they are one of the most vulnerable groups of people that the Bible talks about and that God asks us to help.  Most are widows and do not have families to help them.  In a society that overlooks the vulnerable, they do not have enough money to live on.  Therefore, they must beg.

I noticed that one woman was particularly spry and I had seen her in various places on the streets of Kyiv as well as the market.  She seemed very kind and was always talking to people and getting to know them.  One day, I started to talk to her.  I'm not going to share her personal details because this post is on the internet and she's living in a vulnerable situation.  I do want to share her perspective on her situation.  It's so easy to walk past people on the street and stereotype them or to look away because there's really nothing we can do to change their situation.  I cannot possibly address all the needs around me that I see everyday.  I am only one person.  But in taking the time to talk to her, I could tell that she was lonely so I made it a point to not just give her some money but to have a little conversation with her as well.

Sometimes people give these babulyas things to sell for money so they don't have to beg outright.  You might find them selling matches or some odd little gadget at the side of the market.

One day this babulya gave me a bag full of paper plates and plastic forks.  Someone had given the utensils to her and she wanted me to take it to our Day Center for the children to use.  I had told her about the children I work with and she always asked about them.  She said she thought we could use them and believe me, we used them.  It was a thoughtful gift.

I saw her quite a bit last week and as I talked to her,  I could see her brain clicking and that she was trying to figure out what she could give to me.

The next time I saw her she told me, "I want you to know that I am so worried about those poor children and I don't have anything to give you, so I went to the church and prayed for them."

We always have something precious to give to someone less fortunate.

Luke 21:1-4

Encouraging Yourself

Living a life that focuses on working with people and dealing with spiritual issues will give you a real lesson on humanity if not an occasional headache.

As Christians, we are to put our trust in God and not in people, but all too often, we end up putting more trust in people around us than in God and we end up getting our trust broken.

This can breed a kind of cynicism as we deal with people.  Experience tends to teach us that this type of person may be like this or that and we decide about a situation or person before we barely know them.  Stereotypes rise in our minds, may even play out in our relations with others and then true relational trust becomes a hard bridge to cross.

It's true that sometimes we have to make decisions about people and we have to use experience and wisdom to make a decision for yourself or for others safety.  That's not what I'm writing about today.  I'm writing about the junk that clogs up our minds and that we need to let go of if we are truly going to walk in love and share faith and hope with others.

While we need others for friendship and support, there will come a time when you find yourself alone and you need to pull yourself out of cynicism and the stereotyping of other people if you want to develop lasting friendships and relationships with people.

I find encouraging myself is a good thing to do when I feel hurt by others or feel surrounded by people whose motives seem manipulative and not genuine.

1 Samuel gives us an example of this when David and his men returned home to find their wives and children captured by their enemy.  His men turned on him in their grief and wanted to kill him.

"And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.".......1 Samuel 30:5-7 (KJV)

You could encourage yourself by any number of ways.  I like to take some time alone relaxing and not thinking about problems.  Sometimes I listen to music, read a book or watch a movie.  Then I find things to do that inspire me spiritually.  Maybe it's taking some photos, praying or reading the Bible.

What helps me the most is remembering all the ways I've seen God work in the life of others around me.  I know He does a lot in my life, but I find that looking at other people's lives and seeing how they've grown, how God has met their needs or is working in their life inspires me to no end.  I think this is because it gets me back to looking at people in a positive light and I start feeling thankful for the people who are in my life.  I realize that even through the difficult relationships that are challenging me, I also have people in my life who encourage me without even saying a word to me.

While ministering to others can be draining and even painful at times because you get a close look at the dark side of humanity, you also are given a front row seat to watch the spectacular ways that God works in our lives.  This is truly an encouragement and blessing.

Be Utterly Amazed

"Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed.  For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.".......Habakkuk 1:5 (NIV)

Are you amazed at what is going on in the world every day?

I am.

Everyday since I've returned to Ukraine, I've been waking up and and saying to myself, "Thank you Lord for allowing me to walk in great faith."

Every day my knees knock when I think about the problems I need to solve or am overwhelmed with the things I am going through.  Doors of opportunity fly closed and others fly open.  Roads that looked good to walk down suddenly don't look as appealing.  I know I chose the "road less traveled" in this life, but does it have to be so chaotic and crazy?  Disaster could strike at any time.  Can I get through this?

I end up much like Habakkuk does, complaining to the Lord about all the unfairness I see daily around me, "The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted!" (vs 4) or my paraphrase, "THESE PEOPLE ARE EVIL.  WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?"

Everyone is wondering at the lack of justice in the world today.  Just read your Facebook newsreel.  Everyone you know is madly pasting reams of political copy on their pages in complete panic.

What is he going to do about it?  What is going to happen?

In Habakkuk 2:4 the Lord tells us what to do: "The righteous will live by faith."

Not live by faith in our bank accounts.  Not walk by faith in our traditions.  Not stump our faith in our political systems but live our lives with faith in God.

When we choose to walk in great faith in the Lord we will rejoice:

Even though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines.

Even though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food.

Even though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls.

When you can walk in great faith then something amazing happens.  You realize you don't have to do everything by your own strength.  You don't have to figure it out.  You don't have to have all the answers.  When you can look beyond your own strength and stop controlling everything, you will see something amazing.

You will start seeing God working in the world around you no matter how much it is spinning out of control.

You will be amazed.

Stay The Course

In Kyiv, when missionaries share with each other that they are heading stateside, there is usually an "Oh, uh huh," reaction and a sympathetic groan or look shared. Heading stateside usually means a lot of mixed emotions and psychological processing to go through. Processing emotions and experiences of what has happened in the country where you are living can be draining. Dealing with your family and even friends that you have not seen in a while and who do not understand the details of your life and the culture you are living in abroad can also be exhausting. For people who have never lived overseas, they sometimes cannot relate to your life well. Sometimes you feel like you have to defend your choices in life and what God is leading you to do with it.

I am especially blessed because I have the support of a wonderful church family, friends and my own parents. Since I keep up with people on facebook, in emails, on my blog and other social media, most people seem to know what is going on in my life and I can have better relational conversations with people and have the time to ask them what is happening in THEIR lives. I get bored talking about myself all the time!

One of the positive things I've realized as I process my life overseas is realizing that for all the difficulties and confusion, it is worth it.

Staying the course that God has set for you is not always easy and there will be obstacles, but I am learning that working through them is better than getting frustrated and walking away. It's part of the maturing process and means that as I grow, I will be able to help others to grow as well.

I have been a little overwhelmed with all the positivity in my life during some really hard life transitions. I am thankful that during this season of my life, I don't have to question what or why I am doing what I am doing. I just have to have faith in the one who is leading me on this journey in life.

A World In Constant Change

It's still very very cold in Ukraine! I don't think it's been much warmer than -13C for the last couple of weeks, with occasional dips down to -30C!

I have to say that I have enjoyed the sunshine that seems to start when it's this cold. I actually felt WARMTH from the sun yesterday on my way home and that was exciting. Spring IS coming eventually!

Growing up in So Cal I was not as aware of seasonal changes. There are seasons there but you have to be sensitive to notice them. Sometimes it's as subtle as the smell of cut grass, Girl Scouts peddling cookies and the sound of Vin Scully's voice on the radio. Those things would mean it's springtime.

This morning I was reading a friend's blog and I realize that seasons in our life change for us as do weather seasons. I think God created weather seasons to be a backdrop of the seasons we go through in our lives. When you think about it, we are going through changes of all kinds constantly in our lives. What is hard for people is when they get stuck and refuse to change. Change is uncomfortable for some people. Change usually means growth if we choose to embrace that. As an adult, I can look back and see that as children we all desire and look forward to change and growth. We can't wait to become Seniors in high school. We can't wait to turn sixteen so we can drive. We can't wait to start college. We can't wait to graduate and get a job.

I've noticed that as an adult, we don't have to keep taking tests and we get involved in work or life to the extent that we stop looking forward to new seasons. We slow down and it becomes harder to push ourselves to grow.

I think God puts changes and seasons in our lives to keep us growing. It's important at whatever age we are to keep learning about him and life and the people he puts in our lives. It's important to learn about the world around us and adapt to the changes. God allows change in our lives so we can learn more about him. As we grow we see the world differently and can engage in it with it more realistically and with greater depth.

Don't be afraid of change, embrace it.

What Path Are You Taking?

Don't let anyone or anything take away your compassion for humanity. Ministry is not about focusing on programs, big conferences or success as it appears in the eyes of the world. It's about success from God's perspective. Do you know him? Do you know his vision and his heart for humanity?

He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.".......Micah 6:8 (NIV)

Beautiful Feet

"And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" Romans 10:15

That Day

For some reason, I have not been looking forward to the anniversary of, "that day." You know the day I'm talking about. The day that reason and insanity seemed to have fled the earth and left nothing but chaos and insensibility in its wake.

For some reason, in my mind, the ten year anniversary of "that day" should definitely be remembered but unfortunately the build up in the media makes it look more like a political and religious circus act and seems to hint that as a country, we are still reeling with grief and confusion.

So I am staying away from all media and reminiscing commentary of "that day."

I am spending this weekend praying and thinking about the survivors and those who lost loved ones. My heart is with you.

I am going to be thinking about my country. My heart is also with you.

I have also been spending some time processing and thinking about how my life has changed since 9/11 and how that is affecting my future.

I have already been blessed by this decision and I encourage you to take some quiet time for reflection as well. We all need to think more about how we can encourage and take active, healthy leadership in our world today.

Isaiah 58

Sometimes I look back on my years in Ukraine and think, "Dang, this is so hard. This is so HARD. Why do I DO this?" Life is so complicated here and it's routine to occasionally find yourself totally overwhelmed and feeling bereft. Last month I had a morning of feeling this way and I found myself starting to read Isaiah 58 and remembered thirteen years ago when this chapter had first gotten my attention.

I was on a bus with my missions team and we were somewhere between one of what seemed like one of thousands (I'm exaggerating, that's just what it felt like) of orphanages that we visited to give away Samaritan Purse shoeboxes which were packed full of gifts. At that time, teams were not as common as they are now and we found ourselves repeatedly meeting people and children who had never met Americans. We were oddities and entertainment. We smiled and hugged the kids and expressed probably more emotion in ten minutes than they would see in ten days time.

I had many reactions to seeing hundreds of children starving for attention and love. One of the more usual feelings for many people who visit institutional orphanages is, "This is SO wrong. Something has to be DONE about this. These children need to be FREE from this situation."

At some point on this blur of a trip, one lady got up and just started reading Isaiah 58. Now you have to understand that we had over thirty type A personalities on this trip. Amazingly enough we bonded and were so geared up that on the drive home from LAX we were all, "LET'S GO BACK RIGHT NOW THIS MINUTE AND DO IT AGAIN!" No one fell behind in this group.

So at one point of the trip, one of the ladies on our team got up and just started reading Isaiah 58 like it's the most normal thing to do while we are all driving down a potholed road in Ukraine. We got all worked up about setting the captives free and lifting that yoke of oppression and feeding the hungry and giving out clothes to those who need them. We were practically bouncing off the roof of the bus with excitement! We had a moment of emotional connection with God's heart. We were seeing the needs of the people that God wanted us to help and we connected the concept together.

Last month, thirteen years later I read that chapter again and I realize that the emotion, passion and desire are only the starting point when God calls us to go out and help others. The desire is good but it's only the beginning. The desire comes before the hard work. The preparing, the plans, the carrying it out is the next stage and it's not as easy. It is much harder. The sweat, tears, the strain on your finances and perseverance get played out and put to the test. The rubber meets the road so to speak. This is were some people unfortunately get disillusioned and quit.

I realized that desire and then the reality of carrying out ministry to people are two different things. We cannot always continue onwards to a goal solely sailing on our desires or passions. Like an athlete who has to discipline himself to train even on the days he doesn't feel like it, we have to understand that in helping people, we have to keep going even when the going gets tough. And even though that will be the hardest part, the results are well worth it.

Is it worth it to tell an orphan that Jesus loves them and see their whole life change with just these words? Is it worth it to give a child a shoebox of toys when they have nothing? Is it worth it to give cold children warm clothes? Is it worth it to help a street child get off the streets and begin to live a totally normal life? Is it worth it to give medicine to a sick child? Is it worth it to help tutor a child so they can learn another language? Is it worth it to spend time with a handicapped child who can't go to school and be around children his own age? Is it worth it to visit sick children in the hospital and pray for them? Is it worth it to help a child be placed in a family? Is it worth it to help a young mom understand how to show love to her child?

These are some of the things I've been able to be a part of after the passion of this chapter of Isaiah 58 captured my heart. I have had many people, some even Christians, ask me this question. Why do you do this? Why is this important?

Because it's worth it. Even through the hard days, it's worth it.

I still sometimes feel like I'm on that bus with my friends driving down the potholed roads of Ukraine. That trip was the beginning of a longer journey for me and my heart is thankful for everyone who is still "with me" on that "bus," my friends, family, sponsors, churches, organizations I've worked with, and my Ukrainian ministry partners.

Living out Isaiah 58 is not easy but it is SO worth it!

"And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.".....Isaiah 58:11

Less News = More Time To Live

I haven't turned on my TV and watched news in so long that I can't remember the last time it happened. In fact, I have stopped watching TV. I only use my TV to watch DVDs.

I haven't picked up a Kyiv Post, (our local english language newspaper) in so long that I can't remember the last time I read one either.

I read the news headlines on maybe a couple of internet news sites during the week. I skip those on Saturdays and Sundays. The world does not stop. I rarely click through a headline to an article. I usually can get the gist of what is going on in the world just by reading the headlines. I do notice articles posted on Facebook and Twitter. Again, I rarely click through to read them. I just read the headlines. Sometimes I just ignore Twitter because I've subscribed to too many news feeds. I need to clean up my twitter account big time.

The weird thing is, if you actually make an effort to pay less attention to news in our information overload culture, you will STILL know what is going on because you will still be made aware of what is going on around you. I call it "news osmosis" That's all the news I need to take in daily, otherwise it's information overload time.

What I've noticed about my news reading/watching habit is this. Less news = more time to live. Occasionally there's that disaster that we all keep up with, but for the most part, not much is happening day to day that's actually going to affect you.

When I visit my family in the states the news is on in their house from 8am to 11pm every day, except of course, for daily breaks that feature Judge Judy and/or her various TV show judge off springs. I've noticed that the constant steam of negative news I am subjected to (because let's face it, nothing positive ever really is presented) really gets on my nerves and if I pay attention to it I start to feel very negative.

Hence my motto: Less news = more life!

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."........John 14:27 (NIV)

Cliff Notes For Helping Others

I don't know why, but it seems that we make helping others really hard to do. There's always a lot of talk about what we want to do but in the end we seem to be hesitant to step out confidently with the knowledge of what God wants us to do.

Here are some "cliff notes" for helping others:

Loose the chains of injustice

Untie the cords of the yoke

Set the oppressed free

Break every yoke

Share your food with the hungry

Provide the poor wanderer with shelter

when you see the people without clothes, clothe them

Take care of your own family

Do away with the yoke of the oppression

Do away with accusations

Do away with malicious talk

Go out of your way to help hungry people

Satisfy the needs of the oppressed

Rebuild what others have torn down

Lay a foundation for people to live their life on

Repair broken walls

Restore homes

Honor the Lord over doing your own thing

Don't speak idle words.

I've taken this list from Isaiah 58. (paraphrased) It's interesting to me that "setting the oppressed free" is mentioned three times. "Feeding the hungry" is also listed twice. Why do you think these are mentioned repeatedly?

Seeds

I named this blog "Seeds" because after many years living here, I have realized that the most I can do in people's lives is push a seed in their ground and let God do the work of growing it. If there's a little green sprout in the garden bed, I can water it or work the weeds out from around it. I can nurture the plant until it grows up and has fruit of it's own to share with others. I can't force it to grow or create the energy it needs. Chemicals might speed things up but in the end, might not be the best thing for either the plant or the person who eventually eats the fruit they bear.

This is a biblical concept that is easy for a farmer to understand but sometimes it is hard for those of us who are, uh, city folk.

My grandfather (see photo) was born in Iowa and grew up working on a farm. He knew a thing or two about a lot of stuff that could be useful to the small time gardner working on their city sized plots of land.

He was an auto mechanic and in the yard next to where he worked, he grew tomatoes. I would visit him and often found him in the yard with a paint brush tending his tomatoes. The first time I found him with his paint brush in hand, I asked him, "What cha doing?"

"I'm pollinating my tomato plants," he said with a grin. He took the tiny paint brush and went from flower to flower (Okay, it's supposed to be called something else but I majorly FAILED botany. Like I said, I'm a city girl, big time.) gently brushing each plant.

He explained that this is the job of the birds and the bees but he wants to make extra sure that each plant is tended to and no future tomato bud misses it's chance to get pollinated in the whirlwind of nature.

I remember thinking that was kind of cool. He understood the concept of nurturing and not forcing something to grow. Something we all need to do as we minister to others if we want them to grow and bear the best kind of fruit, (or vegetable) that will bless and help others.

He sure was proud of his tomatoes. He would bring them home and proudly place them on the table for us to admire. Unfortunately, I had been told I was allergic to tomatoes so I never did taste any. I regret that. I'm sure they were heavenly.

"But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."......Matthew 13:23

Wisdom

Wisdom has been a theme that I've been focusing on for the last year and I am continuing to study it this year as well.

As I've, ahem, gotten older, I realized that I am constantly in crazy situations or watching others go through crazy life experiences and that the world just seems to be getting more and more wacky and it seemed to be getting harder to navigate through it. I could definitely pin point some situations where my personal wisdom saved me from what could have been a potentially really bad situation but I also have found myself in situations that I wish I would have thought through better before I got myself in them.

Suffice it to say that when I was younger, most of what I learned about the Bible was based on facts. So and so wrote this book, did this, went there, then that happened, etc etc, here diagram the book of Revelation and now memorize this list of rules of how you are supposed to live and oh, NOW we are going to run some programs over here and this will save everyone and bring about world peace at the same time.

When you get out into the world and choose to live out your faith, that will only work up to a point because God didn't call us to live out a bunch of rules but to walk in faith through his grace.

I saw people around me, and myself included, struggling to solve life's problems. Grasping for understanding, I finally realized that I was going to be life's road kill if I didn't look harder for answers on how to handle the things life was throwing at me.

So after reading a book last year that encouraged it's readers to read a chapter of Proverbs a day for a year, I became intrigued by the subject of biblical wisdom.

Did I actually read a chapter of Proverbs a day for the year and gain insight and understanding?

No, I didn't.

Hey, I'm just being honest with you.

But through this last year, I did start thinking a lot more about wisdom. I know that doesn't totally count but it was a subject that I could not stop thinking about as I did my regular bible reading and listened to sermons. I am now at the point where I am reading a chapter of Proverbs a day and asking God to give me more wisdom and understanding about life and the world around me.

The nice thing about that is he gives wisdom to anyone who wants it.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.".....James 1:5 (NIV)

Here's to making better decisions in life!