Another Year

Our family has a tradition of spending a few days away between Christmas and New Years in the Eastern Cascade Mountain town of Leavenworth. We started coming here in the summer of 1977 when Thousand Trails (a camping membership that we belong to) opened a campground just a few miles from town. We’ve been hooked ever since. The summers are gorgeous. Hot and sunny days, cool clear nights, hiking and fishing and relaxing by the pool. The winters are equally beautiful. Several feet of snow, Christmas lights, skiing, sleighrides, browsing quaint little shops. It’s just a little piece of heaven in my mind. In fact, I’d love to own a home here. For now, I’ll settle for camping in the summer and staying in a condo in the winter.

One of the things I like to do while relaxing here is to take time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the coming one. Looking back is relatively easy – looking forward in my book is a guessing game. Truth be told, we can plan all we want, but the future is not in our hands.

A year ago we were rejoicing at the news that Andy & Amanda were going to have a baby. We had all been praying earnestly for several years for Amanda to be able to conceive and we were all pretty discouraged that is had not happened. The birth of baby Annice in August was joyfully celebrated by the whole family. We were all there that day marveling at this tiny (well not so tiny – 8 lbs. 12 oz!) little person and the wonder of new life.

There have been other wonders in the past year. Chris has secured a ministry position – something that we had also been praying for for several years. Nate received his appointment as a missionary associate and is in the process of raising the funds to go to Argentina. David and I are feeling a stirring that God is doing something new for us as well. If we were to see the past year on a map, our journey has taken us on some freeways, highways, mountain passes, unpaved roads, dead-ends, detours and back streets. That is the adventure of following Christ – we really don’t know what is ahead. We’re not truly in the driver’s seat – we’re just along for the ride of our lives.

We have seen some plans and dreams fulfilled in the past year. We remodeled our family room. I lost 20 pounds and got in better shape. Tricia started school for her master’s degree. We paid off car loans – to name just a few.

But at the same time there are some unfulfilled dreams and hopes. Right now, I feel that God has said to just stay faithful and keep on asking and hoping. They are not things that I’m ready to articulate at this point. Some concern me, some my family. All are in the hands of the Father who alone knows our hearts desires and what is best concerning us.

As I look ahead to 2009, I’m confident that there will be some glorious victories and celebrations and there will be some disappointments and heartache – that is how life goes. But I am also confident that the One who is faithful is already there, guiding, encouraging, comforting, strengthening all along the way.

This is my prayer for my family and for all of you in the coming year:

Philippians 1:3-6

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

And Philippians 1:9-11

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Abounding more and more in knowledge and depth of insight… May you know Jesus more in the coming year.

For The Mothers

For some reason this morning I'm feeling the weight of the tragedy that occured in our community this week. A young, talented, likeable 19 year old man was tragically killed in a car accident. Whenever these kinds of things happen in a small community like ours, the ripples (more like shock-waves) are felt through the whole community, whether you were aquainted with the family involved or not. In this case, I did know the family - though not well.

My association with the Cox family came through Little League baseball. For one brief season our families spent a lot of time together. The boys not only played on the same team during the regular season, but went on to the State Tournament in All Stars. Little League is a pretty accurate picture of parenting - good and bad. Parents that never come to games. Parents that come drunk. Parents that scream at the umpires, coaches and kids. I tell you - people's true colors come out down at Stan Hedwall park... Then there are the parents that teach their kids to win and lose well - who spend countless hours sitting on bleachers in the wind and rain and occasional sun - who run the concession stand and serve on the board and groom the fields. This was the Cox family.

I guess my sadness this morning stems from my memories of Tracy Cox. I watched her for years absolutely pour herself into her three boys. I can only imagine the ragged, gaping hole that has been torn in her heart. That suffocating, "I can't breath" kind of pain. I don't want to put myself in her shoes, but somehow I can. It's something no parent EVER wants to experience and most of us go through life thinking that we won't.

I'm thinking of all the times my boys or my daughter have left the house to the sound of my nagging and griping about a hundred insignificant things. About the times that I've overreacted, lashed out in anger and frustration. Not said the life-giving, affirming things they needed to hear.

So today, I'm going to tell them how much I love them. How thankful I am that God allowed me to be their mom. How proud I am - not just for their many accomplishments, but for the fantastic people they have become.

This life on earth is so short. Live fully today.

Lord, teach us to pray

One of my favorite movies is Frank Capra's "You Can't Take It With You", starring Jimmy Stewart and Lionel Barrymore. It's a silly, touching little movie starring many of the same characters as in my all-time favorite, "It's a Wonderful Life". Twice in the movie, as the family is gathered around the dinner table, "Grandpa" prays a prayer that starts with, "Well Sir, here we are again…" and ends with "….and as far as anything else is concerned, we leave that up to You. Amen." I actually think this is an amazing way to begin and end a time of prayer. Simple. To the point. Without pretense or presumption.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray in such a bold, straightforward, simple way – we've been trying to complicate it ever since. Here is Jesus instruction on prayer: Matthew 6:5-15

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

First the assumption is that you WILL pray. Three times in this passage Jesus says, "when you pray". Second, remember who needs to hear your prayer. Not the people at your church, not your family, not your small group. Certainly corporate prayer can be an encouragement and a faith-builder, but the only person who really needs to hear your prayer is the Father. Third, prayers don't need to be long. Here's a rule of thumb; never ask a preacher to pray. They will take that opportunity to pray an entire sermon. I also don't think you need to yell when you pray. I've heard the excuse that people just get "passionate" when they pray. I want to ask them if they think God is deaf… I certainly don't like being yelled at. I doubt that God likes it either.

This then is how you should pray..

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name… Father, You are holy, worthy, awesome, great, righteous, honored, revered. I bow at the mention of Your name.

your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven. I like how John Ortberg paraphrases it, "Let up there come down here."

Give us today our daily bread. This is the one that gets me. Recently someone gave me a list of "declarations" to be made in prayer. They included the following:

1. Jobs and better jobs.

2. Raises and bonuses

3. Benefits

4. Sales and commissions

5. Favorable settlements

6. Estates and inheritances (not the death of relatives) I didn't add that – no lie.

7. Interest and income

8. Rebates and returns

9. Checks in the mail

10. Gifts and surprises

11. Finding money

12. Debts paid off

13. Expenses decreased

14. Blessing and increase.

Someone please tell me how these things line up with "Give us today our daily bread."? It's even worse if you look at it in light of the rest of Matthew 6 where Jesus says to not to store up treasures on earth, to trust the Father to give you everything you need for each day whether it be food or clothes. He said you can't have two masters. It's either God or money. How do you think the God who said "You shall have no other gods before me" feels about these kinds of "declarations"? My rule of thumb is that if the starving Christians in Darfur can't pray it, I can't either. It's not that any of these things are wrong in and of themselves. But "declaring" them is just unsettling to me. The focus seems to be on the wrong thing. John Calvin put it this way, "The evil in our desire typically does not lie in what we want, but that we want it too much."

Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

Forgiveness. It just occurred to me re-reading this tonight that, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." is tucked right in this section about forgiveness. Satan wants nothing more than for us to not fully appropriate the forgiveness offered by our Father, and to withhold that same forgiveness from those who have sinned against us. Wow, that's thought provoking stuff.

Matthew 6 ends like this:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Simple. Seek Him and His righteousness. "Well Sir, here we are again….as to anything else, we leave that up to You." Well said Grandpa. Well said.