My new favorite show is Somebody Feed Phil. This show is so wonderful for a foodie like me!

Phil Rosenthal, who was the creator of the show Everybody Loves Raymond, travels to different places around the world, to explore all the amazing foods each country has to offer.

Did I mention I love this show???

I did??

Okay, I’ll move on.😊😊

One of the places Phil visits is Vietnam, and he explores a rural area, where the people harvest lotus flowers, among other things.

The lotus flower is the national symbol of Vietnam, a place with a history of great strife, and of great renewal.

The Lotus grows right in the middle of mud.

The stems and the roots are very long, and the blossom grows up, and out of the muck, and is so very beautiful!

Despite the impurities all around it, all the things that try to suffocate and snuff out its survival,

It LIVES.

It BLOOMS.

And it blooms BEAUTIFULLY.

This is my spirit flower!!

At least, I WANT it to be.

Maybe it feels like it’s yours, too.

All the dirt and grime that desperately tries to squash us like bugs,

Is the very thing that makes us grow,

And to stand TALL.

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.

Psalm 40:2

You know something else??

The seeds of a lotus can survive up to two hundred YEARS of drought!

This brings me comfort too, because it means my times of spiritual desert land are survivable.

Those wilderness times won’t last forever.

One last thing about the lotus:

The Vietnamese people use every part of the plant.

The stems, the leaves, the flower, the seeds…

They use ALL OF IT.

I really and truly do hope and pray that God can use EVERYTHING in ME, too.

My past, my parents, my marriage, my health, my kids…

I want God to use ALL of it.

Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.

Philippians 2:17

There used to be a series of programs on PBS called Create. There were cooking shows, DIY programs, craft shows…

I loved watching all the cooking shows.

They would take same old, boring ingredients and create a brand new, mouth-watering dish that always looked amazing!

You see, I think most of us are born with the desire…

The craving…

The NEED…

To create.

I especially think this is true, since we are made in the image of God.

And the very first thing He ever was to any of us was

Our Creator.

God’s passion for creating wasn’t squelched on the sixth day.

He is constantly

CREATING!

Flowers, creatures, water, air…

He creates them every day.

But He is also in the business of creating US.

Not just “us”, as humans,

But YOU and ME.

Did you ever think about that?

He is DAILY “creating” us.

We will never be the finished product of all of His dreams for us until the day He comes, or the day WE come to Him.

He is, on a moment-by-moment basis, creating us in His own image…

Refining us,

Chiseling away at our sculptures,

Polishing His very own prize…

Each and every day!

If we get another day, it is another chance to be created by our Father and the best Artist ever!

That’s why I never really liked the term “second chances”,

Because we certainly don’t get just two!

My favorite group, Rend Collective, has a line in one of their songs…

“Countless second chances

Is what I’m given at the cross.”

He is constantly creating new opportunities for growth…

Growth, into the person we were always meant to be.

Creating new and unusual ways for us to experience real joy,

Real peace,

Real humility,

Real grace.

I love this idea of daily being created!

It’s a beautiful kind of BECOMING…

One that never ends!

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

2 Corinthians 4:16

I’ll refresh tired bodies;

I’ll restore tired souls.

Jeremiah 31:25 MSG

I’m having one of those days. 
Maybe you’re having one, too.
The kind of day where you’re just so tired of it all.

Of everything.
The constant climb up the side of the mountain, fighting so hard to get out of that Valley.
The neverending pain.
The shame that forever lurks in the shadows of who you once were.

Whatever it is, the “constantness” of it…..

Can, some days, be too much.

“Enough already!!!”, you shout at absolutely no one.

I read this little verse written above…

My body is soooo physically TIRED!!!

My body has been put through so much!!

In the last 18 years, I’ve had at least 17 surgeries,  two of them life-saving!

I’m having a day where I feel DONE.
My body is quitting, and my soul just applied for early retirement. 
I just “don’t wanna” anymore!
It feels too hard today,

Too much work to smile today.

But, you know what?

I accidentally DID smile Today!
I accidentally felt some jolts of joy! 

I say “accidentally “, because I  was being miserable on purpose.

I WANTED to give up.

But GOD was already at work in me, before my feet hit the floor this morning. 
He had some plans to refresh my body and restore my soul.

They happened through bits of songs I heard as I went about my day,
In people who I bumped into,

In places only God could touch.
This is some of the glorious stuff God does!

He brushes the hair out of our eyes with some perfect, “don’t-blink-because-you’ll-miss-it” moments, that are full of the promise of Heaven, and all of the golden days in the sun….

WITH  the Son.

EVERY TIME I’ve had the notion to just give up in one way or another, He ALWAYS brings me back!

He is the very BEST  friend!!!!

I’m so glad He showed me again.

“But when the people of the land come before the Lord on the appointed feast days, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of the south gate; and whoever enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of the north gate. He shall not return by way of the gate through which he came, but shall go out through the opposite gate. The prince shall then be in their midst. When they go in, he shall go in; and when they go out, he shall go out.”

Ezekiel 46:9, 10

 Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins.

2 Corinthians  5:16-18 

Every New Year’s Day, I pray that I would look and love more like Jesus by the time New Year’s Eve rolls around again.

Ezekiel knows what I’m  talking about.

His words for his people are simple. If you walked in through one gate, you needed to walk OUT through the OPPOSITE  gate.

So, basically, any time you have an encounter of any kind with Jesus ( through reading His word, singing songs to Him, or praying…) it should

Change you.

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:11

We can have new years, but we can also have 

New months,

New weeks,

And brand new days!

I know for certain I’m not the same girl I was last year.

But hopefully I’m not the same as I was last WEEK, either!

You see, we can, and we should, be in the process of being made new all the time. Because if not, why does the bible tell us that His mercies are new every morning?

But the best part is in the last verse of the portion of Ezekiel. ” The prince shall be in their midst. When they go in,  he shall go in; when they go out,  he shall go out.”

Isn’t it beautiful that He promises to change us, and also promises to be right there with us….

While sinful things die in us, He is there.

When painful things eat away at us, destroying our old self, 

He is there.

When conflict comes, 

When betrayal slithers in,

When loved ones are taken,

When illness ravages our bodies and brains, 

When all these things start to damage who we once were,

Refining us like silver,

 Burning us like forged diamonds,

He promises to walk in  WITH us to the things which hurt us, 

Challenge us,

Change us….

And He promises to walk OUT with us,  too.

After the molding and melting of our day, our week, our month, or our year

Has done it’s job, He leads us out the door,

Where we stand in the sun,

For just a minute,

Enjoying be made

New.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God!” 

1 John 3:1

I grew up with a very skewed and damaged view of who God the Father is. 
You see, I saw God as a holy Judge.

One who was accusing me of crimes worthy of fatal punishment. 

He was filled with white hot rage when He saw me.

But then, Jesus,  His very own Son, stood up and defended me. 

JESUS loved me.

But GOD????

I wasn’t sure. 

So, that made it easy to buy into this “victim mentality” I’ve unconsciously adopted.

I saw the bad things I’ve gone through, and KEEP ON going through,

As things that happened TO me…

Instead of things that happened

FOR me.

It’s kind of a special privilege to be called to suffer in some way.

God presented Job to Satan, lifting him up as being one who was unlike anyone in the earth, CHALLENGING  him to test him!(JOB 1)

Job had the great honor of being chosen to suffer.

Greatly.
Recently, I was sent a song by a very dear friend of mine. It is called ” I AM No Victim”. Some of the lyrics are 
I am no victim, I live with a vision

I’m covered by the force of love
Covered in my Savior’s blood
I am no orphan, I’m not a poor man
The kingdom’s now become my own
And with the King I have a home

He is my Father, I do not wonder
If His plans for me are good
If He’ll come through like He should
‘Cause He is provision and enough wisdom
To usher in my brightest days
To turn my mourning into dancing

[Bridge]
I am who He says I am
He is who He says He is
I’m defined by all His promises
Shaped by every word He says
Oh I am who He says I am
He is who He says He is
I’m defined by all His promises
Shaped by every word He says

Let these words soak in!

“I am not an orphan. I’m not a poor man.”
I have all the Father’s riches at my disposal!

I am no victim.
I am a VICTOR!!

All of these hard things are just temporal things.
If JESUS had to suffer,  Him being the ultra precious Son of GOD,
Then I must suffer too,

Knowing that the Father loves me, 

And that I am RICH in that!

He is my provision!

I don’t have to be free of physical pain to feel like a daughter of the KING.

I don’t have to be free of emotional pain to know I am truly loved!
If you don’t want your tragedy to be wasted,  find ways to make it

MEAN SOMETHING. 

GIVE IT VALUE.

 Know that what’s going on is not meant to victimize you, 

But is meant to 

“Victorize” you!!

We are NOT orphans! 

We are not poor people!!

We have the richest Father there ever was or ever will be!

And we are  truly, truly 
LOVED.

And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!” John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.

John 3:26-30

Because I didn’t get married until the age of 34 ( which seemed ANCIENT at the time!), I served as maid of honor in several weddings. It’s kind of a special role. You have certain responsibilities, special tasks to do for the bride.

But every maid of honor knows that it’s not “her day” to shine. 

It’s the bride’s. 

And the same goes for the best man.

He also understands that this day is ALL about the bride and groom.
John gets this concept, too. He knows his role is to support the groom, and maybe give a nice speech or two.

He accepted and WELCOMED the time when Jesus would “go public” in His ministry, and had a clear understanding that, even though JOHN had been the celebrity in town, when Jesus arrived that would all change.

He would, in essence, begin to disappear in the shadows of Jesus!

And to John, that was an awesome thing.
You know, my abilities, my energy, and my talents have been tampered with by the things that have happened to me.
And sometimes, I  still wonder,

“What should I be doing for the Kingdom?”

“What is my grand purpose?”

“Since I can’t really do ‘this’ anymore, what should I be doing instead?”

Sometimes I get more wrapped up in MY role in the story than I do about the “STORY” itself!

Often, I  am like John’s disciples, whining about someone else stepping into “my gift area”, or doing  the things I thought I was supposed to do.

Please don’t tell me I’m the only one!😊
While we should all strive to have a sense of what God has called each of us to do, we should  never let any of those desires ever become greater than Jesus Himself, and His desire to be known by all.

It’s tough for us humans to think like John did.

Desiring to become LESS so someone else could be
MORE.

But there is beauty in becoming less.

Beauty in disappearing….

Beauty in the destruction of all of these “positions” or roles we once thought we deserved….

Beauty in becoming less and less…

‘Til we all but vanish

And all that is left is…
Jesus.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:1,2

Fluttering. 
That’s another word for “hovering”.
Fluttering.
Like a bird’s wings.
Hovering in protection, some texts indicate.
God was hovering, with all His power, restraining nearly every bit of it.

Restraining His power in the darkness…

In the emptiness…

He was there.

He was there, when nothing was there.

Before we ever were…
Before we knew His plan for us…
Before He created light.
Before we could truly see!
The darkness had no idea what was about to happen, that very soon, the blackness wouldn’t be all there is.

God hovered in the dark…
With us.
FOR us.
BECAUSE of us.
He hovered like a bird, protecting His young.  

Humming, like a generator.  The power was on, 

Even in the black.
What an amazing thought!
Ages and millenniums before the birth of Emmanuel,  God With  US,

He was there.
With us…
 In the dark.
This is what God does, even at the very beginnning….it’s what He’s ALWAYS done!

His wings flutter above us, hovering over us just like a mother bird.
I used to think of the word “hovering” as the humming sound of a powerful machine, just getting warmed up.

Now, I still sort of think that, but  I’m starting to discover what He was warming up to DO….

To CREATE!
To create LIGHT!
To create a universe of people. 
People who would constantly return to the darkness.
People who would sometimes be DRAGGED to the darkness by other’s.
People who would LOVE the darkness, because there, they can hide.

God’s power and great protection was always there, long before there was anyone to protect.
I’d like to think that’s why this verse is included in the bible. 
So we would know something deeper about God’s power.

So we can rest, knowing that the God who hovered over the darkness
Also hovers over OUR darkness.

What is YOUR darkness today?

Illness, loss, addiction,  betrayal, sin…

Whatever the  blackness is that has kept you from moving forward,
Kept you from hoping,

Prevented you from persisting,
God is there.
God is with you, through ALL of it.
And He’s getting ready to

TURN ON THE LIGHTS!!!!

Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart
Jeremiah 15:16
When your words showed up, I ate them—

swallowed them whole. What a feast!

Jeremiah 15:16

Many of us will be feasting this week, because it’s Thanksgiving.
What better excuse do we need to eat tons of turkey, swimming in gravy, mashed potatoes with a literal lake of butter in the center, which we formed by pressing down our spoons in the middle of the mound of spuds?
What better reason do we need to wear sweatpants to dinner, so we can squeeze in all that sweet potato pie, pumpkin, shoofly….
All of it!
But I’m talking about another kind of feasting today.
Feasting on His word!

There, the food never runs out.

His Word has become food for me,
Food that I can’t live without!

It’s food that sometimes doesn’t taste good going down, but know we need it. That’s why Mom always gives you a little spinach or brussel sprouts, or whatever it was you didn’t particularly like as a kid. She wasn’t as concerned about pleasing your palate as she was about keeping you healthy.

Well-fed.
And the Bible tells us that when His words showed up, Jeremiah ATE THEM. If you read Jeremiah, you would know that alot of the words God gave him to tell His people were not mashed potatoes and butter.
They weren’t pumpkin pie.

They were spinach and brussel sprouts.

Not pleasant to digest, but COMPLETELY NECESSARY!

We don’t like hearing that sex outside of marriage hurts God,
But it does.

We don’t like hearing that jealousy is evil,
but it is.

We don’t like hearing that hate is actually murder,
But it is.

Sometimes His words are knives, and they are meant to cut us, to hurt us, and lead us back to Him.

And sometimes His words bring healing, a soothing balm for our dried, cracked, starving souls.

They bring love when we thought we were unlovable.

They bring mercy to those who thought they had done things beyond repair.

They bring comfort to those who have lost everything else, but Him.

READ HIS WORD TODAY.
Any whatever words He gives us,
May we EAT THEM.

It is an everlasting feast!
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

Matthew 4:4

Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.

John 6:27

When I was a kid, we didn’t have a lot of money. So, my mom used to sew all of our clothes. My older sister and I are two years apart, and I think my mom had some kind of “mama and a set of twins” fantasy, which explains why she always dressed us alike. Sure, my red corduroy jumper had triangles on it and my sister’s was green with circles, but it felt like they were identical.
I know. 
Corduroy. 😄
I have to admit, it must have been kinda cool to have clothes nobody else had.

To be the only one with a dress that particular shade of blue,

With that very  same neckline and length.

When I was little, that’s all I had.

A closet full of original Shirley Waite (mom) exclusives!

Talk about unique!
I was recently listening to an album by my favorite group, Rend Collective. The title of the recording is Homemade Worship by Handmade People.

Think about that.
Handmade people.
That is so awesome!

“Your hands have made me and fashioned me, an intricate unity; Yet You would destroy me. Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay. And will You turn me into dust again? Did You not pour me out like milk, And curdle me like cheese, Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews?

Job 10:8-11

    
5 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain…

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth

Psalm 139

He has these great plans.

For EACH of us.

Plans to change us,

Mold us,

Melt us,

Break us.

BEAUTIFUL plans!!

Awesome plans!

Just like it must’ve been pretty cool to know that not a single person had the same clothes as I had, 

It must be just as cool to know He created no one else exactly like me.

Or you!

Every person in my life is so special!

And unlike any other person in this entire world!!

Doesn’t that just make you want to embrace all the uniqueness of the people you know, who were knit together in secret places, just like you? 

That’s the one thing we have in common with every single other person in all the universe:

We have the same Maker.

Let’s stop getting annoyed about how people don’t understand us, and just worry about being the one who understands OTHERS!

Be someone who appreciates originality in others.

That you know exclusive, one-of-kind people.

That when they leave this earth, you will NEVER EVER meet anyone exactly like them again!

Wow. 

He never runs out of designs for the people He loves.

And He will always look at these handmade “dresses” of who we all are, 

And declare,

“It is VERY good.”

Plans for a life that isn’t identical to ANYONE ELSE. 

Unique,

Original….

Handmade.

Made by His great and beautiful hands.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3

3 “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

Matthew 5:3 MSG

I really, really hate having to try to explain evil to my children.

The danger, the brutality of it.

I’m constantly walking this tightrope between scaring my kids into sensible behavior, and scarring them for life!

Recently we had to talk to them about kidnapping, and without giving many details, described  what it is and how to keep safe.

The other evening, I took Macy to a nearby town. It was dark and we were looking for a parking spot. I purposely passed one free space, and my daughter exclaimed that I missed an empty spot. I told her it was next to a van with no side windows,  and I told her I would feel safer in another space. 

Well, this brought the whole kidnapping subject up again.

Then Macy says,

“Mom, God would never let anybody take me and do bad stuff to me!!”

Long pause…

She looks up at me…

“Would He?”

It broke my heart.

The sad fact is that danger and searing pain are totally unavoidable.

I told Macy that God promises to be with us ALWAYS. 

I told her that He can bring beautiful things out of broken people.

I told her that nothing will ever happen to her without God’s permission,  and that if she is hurt and broken , God will show up and comfort her heart in amazing ways.

I wish I could tell her we didn’t live in a world where  a man could lose his wife and THREE  children by evil, wicked, brutal bullets…at church.

But I think those who have suffered greatly would agree with Jesus’ words that relay that you’re blessed when you are at the end of your rope. 

He shows up! And His presence is like NOTHING ELSE! The God of all comfort will comfort every last one of us who know we are at the end of our rope.

I pray that when Macy is broken, she will reach for Jesus.

I pray for the church in Texas….

Oh, God,  the brokenness!!!!

So many families,

So much loss. 

The suffering is unimaginable to me.

But C.S. Lewis totally got it right when he said “He isn’t safe, but He is good!”

He will give peace.

He will give comfort.

He will give grace. 

He giveth,

He giveth,

And He giveth again.