Monday I wrote about “those places”. The sacred spots where God seems to break through the everyday haze of earthly stuff and remind us He’s there if we’re willing to pay attention. Some of you shared wonderful stories of “your places” in the comments. And then I received this from my delightful friend Liz, who lives in New Zealand. She is a pray-er and a photographer, and former World Vision board member, but most of all she’s a Jesus follower.
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I often wonder if David ever went back and visited the spot where God used him to wallop Goliath.
Or if Paul paused later in life on the road to Damascus where God had knocked him crazy bold with His grace.
Did Mary ever go back to the spot where the angel first gave her the ridiculously impossible news that she would carry Jesus into the world?
The whole earth is filled with God’s glory, but in some places He just seems more present than others. Or we are paying closer attention. Some call them “thin places” where the boundary lines between heaven and earth are barely discernible.
Friday I got home from a trip to Great Britain, feeling a little “off”. Jet-lag or being out of a healthy soul rhythm. So Saturday morning I went back to one of those thin places – a path I walked daily during a season when many of those days were filled with pain and confusion. It is a path where I have praised God and also cried out to Him in utter despair. It’s a place I return to because it is filled with reminders of His presence and faithfulness.
As I walked yesterday I remembered an early morning after a powerful thunderstorm years ago that had echoed the sounds of the storm in my own life at the time. The next morning as I was walking around “my” lake I came to a place on the path where there was a bird who had been pelted to the ground by the storm…battered and broken. I couldn’t tell if there was any life left in him, but it didn’t look good.
I thought, “Lord, that’s a picture of how I feel. Half the time I’m numb. Unconscious. Battered and exhausted. Every once in awhile I regain consciousness and try to move my wings, and figure out how to fly again. But it just hurts and I collapse in pain again.”
Though this was the way I felt, as I continued to walk this path that represented my journey with God, I had memorized Lamentations 3:21-24 “But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed. His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself: The Lord is my portion. I will wait for Him.”
That morning and in the days after, slowly, ever so gradually, God changed the picture in my mind. He added to it. I was still that mangled, broken bird, but gradually, I saw myself gently scooped up into the loving hands of God, shielded, nurtured, bound up, healed. I was an injured bird, cradled in Hands that treasured me and would restore my strength.
Yesterday as I finished my walk, and my memories of God’s faithfulness, these are the words I encountered.
Where is “that place” for you? Is there a chair, or a chapel, a path or a beach where you feel God has shown up in ways you can’t deny? I’d love to see you post your place or your experience in the comments so others can be encouraged. If you’re a first time commenter and it doesn’t show up immediately, don’t worry, it will!
If you are new to faith and haven’t experienced this, let me share what I prayed every morning I walked that path: “Lord, what do You have to show me about Yourself and myself today?” Give it a try!
This is my view outside Latimer house where we’re staying while husband John is in meetings. I know! Pretty wonderful! It looks a little like Downton Abbey but with trees around it, on a hill overlooking the Chess Valley in England.
Earlier I was in the library, but it is an unusually beautiful spring day and the English countryside kept whispering to me to come outside.
All that to say, I’m feeling very British-y. Our cab driver in London actually said “Cheers, mate!” with a straight face. I didn’t know that was an actual thing.
Yesterday we walked Oxford and now I’m longing to go back and re-read everything C.S. Lewis wrote.
I came across a quote from Lewis that really sums up what I’ve experienced over the past few weeks.
“Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some to see.”
As I write this we’re in London with some of our closest friends, heading to a board meeting where our husbands will work, and the wives will continue to play. We pray for them and drink tea. Or wine. It’s an arrangement I’m partial to.
Anyway, I wrote this post (below) a week or so ago and as I read back over it this morning before hitting “publish”, I think it is true, and hopefully helpful, but like most things, it’s certainly not the whole story.
We are blessed beyond belief with the relationships God has given us. If they are healthy, they ebb and flow. We weep together in one season and laugh together in another. Sometimes those seasons are one and the same. We give and take, rant and chatter and share vulnerably. We listen, and pray. A lot. We gather around a table or show up to help each other move or we write a note. We are all resourceful, important, trainable, nice, draining people…and somehow in the midst of doing life together we are changed. We are iron sharpening iron and I am so grateful that God has given us all to each other.
It seems like there’s been a recurring theme in a bunch of my conversations lately. It’s the DTR theme, and I don’t mean in the dating sense of the word. Continue reading
The other morning I was up early, before husband John (as usual), but no worries. Did I wake him? No, that would be sooooo inconsiderate! Instead I left him a note in the bathroom. It read something like this:
Sweet Baboo (NOTE: I did not say “baboon”),
I woke up remembering…
And could you please…
And while you’re at it…
And don’t forget to buy….
love,
your adoring, romantic, AWAKE wife
Upon reflection, I write a lot of these notes which reinforce the business of marriage much more than the delight. I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. So these were my notes this morning: Continue reading
First, let me say loud and clear: I LOVE the ministry of Jen Hatmaker! I think she is an amazing, funny, inspiring, kingdom-loving mom and leader. If you’ve been following this blog long you’ll remember when we did our own “experimental mutiny against excess” motivated by her book, 7, so clearly she’s been influential. If you haven’t read her stuff, you should!
But the other day I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed and came across this:
The rest of the update reads: “…minutes past Remy’s bedtime. Tra la la.”
So I’m looking at this and thinking, “Oh, that’s nice. Family. Beginning of summer. Building good memories.”
I’m happy she could post that, but it’s not a big deal, right? It’s not like her kids won American Idol or converted Kanye West. I would hope many of you could post some nice slice of a pre-bedtime moment if you have kids, or a nice pic of you and friends relaxing on your deck if you don’t, right?
What baffles me is what’s under the update. 4,700 people “liked” this, and 138 people commented!
I showed husband John and asked him why he thought so many people engaged with a simple picture of someone’s kids playing in their back yard. He said something which I thought was brilliant (I think most of what he says is pretty brilliant though). He said: Continue reading
Not infrequently, husband John and I will be part of conversations with our daughters like the following one. It’s about Maggie’s summer internship in Northern Uganda where the Lord’s Resistance Army has forced children to be soldiers. She’ll be working with those who have been brutalized but have escaped…
The other day after he read this husband John asked me (rhetorically), “How does this keep HAPPENING??!”
Others also ask us this too (although it sounds more like: “How did you raise your daughters?”) The primary answer is: “With a LOT of mistakes and loads of God’s GRACE.”
Both our daughters, and we, will continue to mess up as we try to follow Jesus, but we also trust that God will pick us up when we stumble, Here’s what we tried to teach them as they were growing up… Continue reading
It’s “spring” in Minnesota which means when I woke up this morning and it was gray and cold my first thought was, “Thank God it’s not snowing or raining again.”
Spring in Minnesota looks like a boat-load of ugly.
Yes, this is the mountain of soot-covered snow still in our parking lot. We’re thinking we could raise money for missions if we take bets on the date it will finally be gone (and 4th of July is not out of the question).
It does NOT seem like an easy time to choose life. Or to remember that life is there, beneath the surface, hidden in the ugliness of brown dirt. It’s hard to remember that God WILL actually transform that ugliness at some point in the near future.
It’s much the same with seasons, or days of our life. We can recite “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him.” but we think, “HOW in the WORLD is God going to change this mistake, this sin, this pain, this relationship and bring LIFE and Beauty from it??? How will God redeem it at all?” Continue reading
This morning I sit across from John at Starbucks early. I keep hearing deep sighs as he sips his skim white mocha. There’s a mixture of snow and rain coming down outside. The fire is on in the fireplace, which is the reason for my sighs, but not his.
We just returned from several days of meetings in one setting and he is heading into a long day of meetings in another. New place, new set of challenges. He’s trying to ignore the clamoring emails and choose the daily disciplines of devotions and journalling. It’s a struggle because… there’s just.so.much.
I’m privileged to have a lot of close friends who are world class leaders. They are humble but brave. They are wise and trust God for great things. They are kingdom bringers. And somedays they make mistakes, and most days they’re praying like crazy for discernment, and many days they are under a tremendous amount of pressure. Lately it seems even more stressful than usual. And they’re facing a lot of situations that feel “between a rock and a hard place-ish”.
“World class leader” may not describe you or me, but we all get into seasons when we’re in over out head. Whether you’re a student or a CEO or a mom or you just feel like you’ve been holding your breath for too long, I want to stand up and shout Continue reading
When you I write a blog post I rarely never have the time to find all the scrumptious words or present my offering with the “voila!” of someone serving a gourmet feast at Thanksgiving.
But this morning, more than most, I feel like I’m serving up “bare naked chicken” – just a couple of things I’ve been thinking about that seem to go together.
A few weeks ago I was listening to a sermon podcast by Craig Groeschel and honestly I can’t remember the point of the sermon because as an aside (not having to do with the message at all), he said his counselor had asked him two questions.
Those two questions are what my mind keeps returning to. Here’s what they are: Continue reading
Hi, I’m Laura – a Jesus-follower who gets it wrong a lot, but is still beloved just like you.
