Little Brothers

I remember the "new mommy" days after bringing home each of my five newborn babies from the hospital. Sleepless nights, new schedules, exhausting days, sweats and no makeup, longing to see friends, figuring out a new normal with a growing family.

I also remember the joy of watching siblings bond with a new little brother or sister. One of my most treasured memories is of four precious little ones huddled around their baby brother after waiting days for him to come home from the NICU. Three sisters, two brothers melting together into the heart of our family. My friend calls them "the clump".

Through the years, I have been adamant about their continued bonding. Watching them grow as friends fills my heart with joy. So, when our new addition was welcomed in just a few short months ago, I wondered. What will happen? To be honest, as I watched the shifting dynamic of the clump, my heart grieved a little. I truly worried about how he would fit. How would he become one of them, one of us?

In many ways, bringing our little guy home has been the exact same as those new mommy moments with a baby. Sleepless nights, new schedules, exhaustion, sweats and no makeup, even longing to spend time with friends have all been a part of this journey. Don't get me wrong, there has been sweetness in and throughout these new days of adjustment.
It is just a process, an ocean of unchartered waters. And I tend to get nervous when things get wavy.

But today, I heard the sweetest words so far...Our new little guy came to tell me something our youngest had done and he said, "My little brother is so silly." The significance of his own words wasn't lost on him as he quietly repeated, "My little brother..." "Yeah, buddy," I thought, "Your little brother is silly...and you're just like him! Silly as the day is long." Sweet realization sweeping over both of us.

God truly sets the orphan in families. He doesn't just drop them off and move on to the next one. With the gentle pressure of His great Potter's hands, He molds, makes and forms us together in one big, beautiful (and yes, even silly) clump. I'm so thankful God chooses to clump us together in physical families and in His spiritual family as well. I'm learning to bond with new family members in my house and in His. I just can't wait till heaven when we get to be one great big family clump at the throne of Jesus!

Vera Ate my Bible

Today I had the ultimate first-world problem...My Bible ribbon on my Vera Bradley Bible cover got stuck in the zipper! I literally could not get my Bible open! I couldn't get to the Word.

Now, I have numerous other copies of God's Word, but the one inside my purple cover is MY Bible. It's the one I use for devotion, for study and for church. I love my Bible. Not having the ability to get to it was frustrating.

In the middle of desperately trying to pry the pink ribbon from the grip of zipper teeth, it hit me that there are believers throughout our world who cannot get to God's Word. Their hindrances are far more serious than a Bible trapped inside a $28 Bible cover. Their hindrances are no Bibles in their language, copies that must be shared with numerous other believers, threats of prison, beatings, torture and death if they are found with a copy...Wow.

Their reality puts my "problem" in crystal clear perspective. These people fight fear and brave suffering just to have a portion of the Bible we often take for granted. I'm so very thankful God promises to be found by those who seek Him. Choosing to give in to my frustration this morning and walk into my day without the Word is not an option.


So, I took out another copy of God's Word and read these words from Jesus in John 17:7-17:


"Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You.

For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

I pray for them.

I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.

And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.

Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.

Holy Father, keep through Your name those whim You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name...

But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.

I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.

They are not of this world, just as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth."

So, how do we help persecuted believers, blocked from access to the Word?

We pray for them, like Jesus.

We read, study and teach our copy of the Word.

We let the Word set us apart from the World.

If God calls, we go to them and serve them however we can.

We remember them and call on others to pray for God's Word to spread and for God's people to be kept from the evil one.

There is a powerful new book out called The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken. Read it. It will change your heart.

Now, I'm going to find some pliers for Ms. Vera's teeth...

No Place Like Home

As Dorothy clicks her ruby slippers, closes her eyes and says, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home," my heart whispers that same sentiment.

As a child, Dorothy and her yellow-brick-road adventure played in my mind as brightly as the technicolor that splashed over Oz. In my childhood, home was a stable, dependable place. It seemed permanent with roots dug deep. It's no wonder that the first tug on those deeply planted roots was the toughest. God not only tugged, He uprooted my little family and moved us to a sandy place where my roots couldn't grab on so tightly.

Yet, He called and He caused us to bloom where He planted us. Bloom indeed. There our family grew, ministry grew and budding friendships blossomed in the golden sun. Just when I thought my roots could spread, He tugged again.

This time His transplanting was swift and much more painful. And again, He called us to bloom. He grew our family, a new ministry and even budding friendships. I know God is in control and I don't doubt He moved us for His glory, but at times I'm still looking for the slippers...

While there's a part of my heart that longs to stay in the same place, surrounded by generations of family and friends, I'm learning to plant my roots deep in soil I can't see. I'm discovering that my longing for home isn't a longing for any place on this earth. That unsettled, homeless feeling in my heart is the way it's supposed to be. 1 Peter 2:11 reminds us we are "strangers and pilgrims" on this earth. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us God has placed "eternity in our hearts". Psalm 84:5 says, "Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage." Although God commands contentment in whatever state we may be, He doesn't call us to be home in any place but Heaven.

My home is not found by skipping down a yellow brick road to an Emerald city where 3 clicks of my ruby slippers will magically transport me. It's found in following the narrow path made of dust mixed with blood, leading to a Roman cross where 3 nails were driven into divine flesh and my eternal Home was secured by the death of Jesus.

Each day on this earth is an opportunity to point the way Home to travelers tempted by the glitz of a fairy tale city. I always cried when Dorothy woke to realize Oz had only been a dream. I don't know why. Maybe it was because she had to go through so much to finally believe the truth of her words. Dorothy's heartfelt declaration to those surrounding her is the Truth we should all declare to those around us. They need to know and believe there really is no place like Home. I can't wait to see God's children bloom there.

Coming Down to the Messy

Moses was a man like no other. Hidden away, protected at birth, adopted by royalty, raised in wealth, God uniquely prepared him for the leadership and spiritual guidance of His people.

Finding himself on the run after a guttural reaction of violence, Moses ended up tending sheep as a virtual nobody in the middle of nowhere. Until one day when a bush caught a flame that could not be extinguished. And the voice of God spoke from that flame. And an unquenchable fire was ignited inside the heart of Moses. Everything changed.

I've often wondered why God chose a burning bush as the sign of His calling. I think it was a demonstration of His dominion over nature and its elements. Moses had to see this from the start because he had grown up in the midst of a people given over to idols who they believed controlled nature for good or for evil. To appease their gods meant possibility for bumper crops or for drought prevention, or for family fertility. God showed Moses there is no other god in control of anything but the great I Am.

Moses would see God work miracles in nature throughout the next forty years. By His works, nations would know His name. One such miracle was the tremendous activity of nature as God called Moses to come up for a personal meeting atop the mountain of Sinai. Now journeying up any mountain is difficult at best. There's risk, there's resistance, there's even reservation. Yet, the result of reward in mountaintop exhilaration drives a climber upward.

God called Moses up and he pressed on to the top, through thick smoke and darkness miraculously appearing at His presence. God spoke with Moses. Moses spoke with God. Exodus 24:18 says Moses' mountaintop experience lasted 40 days and 40 nights...And in those days and nights, God revealed mysteries and Truths about Himself no man had ever known. It was beyond life-changing. It was eternity- changing.

Still, Moses had to leave and come back down the mountain. Often the return trip is just as treacherous as the trip up. If a climber isn't careful his foot can slip, causing him to reach bottom quicker, but much less intact, than intended. Once down the mountain, there's a whole different struggle. The climber's view has been altered. On the mountaintop, God is near and people are far. The presence of God is huge and people are tiny. On the ground, people are big and God's presence among them may seem small. Air at the top is clear, crisp and clean. A ground-level full of people is messy.

Moses descended his mountaintop to find the people in a mess of idol worship. The same God Who called him up is the same God Who sent him back down with a purpose to minister in the messy. We see Moses cleaned up the place and his people, and begged God not to remove His presence from them. God promised.

In his second mountain climb, God revealed even more of His glory to Moses. As Moses made his way back down to the people, he was not only transformed on the inside, he was changed on the outside as well. He saw people differently. People saw him differently. His face shone with the glory of The Lord, so brightly that he had to wear a veil over his face. This time Moses saw the people through the veil. And in the messy, Moses ministered.

Often in my mountaintop experiences with the Lord, I don't want to leave. Looking down at the messy, I can't see how to minister. I want to stay and bask in the miracle of His presence. But God has a job for me, for all of us, to do back on ground level. He sends us down with a mission, keeps our feet from slipping and allows us to see His miraculous hand at work, even in the messy places. From Moses I've learned to look for God's glory on the mountaintop, ask Him to use His glory to transform me, and to purposely see people differently. If I begin to see them through the Veil, through Jesus, then, I'll see clearly how to minister in the messy.

"Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and out bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. " Heb. 10:19-23

Positioned for Healing

"He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved." Psalm 62:6

As a sixth grader, I had dreams of becoming a gold medalist in a newly created Olympic sport--figure roller skating. I was certain I could petition the IOC to add the sport and would practice on our back patio for hours to be ready for my debut. Unfortunately, a freak accident involving a crack in my neighbor's driveway ended my visions of glory. I was performing my best practice moves while waiting for my friend to lace up her skates, when suddenly my wheel caught and there was nothing to break my fall but my arms...Break they did, both of them. Ouch.

With two broken arms, immobilized in a cast on one and a bulky brace on the other, I could do nothing for myself. It was humbling, frustrating and exasperating. Thankfully, family and friends helped in any way they could. They wrote for me, fed me and my best friend's mom even washed my hair for me. Yet, the one thing I needed most, they could not do. They could not heal my arms.

After six long weeks of wearing a cast, we went to the doctor who determined my right arm still wasn't healed. So, he repositioned my arm with my wrist bent wrapping it in another cast to hold it in this awkward position. My friend thought it would be a great idea to draw eyes and a forked tongue so that when i lifted my arm it would look like a cobra. I was not amused. I couldn't understand why the first cast had not done the job of healing my arm. It didn't occur to me until my arm was frozen in the new position, encased in a new cast, that the plaster itself did nothing to heal me, except for hold my arm still, protected from outside danger, and in position for the healing to take place on the inside.

As we are learning more about our newly adopted little guy, we're discovering he has some broken places. Any time a child becomes an orphan, there are broken places. As much as I thought being in our family would bring immediate healing on some level, I've come to realize we are just the cast. It's our job to position him for the healing that will come from God alone. We are here to hold him in a still place, encase him in our love, protect him from outside danger and wait for healing on the inside. It will take time. It is humbling, may be frustrating and could even become exasperating at times, but it is eye-opening, heart-opening, even.

As I see broken places in my son, I see broken places that were in my own heart as well. I'm thankful that during times of brokenness, God allowed others to encase me in their love and by their prayers, position me at the foot of His throne for healing to take place on the inside.

On this journey, I'm learning to let God mold me, just like the plaster of a cast, and use me however He sees fit. I'm thankful the healing is in His hands. He is the Great Physician, after all. If you desire healing for someone you love, pray about how you can step back from trying to be the healer yourself and ask God to make you the cast. Then wait for the One Who comes, "with healing in His wings."