Life and Lemons (Reflections on God's Goodness Part 1)

So, Matt and I have this friend, an amazing cook, who came to our house to prepare us a meal some time back. As he adeptly threw together one ingredient after another, he couldn't help but exude with joy over all of the ways that he saw God's goodness. "Lemons," he said; "don't we have a good God...One who would create lemons! They are so perfectly sour and yet you can't eat them without smiling."

And he's right. If you let yourself, you can become downright overwhelmed with the ways God is good, with the ways He has given us pictures of Himself, with life's pleasure that direct us to the giver of all good things! Yes, food was given for sustenance and sunlight for warmth, but there is more...

All creation points to our Creator and as we find pleasure in a good meal or a vibrant sunset we have the opportunity to find pleasure in the God of the Universe (and this is to His glory!) Us humans though, we can distort it...we can either say a that a meal is to meant only to meet our physical needs (although this doesn't quite explain why some foods are so pleasing to the senses!) or we can say that it is in the meal itself that we find ultimate pleasure and in gluttonous pursuit chase one meal after another, but this doesn't stop God from being good and holy and just and full of grace. In our brokenness, we will always take God's good things and distort them more than any carnival mirrors could, but in His grace toward us, God made a way through His Son Jesus Christ to be restored into right relationship with our Creator and a proper relationship with creation. We can sip a glass of lemonade on a hot day and know that it is more than quenching our thirst. It is for God's glory that the lemon is good and it is for His glory that we pleasure in the lemon's Good Creator.

Create a better Hollywood, Be a Better Hollywood

I tend to be "one of those people." You know, one of those people who travel through life with an invisible sign reading, "Sure you are a complete stranger, but please tell me your life story while we wait in the check out lane." or "bring on all the 'crazy' you got...I can handle it." I'm not complaining mind you; I love it! I always have new material for more deeply understanding the human experience (and of course adding some humorous experiences of my own). Soon after relocating to Hollywood, Fl I discovered that my local library is practically a breeding ground for such antics. Those that have made the top of the "awkward" list so far would have to be the unprovoked back massage initiated by an elderly woman and, on a separate occasion, being asked if I thought there might be a pool on the second floor of the library because the inquirer was quite sure she smelled chlorine. This past weeks experience though was down right enlightening. You see, my husband and I moved here with a mission: We wanted to know what it would look like for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to saturate downtown Hollywood. We wanted to know what it would look like for a local church to rise up from gospel saturated soil. We wanted to know what it would look like for that local body of believers to bless her city, invest in her city, and intentionally partner with God's mission to renew all things (what can I say, we dream small, right?) In an effort toward this end, we have often asked, "What would make Hollywood a better city?" "What about the city, as it is, should change?" What could we bring to Hollywood to make it a better place? Not that these mental exercises are bad but my recent library visit was a sobering reminder. The encounter went something like this....as I stood in line to return a few items a women came up behind me and loudly stated that she and her twin two-year-olds would be, "going to the Ft. Lauderdale branch from now on!" I gave her a sympathetic look-an apparent invitation to continue- and she said, "the people here are so unfriendly and I can't get any help." Having experienced the same thing on several occasions I quickly suppressed the urge to join in her complaint and simply told her that sometimes you gotta try just coming back, get to know the people. She wasn't convinced. As she approached the counter she asked me if she would be able to use the self check out station. I told her what she would need and then talked her through the process. Nothing monumental, I just showed her how to use a machine. On her way out the door she looked over her shoulder and said, "okay, maybe I will come back, but just for you." And that's when it hit me: to create a better Hollywood I've got to 'be' a better Hollywood. You see, we can and will faithfully preach/share the truth of the gospel. And there are many good things that we can do as a church (and we will probably do them). There are many improvements that could be made in the city (and we will probably partner to see some of those made). But there is no replacement for individuals who intentionally live out the gospel in their context, their routine, their daily grind. So, what I am NOT saying is that the simple act of doing good deeds will make the world a better place. That's simplistic and incomplete; in fact, it misses the gospel altogether. I am saying that when a person has been brought to the end of herself by the knowledge and consequences of her own depravity and by the knowledge of God's absolute purity AND when, in that place, a person experiences the grace of God through His provision of a substitute...when a person knows that she deserves God's wrath, but that it has been satisfied in the person and work of Jesus Christ...well, that changes everything. It changes her thinking, her actions, her attitudes, her relationships, the way she eats, the way she relaxes, the way she creates, the way she checks out books from the library...it changes everything. She doesn't 'do' to earn God's favor she 'is' because of what God has already done. And, I believe, that when she 'is' in Hollywood, by the power of the Gospel, Hollywood will begin to be a better city...a step forward in joining God in His Kingdom work of making all things new.

My Writch Istes!

That's right. My son told me that he couldn't lay still at nap time because, "my writch istes...uh, I mean my itch wristes...Uh I mean my WRIST ITCHES!" I tried to find it cute, but was far to obsessed with how scary it was. I used to (and still often do) talk so fast that my thoughts rarely came out clearly on the first try. My friends in high school coined the phrase "Amberism" to describe these and other such foreign thoughts that would enter my head and inevitably exit my mouth. I actually prefer the given name to describe this incident-"spoonerism." Come on, you can't say that one without a goofy grin-spoonerism=). The point is (if indeed their actually is one) that I think I am creating a little monster, or at least a smaller, male version of myself. This is scary and I am not sure if I am up for the task. I entered this whole parenthood thing with much more confidence then I currently possess and when it comes to parenting I think my mouth has written checks that my butt can't cash (to coin one of my husband's favorite phrases). It's not just the language thing either. What if my poor children end up with every quirky, obsessive, maladjusted, impetuous personality flaw that I possess? And worse yet, what if that is all they inherit...none of my husband's adorable traits...just my crazy genes?! I can't even fathom how people endeavor to raise children without the surety of God's sovereignty. The hope that He is making all things new is the only thing that has kept me from anonymously dropping myself off at my local fire station...seriously. On that note, I must go entertain the three young angels. I hope to se back boon!

a PINK, draw-string sack. That is what my 41/2 year old BOY decided would house his newest coin collection. The child truly is an enigma. His little world is full of self imposed rituals, habits, routines, quirks, and yes, even "collections." My son can start a collection with absolutely ANYTHING! Cars, action figures, miniature pine cones, things that are red...whatever. His most recent collection is that of coins. When I use this term I am not referring to the accumulation of an elusive, rare but valuable item I am speaking of those things which his father dumps from his work pants onto the desk at the end each day. Mostly pennies, his "coin" collection also includes such finds as Chuck E. Cheese tokens and Mexican pesos. And, as if raising a child with such idiosyncrasies was not challenge enough, this morning comes the question I had been waiting for, "Mom, can I take my collection with me to the store?" I knew what this would mean. I do not have a shy child. He would grab his PINK sack by the drawstrings, hold it out a few inches from his body, and proudly command the attention of any vulnerable passerby that he could con into smiling at him. See, it's not just about having a collection; it's about letting everyone KNOW that you have a collection. "Sure," I told him, "bring the collection if you must." So off to the store we went and what is normally a mundane task (unless you have three children) quickly became a crisis circumstance when my son realizes that he has abandoned his beloved coin collection in a shopping cart at our previous stop. "Go, back for it mom," he pleaded with me. I told him that we would try, but that it might already be gone. We returned, we searched, we did not find. The collection was GONE. He was broken and, I must admit, I was a little broken for him. He loved those dirty little pennies.

As we rushed about the parking lot and shopping carts I was once again struck by God's abundant grace. He sought after me in my lowly estate, with no worth or merit to call my own, He found what was already His and bought me from sin and darkness at the expense of his Son. What a gracious God...to give me worth and meaning, not out of any NEED He possessed, but to restore me. Hmmm....

" For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to celebrate."

and with no warning at all I had an unexplainable urge to do something I had never done before. I weighed my options and since I don't have money for an Alaskan cruise, nor the desire for basket weaving, the next most logical choice was to start my own blog. So here I am. My aim, of course, is to keep my expectations of myself low and thereby ensure that I will disappoint myself with much less frequency. So my goals are as follows: I would like to post at least one other blog before giving up on the endeavor altogether. This sounds easy enough and it might be if I were not technologically impaired (or in PC terms: A PERSON with technological impairments). The point is I often get lost just maneuvering my own e-mail account so I am officially in over my head.

Here is my current (albeit primitive) understanding of the purpose(s) of a blog and the reasons I believe I am up for the task. The first is to "journal" personal thoughts, ideas, and inner desires and then publish these personal discoveries in a public fashion. Since I am given to self-deprecation, and thrive on open ridicule and/or absolute humiliation I thought "hey, why not make my private world public?"

The second reason I have discovered for blogging is to share one's opinion on politics, religion, world events, etc., with people who could (often) care less what you think. At this I will be awesome! I have an opinion on just about everything and I am one of the only people who cares to hear it most of the time (which in the past has led to a lot of talking to myself...but now I can blog to myself!)

Besides, as a homeschooling mom of three children I get tired of laying around all day and watching the soaps so this will be a pleasant diversion.

The truth is that I am on a journey and I don't want it to fly by without taking notice of the landmarks along the way, that is why I want to blog. I am a fellow sojourner, living life, reveling in the truth that I have been purchased and provided for by an all-powerful God, by the mighty work done through His Son on the cross. I'm discovering the depths of His infinite grace and long for His likeness. I am still falling, but now I am falling forward.