I just read a truly heartbreaking news story...Steven Curtis Chapman's 5 year-old daughter was struck by a car in the driveway of the family home yesterday and died. The driver of the car was her teenage brother who did not see her.
My heart just broke for this family when I saw the headline. I can't imagine the anguish of the parents, and especially this boy who will bear the weight of this his entire life. I pray that somehow, someday he will be able to lay this burden down at the foot of the cross and let Jesus heal him from the guilt and the pain that he is bound to suffer.
If you aren't familiar with Steven Curtis Chapman, he is a 5-time Grammy award-winner and he has also won more than 50 Dove Awards from the Gospel Music Association. He is a top-selling artist in the Christian music industry.
The article I read said that the 5 year-old, Maria, was one of three children that Chapman and his wife adopted from China. They also have three biological children. The Chapmans have done mission work in Chinese orphanages, and established a foundation and ministry called Shaohannah's Hope to financially assist couples in adoption.
I want to post the lyrics to Chapman's most recent hit, "Cinderella." Could it be that the Lord has been preparing him for this tragedy?
"She spins and she sways
To whatever song plays
Without a care in the world
And I'm sitting here wearing
The weight of the world on my shoulders
It's been a long day
And there's still work to do
She's pulling at me Saying "Dad, I need you
There's a ball at the castle
And I've been invited
And I need to practice my dancing
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"
So I danced with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I danced with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone...
She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed
She wants to know if I approve of her dress
She says, "Dad, the prom is just one week away
And I need to practice my dancing
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"
So I danced with CinderellaWhile she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I danced with CinderellaI don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone
She will be gone
Well, she came home today with a ring on her hand
Just glowing and telling us all they had planned
She says, "Dad, the wedding's still six months away
But I need to practice my dancing
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"
So I danced with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I danced with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone"
Please pray for Steven Curtis Chapman and his family, especially their teenage son. Pray that God will enfold them in his loving embrace, that they will feel the prayers of the thousands of people around the world whose lives they have touched who are sure to be lifting them up, that they will find comfort and peace in the wake of this horrible accident, and that their faith will be stengthened rather than shaken.
"...For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones."
Isaiah 49:13
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Kaelie's Confirmation
What a wonderful weekend we had. I know it's Wednesday and I'm just now getting around to writing about it, but things have been a little hectic.
The weekend was so wonderful because I got to see my daughter confirmed in church on Sunday. What a privilege it was to be able to witness her and 16 other seventh graders stand before the congregation to publicly profess their faith in Jesus Christ. It was made extra-special by the fact that Joey's mom and her husband were able to come, and my parents had recovered enough from Dad's back surgery in March and Mom's hospital stay a couple of weeks ago for diverticulitis to be able to make the 5 1/2 hour trip from Virginia Beach. It was a really great family weekend!
I must say that regrettably, I don't recall my own confirmation. I vaguely remember sitting in some boring classes, and I'm sure they must have done something special during a church service, but it obviously wasn't something that stuck with me.
This group has attended 13 weeks worth of classes, and they also went on a special trip to Washington D.C., where they visited the National Cathedral and the National Holocaust Museum. They worshipped at Rising Hope Church, where they heard some powerful testimonies from homeless people and recovering addicts and also performed service projects in the church's food pantry and clothing bank.
In addition, their confirmation journey also included time with mentors, church members who gave of themselves every Sunday evening to help shepherd these kids in their faith. Kaelie's mentor, Kristie, was wonderful. I'm so grateful to her for the ways that she has reached out in love to Kaelie.
As part of the confirmation church service, each mentor selected a verse for their confirmand. For Kaelie, Kristie selected Matthew 5:5 from The Message translation. "You're blessed when you're content with just who you are--no more--no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought."
The more familiar NIV translation says "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." I think of that as being humble, recognizing that God is sovereign and I am not, that I can do nothing on my own, but only by his grace and power.
I like the Message translation for reminding us also to not think of ourselves as any less than we are. I think it is especially wise counsel for a seventh-grade girl. Girls that age are always comparing themselves to other people and worrying about popularity and how they measure up. I have prayed so many times for my girls to always be able to see themselves through God's lenses and not to judge themselves by the world's standards..."being content with just who they are--no more, no less."
I also pray that they will always know my love for them for just who they are, beautiful children of God with their own unique personalities, gifts and abilities. I'm so blessed and grateful that I get to be their mom, and for the times like confirmation when God lets me see the great things he is doing in their lives!
The weekend was so wonderful because I got to see my daughter confirmed in church on Sunday. What a privilege it was to be able to witness her and 16 other seventh graders stand before the congregation to publicly profess their faith in Jesus Christ. It was made extra-special by the fact that Joey's mom and her husband were able to come, and my parents had recovered enough from Dad's back surgery in March and Mom's hospital stay a couple of weeks ago for diverticulitis to be able to make the 5 1/2 hour trip from Virginia Beach. It was a really great family weekend!
I must say that regrettably, I don't recall my own confirmation. I vaguely remember sitting in some boring classes, and I'm sure they must have done something special during a church service, but it obviously wasn't something that stuck with me.
This group has attended 13 weeks worth of classes, and they also went on a special trip to Washington D.C., where they visited the National Cathedral and the National Holocaust Museum. They worshipped at Rising Hope Church, where they heard some powerful testimonies from homeless people and recovering addicts and also performed service projects in the church's food pantry and clothing bank.
In addition, their confirmation journey also included time with mentors, church members who gave of themselves every Sunday evening to help shepherd these kids in their faith. Kaelie's mentor, Kristie, was wonderful. I'm so grateful to her for the ways that she has reached out in love to Kaelie.
As part of the confirmation church service, each mentor selected a verse for their confirmand. For Kaelie, Kristie selected Matthew 5:5 from The Message translation. "You're blessed when you're content with just who you are--no more--no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought."
The more familiar NIV translation says "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." I think of that as being humble, recognizing that God is sovereign and I am not, that I can do nothing on my own, but only by his grace and power.
I like the Message translation for reminding us also to not think of ourselves as any less than we are. I think it is especially wise counsel for a seventh-grade girl. Girls that age are always comparing themselves to other people and worrying about popularity and how they measure up. I have prayed so many times for my girls to always be able to see themselves through God's lenses and not to judge themselves by the world's standards..."being content with just who they are--no more, no less."
I also pray that they will always know my love for them for just who they are, beautiful children of God with their own unique personalities, gifts and abilities. I'm so blessed and grateful that I get to be their mom, and for the times like confirmation when God lets me see the great things he is doing in their lives!
Friday, May 16, 2008
And the Winner is...Miracle Grow!
It's been a long week at our house. Besides softball games and practices, choir rehearsals and concert, Kaelie has been spending some late nights working on her 7th grade science fair project. She finally turned it in today, and the science fair open house will be Monday evening.
For her project, Kaelie decided to test several different fertilizers on green bean plants. She planted four pots using vermiculite (a sythetic soil which contains no nutrients whatsoever) in each one. She left one pot unfertilized, added Miracle Grow to one, some other kind of fertilizer to another, and coffee grounds to the fourth.
As we watched the seeds sprout, we noted that each of the plants seemed to start out about the same, and continued with similar growth and health over the course of several weeks. More recently, however, the plants in the pure vermiculite and the coffee grounds began yellowing, and the beans they produced did not appear to be as large or healthy. The end result, Miracle Grow appeared to grow the healthiest-looking bean plants.
As Kaelie worked late into the night last night preparing her presentation, the Holy Spirit reminded me of Jesus' parable of the four soils in Mark 4:14-20.
"The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like the seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."
Kaelie's bean plants did not have a choice of fertilizers. They got whatever she chose, or chose not to mix in. They grew as best they could, but a couple began to wither. The one that received the fertilizer which supplied exactly the right nutrients was able to thrive.
What are you using for your fertilizer? It's so easy to rely on friends and family to see us through hard times, or turn to self-help books written by self-proclaimed gurus on whatever the subject matter happens to be.
In the parable of the four soils, Jesus offers the best fertilizer of all, his word! It supplies exactly what we need to not only sustain us, but to help us to grow and flourish as people of God. Unlike the bean plants which had no say-so in their fertilization, we have a choice to "hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop." And what a crop it could be...a harvest of people who look at our lives and our faith and say, "I'll have whatever she's having!"
What fertilizer can I offer to a withering soul? Divine miracle grow of course, the Word of God!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
A New Season
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
(1 Peter 2:9)
We have two beautiful maple trees in our backyard. The only problem is, they are among the last trees in the Spring to get their leaves, and among the first in the Fall to lose them.
For the last couple of weeks, I watched every day as the trees budded. It seemed to take forever for the buds to begin to open and the leaves to very slowly begin to unfold and grow. Then one day, I looked out the window and marveled at how the leaves seemed to have appeared overnight, and the trees suddenly appeared vibrant and alive.
Today I realized that I have been very much like those trees. My world seemed to stop for a little while upon learning in January that I have MS. As I struggled to come to grips with it both physically and emotionally, I felt like I was in some sort of dormant state, a holding pattern if you will.
This morning, when my friend Barbara asked me how I'm doing, I was able to respond that I'm doing really well. I told her that I'm feeling better physically, and that mentally and emotionally I'm no longer in a place where it's constantly occupying my thoughts. I feel really good.
"A couple of months ago," I said, "I wasn't there. It's taken some time to be able to let go of it and say that it is what it is and it's okay."
As I spoke those words to Barbara, I could see the leaves on the maple trees outside my kitchen window blowing in a gentle breeze, and that's when I realized the parallel with my life these last few months. It has taken time and effort, but just as winter has changed to spring and the earth has come back to life, God has brought me through a harsh season as well, and I want to enjoy this life I've been given!
It felt really good to be able to say "I feel really good," and to say it with complete sincerity. It almost caught me by surprise, kind of like the leaves that seemed to have opened overnight. I'm so thankful to God, the one who "called me out of the darkness into his wonderful light."
"The Lord will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing." (Isaiah 51:3)
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Walking the Talk
"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:18
Something happened at Sunday school the other day that touched me so deeply. A lady who has only recently joined the class with her husband came in and brought me a sticker. It was from the MS Walk a few weeks ago, and it had my name on it, stating that she was walking in my honor.
This is a lady who lives in my neighborhood, and though we have known each other for the last several years, it has really been only casually. I've enjoyed having her and her husband in Sunday school. It has given me the opportunity to get to know them better. She had told me a couple of weeks before the MS Walk that she was planning to participate on my behalf. I was practically moved to tears that she was even considering it, but then I never heard anything more about it.
Well, not only did she walk, but her 18 year-old son did as well. She said she wanted so much to do something for me when she heard of my MS diagnosis. She knew we were getting plenty of meals brought to us, and figured this would be a practical way of expressing her support.
You know, I felt her love when she first told me of her plans to walk and I so appreciated the gesture. But when she carried through with it, putting her love to action, then I also experienced God's love and grace. I think that's what the verse from 1 John is trying to tell us.
When our love for others stems from our love for Christ and a desire to serve him, people will see Christ reflected in us, and know his love for them. We're called to a love that goes much deeper than lip service, we have to walk the talk!
Something happened at Sunday school the other day that touched me so deeply. A lady who has only recently joined the class with her husband came in and brought me a sticker. It was from the MS Walk a few weeks ago, and it had my name on it, stating that she was walking in my honor.
This is a lady who lives in my neighborhood, and though we have known each other for the last several years, it has really been only casually. I've enjoyed having her and her husband in Sunday school. It has given me the opportunity to get to know them better. She had told me a couple of weeks before the MS Walk that she was planning to participate on my behalf. I was practically moved to tears that she was even considering it, but then I never heard anything more about it.
Well, not only did she walk, but her 18 year-old son did as well. She said she wanted so much to do something for me when she heard of my MS diagnosis. She knew we were getting plenty of meals brought to us, and figured this would be a practical way of expressing her support.
You know, I felt her love when she first told me of her plans to walk and I so appreciated the gesture. But when she carried through with it, putting her love to action, then I also experienced God's love and grace. I think that's what the verse from 1 John is trying to tell us.
When our love for others stems from our love for Christ and a desire to serve him, people will see Christ reflected in us, and know his love for them. We're called to a love that goes much deeper than lip service, we have to walk the talk!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Update on the "Bridge Man"
I received word today that the man who was living under the bridge near my house has been relocated to a more permanent living situation. I don't know what or where, but I'm glad to know he's not under the bridge anymore! Praise God for the concerned citizens and the two non-profit emergency assistance agencies that were able to work something out for him!
The Truth About False Prophets
Yesterday my daughter Kaelie and I were flipping through TV channels and came across a show called "Inside A Cult" on the National Geographic channel. The show was about a cult called Strong City that allowed a reporter access to its property and interviews with some of the people there. Its leader, Michael something-or-other, was predicting Judgement Day on October 31, 2007.
This guy called himself a "Messiah"and had his followers completely convinced that he knew what he was talking about, that they were the only safe ones and the rest of the miserable world was going to be wiped out. It was disturbing to see how these people clung to him, how the teenagers giggled at suggestions by the reporter that they had been brainwashed and could be in danger.
The Bible warns of false prophets, which this guy Michael clearly was. Besides the fact that Judgement Day did not occur last Halloween, we have the words of Jesus himself to help us identify false prophets.
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marraige, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man...Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." (Matt. 24:36-39, 42)
In doing some internet searching, I found Strong City's website. Not only did this Michael guy wrongly predict "the end," he goes so far on the website to say "I am the Word of God." John 1:1 says "In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." So in effect, this guy is saying he is God.
I went further into the website to read some blog posts from other curious/concerned visitors such as myself. Many quoted Scriptures and asked questions intended to trip this guy up and expose him for what he is. He was able to quote Scripture back in ways to suit his purposes and make him sound frighteningly believable...almost. Reading the whole sickening thing really drove home the point to me how critical it is for Christians to study and know God's Word, to be prepared to share it correctly at every opportunity.
It was a blessing that I happened to come across this TV show just a couple of weeks after I had studied the Matthew passage above in Bible Study Fellowship. Kaelie, who did not know what a cult was, had some questions. I was able to not only explain to her about cults and their dangers, but to also share God's truth with her so that she will be able to identify as false prophets those who make such brash predictions. I'm so thankful to God for giving us his Word!
Do not let yourself be deceived, stick to the Word and live each day for the Lord!
This guy called himself a "Messiah"and had his followers completely convinced that he knew what he was talking about, that they were the only safe ones and the rest of the miserable world was going to be wiped out. It was disturbing to see how these people clung to him, how the teenagers giggled at suggestions by the reporter that they had been brainwashed and could be in danger.
The Bible warns of false prophets, which this guy Michael clearly was. Besides the fact that Judgement Day did not occur last Halloween, we have the words of Jesus himself to help us identify false prophets.
"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marraige, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man...Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." (Matt. 24:36-39, 42)
In doing some internet searching, I found Strong City's website. Not only did this Michael guy wrongly predict "the end," he goes so far on the website to say "I am the Word of God." John 1:1 says "In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." So in effect, this guy is saying he is God.
I went further into the website to read some blog posts from other curious/concerned visitors such as myself. Many quoted Scriptures and asked questions intended to trip this guy up and expose him for what he is. He was able to quote Scripture back in ways to suit his purposes and make him sound frighteningly believable...almost. Reading the whole sickening thing really drove home the point to me how critical it is for Christians to study and know God's Word, to be prepared to share it correctly at every opportunity.
It was a blessing that I happened to come across this TV show just a couple of weeks after I had studied the Matthew passage above in Bible Study Fellowship. Kaelie, who did not know what a cult was, had some questions. I was able to not only explain to her about cults and their dangers, but to also share God's truth with her so that she will be able to identify as false prophets those who make such brash predictions. I'm so thankful to God for giving us his Word!
Do not let yourself be deceived, stick to the Word and live each day for the Lord!
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