DEEP WATERS

For the first time ever, I asked my Facebook friends to contribute to my blog post today. I asked them to share their hopes for 2012, and mentioned that their responses could be serious, insightful or funny. They did not disappoint. I'd like to start with the mixed array of responses to this question. And then I'll share a few of my hopes for 2012. Enjoy... "My hope is to be consistent in maintaining the relative order I have recently achieved in my home. Living alone, it's often hard to feel like it's worth the effort when no one else sees it. My hope is to continue to see the value of it just because it makes me feel better." Shirley Schuette "My hope is to be preggers in the next 6 months!!" Monica Cauthorne McClain "To make an impact." Brandon Lee Hinson "James 1:27." Elizabeth Coley "After the baby is here, to be able to look down and see my feet again. :)" Sherrie Lourdon "To hear God... even...

Have you ever enjoyed a movie in the theater, watched the credits roll, then stand to leave, when all of a sudden, a new scene begins? You quickly take your seat, realizing, "Oh great, there's more!" Well, today's blog is kind of like that. I thought I had completed my retelling of Luke's retelling of the Christmas story... Until I read a little more of the story. Why don't you step back into Luke's narrative with me? There are a few more treasures just waiting for us to discover them. Follow me. I'll show you the way. After the birth of Jesus , Mary and Joseph, following the dictates of Jewish law, took Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. I just love the two elderly folks that stepped forward to bless Jesus at the Temple. Let's take a closer look at them in Luke chapter 2. Simeon was "righteous and devout.. and the Holy Spirit was upon him." (vs. 25) The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would not die before...

It's Christmas Eve and I'm thinking of Mary giving birth to the Christ-child, as I'm sure you are too. I can see them traveling by donkey or camel, Mary riding with her legs dangling to one side of the animal. Mary is exhausted and wondering when, oh when, they will arrive in Bethlehem. Joseph's brow wrinkles with concern for his young wife, especially when she moans with merciless labor pains. I can only imagine their frustration when they discover that the town, packed with sojourners, has no rooms available for them. What will they do? Where will they go? "The time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:6b-7 And this is how we reminisce on Jesus' birth. We think of the baby Jesus in the manger, with straw lining the makeshift crib. The world finds much comfort in Jesus remaining in the manger -- a cooing, g...

I'm so glad you joined me for our next step in our walk through the Christmas story through the eyes of Luke. Last time we took a look at the miracle of Christmas , a virgin girl becoming pregnant with our Savior. Once again, the Word of God reminded us that nothing is impossible with God. This morning as I read through Mary's song, my heart rejoiced with her in the great news of Gabriel, God's messenger. Although Mary only understood a portion of her calling at that time, she was humbled and honored to be considered so favored by God. Her response was immediate obedience and submission to the will of God. However, I noticed something for the first time today in my reading of Mary's song. I'll highlight the lines that stood out for me. See if you can find the running theme that I discovered. "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will cal...

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.” Matthew 1:23             Emmanuel. God with us. During the Christmas season we sing of God being with us.             “Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel. And ransom captive Israel...”             We know God is with us on Christmas, and every day of the year, but do we really believe He’s always with us?             On Christmas Day 2001, I questioned God’s presence in my life. Oh, I’d been a Christian for several years, and I’d grown exponentially in my walk with God by then. I had introduced several friends and family members to Christ. I had led women’s Bible studies. As a matter of fact, 2001 marked the year I’d become a pastor’s wife. Rest assur...

The Evangelical Church has got a problem. Oh, of course sin is rampant. Many people have turned their backs on organized religion, refusing to align themselves with the local church. And we are largely walking away from the Bible, no longer esteeming it as the inspired, God-breathed Word of our heavenly Father. But we've got another big problem today. We no longer believe in MIRACLES. We only believe what we see, hear, taste, smell and touch. If it can't be experienced through our five senses, we don't believe it exists. Of course we believe that Jesus came to earth as a lowly baby and that He lived a perfect life and died on the cross for our sins. We believe that He healed the sick. That he raised the dead. That He turned water to wine. Yet at Christmastime 2011, do we believe that He still performs miracles? Do I believe? Let's pick up where we left off in Luke's retelling of our Savior's birth. I'll summarize the next events for you. After t...

Well, here we are at post three in my "This Christmas" series. I've been challenged, encouraged and inspired. And I've cried a few tears. After writing only two posts, This Christmas: I Believe God and This Christmas: I'm Taking It Personally , my heart is so much more prepared for the celebration of our Savior's birth. I hope yours has been too. Let's tiptoe back into Luke's account of the Christmas story, and pick up where we left off. "In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you ." Luke 1:26-28 I've been focusing on the word Emmanuel this entire holiday season. Everywhere I turn, it's a name I keep hearing and reading. This past week, I took the kiddos to see "Bethlehem Revisited...

Thanks for joining me again as we walk through the story of the birth of Jesus as told by Luke. In Saturday's blog post we examined Zechariah and his doubt when the angel told him that he and his elderly wife Elizabeth would give birth to a son. I hope you resolved, along with me, to believe God this Christmas. Today, let's shine the spotlight on Zechariah's wife Elizabeth. After her husband returned from his service at the Temple of the Lord, Elizabeth became pregnant, just as the Angel Gabriel had foretold. Unlike Zechariah's response of unbelief, Elizabeth expressed her faith in the Living God. Let's take a look at her reply: "The Lord has done this for me ," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people." (Luke 1:25) I don't know about you, but as soon as something unfortunate happens in my life, I usually ask the question, "Why me, Lord?" When I'm suffering under some sor...

  Have you ever received a word from God? Not just the words received when you read and study the Bible. I mean a specific, just-for-you, kind of word from God. I have. I'll share a little about that later on. For now, let's take a look at a story in the Bible of someone that had a bit of a problem believing what God had to say. Luke begins his account of the birth of Jesus Christ with the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was a relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and her husband Zechariah was a priest. They had no children in their old age, because Elizabeth had been infertile their entire marriage. One day, the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah while he was burning incense in the temple of the Lord. Gabriel came with great news: Elizabeth would become pregnant with a son, a son that would be a joy to them and a great leader for God. "Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God," proclaimed Gabriel. "And he will...

Okay, so if you're feeling anything like me, you're a little weary of all the talk of thankfulness. I was starting to feel that way too, quite honestly. But then God opens my eyes to some amazing thing, and I think "Hey, I'm still thankful!" So in the aftermath of Thanksgiving, I just have to share one more thing I'm truly grateful for today. And actually it's pretty appropriate considering my husband and I are little behind on the holidays here. Case in point: if you drove around our cul-de-sac you'd notice our neighbors have packed away their scarecrows, pumpkins and wreaths full of fall leaves. The day after Thanksgiving (for one family, the day after Halloween!) these folks strung their white Christmas lights and hung their silver and gold wreaths. That is, except us. So I figure it makes sense for me to hang out in Thanksgiving here, since I'm still in the spirit anyway. Surely by my next blog post, I'll have thrown away my pumpkin...

Today I read this quote, and I thought it would be a great way to end my series on gratefulness. "In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich ." Dietrich Bonhoeffer It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich... Now that could preach. Especially today after a conversation I had with an old friend about SAT scores and college scholarships. While discussing a mutual friend and how well her daughter had done on the SAT, I exclaimed, "Man, those private schools. Those private school kids are so prepared when they graduate." Needless to say, my children are in public schools. And on most days that's not a problem at all. I'm actually quite pleased with their schools and teachers. But today, I immediately began wanting what my  friend has: the financial means to send her children to fabulous private schools that work overtime to challenge their students to be...

  Am I the only one that gets a little blue during the holidays? There are several reasons why I think this happens. I'll list a few, then hopefully I can leave you with a few words to encourage you (and myself, too). I think the holidays can be discouraging because: We miss the loved ones that have passed away and won't be able to celebrate the holidays with us Other families around us have received horrible news right around the holiday (an old friend of mine lost her father two days ago, a family in my church has a precious little daughter that just began chemotherapy, another church member just lost a family member to possible suicide, and the list just goes on) The world, with all its wars and controversies, hasn't taken a break for the holidays To sum up each of these points, I think we get blue around the holidays because we're longing for our heavenly home. Every day here on earth falls short of perfect joy somehow. And that includes even the very best d...

  I'll let you guys in on a secret. Since I've declared myself a "writer," I've faced rejection like never before. For every compliment or encouragement I receive about my work, I encounter at least two rejections. So, I figure, why not share some of the love here? The following devotional was rejected by a popular publisher of devotionals. It's not the best writing I've ever done, but I'd hoped to encourage people to have grateful hearts during the holidays, despite the painful experiences the year may have brought them. I have a cousin that lost her mother a few days after Thanksgiving. With Thanksgiving approaching, how can she be thankful for losing her most faithful confidant, cheerleader and friend? What about the family that just discovered their precious little girl has a rare form of cancer? What about the rest of us with our various disappointments, challenges and unrealized dreams? I'd like to propose that when we speak of I Th...

I'll begin this post by explaining the title of this post. I'm a writer, so bear with my detailed way of doing that. :-) Many of us over age 35 grew up on the "Cosby Show." We loved watching this sitcom every Thursday evening, grateful for the positive image of an African American couple that loved each other and trained their children well. On one episode (which I'll have to relay from memory), Cliff Huxtable (played by Bill Cosby) corrects one of the kids for saying he was "mad." He goes on to say, "Dogs get mad . People get angry ." The children then go on to list fictitious accounts of activities they've partaken in, like sneaking out of the house to go to a party across town. After each story, the kids ask their father and mother (Clair, played by Phylicia Rashad), "So Mom and Dad, are you angry ?" Each time their parents state they aren't angry, but they would get serious about the offender's punishment. At t...

Recently I've tackled a huge undertaking: writing my first nonfiction book. It's been exhilarating and fun, and I've stood amazed at how God is writing through me. I'll share much more about that in another blog post in the near future. For now, I'd like to continue with my adoption/orphan care series during this month, Adoption Awareness Month. When Steve Jobs passed away, I couldn't wait to blog about his fascinating life. You can read more about him in my earlier post Steve Jobs: Lessons from His Legacy . I thought I knew a lot about him, but my research led me to some interesting facts I didn't already know. Perhaps the coolest thing I discovered was the fact that he was adopted in infancy. In that post, I mentioned that "some of the coolest people are adopted," thus the inspiration for this post's title. Examining the life of Steve made me think about how adoption can completely change the trajectory of a person's life. It certainly ...

  This past Sunday, churches around the U.S. joined together with one voice for one purpose. Known as "Orphan Sunday," the first Sunday in November serves to bring awareness of the almost 150 million orphans around the world. These orphans should be a major priority of the Church. We Christians must make them a priority. Surely these orphans are part of the group Jesus had in mind when He said... "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40 So what will you do for the least of these? At Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas, we celebrated Orphan Sunday with great intentionality and purpose. Mosaic's "Hand in Hand: Loving the Fatherless" Missional small group began planning some time ago for this special service. The testimonies of adoptive parents, an Orphan Sunday video presentation and a challenging sermon from my hubby Anthony all challenged the congregation to discove...

"The Awakening" Statue in Washington D.C. There's a sleeping giant that's awakening in our midst. That giant is the Church. The issues that it's waking up over is caring for orphans. The signs are all around. I think we are starting to get it . Anyone who knows me knows my heart for adoption and orphan care. You know that my husband Anthony and I adopted two of our four children. You know that I talk about adoption as long as anyone will listen. So needless to say, I love when Adoption Awareness Month rolls around. During the month of November I have the perfect excuse to talk a lot about... well, adoption. For the past few months I have been a part of an organization called The CALL, or Children of Arkansas Loved for a Lifetime. The CALL was founded by Mary Carol Pederson, an Arkansas resident with a big heart for children, and especially children in foster care. Mary Carol knows it's impossible to alleviate the need for foster care, but her visi...

Some days I know exactly what I want to blog about. On those days I begin blogging like a racehorse running through the starting gate. Other times, I don't have a clue. By faith, I sit down at my keyboard and start writing. Those times are amazing, because I can testify to God writing those blog posts. Then other times, like today, I've got my mind totally set on my topic and I'm ready to write. Then God completely flips the script. Today is one of those days. For weeks now I've been planning to spend the entire month of November discussing adoption, foster care and the Church's call to care for the needs of orphans. With November being Adoption Awareness Month, I will certainly be sharing my heart for orphan care throughout the month. So stay tuned and pass my blog site on to any family, friends and church members of yours that have a heart for orphans as well. But a theme just keeps stirring up in my spirit that I know I'm supposed to commit some time t...

(Interesting note: I had some technical difficulties with this post on spiritual warfare. You'll notice extra spaces between a few paragraphs. Think I had a little warfare going on behind the scenes? Hmmm...) Well folks, I'm coming to the close of another "theme" month. Every time I commit to a specific theme for an entire month, I get really nervous. I wonder, "How in the world am I going to blog twice a week about that same topic?" And some how I pull it off. Actually, the truth is -- God pulls it off. He puts my spiritual antennae up, and everywhere I go I see, hear and experience things that line up with my theme. This month that I've focused around ministry (for Pastor's Appreciation Month) has been no exception. Before I share a short word about what God placed on my heart today, can I ask you for a few favors? First of all, I'd love to hear from you if you're reading. I've been told my comment form hasn't been w...

Me Beaming with Shane and my 14-year-old Kalin Okay so, I'm not going to start this blog like I did Coffee With Dennis Rainey . I'm not going to say that I hung out with Shane Claiborne tonight. Although I did hang out with Shane Claiborne (exhibit A: photo above). No, I'll come right out and admit it. I and about three hundred other people hung out with Shane tonight in a chapel service at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. On a serious note, though, hearing Shane live was really a treat. I'd been wanting to hear from this best-selling author and self proclaimed "prominent Christian activist, sought-after speaker, and a recovering sinner" for years now. So when I heard he'd be speaking only fifteen minutes away, I grabbed my son Kalin and made my way. For those unfamiliar with him, Shane writes and speaks all over the world about peacemaking, social justice and Jesus. With his shaggy goatee, dreadlocs swinging down his back and simple clothes, h...