The Princess and the happy ending

When I was in Ontario, visiting my grandchildren there, I had many opportunities to read stories. My oldest granddaughter, who is soon turning 7, loves to read, so I had many stories read to me as well.

What a pleasure listening to the stories unfold, told in the voice of my own little princess. Many of them were about girls who were looking for a princess or wanting to be one or found out they were one.

Such adventures, but as we read, we discovered something...every girl can be a princess. Inside every girl there is a princess.

From the stories we read, we found out that there are three things that can determine if you are a true princess, kindness to others, generosity to the poor and beauty...on the inside. How wonderful to know that by showing kindness, being generous and letting our beauty shine we can be a princess in our own right. There is no one who can take away this truth. But, like it happens in some stories, you may think that there are those who can make you feel unworthy or inferior...some 'mean step-mother'' or a 'wicked queen' or an 'evil king'.

Now, another lesson we learned from our stories was that 'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. " a quote from 'Barbie Princess Charm School'. I love that, a lesson from Barbie...no one can make you feel less than you are. What a concept, no one can make me feel less than I am!

The Bible says we are royalty with the King...I am remembering a study we did on Tamar. Tamar was treated badly by Amnon, very badly...raped and then tossed aside, forgotten. Apparently, she lived the rest of her life feeling unworthy and believed the lie that Amnon left her with. The truth is no action by Amnon could change her bloodline, she was the daughter of a king. As are we, we are joint heirs with Christ, we are royalty. If we are not royalty, He is not King.

"The King is enthralled by your beauty; honor Him for He is your Lord. All glorious is the princess within her chamber; her gown is interwoven with gold. In embroidered garments she is led to the King; her companions follow her. They are led in with joy and gladness; they enter the palace of the King." Psalm 45 : 11-15

The truth is I am His princess and He is enthralled by my beauty! No one can take that from me...or from you...our story does have a happy ending.

Now I know his name

"Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours,

yours are the eyes with which He looks compassion on this world,

yours are the feet He walks to do good, yours are the hands with which

He blesses all the world."

Saint Teresa of Avila

Our church was highly motivated about a month ago to help a family in Arnold. It was very amazing to watch the people here step forward to be willing workers to a family in need. It's not that this family needed money or food, they just needed a hand. A helping hand to show support, love, care, compassion and to help them stand...to just stand.

They were overcome with the care of their son, only 18, who was suffering with cancer, a rare kind.

The folks here were the eyes of Christ and saw the need. They became the hands and feet of Jesus, many of them on their knees. They gathered together to work in the family's blueberry fields to pull weeds and clean the fields. They were a blessing to that family and to those who watched and heard the story...blessings in this small part of our world, the hands and feet of Jesus.

At the time I didn't know the boy but I felt for him and his family, I knew how their hearts felt...I know how their hearts feel still.

Later, when I saw his picture, I was surprised to see that I had spoken with him. He was a young man that I'd had a conversation with at the cancer agency, one morning on my shift there. He had a calmness about him, even though he was talking about scary treatments. He had made an impression on me, I thought he was very brave and very wise. I remember watching the back of him as he made his way down the hall and out the door...now I know his name.

His name was Kody, he lost his battle with cancer October 8, 2011

Here I Am

"Here I Am, I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me." Revelation 3 :20

I was interested by a new thought when I read this verse, well an old thought really, I've studied this verse before. I'm sure we all have at sometime, it is a popular verse. But I think that the point of it is often lost or forgotten, maybe just taken for granted. Somehow, we generally think that we are the one that is 'doing' , you know, going to the door listening and then there is God, calling out 'Here I Am'. In fact, it is God who comes to the door first. He is the one who is 'doing'. It is not by what we do that He comes to the door. He comes to the door and then we do something.

This week in our study, we were asked the question "Who loved first, we or God?" Then, Blackaby goes on to add "God always takes the initiative to establish a love relationship with me."

God's initiative... not mine.

John 15:16 says "You did not choose me but I chose you" and Phillipians 2:13 says "It is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose" and Deuteronomy 30:6 "The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your heart and with all your soul and live."

He loved first. What a relief really, that it is not by what I do that God comes, how amazing that He has chosen me, that He has loved me so much that He sent His own son to the cross. Yes, it is God who is the one 'doing'.

It is He who lets us know that He is there..."Here I Am".

Dietrich Bonhoeffer...yes I'm still reading that book...calls it 'being grasped by God'. He expresses the idea " (about philosophy) ...in which man himself tried to reach heaven or truth or God but theology begins and ends with faith in Christ who reveals himself to man, apart from such revelation there could be no such thing as truth. Thus the philosopher as well as the theologian who operates on the philosophers assumptions - chases his own tail and gazes at his own navel. He cannot break out of that cycle but God can break in."

Have you been grasped by God or are you chasing your own tail? Stop 'doing' for "Here I Am"...He is knocking at the door.

Come to the table

I've been in Ontario for the last week or so, the weather has been amazingly beautiful!

I've heard it said that Canada is God's Country, after seeing this part of the country, I really do believe it's true!

While I've been here, I've been to Niagra Falls, seen the CN Tower in Toronto and driven into the fields of Perth County. All of it, under beautiful, clear blue skies! All of it spectacular and amazing!

In Perth County, close to where Devon lives, we went to a particular field that had been prepared for a specific purpose, to provide for the hungry. Over 120 combines gathered to harvest over 160 acres of soy beans and they did it in 11 minutes and 43 seconds! They were aiming for a world record. They were wanting to feed the hungry. It was absolutely amazing to watch...a powerful message!

The event was in partnership with Canadian Food Grains Bank, an agency with over 20,000 Canadian churches connected to it, but organized by this community of farmers and their local churches, they called it " 'Harvest for Hunger' ...come to the table"

Harvesting for the hungry. Men and women coming together to harvest and share their abundance with others in the world...God's world...powerful machines, an abundant crop and willing workers. It was amazing to witness and to join in where God was working!

" Celebrate the feast of Harvest with the first fruits of the crops you sow in your field, celebrate the feast of ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in your crops from the field."

Exodus 26:16

How appropriate, as the following weekend we celebrated Thanks-Giving, where we all came to the table and shared a meal with the people we love, giving thanks to a God who loves us...abundantly!

Together we can accomplish what no one person can do alone...come to the table.

Leave and go...

These are the words that God spoke to Abram "Leave your country, your people and your fathers household and go to the land I will show you."

Specific and simple. Vague but sure. Frightening and yet, somehow safe.

Frightening in the way that God is asking Abram to leave everything that he knows, everything that he holds dear, everything that he has hold to, his home, his people, his future...very frightening.

Yet, safe. Safe in the way that God is confirming that He will be there showing Abram the way '...I will show you.'

So, Abram left.

Would I have left?' Would I think God would be asking me to leave? I am not so sure. My view point has been and maybe still is, wait and see. If God really wants me to do something, maybe I'll just wait and see, surely he will find some way to convince me if He really wants me to obey. He will ask me again.

I weigh everything, maybe too much. Maybe I need to listen and just do it... to look around me and listen to what God is asking me to do. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I do listen and just do it...sometimes too often...without weighing.

I wish It would be simple. I wish I would always do the right thing, the thing that God was asking of me. I also wish that what He was asking of me was simple, like leave and go. Simple. I wish that what He would be asking me would be safe.

Well one thing I do know is that wishing is of no use when it comes to obeying God, and having it simply laid out is not going to happen, it is simply going to be step by step, day by day...

Leave and go ...He will show me.