Dark and Twisty

There are some days in this life that just don't seem to be as bright and shiny as other days. Sometimes days feel more dark and twisty than bright and shiny and sometimes I think God wants us to stay there. What if those are the places where God speaks the loudest? What if we are running from the one things that will make us whole and what if those are the places where God wants us to live on faith and not lean on our emotions.

According to Hebrews faith is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see"....so really it's in the moments when we feel hopeless that we are to have faith in what we hope for.....it's the times when we are uncertain of what is unseen that God calls us to stand up and believe in him and keep hoping. Not that sureness and certainty in God always makes us want to dance and smile but it does keep us rooted deep down to an anchor that does not move with the shifting sand of this life. It is a hope that is both sure and steadfast (Heb. 6:19)and a hope that rises in the darkest of circumstances. It is the kind of faith you draw from when a loved one dies or you feel like the bottom has fallen out....it is the truth that is like joy rising within us when the future is impossible to look at with hope. This joy may not lead us to laughter...it actually may be more likely to appear when tears are streaming down our faces or we are holding a friends hand from a hospital bed....or when we reach out to a friend only to find emptiness. (Ps 25:5)"guide me in your truth and teach me,for you are God my Savior,and my hope is in you all day long"

All day long my hope is in you. If our hope is in anything or anyone else we will surely be lost on our dark and twisty days but with our eyes on the Faith giver we can find joy....joy that knows God is in control for the good of those who love him (Rom.8:28).

Here's a song I've been encouraged by today.

Cover me, cover up my tears
Cover up this man who's covered up in fear
I need a peace of mind, I need a piece of you
To cover all that's gone and everything that's new
You unveil me with your mercy
I want to breathe you in
You unfold me, then you hold me

Cover up my heart, cover up my soul
Cover up this world and everything I know
You cover up the sky, you cover up the sea
Cover up the mountains and every part of me
And every single breath I breathe...Cover me

You unveil me with your mercy
I want to breathe you in
You unfold me then you hold me
I want to shed this skin
You unveil me with your mercy
You unfold me, then you hold me
You unbreak me, would you take me home

Sneechy, Sneeches

Last night our worship minister sat all 250 of us down (orchestra and choir) and shared this Dr. Suess story about Sneeches and how we tend to think one way is better than others, in regards to worship style. He related it back to music styles and preferences and talked about how we all have different tastes….he went to Philippians 2 about thinking of others as better than ourselves and serving them and making them better……I especially related because I’m in a 5 person horn section and am probably the worst player but they all loved having me and help me out a lot………. Anyway, thought you would enjoy this little youtube clip.

Hope your holding onto Jesus on this ride!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh1qWZWNGGE

The Gypsy's Name is "Maria"

As I pulled up my chair next to the Gypsy lady I saw that she wasn't reading her notes. I wondered if they were the English ones so I offered her a Romanian version. She said no thank you and that's when I thought about the possibility that she couldn't read. I later found out that the lady they called "The Gypsy" was named Maria. She couldn't speak English but I was amazed by her desperate need for God. She had traveled many hours to our retreat. We came to learn that most of the south side of Romania is very poor and filled with many Gypsy's. (Did you know they are descended from India?) Most of them have very large families and children and struggle to put food on the table. However, Maria was not just living among them as a poor mother and wife she was also the wife of a church planter. She had a desire to minister to the women of her village and surrounding ones with the limited means she had. She was one of the recipients of the free massages one of our team members was offering. She had won this prize by randomly being given a blue ball point pen. As she came to her massage she revealed wounds on her stomach from an intensive surgery she was recovering from. You would have never known she was carrying around such physical wounds. However, it was clear she had deep wounds from the life she lives out there in her own barren land. After her massage she clutched her blue pen and asked if there was another one she could have for her daughter. This pen seemed like the biggest and best prize she had ever had. Cheryl asked her how many daughters she had and she said "5". Cheryl reached in her bag and found exactly 4 more blue pins and as she handed them to Maria you could tell she was so touched and excited to bring gifts home to her children. Maybe she was holding onto the hope that her children would rise above her to learn to read and write. As the retreat ended I packed up and went to the lobby to meet our team. I was so proud of how I had packed for a 3 day trip and fit it all in my back pack with my sneakers clipped to the front. As we left I saw Maria get up from a couch with all her possessions wrapped in a hankerchief. She had a couple of containers with liquid in it (probably for their journey) but as I said good bye to her tears began to fill my eyes. She had so little in her hands to offer the Lord and yet she was going back to impact her community with the "fish and bread" in her hands. I was challenged to think of what was in my hands...what resources has God given to me to offer him? If she had so little and she could still offer it to him....I surely had more. The words of a song came to my mind: "Maybe the last ones are the lucky ones, the ones who've got this whole thing figured out. For when they go looking for something beautiful they go looking from the inside out"....