Author: LAH

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Singin’ the Church Blues

Last week a friend asked me how our church was doing. She used to worship there too, but a life crisis sent her searching for something different, and she’s been a member at her new church for three years now.

I answered the way I usually do—the church is still doing a good job on the things they’ve always done well. The sermons are biblical and engaging, the music has a world-wide reputation for excellence, and the staff is dedicated. Short-term mission teams are being sent out and a new project will focus on the needs here in our city. People are getting to know God for the first time and disciples are being made. In fact, it sounds just about perfect.

Then she asked a harder question: how am I doing with the church? And I had to truthfully state that I’m frustrated.

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Keeping God on the To-do List

Waking to the insistent beeping of my alarm clock, I groggily thought, “I have got to learn to say no!”

Usually, life ambles along at a fairly reasonable pace. There are brief stretches when we’re too busy, and even briefer stretches where I have enough spare time that I consider adding another responsibility, but for the most part, I have a good balance between working hard and relaxing, with plenty of time for contemplating God at work in my life.

Lately, all that balance has come crashing down on the side of overload.

There’s work to attend to, housework needs doing, and I’m spending far more time than I had anticipated on a photography class I’m taking. The perennials out in the yard are clamoring for me to clean off last year’s winter-killed stems and leaves, and the vegetable seeds I ordered need planting.

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Finnish Coffee Bread

Easter (or Resurrection Sunday, as our previous church called it) is coming in a few weeks. I don’t want to distract you from focusing on Jesus, but like all holidays, Easter can become more meaningful when family traditions are incorporated into the celebration.

Back when Pete and I became engaged,  his mother, Martha, gave me a copy of the Finnish cookbook she frequently referred to, as she endeavored to pass along her Finnish heritage to her six children. I was then politely (but firmly!) informed that if I was going to be a member of the family, I should start learning how to make Nisu! This mouth-watering yeast bread, also known as Pulla, is served year-round in Finland, but I don’t have the time and energy to make it every Saturday. At our house, it’s the most important part of our annual Easter brunch.

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More Blessings… (I think)

Last week I wrote about the many ways God was gracious to us on our California adventure. Even through I wrote more than usual, there was no way to fit everything in. It was truly a trip to remember, and I’m very, very thankful.

Eventually you have to come home. We finally walked through the door at midnight, Tuesday night. We dragged our bags up the stairs, ran through a quick shower, and crawled into our own bed. Coming home can be pretty nice.

It wasn’t until morning that we discovered God’s next “blessing”—the kind of blessing you have to examine closely before you see the good part.

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Counting Some Blessings…

Frequently I find myself viewing God as a serious, “it might hurt but it’s good for you” kind of guy. That is certainly one aspect of his personality. He is a Father who loves enough to discipline, who has called us to a life of service and selfless love, who asks us to sacrifice everything for the greater good that is the salvation of our souls.

But sometimes God reminds me that he also delights in giving us good things. While he values our sanctification above our temporal happiness, He takes pleasure in giving us good gifts. Our recent trip to California certainly qualifies as a wonderful gift.

We had entertained vague notions of spending a week or so reconnecting with friends in Silicon Valley, bringing supporters up to date, and maybe squeezing in a bit of much-needed R&R in the green California springtime. Apparently, God thought this was a good idea. When we were offered a pair of “buddy passes” on Alaska Airlines (enabling us to fly stand-by for a substantial discount), we quickly accepted, and scheduled the trip.

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There’s a Mouse in the House!

 

Eew! What was that horrible smell? Even with chronic congestion associated with my being allergic to nearly everything, I could tell something had died. Following my nose, I wandered downstairs, then into the corner of the basement with the seldom-used utility sink. As I got closer, I realized the deep sink was completely full of dirty water  that lapped at the faucet and threatened to spill over the counter and onto the floor. I hastily ran upstairs to alert my handyman husband.

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Let God

I’ve always tried to do excellent work whether as a volunteer or a paid employee. I believe God desires for us to do our best at all times, as a reflection of His presence in our lives. As Paul writes in Colossians 3:23-24—“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.’

We’re also told to obey earthly authorities (1 Peter 2:13). But what do we do when these two Godly commandments conflict with one another?

Several times in the course of my life I’ve come up against. circumstances where I was under the authority of someone who told me, “Don’t think—just do it my way.” And each time, their way wasn’t very good.

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Green

Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day. I’m one-eighth Irish, so it is my right—my duty!—to mark the day with a celebration. I’m not much into green beer (or any other color beer, for that matter), and corned beef and cabbage actually hail from New England, not Ireland. However, having visited the Auld Sod, I can attest that it is very, very green. It is so green that the green grass reflects in the clouds, and they look green! The Blarney Stone (in the castle shown at left) has green algae growing on it (all those kisses add to the slime factor). And green is my favorite color.

Therefore, in honor of St. Pat,  today’s blog is all about things that are green.

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Mission Myths: Not Me, Not There!

A friend of ours recently pointed out an article by Shane Bennett that appeared several years ago in Missions Catalyst, “a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry.”

In his two-part post on Top Ten Myths about Missions , Bennett explained:

I want to understand how the average Lou and Sue, sitting in the pew, think about missions stuff. What begins to crackle in their minds when the pastor introduces a “missions” speaker? What synapses fire when a video rolls about poor kids in Faroffistan? From what I’ve seen there are some serious misconceptions floating around in our churches, at least some of our churches. We could call these collective assumptions, beliefs that simply don’t reflect reality, “myths.”

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