Faith

One Thing That Makes Patience Less Annoying

But Lord have mercy, how I don’t have patience for time.

So when we plant some aspen trees on Saturday, I remark they look more like aspen sticks. How many summers must pass before these toddler trees become full grown?

I don’t want to wait on them.

And when that child tells his sister she is most unwelcome to play his game, I throw my hands up in the air and wonder how long will it take for him to learn a little unselfish sibling love?

I don’t want to wait on him to figure it out.

I don’t want to wait on Him, either. I want to see some results pronto.

But if I am going to have true, lasting faith in God, then I must accept that much of what He teaches is not up for observation. We don’t learn from studying things right in front of us. Rather, we learn from accepting what isn’t. The hard part is believing it’s there just the same.

Sometimes, we must believe the invisible.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Hebrews 11:3

I did not see God create the world with my own eyes. Yet I believe He brought life from formless black nothing. When He commands, things happen.

So, while today my kids are ornery, this relationship is torn, that dream is unfulfilled, I have faith it’s never hopeless because God makes the invisible visible. He creates life from nothing. We just need to have the patience to persevere and keep the faith that through this, we will inherit His promises (Hebrews 6:12).

I tend to see patience as an annoying do-nothing, someone who’s just sitting around expecting opportunity to drop in her lap. But the truth is patience is quietly working at her desk, just waiting for the best opportunity to show her profitable work. Things are most assuredly happening while we are patient, but what’s happening is invisible.

In the Christian walk, we don’t always see first and then believe. Sometimes, seeing is not believing. Rather believing is seeing.

May the eyes of our faith be open to believe.

August 13, 2012 6 Comments Filed Under: Faith, Faith in Action Tagged With: Hope

When You Need to Soothe Those Sore Places

By Kristen

Great day y’all, puppies are a whole lot of work.

Georgie chews and chews on everything within reach of her paws and jaws. {I’m watching her right now go to town on a bell pepper plant from our garden. Whimper.} Of course we have super awesome chew toys for her, and they will do if they are within reach. Even then, her ADD puppy self finds wood, bark, rocks, legos, undies, flip-flops, and garden plants fair game. She isn’t picky. But should she find herself without anything to chew, she’ll plow over the trash can. In her doggy view, the trash can holds the Disney World booty of chew toy options.

Oh, how she loves herself some quality time with the trash can.

She has a one track mind: do whatever it takes to soothe those sore baby teeth. But still, not all “chew toys” are created equal and some soothe better than others.

I wonder if we people are the same? We all have sore places, and we anxiously sniff for something to soothe them. But we can be lazy and just go for what’s close: television, magazines, or an endless ADD cycle of facebook, twitter, and email. Those things are just fine in and of themselves; heaven knows I enjoy them all. But run to them and only them {all the time} and I’m just searching through the trash can for a quick fix. I’m forgetting the one thing that really satisfies the soul-ache: God’s living and enduring Word.

May we wisely choose to chew on what edifies and encourages us, what really soothes the sore places.

{And may Georgie lose her love affair with the trash can. Amen.}

July 25, 2012 7 Comments Filed Under: Faith, Faith in Action

When You Need to Soak Up a Good View

By Kristen

We drive to the historic Broadmoor hotel and wile a Sunday away. The view speaks good things and the grounds burst with bloomy showy flowers. I love walking around the place and soaking in all her summertime glory. The five-star hotel itself is really out of our league; we are more Holiday Inn kind of peeps. I wonder if this is obvious to those we pass by. Can people tell we are just visiting locals rather than fancy guests?

We take a short cut through the hotel to get back to the lobby, and we inadvertently enter through the five-star hotel’s five-star restaurant. I want to duck my head, stare at the floor, and quickly find my way to the door. But I realize that’s silly. So I square my shoulders, put my head up and stroll through the restaurant so confidently, I imagine I give Heidi Klum on the catwalk a run for her money.

Once outside, I turn around to peek inside the restaurant’s window. I think about the phrase “on the outside looking in” and realize that’s exactly what my insecure feelings try to sell me. I’m missing out on something I’m not good enough for or special enough to receive. But that’s a lie. When I’m doing my level best to follow God’s plan for me, the truth is I’m always on the inside looking out.

Lord, help me remember to always appreciate the view.

July 18, 2012 3 Comments Filed Under: Being a Woman, Faith, Family

When Your Heart Needs Protection

By Kristen

At 1:30am, the smoke alarm pierces the still night air, and I shoot up like a rocket.

When your nearby mountains and town have been battling wildfires, the screeching beeps send your heart beat into the stratosphere.

Our house is safely away from the fires, but the smoke snakes its way over here most days, and that is what triggered the alarm. We all know this, but it doesn’t stop us from checking every room and closet. It takes time for our hearts to quit pumping fast and furious.

As of this morning, the Waldo Canyon fire is 70% contained. Tragically, two people died and 346 homes perished after the flames came flying down the mountain into Colorado Springs Tuesday night. But tucked inside this bad news is the good news that thanks to efforts of firefighters and homeowners alike, over 80% of the homes in this same neighborhood were saved. How?

Often, it came down to triage. At times, firefighters identified homes where owners had done fire mitigation work — clearing debris from their houses and off porches and pine needles from property. In the moments before the flames arrived, firefighters did that work for the residents — going so far as to push grills onto sidewalks and throw lawn chairs off decks. But many of those [homes] without such fire preparation work were burning. Firefighters were able to save some homes where mitigation work hadn’t been done. The Colorado Springs Gazette

The prepared homeowners and firefighters stripped debris away from houses – and anything else that might catch flying embers – and those houses weren’t as susceptible to burn.

And so I think about how the same may be true of my heart? Clutter surrounds it, things that threaten its health. But when I talk to God, I strip the debris surrounding my heart. He cuts to the chase, opening my eyes to what needs tossed aside and what needs saving. Sometimes, tossing the inconsequential saves the essential.

May we all remember this as we pray for wisdom to lean into His leading. And may we find the flames of our own faith spreading through a heart safe and protected in Him.

second photo credit