Holiday Stress--Own It!

Hi there! It’s mid-December. Do you know where your Christmas presents are? Having two holiday birthdays in our family means that I often struggle to keep up with all the presents I’m supposed to be responsible for this time of year. I do pretty well with the presents, actually, but those birthday cards that come in the mail from the long-distance relatives don’t always stay where I put them.

It happened this week. I lost a birthday card from Nanny in San Antonio. It had money in it and everything. I found it already--just in time for the party. Not soon enough however to save me from having a complete come-apart.

Have I taught y’all that word yet? Come-apart is a Dothan term for hissy fit. Otherwise known as a howling spell, but the kind that the less spoiled rotten of us have. It may present with light tears or a full-on falling down kicking and screaming on the floor kind of thing. I usually throw myself crosswise across the bed, but, you know. It varies.

I was clicking along through Thanksgiving with all kinds of major important tasks to hold down and check off. I won’t say I was fine, but I was praying through it. Not having quiet time exactly, but definitely letting God in on my days. Then one little temporarily missing birthday card sent me into full-blown meltdown.

Now you think I’m going to chastise you with all sorts of verses about being still and the joys of simplicity. But I’m not. I’m going to ask you a question.

Does it really make sense for us to try to relax during the holidays? Women? Sisters, daughters, mothers? I ask you. Is this realistic? Or is this one more way for Satan to guilt us into immobility? Doesn’t the birth of the Saviour mandate celebratory sorts of behavior? Should we be daunted by the extra work and the estrogen levels it brings? Or is this the kind of celebration that merits our above average ambitions?

Here’s another question: Which honors God more? A woman who flies apart over a birthday card, and, in order to avoid more such episodes, decides to forgo any further once-a-year stress-inducing activities, like cooking Christmas dinner. Or a woman who cries the tears, considers them a normal reaction to the battle she is fighting, and after having dried them continues on in a manner worthy of her calling. With God as her witness, she embarks on an unapologetic, riotous, highly decorated season of feasting in honor of her Jesus come to earth. Complete with appetizers and hand tied bows.

Can we defend our amped-up activity levels during the holidays? Biblically, I mean.

Well, let’s see.

In defense of Christmas cards: Phillipians 1:2-3, 7-8

In defense of meal planning: John 6:4-5 (See? Planning ahead for meals is a Christlike endeavor. When great multitudes of people come to visit, they have to eat.)

Re-read John 2. (It has always seemed to me that this first miracle taking place at a wedding meant, among other things, that Jesus is okay with our celebrations of life. This time I had to laugh at what a prominent part Mary plays in this story. If she hadn’t stepped in would this have been the first miracle? Do you think she was stressed out on behalf of her friend? Was she trying to save the family some stress?)

I know. You don’t have time right now to read. That’s okay. You’ll catch it in January maybe. Or April. Whenever. God has time for you to spare.

One more question: Can God handle your stress? I dare say He can. Don’t forget that. He may not want you to stop working, stop doing. He may want to transform you through the very force of your efforts. He may want you to tap into His power to do more than you would have thought was possible. Every memory of the holidays is an altar to remind future generations that what you believe is worth the celebration. We don’t make a big deal out of it. It is a big deal. It is worth the stress. Worth the tears. Worth the battle.

Go work hard right now. Hang in there. Do your absolute very best and whatever that entails at your house in your family. Jesus surely deserves it.

Take care. And Merry Christmas!

More encouragement to pray

Hi First Friends! It's stormy weather here today. Hope you're staying dry. I'm praising God that the storm has weakened. During the hurricanes a few years ago we got our worst damage from a tropical storm, so I tend to get a little punchy when I hear those words.

I received a note today from Susan Hill regarding the Moms In Touch prayer event at the ROC this Saturday. Whether or not you plan to attend, I thought this quote from one of the ladies in the group was a terrific encouragement to pray.

"These moms, like you and me, care deeply, yet know well the reality of the pressures on our kids in these crazy times in this crazy beach town. We choose to deal with this stress and feeling of lack of control by bringing our cares each week to the foot of the cross, and handing them over to our GOD who can help. We've been doing this for years, and have seen countless prayers answered.

Fast forward to this Saturday, and get a glimpse of this group and hear the stories of moms like you and I, as we join together for a morning of prayer. Across the nation, thousands of moms will be watching via video and praying together. Be assured you can participate as a SPECTATOR only!! You will not have to talk or pray in front of the group!!! Just come and be blessed by seeing how our mighty God can be a victor over anything in your child's life!! "

I love the way this event encourages us to deal with stress by taking it to the cross. Isn't that a great reminder for the holiday season?

Don't you love her for saying "You will not have to talk"? It's funny to think of being a spectator at a prayer event. We were all raised to keep our eyes closed. However, relieving yourself from talking during prayer time can be powerful. One of my favorite verses on prayer has always been Ecclesiastes 5:2. Go look it up. Don't forget to wear your slippers. When I walked across the kitchen just now to get my Bible I stepped on a bean from dinner. Yuck!

Did you read it? Doesn't that go against everything we usually say about prayer in Sunday School? Now read verse 7. Wow, right? So different from the way we usually pray. Let's take traveling as an example.

In our usual method of prayer you must make sure God knows which airline you are flying on, and you have to make sure He has your flight numbers. You cover the time, the date, cities of departure and destination. Then you must give some attention to the people in the seats on either side of you. You can thank Beth Moore for that. You must cover the pilots and their families. You'd rather be praying for your own family, but you know that they are better served by you keeping your plane in the air. This is one way to interpret "God cares about the details" and it's valid. There is no wrong way to pray. When I'm already upset, though, this method exhausts me. I'd truly rather take my chances with the Department of Homeland Security than get up and look at my calendar so that I don't inadvertently wind up praying for someone else's flight.

Here's how I picture the Ecclesiastes method of prayer with air travel. You sit down for quiet time and can't focus because you're so worried about the flight. Push your Bible to one side or place your finger on a verse you can meditate on. Now. Ask yourself this question. Which do I fear more: death or God? Tell God something simple like, "I'm frightened, and I want to fear you more than I fear this." Now wait. Sit there with your finger on your verse and don't talk any more. When the worries creep back in ask yourself the question again. Open your eyes to read your verse and repeat the steps. See what happens.

Susan's event is this Saturday from 9 to 1 and it's free. Just let them know you're coming at www.Momsintouch.org.

Do You Pray Better Than a Fifth Grader?

First off, my apologies if this title makes your stomach tight. I know, and you know, that prayer is not a contest. If you’re praying at all, you’re doing it right. However, I had a prayer experience this week that had me thinking about that game show where the grownups compete with school children and the way that some things change and some things stay the same, especially concerning prayer.

Let me explain. Wednesday night at Awana we did a prayer walk. If you have ever helped with Awana, or been in the church when Awana was going on, then you know that it is not for the faint-hearted. Combine an after dinner hour in midweek with confined spaces and varying degrees of hunger and hosility. It makes for a sweaty, cranky bunch. They all need to get a spanking and go straight to bed. I’m talking about the leaders mostly, but some of the children too. It serves the purpose, I guess, but it’s not pretty. You don’t automatically think, “We should try a worship service.” Unless you are Miss Jean. For last week’s activity time, we had a prayer walk in the chapel.

I’m no stranger to prayer walks with children. It’s one of my favorite tricks for burning off that last 30 minutes before parents come to pick them up from VBS. It gets them moving, changes their scenery and lets them do something real. As I said before, I think that all prayer is real whether or not everyone has their eyes closed or is quiet or is pretending to be a ninja or whatever.

My Wednesday night attitude, however, doesn’t generally allow for a lot of creativity or good feelings or flexibility. I need to get in the zone and get the job done. So full of myself and my humanity, I marched my three little charges up the giant staircase and into the chapel to pray without ceasing for thirty minutes until I could go home.

It was pretty much as I had expected. They were into it for a while. They took turns reading the cards and bowed their heads. But then one wanted to go this way and one that way; they started fighting over who could stand where. One had to go to the bathroom, and one wanted to pray for her family members, specifically and in great detail, at every single station. More and more groups poured into the chapel and started moving through the stations. The volume level went up. Some got a bathroom break so we did too, and then we got done with the stations and sat down on a bench to wait.

Maybe it was the low lighting. I started looking around and watching and got that still, small feeling in my chest that God needed me to pay attention. Y’all, I’m not kidding. All those children walking around praying reminded me of us. You know, the grownup church. They were jockeying for position. There were fights over who got to be in a group with whose friend. Some think they can’t pray, and some think they really can. They were bored. They had the world weariness of a group of God’s children who have seen it all and done it all but are too weak to do anything different.

Usually these displays of our fallen nature render me sad and depressed, but this time somehow it made me smile. I can’t explain it. I think Jesus showed up for the Awana prayer walk. Those children, they were beautiful. They laughed and fought and talked and walked and complained and wrote and hugged and hit each other. They prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed. And they were us.

They prayed even though they were bored. A few were into it, but most prayed because there wasn’t anything else to do and someone was leading them. You could tell they weren’t going to pray when they got home. Isn’t that just like us?

We will never grow up. We will continue walking, fighting, posing and pretending. We know that everything we do is temporary and we want to do something real. And that is why we must pray. Prayer brings Jesus down from the realm of eternity into our everyday. Grace falls and changes us, as they say, from a common use to a holy use. I tell you if God can make me smile at Awana, He can make your kitchen table glow like the ground under the burning bush. Like the faces of the children in the chapel. I think the glow is always there. The glow is His presence. It’s just that when you pray, He invites you to glimpse it.

Just in case you’re not convinced I’m adding some verses on prayer that I’ll be mulling over this week. Join me, won’t you?

Luke 11:1 (A good catch phrase. To be repeated several times a day as needed.)

Luke 18:1-17 (The publican probably is most closely related here. How cool that it’s attached to the story about Jesus and the children. Have you ever been taught the story of Jesus and the children as being about prayer? I don’t think I have.)

1 Thes. 5:17 (Always a friendly reminder!)

Welcome Back, Blogger!

Hello, friends! I’m back after a lazy, freewheeling summer hiatus and a purposeful back-to-school transition. Tell the truth, now. You thought I had forgotten you. Yes, you did. You thought that I had gone out and made new friends and forgotten all about Walkin’ and Talkin’. No, no. I would miss our virtual stroll. After a summer of actual sitting by the pool I need the exercise. (Virtual exercise counts, right?)

What I did forget was how to get on the blog. Just momentarily, but still. Forgot the password, forgot the address, forgot everything. After a few minutes of typing in various combinations--wretched use of eternal minutes that I will never get back--it finally let me in. I hate computers. When your Bible study teacher tells you that God will stretch your boundaries for His service, pay attention. I never thought I would be working in such a technical field. I’d really rather write each woman in the church a pencil-and-paper note every week. Sometimes I actually think it would be faster. This week, however, I have some encouragement that can’t wait.

Go look up Psalm 27:13. Go ahead. I’ll wait. It’s a good one. It’s my new theme verse for fall, and it’s funny.

All of Psalm 27 is about trust. In my Bible the subtitle is “A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.” David is having some trouble with the toxic people in his life. He tells us about evil doers who “devour his flesh,” false witnesses who “breathe out violence,” and parents who won’t help him. They’re probably out of town the way my parents always are when I am having a crisis. I love David. He’s so extreme. He, like me, never passes up an opportunity to have a colorfully detailed vent. He vents to the Lord, and I vent to my bathroom mirror, but whatever.

Then in verse 13 he switches gears and says “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Don’t you love his nonchalance? As it to say he hasn’t even started to get upset. “I would have been worried about these violent breathers, but then I remembered the Lord. I would have tried to shake off all these people trying to bite me, but then I thought of my faith. I would have sent my parents a pouty text, but then I remembered Jesus and all.” It makes me chuckle every time I think of it.

I encountered this verse several weeks ago and can assure you that it plugs nicely into almost any situation. When you lose your keys: “I would have despaired, unless I had believed.” When you get home from the grocery store with lots of nice items, except the one thing you went there to get: “I would have despaired unless I had believed.” When your child puts you down, and then slams the door in your face: (Take a deep breath first and with power) “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Okay, that one’s not so funny, but you get the picture. It’s an antidote for that wave of panic or that rising anger in your throat.

Try it and see if it doesn’t restore your inner chuckle. (Yes, even rueful laughter counts.) What’s your favorite verse to fight off despair? Send me a comment. I panic often, and I could use the extra help. I have a couple more notes about the second part of the verse, but I’m out of time right now. I’ll be back. Keep your heart rate up!

Storms

We certainly have had some stormy weather lately! In honor of our April showers join me in contemplating what Pat Evans has to say about "Storms." This is an excerpt from her devotional book Honey for a Woman's Heart, used with her permission. Stay dry and enjoy!

Storms

" . . . The righteous will live by faith." Habakkuk 2:4b

Living here on the Gulf Coast, we are used to storms and even hurricanes. We are used to high winds and lots of rain. Several years ago, my pastor preached from the little book of Habakkuk giving us three simple points that we can apply to our lives today.

Chapter one: "Looking at the storm brings confusion."
My husband and I have sat on our back porch and looked at hurricane force winds and horizontal rain, wondering what was this storm going to do to us, to our property. It always brings confusion.

Chapter two: "Looking through the storm brings confidence."
It's here that the Lord says to Habakkuk, "the righteous will live by faith." When we look through the storm with faith in our Abba Father, we do receive confidence because He is Almighty God, sovereign and in control even of the rain and wind. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Chapter three: "Looking beyond the storm brings comfort."
Habakkuk prays to the Lord, ". . . I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known."

The little book is ended with the magnificent praise: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD. I will be JOYFUL in God my Savior. [Because] The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of the deer, He enables me to go on the heights."

He takes away my confusion in the storm; He brings me confidence through the storm; He brings me comfort as we look beyond the storm and though we may not see it we can know He is our strength and we can be joyful!

Clouds from the Bridge

Genesis 1:6
Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." And God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. And God called the expanse heaven.

Psalm 89:5
The heavens will praise Thy wonders, O Lord; Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord?

Today when I was driving back from the church the clouds hung in a stunning arrangement in the sky above the bridge. There were so many of varied beauty that a question appeared "Would God paint a picture just for me to see?" Yes. I paid attention and looked longer.
Cumulus, stratus, cumulonimbus. The names I learned as a student came easily, but didn’t carry with them any definitions. These were just the kind of clouds you imagine sitting on in heaven but don’t often see. Big, puffy, white cotton-ball clouds, the kind that usually wear gray and carry rain, today came down close to the water. Their visit was not work related. They were on a social call.

The center seemed a large mass of hundreds of clouds some stripy, some fat, some lacy, some fully formed. Then I realized that it wasn’t one large mass, but layers and layers with holes here and there, through which I could see the ones behind and the sky higher up.

The sky was a blue just right for clouds like these, and though I can’t locate the sun’s position in my memory I know light shone down in wide, round channels. Where a cloud sat, blocking, light traced the edges. Below the water flashed and twinkled. Tiny mirrors of light, winking and popping up in circles, played like a school of fish who know the pelicans are not diving now.
Did God create these clouds for me? He created clouds in Genesis, and they must have been important because it was only the second day. Human form was not needed until the sixth, after the fish and the pelicans. Still, God is as much about set design as he is about the plot. So what purpose do these clouds perform this day? At that moment, and in that moment, there was no quick answer the that and other questions beginning to form. All I could do is stare at the picture splashed across the sky.

After a while, though, it dawned on me that, if light is glory in a created form, these clouds both exposed and withheld God’s glory. A cloud suspended in the midst of the light seemed formed by it. And in the center where the light couldn’t penetrate the cloud was darker, heavier. Similarly, I am darker in the places where I refuse entrance to His light and become heavy with holding it in. When it penetrates my shape is changed, and beauty results despite my tendency to bring rain. But that's the Sunday school answer--the one that appears after time to process.

The truth is the heavens praise His wonders. They don’t explain them. They don’t make practicable applications. They praise. They don’t praise how easy God is to read. They praise how hard it is to ever comprehend Him. They sing for joy that we don’t know what He means. No one bound to the earth can do what He does, or even always say for sure that what they see is really Him. We stare at the heavens and we wonder. And it is a beautiful sight.

Coffee Thoughts

A few years ago some FBCP women did a summer Bible study together. The major theme was moving toward God through positive attitudes. It seemed simple enough. However, we would start out talking about having a positive focus and pretty soon we’d be locked in an intense discussion about where God’s will stops and our sin begins. It amazed me then and continues to now how we try to study one aspect of the Christian walk and we keep bumping into all the same old stuff: God's will, His infinite mercy, His love vs. His sovereign law.

I was mulling this over when I pulled up to the Starbucks window around that same time, and I bought a cup of coffee, which isn't notable, except that they had just started printing quotes on their to-go cups. The one I found on my cup was from fashion designer Todd Oldham who among other things said: "An open, non-judgmental mind is the best tool for brewing creativity." I drove along sipping my coffee and thinking about Todd. His most recent creative contribution, besides apparently a book also mentioned on the cup, was a collection of sixties mod furniture for, of all places, La-Z-boy. I started feeling a little guilty because here Todd had said I wasn't supposed to judge and, not a minute later, I was thinking how tacky his furniture was and how his agent must have had a hard time getting him the coffee-cup gig.

That's when a thought hit me so hard that I almost stopped the car. I disagree! I disagree with Todd and the whole Hollywood line that suggests that a complete lack of boundaries fosters creativity. I think creativity grows best from within limits. Why do you need to be creative if you can just do whatever you want? And furthermore it seems to me that being creative is one of the best ways in which we reflect God's image. He's the Creator, and so we create. Consequently, it stands to reason that we would be most creative when harnessing ourselves within the bounds of God's law. And there it was. God’s law. I bumped into it again.

It’s an exciting time to be a woman at FBCP because your Women’s Ministries leaders are exploring their powers of creativity on your behalf. It’s easy sometimes as women to get trapped in thinking only of our limits: Too little time, too little money, too busy with work, too burdened by family, too little family, or what have you. The stage-of-life divisions of modern churches serve many fine purposes, but they also highlight our differences rather than our commonalities. Into this gap jumps your fearless Women’s Ministries team bringing you, among other options, the Women’s Retreat, Let’s Do Lunch, and The Walk, our revamped newsletter. They know that whatever divergent paths God has put us on individually, we all still need a to take a regular break, to eat lunch, and to know what’s going on.

This blog is another idea. It’s a monthly email in your inbox: an attempt to find God in and through all of our divergent paths. We offer it as an experience we can all share that won’t tax the already overstuffed calendar or the under-stuffed billfold. Hopefully it will be an encouragement that doesn’t add to your to-do list. Contributors will include Chaun McGuire, our newsletter editor, and me, Ginger Myers. Pat Evans has graciously allowed us to dip occasionally into her Honey for a Woman’s Heart. Hannah Evans continues the graphic design. We love feedback, so send us your own creative, caffeine-induced ideas.

If your coffee cup can add meaning to your life, won’t God mercifully do the same and for greater impact? Whatever teeny moments we give Him he will multiply long after the caffeine buzz has worn off. So grab yourself a cup of coffee or whatever else you prefer and enjoy the perks of being an FBCP woman.

And watch out for that to-go-cup theology. It’ll burn ya–no pun intended.