Peace. It is the gift that most of us desire but don’t always think to ask for. As we watch the news and surf the Internet, it doesn’t seem like there is a lot of peace in our world. Even in our lives with the daily hustle and bustle, especially around the Christmas holiday, it is easy for peace to elude us. Our family has started a tradition this year of lighting the Advent candles at home, and it has really been a special time to reflect on what they represent. We started with the candle of Hope, then Love, then Joy and finally this week we lit the candle of Peace. As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior, I know he came and brought with him all of these things but for some reason it is peace that most resonates with me today. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be our Prince of Peace. Even as nation rises against nation and communities live at odds with each other, we have peace because we have Jesus…“he himself is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). He came to give us peace with God and to bring peace among all who follow Him. 2009 has been a whirlwind year and we don’t know what 2010 will bring, but we walk confidently into the New Year with peace because we walk with Jesus.
We wish everyone a hopeful and joyful Christmas this year and pray that you would be filled with peace in the New Year!
I have been thinking a lot about the lives of Muslim women. In many countries, the culture is incomprehensible to those of us looking at it through a Western lens. I read a book over the summer called A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini which centered around the lives of women in Afghanistan. These women lived difficult lives marked by isolation, abuse and total lack of power. Most countries are not as extreme as Afghanistan, but it got me thinking of how Muslim women perceive God in light of their circumstances. Do they see him as a compassionate Father who desires a relationship with them or a distant Being with demands they are always striving to meet? Then I got to thinking how feeling overlooked, powerless, isolated and invisible certainly isn’t limited to Muslim women. There is a passage in Genesis which I absolutely love because of the name that is ascribed to God. As far as I know, it is the only time this name is used in the bible. The story is about Hagar, the servant of Abraham and Sarah, who has fled their home after conceiving Abraham’s child and being mistreated by Sarah. An angel of the Lord speaks to Hagar about her descendants and the son she is carrying, and Hagar responds, “You are the God who sees me.” El Roi is the name in Hebrew. I love this because it such a powerful truth about the God we serve. He sees us where we are even when we feel unseen. He speaks to us directly and not only knows our name but has numbered the hairs on our head (Matt. 10:30). We cross paths every day with people who would love to know that God sees them. Will we point them towards El Roi?
So, for the past week or so God has really been impressing on me to listen when he directs me to help someone. It started after I read a sweet friend’s blog about how she was obedient in taking some watermelon to her neighbor and ended up ministering to him in a powerful way. Then a guest pastor at our church last weekend talked of a guy who bought a bunch of dress shirts on clearance that were not in his size and had no idea what he was supposed to do with them. He came across a young, struggling pastor who desperately needed them and they just happened to be in his size. Coincidence? Hardly…
On Monday, I heard another similar story on the radio as I drove to work and finally prayed “Okay, I get it, Lord!” I prayed that I would find someone who really needed my help during the week and that God would use me to answer that persons prayer. About 15 minutes later, I parked my car and went to up to the machine to pay. Along came a man who I have seen several times over the past 6 months or so. His request is always for money to help buy food for his kids. I’ve given him small amounts of cash before if I have it. Sometimes I don’t. I just haven’t really thought much of him other than as a slight annoyance to encounter as I am rushing to get in to the office to start work. This time wasn’t much different. I gave him what I had and we both went on our way. Then it struck me as I left and my thoughts were something like this, “God, this can’t be the person. It is so awkward to be asked for money and I don’t even know this guys’ story. I’ve never seen any kids and for all I know he just wants to buy drugs or alcohol and I would just be enabling him and blah, blah, blah.” Surely, all of us have had these thoughts at times about someone asking for a handout. But what I heard back from God was “I love him. Trust me.” Silence. It was pretty hard to argue with that. I kept thinking about him all day and God brought to mind how Jesus called himself “the bread of life”. In John 6:35 he says, “He who comes to me will never go hungry.” I knew that I could give this man (I don’t even know his name) money and he could eat but would certainly be hungry again. What he desperately needs is a Savior who will truly satisfy and he needs someone who can point the way. I decided that I would go and get a gift card to a close-by grocery store to give to him the next time I saw him. I also bought a bible for him. I want him to know how much God loves him and plan to tell him when I give this gift. I don’t work every day, so I haven’t seen him again. And I don’t know how he will take what I have to offer, but I will trust and I will pray. I would love to invite you to pray too!
Today is my mom’s 60th birthday, and I just wanted to honor her and wish her a perfectly beautiful day. I pray special blessings for my mother who has always given of herself to make our lives richer. There are so many good memories…fun times at GA camp, the surprise slumber party for my 8th birthday, the times I came home from school to find a new outfit on my bed, cheering at all of my softball and basketball games, shopping for the perfect prom dress, the trip to Washington, D.C. with just the two of us, planning a fairy tale wedding, taking care of me after I had my precious babies and so many others that are too numerous to mention. My mother has comforted me when I thought life wasn’t fair and rejoiced with me during life’s sweetest moments. I am blessed to have been given this kind of mother.
On another note, we realize the blog has been a little slow. It is not because nothing has been going on, but quite the opposite! We will work on posting more in the coming months so stay tuned…
Today was the first day of school for both David and Mary Kate and everything went off without a hitch. Both kids had new shoes to wear. David is not really a shoe person. He mostly goes barefoot in the summer except when he absolutely has to wear something (like going to church) in which case he consents to wearing Crocs. Crocs are not allowed in preschool, so he had to put on tennis shoes for the first time in a long time. In the store, he had only kept them on his feet for about 2 seconds while trying them on, so I never realized that the shoes we picked are the kind that light up every time you walk. David was very excited. I was less so. He stomped out the door enjoying the light display and continued stomping all the way to class. I am sure his teacher appreciated his new shoes all morning!
Mary Kate seemed to settle in well to her class. There are 6 girls and 2 boys. During “Met the Teacher” day it was obvious that most of the girls (including Mary Kate!) are very bossy. If she has learned anything from David, it is certainly how to hold her own. It should make for an interesting fall!
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that f Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, ghe will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
27 Just then i his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man j who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Chr
Over the past couple of weeks I have been reading Grace Walk: What You’ve Always Wanted in the Christian Life by Steve McVey. I highly recommend it to those of you who are looking to break away from the chains of legalism that has so entangled all of us in modern day Christianity.
There are several relevant points that McVey makes, but the point that really is driven home is that we do not work for God and we cannot do something for God. It just isn’t possible.
What a relief to discover that God isn’t interested in what we can do for Him. He can do anything that He needs done!… When Christ is allowed to express His life through us, it will be a ministry of supernatural life, not a religous routine, which leaves us frustrated and unfulfilled.
This is so true, and yet so hard to put into practice. As humans we like to do things, to keep busy and feel productive. God doesn’t want that. He wants us to surrender EVERYTHING to him and allow Jesus to live through us. Otherwise we just exhaust ourselves doing stuff that doesn’t really matter to God. Unless we surrender everything to God nothing we do matters because it is truly self serving.
Jesus taught love, not rituals and requirements. He lived life to the fullest and expects us to do the same. We cannot do what he requires unless we surrender our lives to him and turn away from the rules that have imprisoned us.
You may be wondering about the significance of the name of our blog livingongrace.com. Far from being a divine revelation, Matthew and I each made of list of names we would like. After discarding all of the ones already taken (which happened to be most of them), we compared lists and living on grace was the only one we had in common. As we reflect on our journey so far and anticipate what lies ahead, it is obvious our choice was not merely a coincidence. God has lavished grace on His people. John 1:16 says, “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” We see evidence of this grace every day. We are also becoming more and more aware of the need to show a little grace to ourselves. As we prepare to go, we are doing things we have never done before. This journey into the unfamiliar will intensify when we arrive in Turkey. We are sincerely seeking God’s guidance and desire to follow wholeheartedly but even so we are sure we will make mistakes. Probably quite a few. We like to think of ourselves as competent, self-sufficient people but we are coming to terms with the fact that we will be awkward and inept especially as we start to navigate a new culture and learn a new language. So we are thankful for grace; God’s grace towards us, grace for ourselves and the grace that others will have for us!
I have been reading through Mark the past week and came across a series of stories that really made me stop and think. I have read them many times before. They all involve Jesus, His abundant provision and the disciples doubt. Remember when Jesus fed the 5,000? The people were hungry and all they could scrounge up was 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Jesus blessed it, everyone ate and there were 12 baskets of leftovers. Then there is the story of Jesus feeding the 4,000. Jesus again feels compassion for the hungry people he has been teaching. The disciples’ response is “How can we feed these people out in the middle of nowhere?” (slight paraphrase!) Many of us read this and think “Umm…hello? Weren’t you just there when he fed the 5,000? He can probably cover the 4,000 too!” And he does…with only seven loaves of bread, everyone eats and there are seven baskets left over. Now I get to a part that I don’t really remember reading before. Jesus is with his disciples attempting to teach them a significant truth and they are hung up on the fact that they only have one loaf of bread between them. Jesus asks them, “Do you not yet understand?” He has now fed over 9,000 people with a combined 12 loaves of bread and 2 fish. And the twelve are worried about how to divy up one loaf amongst themselves? It is easy to think “wow, the disciples were really dense!” without applying this truth to our own lives. Jesus is our provision! He not only cares about our needs but he has the power to provide for them in ways far more abundantly than we can imagine. We follow the Creator of the universe. Colossians 1:16 says, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him.” We know this and yet, like the disciples, we sometimes worry excessively about how God is going to come through for us. I pray that God will teach me powerful things through the grace of His provision in the days ahead.
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Dec 23, 2009 
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by Steve McVey. I highly recommend it to those of you who are looking to break away from the chains of legalism that has so entangled all of us in modern day Christianity.