So I'm reading through Deuteronomy and am struggling with some of the stories. Here's one:
"Then the Lord said to me, 'Look, I have begun to hand King Sihon and his land over to you. Begin now to conquer and occupy his land'... so we conquered all his towns and completely destroyed everyone- men, women, and children. Not a single person was spared. We took all the livestock as plunder for ourselves, along with anything of value from the towns we ransacked. The Lord our God helped us conquer..." (NLT italics mine).
Does this sit well with all of you? My Bible "notes" try to reason all of this through by saying, "God often goes before us in our daily battles, preparing the way and overcoming barriers. We need to follow him wholeheartedly and be alert to his leading..." and blah, blah, blah...
Are we really trying to make a comparison between my daily "battles" of stress, getting the kids to school on time, mowing the lawn, doing the laundry- and killing children?!!! Really?! Quite honestly, I'm tired of the "churchy" way we explain away the Old Testament. I'm tired of "churchy" explainations period.
God gave Israel His blessing to move into the Promised Land and told them to move across the Jordan heavily armed and ready for battle. He wanted all of the occupying people to be completely destroyed so the Israelites could live in the land without the threat of the former tenant's false gods and idolatry. Okay, that makes sense.
And I've heard it explained that God was just trying to establish Israel- to get things going- so some people had to be killed, some nations had to be wiped out, some lessons had to be taught in order to do that. He taught them some serious lessons.
I don't have any profound thoughts about this- I'm just wondering over the way things went down. The Old Testament is so full of these strange stories- stories that seem so completely contrary to what Jesus taught. But maybe that's just it. Perhaps God doesn't need an explaination. Perhaps God will do whatever God will do because He loves us and sometimes that just doesn't make sense to us. Perhaps God is Sovereign and I just need to shut up about it.
Thoughts?
until soon,
b.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Guarding the church
The church in Lot Bo Kanal (Haiti) is always locked. When they unlock it for church or kid's club meetings, it is guarded by a woman who stands at the door with a stick- beating away anyone poorly dressed or sick. The children scramble around her feet, peering in under the door, or clinging to the bars on the windows to see what is happening inside. She held her little stick in her right hand and barred the entrance.
"Isn't that the most atrocious thing?" a friend commented soon afterward. Who would bar the church? Who would chase the children away with a stick and demand that they dress up or clean up before they could come? One little boy actually wore a dress to kid's club because he didn't have any other clothing to wear. She let him in.
So that made me think about the doors of the church. Do we stand with a stick beating people away? Imagine a dirty, angry, half-naked crowd standing around outside the doors of your own church. You know they just want to come inside for the free stuff you are handing out- or maybe they just nothing else to do that day and this is the closest thing to entertainment they have seen in a while.
Some of them are smoking. A few have 40s in their hands. Their gravely voices carry over the steeple spewing coarse jokes and irreverent laughter. They smell like body odor and will definitely get mud on the floor.
Can they come in?
What about a man who doesn't take his hat off during prayer?
What about a known "druggie?"
What about a woman who shows too much cleavage?
What about an ill-disciplined child?
Think about it.
until soon,
b.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Haiti
Well, you have all been so patient awaiting my return from Haiti. What can I say? It was amazing. Really, it was so much more than anything anyone ever described to me. My expectations of Haiti were dark, evil, and foreboding... yet none of that was what I experienced. Let me lead you through it:
Thursday we awoke early and took three different planes to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. When we landed, Ashlee McAdams was at the airport waiting for us- ready to escort our team through customs (and through the throng of men trying to "help" with our bags). Although the Haitian workers were pushy, they were kind. We walked right through customs without any problems- the Haitians never opened a single bag! All of our medications (estimated at over $10,000 worth!) made it into the country. We rode in an old, rusty bus for over three hours to Gonaives. The countryside was green and beautiful but turned dusty and brown as we headed into the Haitian desert. Port-au-Prince is still devastated from the earthquake but they are working to clean it up. Some people still live in tents two years later.
Jan Thompson's orphanage, called "Christopher's Hope Orphanage," is an amazing place. She gives the children the best she has to offer and treats them like her own children. Each child has medical care, three large meals a day, schooling, play time, clean rooms and bathrooms, and healthy discipline. All fifteen children of the orphanage are happy, secure, and well-loved. Contrast that to several other orphanages that we visited where the children were sick, hungry, and unclothed. It was heart-breaking to see.
On Friday we toured other orphanages, the deaf school, the bread "factory," and the purified water house. We also prayer walked through Lot Bo Kanal- a poor town on the outskirts of Gonaives. Lot Bo Kanal is set upon something like a trash dump/sewage site. Two large canals run through the town- full of waste and human debris. Jan explained that several bathrooms were built for the people of the town but they are so dirty that the people do not like using them- so they defecate on the ground instead. People and animals defecate all over the streets. Regardless, the children are beautiful and happy. They ran to us with hugs and smiles. We had to make a conscious effort to put down our "walls" of safety and cleanliness to play with these children- many were naked, some were sick, all were dirty. We sang and prayed with them. Margie Russell said it best, "When we first arrived in Lot Bo Kanal I thought, 'How can I touch these children?!' but as I left the town I thought, 'How can I NOT touch them?! How can I leave them?!'"
The nurses went to an orphanage on Saturday where they cared for about fifty children. The need was overwhelming and they returned completely exhausted. They saw a pair of twins- week old infants that both weighed under six pounds. Their mother had died only two days before and their father put the children in the orphanage until he could care for them- if at all. Many parents will put their children in the orphanage when they cannot provide for them. One family we heard about would rotate their children into and out of the orphanage because they could only feed several at a time. The children they could not feed were put into the orphanage for several weeks, taken out, and their other children were rotated in. It's such a sad, hopeless situation.
Jan's orphanage is not like that. Jan has committed to her children and given them a sense of permanency until they reach the age of 18. After that, Jan hopes to keep them on as staff so they will have a job and a family.
On Monday, Haitian Christian Mission visited Christopher's Hope orphanage with several doctors and interns. All of the children were examined and given appropriate medications. We (I and the nurses) then traveled with them back to Von Parisien to help with the medical team. The doctors told us that they were awakened in the middle of the night when an accident occurred outside of Port-au-Prince. Eight people had died- the rest were brought to HCM for medical attention. The doctors had to sew the ear back onto one girl, set fractured limbs and stitch together punctured skin. They thought one girl had a tree limb stuck in her arm and realized it was her bone coming through the skin. Some of the interns and residence had never seen anything like that and were shaken by the reality of the need. The next day they traveled to an orphanage to care for some children. A woman brought a three-day-old baby to the line and said they could not care for her. The child's mother had died in childbirth and they could not find a "wet-nurse" for her. She had not eaten anything since her birth. Obviously, the child was undernourished and would die if not cared for. The entire family was crying- knowing they could not care for the little girl. HCM took the girl back with them to Von Parisien.
On Tuesday we traveled an hour and a half to a small village in the mountains. The entire village wanted to be seen by the doctors. They brought their babies- many whom were sick and malnourished. One little boy was starving to death- his mother had died and his father was not feeding him. Although he was almost ten-years-old, he looked like a five-year-old. Another little boy had rickets from calcium deficiency. The children of this town were different from the ones at Jubilee or Lot Bo Kanal. They stood at a distance- wary of the white people. At one point, I sat down on the gravel and held a strand of my hair out to a little girl. She timidly took it and started braiding. All of the other girls started giggling and ran over, grabbing other pieces of my hair. (... and they braid it TIGHT!!! Pain!!!) I sat in the middle of these children- all towering above me- their little faces smiling and laughing. I started singing "Jesus loves me" and they sang along. Then they began singing other beautiful songs in Creole. It was a beautiful moment. I still have the braids in my hair to remind me of them.
There are millions of other things that I could say about Haiti. The ocean is blue, the sky is blue, it never once rained. I never felt fear. I loved the language, I loved the smell. On our way back from Jubilee, Jan pointed out a Voodoo Priestess dressed in her colorful robes. "She looks nice," I thought- and she did! She was an elderly lady and she smiled when we passed her. She was created by our God. She was created in His image. She needs Jesus- she is simply deceived!
The Lord reminded me of my desire to live like Him- to follow in His footsteps and my old admiration of St. Francis of Assisi. I was reminded of my first love. I was reminded of how he kissed the leper and how He gave all of the comforts of heaven to be with us. On several occasions, as we drove through Gonaives, I wanted to leave the white crowd, strip myself of my own whiteness, and walk with them- like them. I realized that this is exactly what Christ desired when He came to be with us. He stripped Himself of His own divinity to walk unnoticed among us.
Haiti- the one place I never wanted to visit.
Haiti- so like the human heart. Full of trash and debris, corruption and defecation. Yet the Lord sees the green, the flowers, the smiling faces, the children's potential. And despite the dangers, He enters into the mess of our lives. Praise be to God.
Thank you to everyone who supported me and who prayed for me. We (the team and I) felt your prayers, the Lord walked with us.
Until soon,
b.
Thursday we awoke early and took three different planes to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. When we landed, Ashlee McAdams was at the airport waiting for us- ready to escort our team through customs (and through the throng of men trying to "help" with our bags). Although the Haitian workers were pushy, they were kind. We walked right through customs without any problems- the Haitians never opened a single bag! All of our medications (estimated at over $10,000 worth!) made it into the country. We rode in an old, rusty bus for over three hours to Gonaives. The countryside was green and beautiful but turned dusty and brown as we headed into the Haitian desert. Port-au-Prince is still devastated from the earthquake but they are working to clean it up. Some people still live in tents two years later.
Jan Thompson's orphanage, called "Christopher's Hope Orphanage," is an amazing place. She gives the children the best she has to offer and treats them like her own children. Each child has medical care, three large meals a day, schooling, play time, clean rooms and bathrooms, and healthy discipline. All fifteen children of the orphanage are happy, secure, and well-loved. Contrast that to several other orphanages that we visited where the children were sick, hungry, and unclothed. It was heart-breaking to see.
On Friday we toured other orphanages, the deaf school, the bread "factory," and the purified water house. We also prayer walked through Lot Bo Kanal- a poor town on the outskirts of Gonaives. Lot Bo Kanal is set upon something like a trash dump/sewage site. Two large canals run through the town- full of waste and human debris. Jan explained that several bathrooms were built for the people of the town but they are so dirty that the people do not like using them- so they defecate on the ground instead. People and animals defecate all over the streets. Regardless, the children are beautiful and happy. They ran to us with hugs and smiles. We had to make a conscious effort to put down our "walls" of safety and cleanliness to play with these children- many were naked, some were sick, all were dirty. We sang and prayed with them. Margie Russell said it best, "When we first arrived in Lot Bo Kanal I thought, 'How can I touch these children?!' but as I left the town I thought, 'How can I NOT touch them?! How can I leave them?!'"
The nurses went to an orphanage on Saturday where they cared for about fifty children. The need was overwhelming and they returned completely exhausted. They saw a pair of twins- week old infants that both weighed under six pounds. Their mother had died only two days before and their father put the children in the orphanage until he could care for them- if at all. Many parents will put their children in the orphanage when they cannot provide for them. One family we heard about would rotate their children into and out of the orphanage because they could only feed several at a time. The children they could not feed were put into the orphanage for several weeks, taken out, and their other children were rotated in. It's such a sad, hopeless situation.
Jan's orphanage is not like that. Jan has committed to her children and given them a sense of permanency until they reach the age of 18. After that, Jan hopes to keep them on as staff so they will have a job and a family.
On Monday, Haitian Christian Mission visited Christopher's Hope orphanage with several doctors and interns. All of the children were examined and given appropriate medications. We (I and the nurses) then traveled with them back to Von Parisien to help with the medical team. The doctors told us that they were awakened in the middle of the night when an accident occurred outside of Port-au-Prince. Eight people had died- the rest were brought to HCM for medical attention. The doctors had to sew the ear back onto one girl, set fractured limbs and stitch together punctured skin. They thought one girl had a tree limb stuck in her arm and realized it was her bone coming through the skin. Some of the interns and residence had never seen anything like that and were shaken by the reality of the need. The next day they traveled to an orphanage to care for some children. A woman brought a three-day-old baby to the line and said they could not care for her. The child's mother had died in childbirth and they could not find a "wet-nurse" for her. She had not eaten anything since her birth. Obviously, the child was undernourished and would die if not cared for. The entire family was crying- knowing they could not care for the little girl. HCM took the girl back with them to Von Parisien.
On Tuesday we traveled an hour and a half to a small village in the mountains. The entire village wanted to be seen by the doctors. They brought their babies- many whom were sick and malnourished. One little boy was starving to death- his mother had died and his father was not feeding him. Although he was almost ten-years-old, he looked like a five-year-old. Another little boy had rickets from calcium deficiency. The children of this town were different from the ones at Jubilee or Lot Bo Kanal. They stood at a distance- wary of the white people. At one point, I sat down on the gravel and held a strand of my hair out to a little girl. She timidly took it and started braiding. All of the other girls started giggling and ran over, grabbing other pieces of my hair. (... and they braid it TIGHT!!! Pain!!!) I sat in the middle of these children- all towering above me- their little faces smiling and laughing. I started singing "Jesus loves me" and they sang along. Then they began singing other beautiful songs in Creole. It was a beautiful moment. I still have the braids in my hair to remind me of them.
There are millions of other things that I could say about Haiti. The ocean is blue, the sky is blue, it never once rained. I never felt fear. I loved the language, I loved the smell. On our way back from Jubilee, Jan pointed out a Voodoo Priestess dressed in her colorful robes. "She looks nice," I thought- and she did! She was an elderly lady and she smiled when we passed her. She was created by our God. She was created in His image. She needs Jesus- she is simply deceived!
The Lord reminded me of my desire to live like Him- to follow in His footsteps and my old admiration of St. Francis of Assisi. I was reminded of my first love. I was reminded of how he kissed the leper and how He gave all of the comforts of heaven to be with us. On several occasions, as we drove through Gonaives, I wanted to leave the white crowd, strip myself of my own whiteness, and walk with them- like them. I realized that this is exactly what Christ desired when He came to be with us. He stripped Himself of His own divinity to walk unnoticed among us.
Haiti- the one place I never wanted to visit.
Haiti- so like the human heart. Full of trash and debris, corruption and defecation. Yet the Lord sees the green, the flowers, the smiling faces, the children's potential. And despite the dangers, He enters into the mess of our lives. Praise be to God.
Thank you to everyone who supported me and who prayed for me. We (the team and I) felt your prayers, the Lord walked with us.
Until soon,
b.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
A big, big house
I am currently reading Max Lucado's book "The Great House of God," and it's amazing. It's one of those books where I never like to stop reading at the end of the chapter simply because it's the end of the chapter. It want to read on and on. I have heard the concept of God's house in other places and I have actually thought a lot about it. As horrible as it is, I used to love the song "Big House" by Audio Adrenaline. ("It's a big, big house where we can play SOCCER!!!...")
When I imagine God's house my visual picture is always huge, perfectly decorated, warm, and clean. It's a little like the lobby at the Hilton- a nice fire going in the fireplace, cushy furniture, an elevator or two, and maybe some complimentary coffee on a mahogany credenza.
Max gives another image. He says, "God as your home. Your home is the place where you can kick off your shoes and eat pickles and crackers and not worry about what people think when they see you in your bathrobe." I had to giggle when I read this- to eat pickles with God- in my bathrobe.
I wonder if God's house will be clean, perpetually clean. Can we make messes? My idea of heaven is a house that I never have to clean- angels just come behind and clean up all of the crap. And there's no dust
And the complimentary coffee is definitely a Starbucks barista behind a bar just serving it up. Aahhh...
Write: How do you visualize God's house? Is it a place you would like to stay for all eternity- like your own home- or more like a hotel that you would only want to visit for a few days?
Until soon,
b.
ps- I'm off to Haiti tomorrow so please pray for me! And I'll be back real soon to tell you all about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omoOLhDdTPA
When I imagine God's house my visual picture is always huge, perfectly decorated, warm, and clean. It's a little like the lobby at the Hilton- a nice fire going in the fireplace, cushy furniture, an elevator or two, and maybe some complimentary coffee on a mahogany credenza.
Max gives another image. He says, "God as your home. Your home is the place where you can kick off your shoes and eat pickles and crackers and not worry about what people think when they see you in your bathrobe." I had to giggle when I read this- to eat pickles with God- in my bathrobe.
I wonder if God's house will be clean, perpetually clean. Can we make messes? My idea of heaven is a house that I never have to clean- angels just come behind and clean up all of the crap. And there's no dust
And the complimentary coffee is definitely a Starbucks barista behind a bar just serving it up. Aahhh...
Write: How do you visualize God's house? Is it a place you would like to stay for all eternity- like your own home- or more like a hotel that you would only want to visit for a few days?
Until soon,
b.
ps- I'm off to Haiti tomorrow so please pray for me! And I'll be back real soon to tell you all about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omoOLhDdTPA
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
How to pick a campsite
"... the Lord your God, who goes before you looking for the best places to camp" Deuteronomy 1:33
Last year my husband and son went camping outside of Branson, Missouri. The sun was setting and it was turning dark before they had picked out a good camp site. My husband found one that he thought was spacious but my son disliked it. He said I have a funny feeling about this one, Dad. I don't think Jesus wants us to camp here. A bit frustrated that the sky was darkening by the minute, he reluctantly agreed to let our son lead the decision and pick a better site. They moved north a mile or so until our son stopped and said this is the one. They set up the tent and had a good night's sleep.
The next morning, they stepped out of the tent to a beautiful scenic overview of the countryside, a spacious landscape, and all of the provisions that they would need for the week. When they looked at the first campsite they discovered that it was actually much smaller than they previous thought, an unworthy comparison.
The Israelites "wandered" around the wilderness for forty years but in reality, the Lord had each day ordained and he went before them looking for the best places to camp.
Deuteronomy 8:2 says, "Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would really obey his commands." (Italics mine, NLT).
Write: My greatest time of testing so far in life has been...
Until soon,
b.
Last year my husband and son went camping outside of Branson, Missouri. The sun was setting and it was turning dark before they had picked out a good camp site. My husband found one that he thought was spacious but my son disliked it. He said I have a funny feeling about this one, Dad. I don't think Jesus wants us to camp here. A bit frustrated that the sky was darkening by the minute, he reluctantly agreed to let our son lead the decision and pick a better site. They moved north a mile or so until our son stopped and said this is the one. They set up the tent and had a good night's sleep.
The next morning, they stepped out of the tent to a beautiful scenic overview of the countryside, a spacious landscape, and all of the provisions that they would need for the week. When they looked at the first campsite they discovered that it was actually much smaller than they previous thought, an unworthy comparison.
The Israelites "wandered" around the wilderness for forty years but in reality, the Lord had each day ordained and he went before them looking for the best places to camp.
Deuteronomy 8:2 says, "Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would really obey his commands." (Italics mine, NLT).
Write: My greatest time of testing so far in life has been...
Until soon,
b.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Wally McDoodle and other boy stuff
have i told you that i live in a house full of boys? so much of my life is all butts and boogars. i really don't mind it that much, actually, sometimes it's rather funny. this is just the way of boys. they are enthralled with the dirty, messy, loud, dangerous side of life (most of them) and truthfully, we girls could do a better job of appreciating the character of a boy- as God made them.
just a thought: the other day i was in my son's classroom listening to the conversations there. the boys were grossed out by the girls, the girls grossed out by the boys. a parent helper was encouraging her daughter's dislike of the boys saying, "yep, they have cooties! they're gross!" it was all in fun but i thought how interesting... sometimes we never really outgrow that belief. we so often think our husbands are gross and "below" us. no wonder we wives never let them lead!
so this is just a small encouragement- because i need it just as much as anyone else... gals, strive to appreciate the "boys" in your life in every way, even if they seem as aliens to you.
i found some wonderful boy books that might help with this. read them together and laugh a lot.
Click the link below.
Click the link below.
until soon,
b.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
burning baskets
so i'm sitting at church today listening to a teaching about the Sermon on the Mount and the illustration of the light under the basket. sometimes i get these vivid mental pictures and this is what i saw:
suppose you buy one of those great-smelling soy candles from Target... maybe one that has a wooden reed wick that crackles when you light it... you know the one? i used to have one and i loved the way its aroma would fill the entire house- not just the room. when i lived in Cincinnati we owned a three-story house. if i lit a candle on the first floor, i could smell it all the way up the stairs to the top floor. it was amazing. so i'm thinking this is what it must mean to have the aroma of Christ- to throw the sweet smell of Christ around a foul world. believe me, that soy candle could cover a lot! i live in a house with four men... enough said. now i was thinking about the "basket" put over the light. well, if the candle is a small smolder, it will extinguish very quickly; but if the flame is bright and strong, it could catch the whole basket on fire!
Jesus said "a smoldering wick i will not snuff out" so we can be sure He would not hide our flame. the enemy is the one who would love to keep us hidden- our flame of faith, as well as our sins. why? if he extinguishes our flame, he destroys our testimony and our faith. if he keeps us hidden in our sin, he destroys our soul, our joy, and our faith. he wins.
so burn bright. if the enemy tries to hide you, burn brighter and turn his flimsy basket to ash.
let the aroma of Christ travel far.
you never know what stench it will sweeten.
you never know what soul it will save.
until soon,
b.
suppose you buy one of those great-smelling soy candles from Target... maybe one that has a wooden reed wick that crackles when you light it... you know the one? i used to have one and i loved the way its aroma would fill the entire house- not just the room. when i lived in Cincinnati we owned a three-story house. if i lit a candle on the first floor, i could smell it all the way up the stairs to the top floor. it was amazing. so i'm thinking this is what it must mean to have the aroma of Christ- to throw the sweet smell of Christ around a foul world. believe me, that soy candle could cover a lot! i live in a house with four men... enough said. now i was thinking about the "basket" put over the light. well, if the candle is a small smolder, it will extinguish very quickly; but if the flame is bright and strong, it could catch the whole basket on fire!
Jesus said "a smoldering wick i will not snuff out" so we can be sure He would not hide our flame. the enemy is the one who would love to keep us hidden- our flame of faith, as well as our sins. why? if he extinguishes our flame, he destroys our testimony and our faith. if he keeps us hidden in our sin, he destroys our soul, our joy, and our faith. he wins.
so burn bright. if the enemy tries to hide you, burn brighter and turn his flimsy basket to ash.
let the aroma of Christ travel far.
you never know what stench it will sweeten.
you never know what soul it will save.
until soon,
b.
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