She Gave it All

Yesterday, I read the story in Mark 12:41-44 about the poor widow giving all she had. Jesus sat near the offering boxes and noticed the crowd tossing in their contributions. Maybe some in the crowd gave their offerings thoughtlessly, just another item on their religious checklist. Maybe others thought a lot about what they gave and walked away with puffed up chests and noses in the air. The rich gave their large sums, and a poor widow gave her two pennies. Jesus let his disciples in on the truth they probably missed.

“The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.”    Mark 12 (MSG)

The story reminded me of another widow who gave all she had. God could have sent Elijah to another home, another family…..with more to give. But he chose the widow in Zarephath with nothing but enough flour and oil to prepare one last meal for her and her son. Instead, she used all she had to make a small loaf of bread for Elijah.

“…For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”  1 Kings 17:14

If you don’t know the rest of the story, I urge you to read it. It starts in 1 Kings verse 7 and ends in verse 24. I wonder if the the poor widow in Mark’s account knew the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. Perhaps it inspired her to give all she had.

The Bible tells us what happened to the widow of Zarephath, but we don’t know about the widow in Mark. What happened to her after she placed her coins in the offering? Did Jesus speak with her? Did the disciples help her?

We only know what Jesus said of her: she gave it all.

Maybe both widows inspired part of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. In the letter, Paul shared the story of the Macedonian churches’ overflowing generosity with the hope of encouraging the same in the Corinthian church. Titus delivered the letter which included this counsel:

And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.    2 Corinthians 8:10-12

It’s our willingness that matters, not how much or how little. There’s no need to compare our gifts because mine will be different than yours.

It’s about the motives in our hearts.

Is is duty? Is it a check mark on our religious to do list? Are we showing off? Are we buying our way into the inner circle, or trying to buy God’s favor?

Or are we giving from the overflow of the grace we’ve received?

Grace can be a loaf of bread or two pennies. It can be donating a $1000 a week or a full day at the rescue mission. Grace can be giving up a career to raise your family or going back to school to get a good job for your family. It can be giving up a dream or going for it.

God knows your heart. Ask Him to show it to you.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  2 Corinthians 9:8

 

 

 

 

Photo by Ullash Borah on Unsplash

 

 

 

Full House

I’ll share what’s been on my mind all day, although I’m not sure it qualifies as Monday School.

Yesterday, we celebrated Father’s Day with the grill going outside and the sound of the U.S. Open in the background on the inside. That’s the way we celebrated Father’s Day when Dad was here. I always thought Dad should get a break from the grill on Father’s Day, but he didn’t see it that way.

Now my husband mans the grill for all the other dads and when he’s finished with that, flips the channel back and forth from golf to rodeo.

We laugh and talk around the table. The uncles tease the little ones and the boys throw the football in the yard. The kids play tag and climb the rope swing and we pose for pictures in front of the prettiest tree.

Here we are, in the same house, all these years later, celebrating the important days much like we used to. Our house was full on Christmas and Mother’s Day and some other days too. It will be full again soon. Same love, new generation.

Good people, good food, good times.

And all I could think about was grace…..God’s boundless, beautiful grace.

 

Photo by Aral Tasher on Unsplash

 

 

Like a Good Neighbor

When I finally sat down last night to read and write a little, I was overcome with nostalgia. Our Mother’s Day celebration caused some of it but most of it came from our time at the church. The church was filled with others honoring the man’s life.

We knew him as Mr. Jimmy. We lived next door to him and his wife for thirteen years in another small town not far from the one we live in now.

We drove past the old place on our way to the church and the sweet memories filled my mind. The summer gardens. The country roads. The fields and the tractors and the cows.

And Mr. Jimmy.

The visitation line moved slowly. When it was my turn to offer my condolences, I shared a few treasured memories, told his wife and daughters what he meant to us, and explained that our son would be there but he lives far away now.

Our kids spent a lot of time in Mr. Jimmy’s fields; climbing the hay bales, fishing the ponds, digging up bones and old glass bottles. They spent plenty of time in Mr. Jimmy’s barn too. Playing in empty stalls, cuddling kittens and chasing puppies. We didn’t know it until yesterday but on the wall of Mr. Jimmy’s barn is the name of each child that has ever passed through it, including our three. His wife told us Mr. Jimmy wrote their names in black permanent marker.

Anyone could tell Mr. Jimmy loved his place by the way he took care of it. He kept the barn clean and knew where everything was. A dust covered radio played old country or southern gospel music all the time. He enjoyed time on his tractor and ate onions right out of the ground. He chewed on peppermint from his herb garden to ease an upset stomach. He loved to tell a good story, especially the ones about how he used to be but wasn’t anymore. He loved Jesus and gave him all the credit for anything good in his life. He’d come to the house for a short visit and sit on the same side of the love seat every time. What we all remember most about Mr. Jimmy was his kindness, generosity and a willingness to go above and beyond.

Usually a verse I’ve read is rolling around in my head and I share it for Monday School. But today, it wasn’t a verse I was thinking about. I was thinking about Mr. Jimmy and what he meant to so many people.

Mr. Jimmy was a good neighbor. The kind Jesus talked about in the Gospels. The kind James wrote about in his epistle. And everyone was Mr. Jimmy’s neighbor.

Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.    James 2:8

Thirsty

This is late. I intended to end my Lenten journey with a post sharing my experience but I had no words. This year was very different than last. I wrote several posts easily during my Lenten journey last year, but posts have been few this time around because words have been few.

I hoped to end my Lenten journey in a better place, my heart fuller and faith firmer. Part of the reason I observed Lent again this year was to re-center but I’ve felt disoriented and out of sorts.

I’ve been really lost only one time. I was with my mom, younger sister, and nephew in the woods near our home. It was early fall but still hot and humid. We continued our exploration through the woods too long and were surrounded by all things unfamiliar. The thick green woods engulfed us. We needed only to find the occasionally used railroad tracks then we could find our way. That’s what we hoped. We found the tracks, but were so lost we were unsure of which way to walk to get to something we recognized. We guessed, and hours later we saw the familiar wooden bridge built above the tracks in the distance. Parched and exhausted, we made our way to my aunt’s house to call someone to take us home.

My Lenten season felt similar. It seemed a wild and long one. I was weary and I’m weary still. And thirsty.

But water is much more refreshing when we’re really thirsty.

Maybe I’m not as disoriented as I feel and I’m exactly where I should be.

 

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.    Isaiah 55:1-2

 

Photo by Artem Bali on Unsplash

Unshaken

Monday School is brought to you again by Paul, the self-described chief sinner, grace-saved apostle of Jesus Christ. I read a lot of Paul’s letters – it’s hard not to since 13 of his letters are books in the Bible –  so he inspires many of my Monday School thoughts.

Actually this week’s passage is more than a thought. This is one of those passages used by God at a pivotal time in my life to change my life. I was attending an overnight women’s conference in Georgia with a wonderful group of women during a painful season. More than painful – I thought my life was falling apart. The teacher at the conference spoke from 2 Corinthians 1:3-7:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

I needed to know the God of all comfort like never before that weekend 20 years ago. And I did. I’ll never forget the peace I had on the way home. Not peace from untroubled circumstances but a deep well-being that comes from resting in God’s sovereignty and mercy. I knew the Father of mercies would be with me through that painful season and all the ones to come and I knew I would be able to comfort others with the same comfort.

Sometimes what isn’t said is just as important as what is said. Paul didn’t say we’re comforted by a changed situation. He didn’t say we’re comforted once our difficulties go away. Paul never said we won’t suffer.

Paul said we are comforted.

By Who?  The God of all comfort.

When are we comforted?  In our afflictions. Other Bible versions say during our troubles and every time we have trouble.

Why are we comforted? So that we can comfort others in times of trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Paul’s opponents questioned his ministry because of his trials. They thought his suffering disqualified him or minimized the effectiveness of his ministry but Paul proclaimed the troubles only made his ministry more powerful.

If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.

Paul’s affliction and the comfort in the affliction is for our comfort.

I’ve had the privilege of comforting others going through similar trials or difficulties. I remember how I was comforted and hope I do the same. The only true comfort I can bring is to point them to the One who comforts me still.

Paul’s hope for us was unshaken because he knew the God of all comfort. He knew the Father of mercies. Paul knew God uses our trials and tribulations and the comfort in them to give us strength and to help strengthen others.

Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

 

 

 

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

 

Identical

You Are a Letter

Monday School is the newest feature on my blog. For more about it go here.

This week’s Monday School comes from verses I first read and thought about years ago and ones I talked about at a women’s event. I’m thinking about them again. The verses are found in 2 Corinthians.

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”
2 Corinthians 3:2-3 NIV

The Message puts it like this:  “Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God’s living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives….”

My life is a letter. Yours is too. Not the kind written with pen and ink on tablets, but written with the Spirit of God upon our hearts.

So what do our lives say?

Do our lives say we love God or that we’re busy for God? Are we checking off the “good Christian” boxes or are we allowing Him to change us from the inside?

Do we love others? Those that are different than we are? Those we don’t understand?

Do we value relationships over routine? Are we distracted or engaged with the people around us? Are we easily offended?

Does my life say I’m grateful for God’s grace or does it say I deserve it? Does my life make those around me want to know God? Want to trust Him and love Him?

Hard questions. And honestly, ones I can’t always answer the way I want to.

God means for our lives to be a love letter, and He knows we’ll have good days and bad days. When asking ourselves what our lives say we shouldn’t look at a snapshot view. We can’t answer by looking at a day or a moment in time.

Instead let’s look at the whole of our lives……the complete view. The busy seasons, the slower ones and the growing ones. The hard and painful seasons and the sweetest ones.

“……you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.”  Colossians 1:10b NLT

Are we growing? Are we more patient? Less selfish?

Are we sensitive enough to know when our lives aren’t saying what they should say?

Are we quick to admit our mistakes, apologize and ask forgiveness?

Do our failures make us more gracious toward others? Do we forgive easily?

Are we surrendering more and more to God’s way of doing things?

Yes, let’s ask what our lives say now. But let’s ask what our lives will say tomorrow, next year, in fifteen years, and beyond.

What will your life say?

 

 

 

 

 

They Won

This is the kind of story that never gets old.

Daddy knew he needed to make a change.

To get better.

To save his life and ours.

He moved all of us to a whole new life in another state. Far away from the drinking binges and the fighting and the rehab centers that didn’t work. Far away from what happened and what was……..to something good and better.

The convoy to our fresh start rolled out one early summer morning in 1982. As a preteen I was probably less annoyed than most kids my age would have been. I knew I’d miss my friends but I was ready for something better. The hope of a calmer life, a different house, and a new school filled my heart. Moving day was a good day.

My sisters and I weren’t the only ones at a new school. Part of Dad’s new life included seminary and he began the night courses eagerly. He took careful notes in class and squeezed study time in when he could.

I can’t remember the day or the month or the season, but before the end of the first year Dad started drinking again.

Mom was devastated. She never told me that, but I know. Dad was too. When you’re a kid you have no idea what your parents are going through. Then you grow up and endure your own heartaches and one day, without meaning to, you feel the pain of your mom’s fear or the torment of your dad’s struggle with alcohol.

For the next decade Daddy lost the battle with alcohol over and over and over again.

Ten years.

Ten more years of the chaos and violence. Ten more years of tears and sorrow. Regretting the move, resenting the losses. Ten more years of emergency room visits and halfway houses. Ten more years of job changes and the financial strain and moving from house to house.

I’m sure Daddy remembered the day he took his last drink. He may have counted the days but he never told us. After about a year of him not drinking……we realized he wasn’t drinking. Then it was two years, then five. Ten years sober, then 20 years.

Daddy was sober for almost 23 years when he passed away in 2014.

Twenty three years of healing and restored relationships. Twenty three years of good memories. Twenty three years of the sweetest grace.

They won. Daddy and Mom pressed through and marched on. They fought the good fight and fought with each other. They messed up but moved forward. There were days they wanted to but they didn’t give up.

The long view is what got them through. The good days helped them see beyond the bad ones. When everything was falling apart they believed it could all come together. Love does that. It sees longer and deeper and wider. So my parents kept going. One day at a time. And they won.

The last time Daddy and Mom were face to face and held each others’ hands they weren’t thinking of the hard years. They were thankful for the moment and all the years that got them there.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash.

Restart

Grace In Vain

Today is another Monday with a new verse rolling around in my head.

I was in 2 Corinthians 6 and although I continued to read the entire chapter, I couldn’t get the last part of verse one out of my head.

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  2 Corinthians 6:1

Apparently we can receive the grace of God in vain and Paul thought the church at Corinth was in danger of it somehow. But what does that mean?

To do something in vain means to do it with no effect………without any useful result…….for no purpose. Like when you work really hard to lose 10 pounds but the scale numbers stay the same. Or campaigning for your favorite candidate only for them to lose the election. The work of exercising and eating right or the hours stuffing envelopes at campaign headquarters feel like a waste. No use at all.

Paul says that God’s grace to him was not in vain in 1 Corinthians 15:10: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Paul explains that God’s grace to him was not in vain by reminding the church of his hard work. Paul doesn’t take credit for his work though. He points to God’s grace.

Grace was received. Work was done. Paul labored in love because of God’s grace, NOT for God’s grace. There’s a vast difference between because and for. One is relationship, the other religion. One is a matter of the heart, the other is a list of dos and don’ts. One makes us humble, the other makes us proud.

The more Paul worked…..the more good he did, the less he thought of himself and the more he glorified God. Because that’s what grace does.

One way to receive God’s grace in vain is to make it all about me. To live my life, my way. Build my kingdom instead of God’s. Work for my comfort and safety without considering the comfort and safety of others.

Grace in vain makes me forget who I was before grace.

Grace in vain secretly, or maybe not so secretly, thinks I deserve the grace because of my knowledge, my faith, my leadership or accomplishments.

Grace in vain takes pride in reaching my next level. Takes pride in checking off the “good Christian” to do list.

Grace in vain makes all the work for nothing. The work is still done but without the intended results. Hardened hearts instead of soft ones. Less compassion, more judgment. Less peace, more fear. More about me. Less about God.

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. Romans 11:6

But grace, the kind that is not received in vain, remembers that God is the Grace Giver and we are nothing but what He makes us. This kind of grace makes us humble but gives us confidence. We grow and flourish in this grace. This grace flows through our love for God and for others.

“to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.                    Ephesians 1:6

Unfortunately, I don’t live in God’s grace perfectly. Thankfully, His grace covers that too.

Are there any areas in your life you aren’t acting on the grace you’ve received?

 

 

Photo by Sven Gauditz on Unsplash

 

 

 

The New Kid

The day I turned 12 years old, my family moved from our small town in Alabama to a big town in Tennessee. I lived in an unfamiliar house in a peculiar neighborhood and all my friends were too far away. A few weeks later I walked into my new school wearing a new dress because that was the rule. Girls wore dresses and boys wore collared, button-down shirts tucked in their pants. I never had these rules before and this made everything feel even stranger.

My classes went well though. I was late to Mrs. Bradshaw’s 7th grade English class because I had trouble finding the classroom. I listened intently to the teachers and was eager to learn, especially Tennessee History. Then there was lunch. I hadn’t thought about dreading it until I stood in line waiting for the glob of potatoes to fill the square on the top left corner of my tray. As I finished going through the line, I glanced around to see the entire lunchroom.

I stood there. Awkwardly. In a dress I hated. With a hideous hair cut. Holding a lunch I didn’t want to eat in a place I didn’t want to be.  IMG_5631

But like every new or uncomfortable situation I’ve been in since then, I made it through and here I am to tell the story.

We’ve all been there. Maybe not in the 7th grade with your hair cut too short wearing a plaid dress, but you’ve been the new kid or employee in training. The first-timer in an obstacle race, a freshman at college, the rookie gym member, or a newcomer to a writer’s conference…….feeling out of place, unsure and less than.

When we’re new to something we ask questions. That’s how we grow from not knowing to knowing. Is this seat taken? Which way to the math and science building? How can I strengthen my back muscles? Where do I get my timing chip? What do I say to the literary agent?

So we learn where to go and what to say and the next day or the next time it’s easier…..we’re not as unsure. We do that over and over and without even thinking about it we know what we’re doing and we’re confident in it. We’re winning the races, or killing our workouts at the gym, acing the college classes, or writing a book.

Changing circumstances, new experiences, and different environments are normal parts of our lives. Some of them we choose. Others we never would.

The best way to handle any of them: moment to moment, one foot in front of the other, with an open heart and a willingness to learn all we can. We’ll do it well sometimes. Other times we’ll fall flat on our faces. But it’s good either way if we’ve learned something, made a friend, solved a problem or faced a fear.

The more we do this, the better we get at it. We remember how we conquered the awkwardness and insecurity and it gives us courage to try other things. We welcome new opportunities. We’re not afraid to ask hard questions and we go against the flow when needed. We’re willing to be different and we don’t mind walking through difficult circumstances. Sometimes we even choose it because it’s the right thing to do.

But we do it with lots of grace and always thinking of others along the way because that’s the point. All of it means nothing……our learning, our serving, our working, our creating……..it means nothing if we’re not loving others.

I wish I could tell you who I sat with at lunch that day. Maybe I found out we had to sit with our homeroom class. Maybe someone called me over to sit with them. I do remember making lots of friends in 7th grade but I don’t remember anything from my Tennessee History class.

Let’s not forget how it feels to be the new kid and let’s make a newbie feel a little more comfortable when given the chance.

“Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”     Matthew 11:29-30 (MSG)