Another pair of glasses

I have glasses on the top of my head 50% of my waking hours and the other 50% the  glasses rest on my nose.  I am so dependent on reading glasses that I have multiple pairs.  I have upstairs and downstairs glasses; I have a pair on my desk at work and a pair in my car.  I am addicted to them.  I try to avoid ever having to say, "I can't see that. I don't have my glasses."

I find relief when I put them on and the letters in front of me become clear.  So much is my relief that I am well past the vain feeling of not wanting anyone to see me and think me Old!

Deuteronomy 16:9-12 introduces the celebration of the Festival of Weeks.  Seven weeks from the beginning of harvest, the Israelites were to offer freewill offerings to God in proportion to the blessings God had given.  They were to rejoice with  just about everybody, from their kids to the foreigners in their midst.

The sentence that spoke to me today is the one of the last ones:  Remember you were slaves in Egypt... I jotted in my journal "The glasses."

Remembering what life was like when I was in charge and it's burdens will cause me to rejoice in the blessings of letting God be in control of my life.  This should be my perspective to view and review my life.

When I read these verses the old hymn, "Count Your Blessings" kept playing in my mind.  We are to count our blessings, not to see how much richer we are but rather to see what God has done.

These verses are a warning to me to keep my life in perspective, to keep my focus on what God has done, not me.  Too many people live their lives ignoring God and not considering His blessings.  When Life gives them a challenge, they will wail, "Why me?"  My mother taught me well when she had cancer.  She responded with "Why not me?  I'm no better than others."  It was that perspective that guided her through that season of life.

These verses also suggest to me to be regular about counting my blessings.  I'm not sure I need a Harvest Festival in my life but when Life brings me a challenge I do want to:

Remember what life was like when I was in charge;

Rejoice that God is in charge now; and

Share the blessings!

I have been known to say "That's a good problem to have!"  When it gets crazy busy at the office, it means we have a lot of business.  When the pews are full, it means we have a crowd.  When I have three invitations for the same day, I have lots of friends.  When I keep the right perspective I can rejoice in the "challenges" of life.

The verses for the day remind me to keep my "blessing glasses" on my nose so I can see Life clearly, so I will rejoice in what God has done, is doing and will do.

Spoon hanging

I was cruising through Facebook this morning and saw a friend's daughter with a spoon balanced from her nose.  I smiled, "It's a Love family tradition that has spread." 

My grandmother came from the Love family (Yes, that was her real maiden name!)  There were 12 children and I had the pleasure of knowing several in my youth.  Longevity was also a family trait.

Many Christmas dinners were spent gathered around the table.  One of the great aunts taught us to hang a silver spoon from our nose by huffing a breath, to warm it, and then balancing it on your nose.  The family photo album includes a photo of about ten of us from 10-80 years old with spoons on our noses.  My brother held the record for spoons on his nose, cheeks and chin until  Adam came along.  Adam holds the record now.(But now that I've made that statement I suspect my brother will challenge the titleholder at the next family gathering.)

We have perpetuated the "tradition".  Many friends have been taught the finer points of spoon hanging around our holiday  table.  I even think if I check the photos from my son's wedding there will be photos of people with spoons hanging on their noses.

It is no coincidence that I saw my friend's picture just after reading Deuteronomy 16:1-8.  The Israelites are instructed to  observe the month of Aviv and celebrate when God "passed over" them and delivered them from the bondage of Egypt. 

He gives instruction on where to sacrifice, the place where God chooses for His Name, and how to eat the meal. Eat unleavened bread with the Passover sacrifice to remind them of the haste of their exit from Egypt.  Keep yeast from their possession for 7 days.  Don't have any leftovers, eat all the Passover sacrifice.  Then in the morning return to their tents.

In our family we have several "family holidays" that are not found on a Hallmark calendar.  We have celebrations on the anniversary of each of these.  Dick celebrates July 27-walking each and every day.  He has not missed a day.  He walks even when ill or traveling or busy. Usually he gets a new pair of running shoes.  We celebrate July 19-when Adam arrived in our family.  I send him a mushy note about being a better person because of him.  He celebrated one year by proposing to his wife.  Dick and I celebrate August 5-the day cancer passed over me because of God's deliverance.  We are either traveling somewhere (to check off things on the bucket list) or having a party.  My photo album, actually the photos still held in the computer, document me standing with fingers held up to indicate the number of years God has given me.  This past year I needed another hand so my longtime high school chums gave me my first pedicure and helped me add the 11th finger to my count!

These verses tell us to make time to:

Remember the affliction

Rejoice in the deliverance

Return to Life to spread the news that God delivers.   

A time to control...

"Kids, don't try this at home! It worked for us but it's not a guarantee."  We always end the story of our romance with these words because we met and were engaged in two weeks!

I was reminded of this time in my life when this morning I asked, "When have I given up control and benefitted?"  Falling in love was one of those times.  When I was in college I participated in a class exercise.  We were to "look into our future" and see where we would be in five and ten years.  I didn't like my conclusions.  I even made a few changes in my life to try to change that future.

My word for today is control.  I have the word in my thoughts after reading Deuteronomy 15:19-23.  The Israelites are told to set apart the firstborn male of their flocks and herds to be eaten in the presence of the Lord, at the place He will choose.  The instructions show that the Israelites are to relinquish control over the firstborn males of the flocks and herds to God. 

We always call it a sacrifice.  We think that we are giving up something.  Yet, in a sense, God gives it back.  The Israelites get to eat the "sacrifice" in God's presence, with their family (see Deuteronomy 12:7).  The Israelites benefit when they give God control of their possessions.

In these verses, the Israelites are again reminded not to eat the blood.  The blood of the animals is the life.  Perhaps if they would eat the blood, the life, they would think they had control. (see Deuteronomy 12:23) 

Yet, in Life, there are so many things we cannot control even though we try very, very hard.  I know so many people who strive to control all the details of their life.  It seems like a lot of work and effort are expended to control meaningless details.  Perhaps, the modern version of Ecclesiastes 3 should include, "there is a time to control and a time to let go."

Today I am reminded not to hold onto Life so tightly.  When I give control of my life to God I don't lose, I gain more than I had.  This is a guarantee!

So when I give God control of my life, I will benefit.  In college, when I fell in love, I thought I was throwing logic out and allowing love to control my life.  In my case I really was allowing God to control the path of my life.  I didn't even know it was God at the time.

Life has turned out so much better than if I'd been in complete control. It has been an adventure, filled with thrills and surprises, but God really  has done a better job with my life and I've benefitted.

I will give God my first, my best and God will give me the best life.

Twice as much

When I was growing up there was a series of television commercials that started off with:  "The word for today is...."  A short encouraging message followed to foster a positive life.

My words for today are "twice as much."

My reading of Deuteronomy 15:12-18 has proven to me, again, that  the Bible will speak to me every day in every verse if I am open to hearing. These verses give the Israelites instruction on how to handle fellow Hebrew servants.  The masters are to be generous.  They are to remember that they were once slaves in Egypt.

Yet the words that have resonated in my head for the last day are "his service...has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand."

My perspective on these verses this morning is from the servant side.  I relate to being the server, the employee, the helper.  I ask the question of myself, "Has my service been twice as much?"  It is not a competitive question but rather one of the quality of my service.

The Hebrew servant had a choice in who to serve.  The Hebrew servant had the choice at the end of 6 years to continue serving for life because he had come to love the master as family.

Today I will let this portion of a verse guide me to offer those I serve my best.  I will double  my effort  to serve above expectation.

My Heavenly Master is the best.  He has given to me liberally.  He has accepted me into His family for life.  He has blessed me.  I will strive to be "worth twice as much" knowing that it is only through God's love and sacrifice that I can even try to be worth twice as much!

Sam

"I have good news and bad news,"  Gordon announced as he came in our front door.  Gordon was our youth minister and had been living with us for a couple of months after the earthquake destroyed his house.  "I have found a place to live (that was the good news) and I'm taking the dog with me (that was the bad news)."

My response was "No you are not.  I feed the dog.  I trained the dog. I took him to the vet,  I even named the dog.  The dog stays!"

I thought of this episode in my life when I asserted my rights of ownership as I read Deuteronomy 15:1-11.  What a great system of economics God had planned for the Israelites.   Every 7 years debts were cancelled.  He warned not to be a stingy lender thinking ahead to losing the repayment to the seventh year debt cancellation.  God promised that the new  land would be a land of plenty.  Israel would not borrow from other nations but lend to other nations.  He promised blessings on all their work when they give generously, without grudging.  He commanded them to be open-handed with the poor and needy.

Sam was the dog in dispute.  He grew to be a large lovable animal that Dick and Gordon found as a puppy a few days after the earthquake as a stray.  They thought he was cute and they were being cute when they dropped by my office to show him off.  I warned them, "Don't bring the dog home."  I knew what would happen--I'd fall in love with him and not let him leave.  So when Gordon claimed ownership of Sam, I quickly asserted my list of claims as Sam's rightful owner.

Perhaps that's why we never operate under God's plan for economics as set out in Deuteronomy--we love our things and wealth too much.  We love want we think we own and have a right to keep. 

These verses remind me that we are

to trust God for His provision;

to give generously to remind ourselves that God gave generously to us and

to be an example, to show how much God loves by being generous and open-handed.

It's about God's generosity, not my rights.  It's about God's reputation, not mine.  It's about trusting God for providing, not my ability to provide.

The next morning Gordon came out of his room with a decision.  We had ended our discussion without a resolution.  We both were upset.

"You can keep the dog."  Gordon said.  "Oh, did you pray about it?"  I asked because it was what we both should of done in the beginning.  Gordon was a very godly man at age 22.  He always challenged me to grow spiritually with the daily question, "What has God taught you today?

I expected a God-given revelation to resolve the future of Sam. 

"No"  Gordon confessed. "Sam threw up on all my clothes last night!" 

Maybe Sam made his feelings known or God does answer prayer in very strange ways!

My first allowance

"Wow!  A Whole Quarter!" I felt rich and grownup. (Now you know how old I am.  I was young when a quarter was a big sum of money!)

My mother had just told me she was going to give me a weekly allowance.  She told me what my responsibilities were to receive the allowance, making my bed and unloading the dishwasher, to this day my least favorite job in the kitchen.  She also told me the use of my wealth:  ten cents for my Sunday School offering; ten cents for Girl Scout dues and five cents for me.

I was reminded of the valuable lesson my mother taught me about the use of money when I read Deuteronomy 14: 22-29.  Moses reminded the Israelites to set aside one tenth of all their grain, new wine, oil, firstborn of the herds and flocks to present to God in the place where He chooses as the dwelling  for His name.  In the event they would live too far from that place, then there was the  alternative of exchanging their one-tenth tithe for silver to carry to God's place and buy whatever they like to take to God.

The purpose of this tithe was to learn to revere God always (verse 23).  I started to ponder the meaning of revere but  then realized that the important word  in that sentence, for today, was always.  I wonder when in the history of my allowance did I forget the source of the allowance and take the view that the allowance was my right and not a gift or reward for my service.

As I grew up, when did I think that the money, possessions and wealth in my life belonged to me?  I earned it and I will keep it or use it as I see fit.  I'm sure I often asked my parents for more than I should, perhaps I demanded it. 

These verses remind me that all I have has been provided by God, always. The ability to work and earn, the opportunity to provide for my needs, wants and desires are a gift from God, always.  When I tithe to God, I am acknowledging His provision and care for me,, always.  I acknowledge that God is the one in control of my life, always, because my effort at control lacks the ability for me to  keep balance in my life, always.

Early in our marriage we were in a church that helped us learn to tithe.  We were struggling to meet our daily needs and drowning in debt.  The thought of tithing seemed impossible.  The church's annual giving card suggested a percentage starting at any number we chose.  I think we decided on three percent of our net.  The giving card asked a second, more important question, "Will you also commit to raising this gift by one percent next year?"   That gave us hope that someday in the future we could actually attain our goal of ten percent.  This question  helped us develop a pattern for the use of our money, just as the plan my mother gave me for my allowance.

We also decided at this time that the first check written in the month would be our "tithe".   Somehow,  at the end of every month, we had our needs met.  It seems impossible that our monthly food budget was merely $35 and we felt like we ate well and fed a bunch of other single seminary students.  (They always brought the ice cream for dessert.) We rejoiced with every unexpected income of money, an honorarium, a scholarship, a utility refund, loose change found.

Now, after thirty plus years, we always write the first check to God.  We have learned that God will meet our needs, always.  He is the One in control, always. We need to trust Him to provide and rejoice each time He does, always.

T              Take it to God.  He gave me everything!

I               Include others in my praise.  Include the family, the servants and the needy.

T              To learn to revere God, always.

H             Have a plan.

E              Enjoy.  I look forward every month to putting the first check in the offering plate, because I can,               God made it possible!

Red Bananas

"Oh look, they have bought the expensive red bananas!"  The missionary was giving us a clue to the valuable gift we were being offered.    I was on a mission trip with 15 other US women in the Philippines.  At that moment we were visiting an inner city type of mission.  I can't remember the specific place or name but their gift of love and sacrifice is vivid in my memory.

I hate bananas.  I always refuse them.  Yet when the missionary made her exclamation, I immediately took one of those precious, expensive bananas and popped it in my mouth.  Out of their meager resources, these people had chosen us to  give a very expensive gift of love.  I showed my appreciation for their generous gift by receiving it.

The first twenty-one verses in Chapter 14 of Deuteronomy may seem like a list of good food and bad food but I also see in them one of God's profession of love.  There are very specific instructions on what animals are detestable and which are permissible to eat.  It may have been a list of acceptable and unacceptable food since the Israelites were going to live in  a new land. Perhaps there were very valid health issues so God was protecting the Israelites.  It could have been a plan to manage the environment.  Some of the animals they were not to eat were the scavengers and they play a very important role in maintaining a balance in the environment .  Or it may have been a cultural statement.   They were not to eat like the other nations.  Israel had been chosen by God as a treasured possession, out of all the peoples on Earth,  so they were to stand out by what they eat and don't eat.

Out of all the people on Earth today, God has chosen me, and you, to build a relationship.  He has given and will continue to give me guidance on how to live this strange life on Earth.  Why?  Because you and I have been chosen by Him and given a very expensive gift.  God gave us the opportunity to receive His love and protection.  As I follow His way of living, I will stand out  and others will know that I belong to God.

Too often we get so consumed by following the rules and determining right and wrong we forget that we are chosen and loved.  We think that we earn His affection by following the rules and then lose sight of the real reason for our way of life. We are to show our appreciation for the expensive gift God gave by living as the treasured, so others will see how great is God's love!

Among us

"Mark this day down!"  We giggled yesterday when I left a fabric store empty handed.  It does not happen often.  Some might think I'm obsessed with fabric and yarn.  Not really.  I do have some restraint.  I do try to keep "my wits" in a tempting situation.

I did think of a couple examples of letting something innocent control  me.  They really are innocent and were easily a part of my everyday life. Too soon they consumed every moment of my time and thought.  So you will stop wondering, one of these obsessive items was the first Gulf war.  I spent all of my time in front of the TV.  I planned my day around the televised military news briefings.  I left the TV on in the bedroom all night.  If I tried I could probably hum the "theme song" the TV networks used for updates.  As I reflect, I was not fearful.  I didn't personally know someone deployed.  I was just so interested and fascinated.  It started in my mind as information for prayer but later I realized it controlled my thoughts, my time and my daily life.  I knitted a complete sweater in a handful of days during the time in front of the TV. I call it my Gulf War sweater.

Deuteronomy 13 warns that temptation comes from among us.  "Among you" is used in this chapter four times in the translation I read.  These words stuck in my mind. 

We are warned that we can be swayed by flash, friends, family and fellowship.  The Israelites were warned that even if the doer of a sign or wonder that works tempts them away from God, Don't follow. Even if your close friend or family member suggests a new way to worship, don't follow.  If a whole community follows another god, don't follow.  In fact, the Israelites are told to keep away and destroy it.

I can recognize the blatant heresy and it's easy not to follow, to stay away and if appropriate destroy it.  This chapter reminds me of the subtle, more emotional temptations.  There are so many "aids" to make my life better in our world that it takes wisdom and strength not to follow after every life strategy presented.  Often, these aids come with proven success stories or from close family and friends.  Perhaps whole communities or  groups have had success and we think there must be right in numbers and success.

I am reminded that every day I will have opportunities to spend my time, my money, my energy, my thoughts.  There will be opportunities to follow God but the more tempting and too often more attractive opportunities will be those that keep me from following God and developing my relationship with God.

Since I have noticed these incidents in my past, I think ahead.  Yesterday, I didn't buy fabric because I knew it would have to go home in the little suitcase that I have to carry.   I thought about the consequence of my action.  I concluded there was nothing I had to have yesterday.

I have sought a schedule.  I spend time with God almost first thing each morning.  I usually get a few distractive items out of the way-making coffee, getting puppies out and settled, perhaps a load of laundry and sometimes brush my teeth.   If it will tug on my mind and only take a minute, first thing, I do it, so I can focus my mind on the scriptures and what God will say to me today. 

 

I have found when I spend time with God First, then I am not so tempted by flash, friends, family and fellowship.  My daily study time equips me to recognize the subtle temptation and wrong teaching.

My daily study time is the rudder of my day. I have found that skipping does not make the day go better.  It does not save me time and energy.  Spending the five minutes or so, organizes my day and I find I  have more time when I take this time.

This chapter tells me that to love God with all my heart and soul (because I really want to love God)

I must choose God first over other gods;

I must choose God's way over other ways (even though someone close has a better way);

I must choose God's ministry (even though my selfish desire looks more important); and

I  must choose God's future (even when I know I'm a good planner).

To love God with all my heart and soul, I will follow Him and keep Him First; I will obey God's commands; I will serve God; and I will hold fast to God even when tempted by something seemingly innocent and  "among us".