Our Urban Garden: The Water of the Word

 

                      Late yesterday afternoon, I noticed the lush bright pink flowers on my hydrangea plant had dropped considerably. Thinking that perhaps the flower head had reached its full life expectancy, I didn’t think too much about it. However, later in the evening, the entire bush had shriveled. The leaves were wilted, the flowers droopy, and the entire bush looked weak and sick. I then noticed the other hydrangea bush was starting to show some of the same signs of weariness. At this point, I was concerned about my new little “babies,” so Jeff and I took them inside for some extra care.

          We spent half an hour researching problem care for container hydrangeas and couldn’t quite figure out what had made them so sick. The day was chilly, but the air wasn’t too frigid to kill them. There was plenty of sunshine on the balcony, and they had just gotten a showering of water from the rainstorm on Saturday. What was the problem?

          During our reading, both Jeff and I discovered that hydrangeas are extra thirsty plants. I’ve been a little wary to overwater my plants, because books and experts alike have warned me that many houseplants die from overwatering as much as under-watering. But when I looked at the pictures in my gardening manual depicting an under-watered plant, I saw the same overall withered look in my hydrangeas. After finger testing the soil, I decided that maybe my hydrangeas needed some extra water after all. So, for better or worse, I took my pink spritz bottle, filled it up, and gently watered the soil of my sad hydrangeas. For extra measure, I even spritzed some of the leaves in hopes of reviving these poor bushes that so bravely entered the home of a newbie gardener.

          To my surprise, when I woke up this morning, my pink hydrangeas had revived completely! The flower heads were tall and stately, their soft pink petals alive and perky. The leaves had unfurled, and the bush had an overall healthy, vibrant appearance. Imagine, all that life came back with just a little bit of water!
 

          As I was pondering this miracle of life, I was reminded of the necessity of water in our own spiritual lives. Ephesians 5:25-27 says, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

          Many times in scripture, the Word is symbolized as water. And just like my hydrangea plants, if we don’t adequately water ourselves with the water of the Word, we will shrivel and die. The Word is our strength, our cleansing agent, our food, and our sustenance. Without it, we cannot grow, we cannot produce fruit, we lose our luster and brilliance, and we shrink back from living in our full potential. The Word is the power source behind every brilliant, steadfast Christian!

          Sadly, many Christians take for granted the watering process of the Word. We think if we hear the Word once or even twice that we are guaranteed to grow and produce fruit. But that is not the case. Like all living things, we need constant and continual watering.

          For the past several months, I have been meditating on the power, authority, and value of God’s Word. During this time, my love of God’s Word has been rekindled into a burning fire. I have rediscovered a grateful reverence for my Bible and have awakened a deep desire for the feeding of the Word. And in this time of reflection, study, thinking, probing, and meditating, my spiritual life has taken on a whole new growth pattern. My leaves are shiny and bright, my fruit is strong and beautiful, and my life is strong and upright. The Word has rejuvenated me, brought me life, and stimulated new growth. I am different because of the watering of the Word!

          Sometime last fall, as I was studying on the benefits of staying in the Word, I came across a text book we had read while in Bible school at Rhema, called How to Study the Word: Taking the Bible from the Pages to the Heart by Terry Lawson. I began incorporating that book into my own devotional time and was inspired by the multitude of scriptures listed that dealt with the topic of God’s Word. It’s phenomenal how much God’s Word speaks about itself!

          From this renewed appreciation and pursuit of God’s Word, I’ve changed some priorities in my life. I don’t see things the same way as I did a year ago, nor do I think the same way. Why? Because I’ve grabbed a hold of the Word of God with every ounce of my being. I’ve always been a student of the Word, and I’ve always cherished my daily devotional times. Now more so than ever, I am hungry for the life in the Word. I desire it, I long for it, I need it. Just like my pink hydrangeas, I am tall and sprightly because of the water of the Word.

          The Psalmist wrote: “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psalm 1:2-3). In the book of Joshua, God gave the following instructions to His children: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8) In both scriptures, success came as a result of meditating in God’s Word.

          In John 15, Jesus even talked about the importance of a branch continually abiding in the Vine. And guess what? He said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). The secret to a prevailing prayer life and a successful Christian walk is found in the faithful hearing and daily application of God’s Word.

          Let me leave you with a few additional insights from Psalm 119. As you may recall, Psalm 119 is almost entirely dedicated to honoring God’s Word. If you haven’t read it in a while, I encourage you to go back through that chapter and see for yourself how awesome God’s Word really is! In this chapter, we find a plethora of benefits of spending time in God’s Word:

• God’s blessing is upon us if we observe and do His Word (verse 1-5)
• Treasuring God’s Word in our hearts keeps us from sin (verse 9-11)

• God’s Word gives us counsel (verse 24)
• Spending time in God’s Word produces reverence for God (verse 38)
• God’s Word keeps us from shame (verse 46)
• God’s Word comforts and revives us (verse 50)
• God’s Word causes us to give thanks (verse 61-62)
• God’s Word teaches us discernment and knowledge (verse 66)
• God’s Word preserves us from destruction (verse 87)
• God’s Word keeps us spiritually recharged (verse 93)
• God’s Word gives us wisdom and understanding (verse 88-100)
• God’s Word gives joy to our hearts (verse 111)
• God’s Word sustains us and gives us life (verse 116)
• God’s Word keeps sin from having dominion over us (verse 133)
• God’s Word is our delight in the face of trouble (verse 143)
• God’s Word pleads our cause and rescues us (verse 153-154)
• God’s Word fills us with peace and keeps us from stumbling (verse 165)
• God’s Word brings us back when we stray (verse 176)

        
      If you are feeling a little discouraged or dull, I encourage you to take a spiritual bubble bath. Soak in God’s Word, and let the faucet of the supernatural, life-transforming power in God’s Word run its rejuvenating water all over you. If you’re weary, anxious, sad, and troubled, go get your Bible and start reading God’s promises to you. If you’re facing trouble, or if you need wisdom on how to deal with family or marriage situations, God’s Word has the counsel you need! If you’re tempted to sin, if you’re stressed on the job, if you’re worried about tomorrow, go soak in God’s Word.

God’s Word has the ability to revive you, the truth to correct you, and the wisdom to guide you. And even when you think you’ve already had enough Bible time, go back and soak some more. God’s Word is your secret to life!

 

Our Urban Garden: The Birth of a New Adventure

 

      About six weeks ago, my husband and I ventured into the whole new world of gardening. I’ve never grown anything green by myself, and I always reticently agreed to housesitting my friends’ plants. God forbid, anything should die at my hand! But as newlywed bliss settled over our souls, the nurturing aspect of life kicked into high gear. Maybe we are preparing for parenthood, maybe spring is calling to our hearts, or maybe we just needed a new little adventure in life. Or perhaps, our new love was so plenteous and bountiful that it needed a joint expression of its overflowing joy. Whatever the reason behind this new endeavor, we launched full-force into gardening.

          As a missionary kid, I was exposed to some of Europe’s most beautiful gardens and flowers: the lush rose trellis in our neighbors’ yards, the austere jardin at the Chateau de Versailles, the ancient Lombardy poplars along the French country roads, and the blazing yellow mustard bushes in the nearby fields. It seemed almost every French person I met was born with a green thumb. While all our neighbors grew a gorgeous assortment of roses and lavender, our little American backyard was sadly lacking in spring array…except for a tiny handful of dainty yellow daffodils that grew every spring. We assumed the previous tenant had planted them, and they faithfully, albeit mysteriously, appeared every year we lived in that house.

          When we lived in Sweden, half the year was buried in an avalanche of snow from about October to May. But when spring finally came, so did the pretty little flowers. In fact, I remember walking to a neighborhood market about a mile away from our house and often bringing home a fresh bouquet of flowers just to remind myself that spring was near.

          Years later when I moved to Tulsa to attend Oral Roberts University, I fell deeply in love with the Prayer Gardens, a romance with nature that still lingers today. In fact, there’s no place of outdoor solace I’d rather be in than the ORU Prayer Gardens. The multitude of colorful flowers, the hovering canopy of strong trees, and the lush Elephant Ears guarding the Prayer Tower doors create the most amazing peaceful effect. Combined with the constant peace lingering on the campus and the soft trickle of water fountains, the gardens really are a solace for the soul. To this day, if ever I am need of a quiet place to pray or reflect, I immediately head over to the Prayer Gardens. It is my favorite place in the whole wide world!

          This love of flowers, once born from a missionary girl’s heart, continued to grow all through my single years in my 20s and 30s. Not married until age 32 and never a huge advocate of dating, I didn’t have a special someone to bring me flowers for no reason. So, I began a tradition of occasionally buying myself flowers…just because. The bouquets were inexpensive and didn’t last long, but they brought simple joy to my heart during their week of life in my home. And now with a wonderful husband in my life, I enjoy the special bouquets he often brings home as a surprise. (Life is pretty grand with a husband, I admit!)

          Despite this lovely appreciation of flowers, bouquets, and gardens, I’ve not yet attempted to grow anything from seed, bulb, or pot in all my 33 years. So when Jeff and I embarked upon this new journey, it began as an experiment and a learning process. Through the last six weeks, this endeavor has blossomed into a full-blown obsession, nature adventure, and a deeply spiritually enriching lesson.

We began our little venture with a few lily bulbs and a couple containers. As our curiosity grew, so did our purchasing weakness. Added to the collection were a variety of lilies, calla lilies, dahlias, a purple clematis, a yellow Carolina Jessamine, and two other exotic looking plants with gorgeous green leaves. We’ve endeavored to maintain a color scheme of pink, orange, yellow, and purple and have organized our plants in color-matching or neutral pots around our balcony. Since we live in an upstairs apartment, we call this “urban gardening,” our own terminology used to describe the more accurate term “container gardening.” I’ve lost count how many containers are now out on our balcony--the number is quickly approaching 30, give or take a pot.

    The potting process was an additional experiment to the gardening adventure. Most retailers sell pretty little pots at a pretty little penny, so Jeff and I opted for the ugly orange terracotta pots, which we brilliantly decided to paint ivory or purple. The painting idea turned out to be a smart way to provide a beautiful container at low cost. (Now we just have to figure out how to remove the paint spots from our balcony floor!)

Since most of our flowers are just now beginning to show tiny sprouts above the soil, I decided we needed to add some full blossoms to our seedling garden. So on Thursday, I took a little break from writing and headed to the Southwood Nursery on 91^st and Lewis to purchase a couple brightly colored gerbera daisies.

I’ve always loved gerbera daisies, but since June of last year, these big blossoms have taken on a special significance for me as they were my wedding flower. In fact, the wedding detail I remember most from our June 23^rd wedding is my bouquet of turquoise hydrangeas and orange and pink gerbera daisies. Amidst all the blur, activity, people, emotions, and life-altering moments, I vividly recall the happiness personified by my wedding bouquet. Gerbera daisies are such fun, happy little flowers, don’t you think?

To my heightened delight, I not only found a lovely group of brightly colored daisies last week at the nursery, but I even found them in orange and pink, our wedding colors. Giddy with excitement, I grabbed six of the happy little flowers and put them in my shopping basket. But oh, the beauty of spring that surrounded me at that moment, calling to me, beckoning me, luring me into the bounty of the greenhouse! All around were pink petunias, purple and yellow pansies, orange impatients, vivid orange and red bromeliads, soft pink geraniums, blue hydrangeas, white lilies, and an assortment of green plants, succulents, vines, and ivies. Overcome with spring fever, my newly found obsession kicked into high gear. I walked out of the store with my six gerbera daisies, two pink hydrangeas, a salmon colored geranium, a hot pink geranium, and a hanging basket of lovely tangerine impatients.

 

          Being the sweet husband that he is, Jeff was ever so patient and understanding when he arrived home and saw the balcony decked out in eleven new flower plants! Over the weekend, we made a trip to Garden Ridge to pick out some more containers for the new members of our urban garden. Deciding to break away from the terracotta method, we opted for some round purple porcelain containers for the hydrangeas and several decorated tin containers for the others.

During our research on gardening, we’ve discovered that all potted flowers must have a good drainage system. So if a pot doesn’t have holes in the bottom, we drill the holes ourselves. Apparently, the drainage holes allow the water to properly escape the soil, thus preventing root-rot.

After repotting our plants and buying some additional plant stands, we are beginning to see the lovely rewards of our hard work and patience. Almost every bulb we planted has exhibited at least some sign of growth, while the previously blooming flowers are continuing to blossom. What an exciting adventure for a newly married couple!

On the warmer afternoons, I’ve enjoyed sitting on my balcony drinking a cappuccino and working on freelance projects while soaking in the elegance of our infant urban garden. I may not hear the eloquent strands of French or the sing-song cacophony of Swedish, but I am living in the midst of my own personal Prayer Garden, right outside my own front door.

Eight Principles for Stewarding Our Gifts

~ Eight Principles for Stewarding Our Gifts ~

 1. When developing our gifts, we are not to be afraid of the potential nay-sayers or negative circumstances. Rather, we are to walk in love, in power, and in self-discipline (2 Tim. 1:7).

 2. We are utlimately the ones responsible for developing our gifts (2 Tim. 1:6).

3. We may face opposition while using our gifts for the Kingdom of God (2 Tim. 1:12).

 

4. We did not receive our gifts on our own merit; God sovereignly entrusted them to us to fufill His eternal plan and purpose (2 Tim. 1:9).

 5. The Holy Ghost will help us steward our gifts well (2 Tim. 1:14).

 6. Study, discipline, and excellence are required in our quest for stewardship (2 Tim. 2:15).

 7. We learn how to cultivate our gifts from our mentors (2 Tim. 2:1-2).

 8. When we have cultivated our gifts properly, we are to  multiply them through teaching and discipleship (2 Tim. 2:1-2).

America: The Overlooked Mission Field

For every face you see in America, Jesus paid a price...

According to a particular survey, only 29% of the American population are active, practicing Christians. The number of marginally unchurched individuals (people who have a religious affiliation but have never had an encounter with Jesus) comprises 30% of the population. And those who are considered radically unchurched (are of other religions or are atheist/agnostic) make up 41 % of the American demographic.

In other words, if you were to randomly pick 10 Americans and stand them side by side, only 3 of them would have any real relationship with Jesus Christ. The other 7 are on their way to hell unless someone shares Christ with them. Just think about that for a minute – 7 out of every 10 Americans are held captive by Satan, broken by sin, and are dying without a Savior.

During my teenage years, my family and I served as missionaries on one of the spiritually darkest continents in the world: Europe. When we moved to France in 1995, only 5% of the French population actually owned a Bible, and 20% of them were agnostics or atheists. In school, I was constantly asked questions like, “What’s a Bible? What’s a pastor? Who’s Jesus?” Despite its historical and cultural beauty, France was a very dark, oppressing nation. They needed the light of Jesus Christ.

Just recently, the Pew Survey released an astonishing statistic: The secular segment of America’s population has risen to 20%. That statistic – the same one we used to describe our missionary needs on the foreign field – now describes the United States of America. In this country today, 20% of our fellow citizens are so unchurched and so unfamiliar with the story of redemption, that they proclaim themselves as atheists and agnostics.  In fact, another research study discovered that the Millennial generation is the least exposed to the Gospel ever in the history of our nation.

In 1831, a French sociologist and politician by the name of Alexis de Tocqueville came to America to discover why America was such a prosperous nation. Among the many things he discovered was one primal ingredient: the churches, morality, and religious freedom we have in the United States. According to this statesman, it was America’s Christianity that made her great.

Today, we are a far cry from hearing church bells ring on every corner. The media is so ungodly these days that if a person stands for Christian values – even in his own church setting – he often gets a backlash from the public media. While working in a secular department store even in the “Christian” city of Tulsa, I was shocked to run into so many individuals who hadn’t been to a church ever in their lives. In fact, it is reported now that America is the 4^th largest mission field in the world – the 4^th largest!

Because missions is something ingrained into me as a child, my heart breaks for my own country. I’m almost in disbelief how much morality has declined in even the last 10 years I’ve lived here. The issues that were taboo just a decade ago are all acceptable today. What has happened to my home, my beloved America?

My dear Christian friends, I want to challenge you today to stand up for Jesus in this country. It’s becoming less and less popular to do so, but who cares about being accepted when the truth is at stake? Don’t just think of missions as something that has to be done in another country. Friends, the USA IS a mission field! And because of its importance and influence in the other nations of the world, if we lose America, we’ve lost the door to foreign missions.

Every soul in the USA matters. When we see pictures of foreign faces from far-away lands like Tunisia, Afghanistan, Zambia, Thailand, Russia, and Chile, our hearts break because we know they don’t know Jesus like we do. Each face, each map, each flag represents an untouched soul dying and going to hell. But when was the last time you looked at a face of an American and were broken by that same compassion? When was the last time you cried over a map of the United States and beheld our flag as a symbol of missions?

The Gospel is a message for every single person in the world. Jesus died for the Uzbek, the Frenchman, the Swede, the Guatemalan, the Honduran, the Hindi, the Buddhist, the Muslim, the African, the Asian, and the European. But He also died for the American. He died for the Rhode Islander, the New Yorker, that fashion designer in Los Angeles, the gang member in Tulsa, the financial genius in Wall Street, the unwed mother in the HUD apartment in Detroit. He died for the wacky treehugger in Colorado and for the coffee loving entrepreneur in Atlanta. His blood was shed for the politicians (Yes, even them!), the military, the government officials, the policemen, the teachers, the factory workers, and the elementary kids. For every face you see in America, Jesus paid a price.

As you go about your normal routine today, I pose this challenge today: Open your eyes to the faces of the Americans as Jesus sees them. What are their hurts, their needs, their hearts’ desires? And how can you present Jesus to them? I challenge you today to take a stand for God in this country, pray earnestly for our homeland and our leaders, and take Jesus with you today to your fellow American countrymen. This country needs you…and this country needs Jesus.

 

Singing the Sweetest Song

                     

               "The Lord is my strength and song; and He has become my salvation."



                                                           ~ Psalm 118:14


Through every season of life, there is a thread of music weaving in and out of our hearts. Some people carry the song of bitterness and rebellion, while others carry a song of pride and selfishness. But for those walking closely with the Lord, there is but one song resounding in the depth of our hearts...it is the sweetest song, the song of purity and life, light and redemption, peace and love. It the song of a Saviour, a Redeeemer, a Restorer. It is the loveliest of all melodies one could ever hear or sing...it is the song of Jesus.


In the bright seasons of life, it's easy to sing to an upbeat tempo. How many of us crank up a great rock cd during the heat of summer while driving with the windows rolled down, breeze flowing through our car, and sunshine glistening from the sky? Those escstatic moments of joy and freedom are accompanied by the loud crunch of guitars, defining beats of drums, and happy lyrics. But when we are down, depressed,or discoruaged, how many of us are tempted to shift into melancholy rhythms? Gray skies and rain always seem to evoke images of soulful lyrics or saddened melodies. Depending on our moods and circumstances, our taste in music varies from one season to the next. And the music that speaks to us, moves us, and comforts us changes as we move with the cadence of life.


But in the depth of the heart, there is but one song for the believer. It is never mournful, never despondent, never bereft of companionship. Its melody may swing from soft and peaceful to joyful and exuberant, but its underlying message remains constant with every pulsating note. This song, echoing from the innermost chambers of our soul is the song of the redeemed. Regardless of our season, we have a song of redemption. We have a song of relationship, of restoration, of a Father's love and care. Ever resplendent of strength and hope, our song withstands the fiercest of battles, the loneliest of days, the saddest of times. And as we grow closer in our walk with the Lord, this song only grows sweeter and louder with each passing moment.


And so for those of us in our hidden, waiting seasons (there are many of us, I know!), we have the opportunity to fine-tune our musicianship. The quiet, reclusive days of waiting help us develop our listening ability and choreograph our steps in rhythm to this song. Every movement, every breath, every word, every action is being refined to respond to the song within our hearts. Unnoticed and hidden, we are practicing a performance. Some days, we sing it perfectly, and other days, we seem to crash and fail miserably. But the point is that we are becoming...we are learning with finely crafted skill the art of dancing to this melody. It's a life-learning process - one we will never completely master, for there are new levels and depths of this song we've not yet even heard - but we are growing, each and every day.


So to all of you learning to sing the sweetest song, I welcome you into this musician's circle. We have much to learn, but we are daily given the chance to practice our skill. May we live each day in response to the song placed in our hearts by the Redeemer Himself...and may we sing the sweetest song as an anthem to our King.

Pioneers and Their Pioneering Spirit

How I love a pioneering spirit! It's a spirit that sees the obstacles but forges ahead confidently. It's a spirit that connects men and women to their purpose and destiny. It's a spirit that willingly obeys God despite the opposition. It's a spirit of faith, a spirit of adventure, a spirit that takes a person around the globe and back again. It's a spirit that goes where no person has dared gone before and does something no one has contemplated doing. It's a spirit that must be imparted, cultivated, and LIVED.


A pioneering spirit endures hardships, loneliness, rough seas and difficult seasons of life. It looks at impossible situations and sees endless possibilities. It is bold, unshakeable, undefeatable. When it gets knocked down, it never gets knocked out. A person with a pioneering spirit will always stay in the ring until he has won. This spirit refuses to be quenched; it rises above the odds, the opionions, and obstacles, and races on to the finish line. A pioneering spirit refuses to quit.


This kind of thinking, this kind of living, this kind of heart attidute thinks outside the box. It doesn't care if people come against it reciting a list of impossibilities. This spirit knows it has heard from God and charges through all earthly limitations. This spirit dares to step out of its comfort zone, embracing a higher purpose from Almighty God.


Those who are true pioneers care not about being celebrated. They do not give in to praise and criticism of men. Their ears are open to One Voice, their eyes focused on one target, their energies fixed on one destiny. Their courage comes from a place deep within, a place so secret, a place found in the quiet recesses of prayer and meditation. They have cultivated themselves, prepared their hearts, and answered a call to do something great for their King. Their deeds are vailiant, their acts mighty, their work unparalleled by others.


Some say these people march to the beat of their own drum. Others say they are foolish daydreamers who flit like debris caught in the wind. To the average person, these individuals may even appear weak or incapable of greatness. But their strength and courage cannot be seen at a casual glance. Their bravery is tested through the fire and is found like pure gold. They seem out of step with their peers only becasue they are listening to a different voice. They take their orders from a Mighty King who rules over their hearts and throughout eternity. Their desire is to please Him alone, regardless of the task He may set before them. They will accept their assingnment unflinchingly, willingly, and even lovingly. "It's all for my King!" is their battle cry.


Who are these men and women who are so bold, so daring, so unconforming? Where do they come from? What do they do? These men and women of destiny are not visible to the untrained eye, and they are not often found in places of limelight, popularity, or distinction. They may get there some day, but only after their work has been accomplished. In the beginning days of their life, they will be unknown, unseen, and unsung. They are not searching for fame, but are doing something that will bring fame to their King.


This unique brand of humanity are the ones who fearlessly say "I do" to any unusual task of the King. Their work is new; it's creative, innovative, and unique to their generation. They have few footsteps to follow in, exept those of thier King and other great pioneers who have gone before them. Instead of fitting into a mold, they dare to break the mold and all the confines doubt could ever place upon thier minds.


These courageous men and women are found in missionaires, pioneering pastors, apostles, and laymen alike. These are the leaders of the next generation who have answered a call from Heaven itself, stepped out of all that was comfortable and dared to obey God. They have forsaken homes, families, native lands, familiar jobs, the easy route, the normal standard of life. They have fearlessly unsheathed their sword of faith and fought spiritual battles. They have plowed new ground, taking difficult territories for their King. They are not content to live life dispassionately; they are full of fire and zeal for the One who gave His life for them. They willingly risk all to make Him known. Depite the rumors or discouragement, the hurt or pain, the challenges and obstacles, these men and women rise up above mediocrity and dare to live a life set apart, called out, and separated for Jesus.


If necessary, these people will sail the seven seas, cross the desert, storm a city, and take a neighborhood if that is what is required for the task. No assignment is too difficult for them to accept, no place too foreign for them to go. These amazing, determined, selfless people will sing a Victor's song and march over the shallow places of life to reach a world-altering destiny. Forsaking a life lived to themselves, they have pledged to follow their King to the end of the world. Their chorus of footsteps will echo throughout the earth, changing history, humanity, and eternity.






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The Cheery Side of Snowpocalypse 2011

While the city of Tulsa sits paralyzed from the wake of Snowpocalypse 2011, most of us are stranded in our homes, isolated from friends, work, church, and the the rest of civilization. Due to the frigid temps, the mountains of snow outside will remain undemolished for days. For many of us, rehabilitation to normal life won't begin until this weekend at the earliest.

Being stuck indoors with no escape to the outside world for days can lead many to restlesnessness, cabin fever, boredom, irritability, and bad attitudes. Once the novelty of participating in Oklahoma's record blizzard passes, tempers can be on edge as close quarters and inactivity prolong througought the week. Before going crazy from exasperation, let's take a moment to seize the day and be thankful for the unique opportunities this cataclysmic event has afforded us and our families. Yes, even in the midst of Snowpocalypse 2011, thankfulnessness should fill our hearts!

So in the days to come, here are a few snippets of cheer to keep you focused on the bright side of enduring the first blizzard of 2011:

1) Tulsa didn't lose electricity!

Unlike the ice storm of December 2007, which left most of us without electricity for at least 4 days, we have warmth and light. Those of you who survived that particular storm may remember the difficulties caused by such a massive power outage. I'm not a fan of living in darkness for days on end, nor do I enjoy being separated from the luxuries of electricity! No hair dryer, bathroom light, phone chargers, computers, tv, stereo, dvd player, or internet access. Thankfully, good friends stuck together, opening up their homes and sharing their generators, firewood, and extra blankets. I am still forever grateful to Chris and Aubra who brought over firewood to my apartment, and to Michele and Lisa who let me stay at their place while I was still waiting for the return of electricity at my apartment complex.

2) Extra time for productivity

We now have several days to catch up on laundry, household chores, and taxes. Those of us who work freelance can work uninhibited on new projects and catch up on some marketing ideas. As for me, I've got a book to write! :)

3) Extra time to spend with those we love (And extra phone time for those who aren't in the same house).

What a great opportunity to spend spontaneous, quality time with family and roommates. Get out the cards, bring out the movies, and let the fun times begin. For those who own layers of clothing and snowboots, this is the perfect time to build that epic snowman in the front yard! For me, this week affords some extra time to spend with my grandmother and to catch up with phone calls and emails to friends all across the country. Relationships are so valuable in life, and Snowpocalypse 2011 provides the perfect opportunity to invest in people who make your life special.

4) Time to grow in the Lord

I can't think of any better fruit of being shut away from the rest of the world for a few days than taking that extra time to focus on the Lord. A solitary week at home is an incredible opporunity to dig deeper in the Word, spend more time in prayer, and seek the Lord regarding His plans and purposes for us. If we are diligent to focus on the Lord and grow more in relationship with Him this week, we could emerge on the other side of Snowpocalypse 2011 with new insight, fresh wisdom and revelation, and clear direction for the course of our year. How wonderful to be at home with no distractions and ample time to be with family and the Father God!

So if you feel just a bit restless and edgy in the upcoming days, take a moment to reflect on the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord Jesus. You have an extra week of time that was not scheduled in a planner, directed by your boss, or dictated by the mandates of society. Invest your time in things of value. Enjoy your family, love on your friends, and spend time in fellowship with the Lord. As we look at this week through the eyes of thankfulness, we'll treausre this little jewel hidden underneath the snowbanks of Tulsa's great blizzard.