30 May 2013

in love

We often ask God to show up. We pray prayers of rescue. Perhaps God would ask us to be that rescue, to be His body, to move for things that matter. He is not invisible when we come alive. I might be simple but more and more, I believe God works in love, speaks in love, is revealed in our love
-Jamie Tworkowski

27 May 2013

lamentations 3:22-33



Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed.
for his compassions never fail. 
They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
 
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”
 
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
 
it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.
 
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
    while he is young.
 
Let him sit alone in silence,
    for the Lord has laid it on him.
 
Let him bury his face in the dust
    there may yet be hope.

Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
    and let him be filled with disgrace.
 
For no one is cast off
    by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
    so great is his unfailing love.
 
For he does not willingly bring affliction
or greif to anyone.

26 May 2013

for the week

May the Glory of the Father be reflected,
shining off you so that all they see is Him,
and you are hidden in the wonder of it,
as it should be.
May the Light of Christ brighten the darkest reaches of your world,
and may the reality and the beauty of His breaking Himself,
for you,
and for me,
consume you.
May the Holy Sprit speak to you,
may He guide you and call you,
in an un-ignorable, unrelenting way,
and grant you the wisdom that comes straight from the Father.

Enjoy this week, friends.

Love:)

R

24 May 2013

the best way

We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don't get to choose all the endings, but we are asked to play the rescuers. We won't solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life, but it is the best way. We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we're called home.
-jamie tworkowski

21 May 2013

Genesis 1

In the beginning
God
created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters.
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Then
God said, “Let there be light,”
and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.
Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.”
And that is what happened.
God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens.  God called the space “sky.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.
 Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.”
And that is what happened.
 God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.”
 And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.”
 And that is what happened.
The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind.
And God saw that it was good.
And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.
 Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.”
And that is what happened.
God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set these lights in the sky to light the earth,to govern the day and night, and
to separate the light from the darkness.
And God saw that it was good.
And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.
Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 
 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind.
And God saw that it was good. 
 Then God blessed them,
saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.
Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.”
And that is what happened.  God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind.
 And God saw that it was good.
 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
 So God created human beings
        in his own image.
    In the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.  And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.”
And that is what happened.
Then
God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!
And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.

09 May 2013

to the body

 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts,yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,  and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
{1 Corinthians 12:12-27}

Body of Christ....
When you function as you are meant to do,
you are beautiful.

Not, certainly, beautiful in the conventional sense.
In fact, I am afraid that we have been photoshopped far too often.

No, we are a broken body.
One that carries scars- of pain and nights hopped to forget and shame and
oh we are scarred.
We have been broken.
We have fallen a thousand times,
and we carry scars as our reminder.

Don't hide them.
Those scars?
They were your shame.
No more shame.
Now?
Wear them proud as a reminder;
He's done amazing things.

These are your Ebeneezer,
your remembrance of the acts of God.

One day,
we will bow before Him...
and what will we touch?

His scars.
Scars the reminder of Love.
See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see.
{Luke 24:39a}

He has done great things for you.
Don't forget this.
Share them,
tell the next generation-
let us taste and see that the Lord is good.

Let us, the next generation see your scars.
We are tired of the photoshopped falseness.
We need to see what He's done.

Body of Christ.
We are His hands-
Jesus touches the dirty,
the sick,
the unclean.
His hands reach out,
always in love,
always with forgiveness,
always with healing and hope.
We are His physical hands.

We are His feet-
He goes into the crowd,
into the mess,
into the places of darkness,
and brings light.
We are His physical feet.

We are His mouth sometimes-
speaking words of love.
Jesus speaks love,
forgiveness,
healing.
Truth, sometimes hard to hear,
but always in love.
We are His mouthpiece.

Don't forget this.

Body of Christ,
we are to be Christ to a world full of scars.
We may be the only glimpse of His face they see.
Be light.

You are doing a good job.
You are beautiful when you are real.
When you share,
when you hurt together
and are joyful together.

You are full of light when you are food to a starving world,
when you are the beautiful feet bringing the Good News.


Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
{Matthew 25:37-40}

This is your calling.
Look for the King.
He is in the broken.

The broken is looking for the King-
in you.

Oh, Body of Christ.
We will fall again a thousand times.
We will look and ask "Them? Really? Do we have to say we're with them?"
No part is greater than the others.
No part is lesser.

Yes, we will fall.
Yes, we carry scars.
He will catch us.
He heals.

This is your life.
Now you are the body.


Love:)

R

05 May 2013

too close for comfort


Happy Sunday, friends! I'm enjoying tanning in the first real sun the PNW has seen! :) What's your day look like?


Love:)

R

03 May 2013

on letting go

I lay there,
overwhelmed,
so tired.

It's a lot.
The thousand things I should be doing,
should be thinking about,
going,
going.
They pull and tug.

I know that He's in this,
always has his hand in this,
is working,

but I'm so tired.

I write out my fear, my exhaustion,
black on cream page.

Help me.
Oh, Abba,
help me.

That's where I am,
laying there.
Trying for still,
trying to hear.

It's hard to hear when you feel like you are drowning.

He comes,
doesn't speak right away,
just holds me,
lets me pour out my grief,
my foolish fears,
and he holds me close.

And then He whispers,
and I hear Him tell me that He's there,
always has been
and he says
Come to me,
all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you.
Let me teach you,
because I am humble and gentle at heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
{Mathew 11:28-29}

I want that rest so badly.
I am so afraid to give up my burden.
Foolish, yes?  :)

I know.
I tell him that.

He asks to take it,
to let me try,
and to let him carry it.

I bend down, loosen the straps,
and slip out from underneath the crushing weight.
I uncurl my hands,
knuckles white from strain,
and
let go.

It's yours,
I whisper.

Now?
He's given me peace,
rest,
friends who know,
joy,
and Hope.


The knowledge I'm not alone, and it is His.

I still have the moments I want to swing it back up onto my back,
stoop under the weight,
just because it would feel like I'm doing something.

There's a reason He calls us sheep.
Sheep are stupid.

Remembering today,
it's all his.
All is grace.

Love:)

R