love is here.

Welp..it's that time of year again.  You know...Valentine's Day.  The time of the year where love is acquired and admired, cussed and discussed.  In honor of all that jazz, here's a video to throw your way.

No matter your relationship status, your desired relationship status, or the social engagements you have arranged for the holiday, know this: love is here.  I'm not gonna go all "Jesus is my Valentine" on you, but seriously.  Life and love is bigger than our human capacity to love or be loved by another person.  If we lose that perspective, we become idolaters and end up settling for a love way smaller than what we were made for.  I got news for you all...even if your valentine is the bee's knees, you were made to be loved by Jesus, and he or she ain't gonna hit that mark.

So the video...my favorite part is this:

 Come to the treasure, you who search
And you'll search no more.
Come to the Lover you who want
And you'll want no more.

Love is here. love is now.
Love is pouring from his hands, from his brow.
Love is near, it satisfies.
Streams of mercy flowing from his side.  --Tenth Avenue North

No other love from any other human can be that for you.  He created you, knows all of you, and is crazy about you.  You don't have to fix yourself up to get it or put your best foot forward.  You don't have to have your junk figured first--He rather you didn't pretend to, actually.  Jesus' love is here and it satisfies.  It's challenging and it can be scary because there's nothing you can do to lose or gain it.  It demands change because nothing can stay unaffected by it.  It's perfect.  It never fails.  It's deep, high, long, and wide.  You can never be separated from it.  It's yours in Christ.  Right now and always.  Finally, something you don't have to wait for.

stones will roll.

Maybe it's just because I'm a girl, but I adore the resurrection accounts.  You may not see the connection initially, but it's there.

Mark 16 tells the story...
      When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.  Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb  and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
     But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.  As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 

I've written about this story before, but it's been on my mind lately.  Well, really one aspect of the story.  The stone.

Mary, Mary, and Salome wake up early.  They stir getting spices ready so that they can leave for Jesus' tomb as soon as Sabbath breaks.  I can just imagine them walking quietly together; still pondering all that had transpired in the past few days.  Their Lord and friend was dead.  All they knew to do now was honor him by anointing His body.  Details are unclear in the fog of grief.  It hadn't occurred to them how this would all happen until it hits them, "who will roll the stone away?"  Yet they continued on their journey to honor Jesus, only to find the original rolling stone no longer blocking the tomb.

The thing I love about these women, though, is that they kept walking.  They didn't stop and wait for someone or something to come along that could move the stone.  They didn't turn around and go back reassuring themselves that they had good intentions of honoring Jesus.  They didn't do what I would've done, which in such an emotional state as it was, sit on the side of the road and have an emotional breakdown.  They didn't do any of these things.  They pressed on, just wanting to be near their Lord and trusting that somehow they could honor Him.

I don't have to tell you that there are stones in life.  Boy, are there stones!  As I look at this story, I think of all the looming stones in my life.  I think of the other people walking with me and the stones that they face.  Nobody knows how they're going to get moved.  Some you just kind of play by ear with a fair amount of certainty that they'll just go away.  Others are absolutely terrifying and so large in size that you're powerless to budge them.  I think satan delights in our stones of life.  He wants us to get all worked up and distracted by the stones that get in the way of our peace, joy, goals, healing, and ultimately our trust in the goodness of who God is among us.  We get so distracted by the stones that we freeze in our tracks, forgetting who our God is and that He gives us all good things.  We get so sidetracked with the stones of life that we don't realize they've been rolled back to reveal an empty space.  We're so focused on the stones that we carry on as if they still block the tombs of our world.

The women walked on uncertain of how it would work, only to find salvation and freedom.  That tomb and all others that loom about us were opened that morning.  As Tomlin says, "Jesus has overcome and the grave is overwhelmed."  God is so much bigger than the stone in our way.  Keep walking while you wait for stones to be moved, wounds to be healed, light to be shined.  Jesus told His friends that He'd rise in three days and sure enough, the stone was removed.  As we're walking into trials, God has given us His promises to trust in.  He's asking us as we are uncertain and fearful about what is coming up in our path, that we trust in His power to do all things and to look out for our good.  Trust that God is who He says He is.  He goes before us.  He rolls away stones away from tombs we didn't even know we had.  God's a stone roller.  In the meantime, keep walking, trusting in the hope and freedom in a stone that's been rolled.

preach it.

Have you ever though to yourself, "I'm being strong, taking heart, and waiting for you, Lord.  Now what do I do in the meantime?"  Well...the suggestion I have for you today is testify.

There's been a lot of talk around me lately about testifying.  I'm not really sure that the Lutheran folks are too familiar with this, but it's been really cool to hear so many people in the last few weeks talk about sharing what God has done in their lives.

I heard a guy at my church say the other day, "there's no reason for us not to tell about what God has done in our lives."  To that I say, preach it!  God is good to us.

A pastor who was in Nicaragua while we were said this: "We love the testimony, but we don't love the test."  I think that's true.  It's sometimes difficult to trust in God's goodness when we're smack in the middle of struggle.  However, when we go through trials and come out on the other side, we are witnesses to the fact that God works for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8).

This week I've been reading in Isaiah.  He says this in chapter 43.
¹² I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
   I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God.
 ¹³ Yes, and from ancient days I am he."

We are His witnesses.  We're His chosen people whom He loves deeply and He gives us direction to share how He has been Lord in our lives!  In Isaiah He's basically saying, "I've loved you and taken care of you so well!  When people hear about what I've done for you, they're going to know that the God you worship is real and that God is Me!"


If you're waiting for something to happen, look backward for a moment.  See what God has done already in your life through the power of Christ.  Praise Him for it and tell your story.  When Christ lives in us, our lives can't be the same.  One of the most powerful ways to share Jesus with people is telling the story of how He has made you His and how He is peeling back the layers to reveal more and more of Himself in you.  Preach what's good.  Testify about how He's brought you through the bad.  Patience comes much easier when you're dwelling on the goodness of what God has done in you and trusting that He will continue to work to your good.

That being said...let me preach it for it a minute about what's good with me.

These are two of my best girls from Nicaragua.  Kayla and Jazel.  They brought me so much joy and sought me out every time they were at the mission.  We danced and sang and it is evident that they love the Lord.  They are a part of a dance group at the mission that dances in worship and they dance in parks and other public places as an outreach tool.

Though our conversation was limited, they danced their way into my heart.  I got to show them love and they did the same in return.  I've looked at this picture everyday.  I don't know if I'll ever go back to Nicaragua or if I'll ever see Kayla or Jazel again, but I do know that God is using them hugely.  And one of the ways He's already used them is to show me the passion He's put in my heart for kids who need to be loved.  I don't know how that will look, but God is good and He will provide opportunities to be used both later and in the meantime.

guarded.

I've settled in at my favorite coffee shop on two different occasions to write this post.  I have started writing probably more than 10 times.  Chai latte at my hand and Derek Webb's Feeback in my ears.  It's the perfect combination of no lyrics and upbeat driving rhythms--perfect for keeping this girl engaged and on task, but not distracted with another set of words in my head.  Regardless of my seemingly ideal conditions for writing, half of my attempts failed because I had ideas that fell flat once I began typing.  They began falling so flat, in fact, that I gave up and decided to try it again another day.  So here I am.  Round 2 with another cup of Chai and Mr. Webb serenading me once again.  Round 2 has provided the second half of failed attempts due to interruptions from Facebook chat.  Seriously.  Every time I turned on the first track to Feedback and pulled up the blank window, I'd hear that intrusive ding.  Yeah, yeah, I know.   Turn it off, right?  That's what I did after time number 5.  I'm a slow learner.  My nights aren't usually so eventful, I promise you.  So here I am.  Uninterrupted and without distraction...except, of course, by my delicious warm beverage on this snowy night...trying to write.  All that to say, this preamble to my entry only affirms what I'm about to write.

We are flooded.  Flailing, drowning even, in the amount of audio, visual, technological, emotional, and every other kind of -al stimuli you can think of.  We are flooded.  I have been trying to do a lot of creative planning and thinking for work since I've returned from Nicaragua and it has been grueling.  I LOVE doing this kind of work, mind you.  It's just been such a struggle to focus on the task at hand and stick with it.  Going from a place where I didn't have my phone or computer for 2 weeks and the only things I had to read were my Bible and an extra book for fun.  I didn't have a hundred tasks at hand that needed to be juggled, but just a few things each day that had to be done and would be.  My mind was a million miles from anything here.  It was attentive to the time and space that I inhabited and I felt simple.  A good simple.  No worries to muck up my mind.  I wasn't overthinking anything.  We ate 3 times a day, played with kids, rode in a truck, played some games.  As we were making our final descent back into MSP, I lamented to my friend about getting my phone back once we landed and once again being plugged in.  I went on about how nice it was to talk to people in person have that simplicity that Nica had to offer us.  He simply said, "you don't have to leave it there."

He was right.  So I come back struggling for simplicity and realize that I'm the one allowing complexity.  Yes, there are some complexities we have in order to function within our society.  It's the way it works.  However, me feeling invaded by the complexity of culture, technology, and social stimuli is because I've allowed them to do just that.

Proverbs 4 says: "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

Maybe I'm taking this too far, but I think we (mostly speaking to me) need to be aware of and proactive about the things we're exposing our hearts to.  When my computer screen has taken the place of my Bible as the first thing that greets me in the morning and the thing that tucks me in at night, my heart isn't guarded.  When I allow and partake in talking about others in a way that's not uplifting, I'm not guarding my heart.  When I allow myself to go on another shopping spree for new clothes because I'm bored or think it'll make me look and feel better, I'm not guarding my heart.  What's the hole in your fence?  Where do you need a shield?  I need lots of them at the moment.

It's funny, I am a notorious wall builder when it comes to most things.  I'm one who likes to keep people at an arms' length.  I have walls that atomic bombs could only dent.  However, something about the world can become so appealing and before I know it, I'm overcome.  It's too late to simply "unplug" or tell the world to back off.  I'm sinking.

That's so like us, right?  Trying hard to hold it together and show the world that we're strong and really, the world sees that we're full of it and drowning.  But Jesus.  He's close at hand.  Scripture calls God our refuge, our fortress (Ps. 46), our light, our salvation, our stronghold (Ps. 27), our rescue, One who is Mighty to Save (Zeph. 3).


When we haven't guarded in our own hearts, when we haven't turned our ears only to what God is saying to us, when we haven't been attuned to where God is guiding us next, when we are perishing in the noise that surrounds us in our earthly wait, HE becomes our guard.

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7

Thank you, Jesus, for doing things we can't do in ways we can't understand.  Forgive us for handing our hearts over to this world.  Fill us with Your truth.  Wrap us in Your promises.  Guard us as we wait on earth.  Guard us as we wait for You.  Amen.

be strong, take heart, and wait for the Lord.

Well folks, I'm back in the good 'ol US of A. It's taken me a bit to get back into the swing of life here. This process has not been helped by the fact that I came back with a pretty good cold and sore throat and my system is taking its dear, sweet time readjusting to being back state side. Part of my "catch up" process the last couple of days has been working through a text for a chapel message next week. Psalm 27. It's a doozey.

The first 6 verses are David proclaiming the strength and goodness of God. He is our light, our salvation, our fortress. We don't have to fear even when we are surrounded. He will keep us safe, hide us in His shelter, and set us high upon a rock. David is spitting truth about the promises of God. It makes you wonder about the next 6 or 7 verses.

After David has made such a strong and confident confession about the goodness of God for us, he lets us in on the struggle. He asks God to hear him. He takes up seeking God in prayer about what troubles him. He pleads for God to not leave him or hand him over to his enemies.

In the last two verses, David wraps up with this:
"I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD. "

In his seeking and pleading with God, he still clings to the promises he professed in the first 6 verses. He trusts that the promises will come to pass for him and so he continues to seek and wait. Wow.

***

A pastor from the states was down in Nicaragua with a team while we were there. He led a devotion one day about several things, but two of the key concepts was abiding and abounding. Abiding in God's Word and in prayer, so that we can abound in service and ministry for Him. Another woman challenged us with unplugging and taking time to listen to God's leading.

I was thinking on this for the rest of the trip. It seems like so much of my life at the moment is open-ended. I'm wondering what do to about this or that, wondering where God is leading me next, needing peace over any number of issues. Even still, I do not seek His Word or make time to wait on Him in prayer.

Honestly, coming home from Nicaragua sent me into a mental tailspin. I was completely bombarded with thoughts of serving in overseas ministry, being torn between supporting ministry in Latin America or Western Africa, my heart for orphans, my heart for leading worship, my fear of being sent out alone. Such turmoil! Even after hearing such a great message from the pastor while in Nica, I was still stirring so greatly.

Spending time in Psalm 27 brought me back to ground level. Verse 8 in the NLT puts it like this:
"My heart has heard you say, 'Come and talk with me.'
And my heart responds, 'Lord, I am coming.'"

Once again, I hear God saying, "Shelly, calm down. If you're worried about this, come talk to me about it. Seek me. Be confident in my goodness. Wait patiently for me."

So I'm taking time to wait on the Lord. But to be perfectly honest, I don't know how long this will last. I tend to fall to the same things over and over, especially when it comes to thinking I can do things on my own. But Psalm 27 says our call is to seek Him, trust in His goodness, and wait for it patiently.

I don't know what God has in store for me, but I'm committing to seeking Him in it and waiting for Him to reveal what He has in store. I know it will be great.

you have a purpose.

Hola, mi amigos!

I'm coming to you from just outside of Leon, Nicaragua right now. It's sunny, hot, and wonderful. We've been in the country for a week now and God has blessed us so hugely during our stay here. Our first several days, we stayed with a man named Pastor Manolo and his wife, Tonya. He is an amazing man of God who is working in his community to proclaim the Gospel and encourage people to live it out in their everyday lives.

One of the main things that he shares with his people and shared with us while we were with him was that God has a purpose for each of us. God is using us and working in each of our lives. His words full of wisdom blessed each of us. As we hiked up a mountain, he shared with us how our faith journey is much like a hike. Sometimes you're moving quickly. Sometimes you need to stop and take a break. No matter the pace, you overcome and make it to the top because of Christ. We walk together up the mountain as a family, as a Church. We learn and experience and are different because of each step. Christ comes and invades who we are and we can't be the same.

This is one of the many amazing things he shared with us.

I saw this analogy play out first hand with a young woman I talked to from the orphanage named Francis. She is 18 and has been at the orphanage for about 10 years. She told me how the orphanage was good to her, but she'd waited and waited for God to send her a family. Two or three times families tried to adopt her and it fell through. She said, though, that she prayed for years and knew that God was good and had good things for her. He has His purpose in mind. Three months ago, one of the women that runs the orphanage adopted her, her sister, and her brother. She couldn't be more thrilled because she didn't want to leave Jinotega and her new mom. She said her mom was never married or had her own children, but she has become a great mother to many. I thank God for Francis, for her story, for people who love orphans, and for God's purposes that are always unfolding even when we have to wait for them.

Paz,

Shelly

get it, girl, get it.

Get it, girl, get it! (For the gentlemen reading this, please feel free to insert "boy" or "dude" to replace "girl" anytime this phrase is repeated.)

I'm not quite sure how this phrase made it's way into my vocabulary, but it's a staple at the moment. It's often used as encouragement when someone isn't feeling especially confident about the task ahead of them. I also tend to use it instead of "good luck" before someone goes on stage, speaks, sings, etc. I might yell it out if someone busts out a sweet dance move or if our point guard is racing down the court ahead of the pack for a lay up. It's my way of basically saying "jump in, give it your all, and do great."

This phrase comes to mind as think of the next 2 weeks of my life. I'm serving as a staff adviser on university service trip to Nicaragua. We're going to be serving with Newsong Mission and other places. This is my first time going to Central America that isn't Mexico and my first time being a leader of an abroad trip. There are several students who haven't been there before or on an abroad service trip. We will all be leaping out of our comfort zones and asking God to lead and comfort with His rod and staff (Psalm 25). And so to us I say, "Get it, girl, get it."

Get it, girl, get it. I think this qualifies as part of meantime living mentality. We're free, people. Free to jump in, give it our all, and do great. That's what we're praying for this trip--have a great time, experience new things, rely on God, and watch Him use us. God has made us more than conquerors by Him who loved us (Romans 8:37). Even conquerors over our fears because He didn't give us a spirit of timidity or fear, but one of power.

What are you waiting for? Get it, girl, get it!

Note: Because of limited access, blog posts may be sparse during the next 2 weeks.