{Day 12} Interrupted by Past/Present/Future

Around the birth of our first child, my mother-in-law and I hit a very rocky place in our relationship.  There are various reasons why this particular time proved to be extra challenging.  But even knowing that, it took many years to come to a place of forgiveness and peace for both of us.

A lot of the hurt and difficulty sprung from assumptions made by each of us that led to unloving or unkind actions and reactions.  It can be difficult in relationships for these cycles to be broken, can it not?  Our case was exacerbated, too, by living far away.  So when we were physically in the same place, emotions were naturally high, because there was this sense that the time needed to be used well.  I think, (Gladys, you can correct me if I'm wrong for your part), that often those visits really wore us out and sometimes made things worse.

I'm really bad at emotional conversations.  Really bad.  So it took Gladys reaching out to me and asking forgiveness for things to get the ball rolling toward something better in our relationship and to soften my heart.  Even today she shared something with me, about a situation that I'd forgotten, that she needed to share and get out there in the open.  I learned that we're probably more alike than I ever thought, in our insecurity and self-doubt.

I still stink at emotional conversations and at asking forgiveness; ask my husband.  I mumble my apologies a little louder than I used to, don't I, Colin?  But Gladys has been an excellent example to me (even if I'm still scared to follow it!) of what it means to just be honest and work things out, because the Gospel is true, freeing us to do so, and because relationships are worth it.

So today - as uncomfortable as I get with "feelings" conversations or chats that involve remembering how horrible I was in the past - I was interrupted by the grace as I processed our conversation, realizing how good God is to extend reconciliation not only to Himself, but providing reconciliation among brothers, or sisters, as the case may be.  Our poor choices and unwillingness to love in the past do not have to determine our choices and willingness in the present.  In Christ we can forgive and grow together, leaving the past in the past and moving on to a stronger future.

I think that's amazing.  And I hope I can be as bold and free in my faith as Gladys has shown me I can.  I'm just so darn proud most of the time.

Have a good evening!

{Day 11} Interrupted by "Ease in Preparation"

In a couple of Saturdays, I'll be joining the women of Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church for part of their women's retreat and offering a couple of breakout sessions on prayer.  I don't feel overly qualified to lead such a discussion.  Prayer is this big can of worms, isn't it?  At times one's eyes are open to seeing God answering prayer all over the place.  Other times prayer seems mysterious, confusing, or even futile.  Nevertheless, God has moved in my life to make prayer a more natural part of it than it used tor be and I am delighted to have the opportunity to spend some time with ladies I don't know, hearing their thoughts on prayer, and sharing from Scripture about what prayer is and how we can engage with the Lord through it.

I wasn't sure where to start, though.

So I filled up my backpack with books, my Bible and laptop, and some paper, left the kids with my weekly sitter, and headed to Starbucks to think, read, and write.

After only an hour and a half, I realized there was more than enough to fill the time, I had a list of "suggested resources," and I wasn't simply going to spend the hour quoting someone else's book on the subject - aside from reading Bible passages, of course.  My heart was just plain encouraged!

You know why?

Because things came together.  Things came together!

I'm not ready to lead the discussion tomorrow; the content still needs a bit of organization.  But there is content, and that encouraged me immensely.  I'm pretty new to this whole writing and speaking thing, but it is a deep, God-given desire of my heart to be doing it.  Sometimes I wonder if it's realistic, though, given how many hours it can take to put talks together.  Today I was interrupted by grace when I could "see" these last years of study, reading, writing, thinking, and praying coalesce, allowing for a never-before-experienced ease in preparation.

God is good.  Of course, He's good even if my preparations had been awful this afternoon, but He's a generous and gracious Father who gives His children moments of delight and joy.  I'm thankful to have had one of those interruptions today.

One passage I read today connects well at this point:

‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 

‘Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!    Matthew 7:7-11

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Related to this discussion of prayer, would you be willing to answer a couple of questions for me either via email or in the comments?  Just a short informal survey, three questions:

1. What do you find most challenging about prayer?
2. What is the best thing you've ever read/heard that has helped your prayer life?
3. What prayer practices/methods/routines have you found most helpful personally?

Thanks in advance!

{Day 10} Interrupted by a Theme

I don't know what this may mean for you or even for me today.  Every once and a while, I find a theme emerge during my time reading the Bible in the morning.  Currently I'm reading a Psalm and a Proverb every day, and in preparation for participating in a retreat, I'm also reading a chapter or two of Henri Nouwen's book The Return of the Prodigal Son.  Today's theme appears to be JOY.

Unless the Lord had given me help,
I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.
When I said, "My foot is slipping,"
your love, O Lord, supported me.
When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought joy to my soul.
~Psalm 94:17-19 

The prospect of the righteous is joy,
but the hopes of the wicked some to nothing.
~Proverbs 10:28 

Gratitude, however, goes beyond the "mine" and "thine" and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift.  In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline.  The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.

~Nowen, p. 85

Because of who GOD is, joy can be the drumbeat of the life of the Christian.  We begin by trusting Him, we continue trusting Him, we involve ourselves in the discipline of gratitude, and our hearts begin to change.

Our pastor in Cambridge was fond of saying, I'm not what I ought to be, but I'm not what I used to be either.  The quotes above are convicting, because they remind me how often I let resentment and discontent rule my life, rather than joy.  But the hope I find here is that God frees me, in Him, to choose joy and gives me myriad reasons to do so.  The other glimmer of hope is knowing that I do choose joy more often than I used to.  That is the Spirit at work in my heart.  That is the Spirit at work in your heart.  How marvelous that God takes our complaining, grumbling, whining hearts and transforms them, when we deserve to be left in our misery!

 Interrupted by grace in the Word this morning and just had to share it with you.

JOY, my friends!

Perhaps you could leave a comment sharing how God is working joy into your heart these days?  I'd love to hear about it.

{Day 9} Interrupted by a Really Great Day

Today was just plain peaceful.  The sun was shining.  The kids wore summer clothes.  School was conducted outdoors.  Katherine took a long morning nap.  Homeschool Co-op gym was held outside.  We got some Rita's Italian ice to celebrate the summery spring day.  And spaz-mom didn't make any appearances.  

Days like these are as common as I would like, with all of life's responsibilities and demands.  Do you find that to be true?  At this moment I will not take for granted that God interrupted us by grace in giving us such a gift.  I am thankful.  And that is all for this evening, folks.

How was your day?

{Day 8} Interrupted by My Best Laid Plans

I love Mondays.  For us the are generally unscheduled, quiet home days.

Today was different.

Two things rocked our Monday-boat.  The first was taking Katherine to the doctor during walk-in hours to have her little ears checked for infection.  (My mom, who is in town for most of the month - yay! -  told me to take her, and I knew that every time she saw Katherine with a snotty nose she'd say, "Have you taken her to the doctor yet?"  So I took her.)  She had not infection, thankfully.  Nevertheless, that jaunt up the hill to the doc's set our school start back about an hour.

The second blip on the screen was a trip I had planned  into our lessons, to the Museum of Natural History for Elizabeth to stroll through the Native American exhibit noting on a map what regions of the United States different tribes were from.  I was so excited about having come up with a not-another-novel-to-read history activity for her, so despite our late start, we were going to go for it!  Well, we learned something together on our trip to the museum.

It's not open on Monday.

The best laid plans of mice and men, as they say.

The Bible says

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.  

Proverbs 16:9

In the middle of our morning, I'd had a couple of what I'll call spaz-mom moments, just a couple more occasions of unnecessary loss of patience with the kids due to my own lack of self-control.  Yep, a little of that.  Again.  >Sigh.<

Apologies extended, I was determined to get to that Museum and redeem the day, even though our outing would extend well into Katherine's normal naptime.  But the Good Lord had a different idea for redeeming our day: getting us outside in long-awaited gorgeous weather, in an unexpected place, at an unanticipated time.  And so He interrupted me by grace.

To take advantage of the parking we'd paid for, we set to strolling around.  The museum abuts the University of Pittsburgh's campus and many people were out: having their lunches, going to class, running, or just sitting, obviously thankful to be free to be outside.  Finally!  We made our way to a few different landmarks, enjoying the freedom of no schedule, beyond getting back to the car by 1:46pm!  I learned how many states Elizabeth can identify on a blank U.S. map.  Brian ran around and around a large fountain.  Katherine attracted many admirers.  I took it all in, quite thankful that silly museum is closed on Mondays, especially given I certainly did not deserve such a gift, (being spaz-mom and all).

God is good.  Is He not?

A very kind Pitt student offered to take our photo,
but Brian bolted before he could press the button.
I love this photo!

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How did the Lord interrupt you by His grace today?

{Day 7} Sabbath Rest

Hi!

Sundays are off days during blogging series, and with Blogger I can schedule this ahead of time to post today.  Neat, huh?

May God bless you as you gather for worship in your corner of the world.

See you tomorrow!
Heather

{Day 6} Interrupted by a Bridal Shower

I dunno about you and how your week was, but I'm so glad to have my feet up at the moment!  With hot tea and an m&m cookie at my side and some sniffles in my nose, I'm ready to share with you, then bid this week adieu and Sabbath it up tomorrow.

Today, my friend, Jenna, and I hosted a bridal shower for our friend Carolyn who will marry this June.  I would summarize our time together with one word: FUN!  How delightful to gather together to laugh, tell stories, open gifts, play games, and celebrate a friend and her upcoming marriage!  FUN!!

First thing this morning, because my sluggish and sleepy brain could do little else, I prepared Carolyn's gift.  The gift consisted of two parts: serious and slinky.  I'm sure you can guess what the latter was, >wink<.  The former was a book I really appreciated reading early in our marriage called, For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men.  As I inscribed it, I thought about what my own husband means to me and how I've grown and changed throughout our ten and a half married years, which prompted me to include something like these sentences:

You're about to marry your forever friend and ally.  But sometimes he'll feel like neither or just be confusing.  Love him for who he is, just as Christ loves you.

You know, I sure don't always love my husband as Christ has loved me.  (Right, Colin?!)  But I am thankful for how weddings remind me of work God has done in our lives, of how much there is to appreciate about Colin, and how much happiness and growth there can be in our future days and years together.

I was interrupted by writing that little inscription.  God has been very gracious to me in providing the husband He did and using our relationship to shape both of us.  There ain't no such thing as "Mr. Right," but I sure do think Colin is "Mr. Just-Right-For-Me!"  Interruptions like these help me to keep our relationship in perspective, and I am thankful to God for that.

Amen?