​I have been reading through the gospels about the crucifixion as I prepare Sunday School sermons leading up to Easter. Yesterday and today, I spent quite a bit of time reading through the chapters in the gospels leading up to the point where Christ died.


​
I admit, it is incredibly hard to get through the story. I continually see an innocent man wrongly accused, political maneuvering, and tragic circumstances.

I love the change in the story as it moves from an innocent death to a realization that this death, this sacrifice, really is the Son of God giving up his life for others. 

As it turns upside down, love and grace win. Jesus is the beautiful sacrifice. His legacy is love, eternal life, good triumphing over evil, love winning over legalism.

And it got me thinking about legacy. What do I want my legacy to be?

I hope and pray my legacy to those around me will be a life that brings others into their own God-given grace. I hope that the power of grace that lives in me will encourage and help others to live out their own stories of grace and compassion. My story leads into other stories of how God changes lives and how those lives change others.

I believe that part of my legacy is in the words that I write so, here are some words to think about that I hope will encourage loved ones.

Live in Jesus. Walk your road with Him. Dance to music, cry with Him, learn from Him, be with him. Tell others about him.

Every day, every year that I know Him, He gets better. He gets better because I know more surely for who he is.

Jesus satisfies. His way brings peace and His love brings healing. Never allow circumstances to overshadow this reality. 

Celebrate life, every day, as often as you can. 

He has planted sunrises and had the sun set to remind you and I that He is there at the beginning of the day and at the end. 

When your burdens are heavy, He has your back and your front.

Don't waste time in the guilt of never being good enough. He is good enough, and your nearness to Him makes you good too. 

Give grace to everyone you meet. Bitterness kills the mind and soul. 

Don't take on the anger and guilt of others. Just wait patiently for darkness to pass. 

Remember that I am praying for you, believing in you, thanking God for you. The story of our lives together will be told forever throughout eternity.

Show others the love and grace of Jesus, and then, when hearts are open, tell them about how they may know Him. 

Teach your children and other children about Him every day and live with integrity in front of them because you are the first Bible they will ever read. You and I can pass on His messages and righteousness from one generation to another. 

Whatever you do, do it for God's glory. Create music, write books, cook meals, plant flowers, build websites. Do whatever God has gifted you to do. Use all that you have for his glory.

Like Paul, at the end, I want to say that I have fought the good fight and finished the course set out for me. It is a privilege to be able to walk hand in hand with Him everyday and to be a part of His Kingdom.

Dark tests do come, but remember they are temporary. He left us His peace, and He reminded us to take courage. 

Take courage. Hold fast. This trial will pass soon enough, and you will have an amazing story to tell.

Think of the feasting that is to come in heaven. Hold on to that in all trials. In the end, there is a party, a great feast, a beautiful rousing of other believers telling their stories of how HE changed it all. We will break the bread, drink the wine, celebrate His presence. 

​Believe and celebrate.

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You can't conceive, my child, nor can I or anyone, the appealing strangeness of the mercy of God. Graham Greene

To observe Lent is to strike at the root of such complacency. Lent is a time of preparation, a time to return to the desert where Jesus spent forty difficult days preparing himself for his ministry. He allowed himself to be tested, and if we are serious about following Christ we will do the same. 

Lent is traditionally associated with penitence, fasting, alms-giving, and prayer. It is a time to give things up and to balance it by giving to those in need. Whatever else it may be, Lent should never be morose. It does not have to be an annual ordeal where we begrudgingly forgo a handful of pleasures. 

We need to remember that Lent is an opportunity, not a requirement.

After all, it is the Church's springtime. Out of the darkness of sin's winter, a repentant, empowered people emerge. It's little wonder that some refer to it "this joyful season!"

Let's borrow from C.S. Lewis. Lent is the season in which we ought to be surprised by joy. 

Our self sacrifice serves no purpose unless, by laying aside this or that desire, we are able to focus on our heart's deepest longing: unity with Christ. 

In Christ, in His suffering and death, his resurrection and triumph, we find our truest joy.

This joy is costly. It arises from the horror of our sin, which crucified Christ. 

This is a kind of dread. There is this nagging sense that we have missed something important and have been somehow untrue to ourselves, to others, and to God. 

Lent is a good time to confront the source of that feeling.

It is a time to let go of excuses for failings. 

It is a time to ask God what we really look like.

Importantly, it is a time to face up to the personal role each of us plays in prolonging Christ's agony at Golgotha.

Richard John Neuhaus put it this way: "Send not to know by whom the nails were driven, they were driven by you, by me."

The Good News is that Christ overcame all our sins.

His resurrection frees us from ourselves. 

That beautiful empty tomb has turned everything around. 

We move from all that is wrong with us and with the world, and spurs us to experience abundant life. 

Lent lets us discover Christ anew. He is the scarred God, the weak and wretched God, the crucified and dying God of blood and despair amid the alluring gods of our feel good age.

Christ reveals the appalling strangeness of divine mercy and the Love from which it springs. 

Love that could not stay in an imprisoned, cold tomb.

We will surrender to Christ again. 

#Lent #Easter #Easterjoy #Christ #crucifixion #beauty #love

  
Is it possible to find God in the Calendar? Can we look at months and seasons and find His presence in the myriad of life activities? Can we find Him in the seasons? If we think of each of these as moments in time, it is possible.

The church thoughtfully put together the church calendar to correspond to the seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter. Let's talk about the beauty of spring.

The month of March is a series of beginnings here in Korea. For my son, it is the beginning of high school. For my husband and myself, it is the beginning of the school year. My two youngest start grade two and grade four. I love that fact these beginnings correspond to the weather becoming warmer. It’s the beginning of spring. Thawing, new starts, new life.

This first week of March also marks the beginning of Lent, the 40 days leading up to Holy Week and Easter. Traditionally, we are supposed to give something up over the 40 days in order to understand what Christ experienced with the 40 days of fasting in the desert before he began his ministry.

Lent is a time to re-orient ourselves, to clarify our minds, to slow down, focus on God’s kingdom and the value he has set on us. It’s supposed to be a wakening or renewing of vision.

This past Tuesday was Shrove Tuesday.  This is the day that gets you ready for the journey. We are confessing sins or being ‘shriven’ or absolved. It also a day to prepare for the fast. My Nazarene church tradition celebrates this with a meal of pancakes. A way of fattening you or getting you ready for fasting.

This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday. This is the day where you go to church to pray, fast, and repent. It derives its name from the placing of repentance ashes on the foreheads of participants to either the words "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or the dictum "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

I do find something really beautiful about this. We are pushing away darkness and getting ready for God’s amazing light.

This poem by Scott Cairns expresses the beauty of Lent and the coming glory of Easter.

 Death of Death
 Put fear aside now that                                                                               He entered into death on our behalf                                                           All who live longer die as men once died                                                       that epherical occasion has met its utter end                                               as seeds cast to the earth                                                                         we will not perish                                                                                       but like those seeds shall rise again                                                             the shroud of death itself                                                                       having been burst to tatters                                                                         by love’s immensity

If you are one who has never heard of Lent, Shrove Tuesday, or Ash Wednesday, I want to encourage you. This season of Lent and these days are markings, beginnings if you will. New beginnings can a blessed thing as we come out of winter. Take the time to find out more. Choose someone who can help you. Read. Pray. Reflect. Make room. I pray you will walk in the immensity of God’s light.
 
If you are one of those who have stepped away from these traditions, I want to encourage you too. God is still there just waiting for you. He is there watching and hoping you meet him. Make room for God’s light to come into your life again. Read. Pray. Reflect. Walk in the immensity of God’s light again.

If you are one who participates in these traditions, but the meaning has been lost, I want to encourage you too. Often we are just too busy to slow down and reflect. Find that time in whatever way you can. Go to a church service. Close your bedroom door, open the Bible and pray. And don’t let your children in. Let the immensity of his light touch you.
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Let the immensity of his light in!

The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior, who will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love.   Zephaniah 3:17

"Hope smiles on the threshold of the year to come,                                         Whispering 'it will be happier' ..."
- Alfred Lord Tennyson

Do you do New Year Resolutions? I find that resolutions generally die after a few weeks unless genuine reflection occurs on the year before. With that said, I am writing about what didn’t work in 2018, what did work, and a few plans for next year. Feel free to reflect on your own life as you read through this!
 
What Did Not Work in 2018
 
1. Mindless scrolling.
2. Negativity (Worst-case-scenario-ing).
3. Comparing. (Just don't!)
4. Writing in the middle of the night.
5. Reading in the middle of the night.
6. Letting things bother me when the thing was actually pretty stupid.
7. Abandoning academic books! Why? Apparently, I still want to learn more about teaching.
8. Kickboxing? Love it and hate it! I hurt my foot and couldn’t exercise for quite a while.
9. Saying yes when I knew I should have said no.
10. Saying no when I should have said yes.

(How many of these do you relate to?)

So teach us to number our days,                                                                That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.                                          Psalm 90:12
 
What Did Work in 2018
 
1. Writing and teaching are about sharing what I think works.

2. Making gratitude lists each and every day (mentally or hand-written) is good for my mind. Negativity is not.

3. Reading and writing in the late morning or afternoon is the best time.
 
4. I need to set intentions for everything. When something is bothering me, it only gets X amount of time and then I move on.
 
5. I’m very interested in learning, teaching, and writing. Academic books can be stimulating when it’s a topic I love. Learning and growing is one of my keys to happiness.
 
6. Yoga/pilates is a great combination for me. Kickboxing is not. It’s just too hard on my knees.
 
7. I need to be clear about what gets a yes and what gets a no. People around me may not like it, but it needs to be done.
 
8. Reading picture books really is a good idea at any age.
 
9. Reading and re-reading are fuel for my life. I revisited a small number of books this year as well as read some new ones.
 
10. The other fuels for life include Bible reading, reflection, and prayer.
 
What have you learned in 2018? 
 
 
Things I will continue to do in 2019
 
1. Dream, plan, and write for this blog space everyday and publish at least once a week. (My heart is all over this space!)
 
2. Teach English to students every week day and continue to blog at least once a month on how to connect Christ to the language classroom (not about preaching).
 
3. Take time out of the week to play games and read books with the boys.
 
4. Exercise regularly. (Have I mentioned I lost over 10 kg this year? That over 20 pounds if you think the other way)
 
5. Read the Bible along with other books about the Bible.
 
6. Pray for family and friends.
 
7. Teach Sunday School.
 
8. Enjoy what God has given me. There are so many great gifts in addition to that rather ginormous gift of salvation.
 
9. Work on improvements to this blog site. Thanks to Hope Writers for all their great suggestions. Yes, I will continue to work on building an email list. (Working on the lead magnet!)

10. Think about HIM. What a glorious God we have!

I encourage you to reflect on what worked and did not work in 2018 and to make changes that you think are necessary for 2019. Have you done this already? Let me know...

​Blessings on your new year!

Pastor Graham Higson spoke of God with us in church this month. We know God is with us and we take it for granted. He said that the idea of God with us should thrill us to our toes. It got me thinking about the Christmas story again. Here it is from the Angel's perspective...

To say that His birth was opposed is to touch the limits of mortal language.  The mighty one has been hated since the pride of the bright one led many away. Your world war comes close, but even then, believe me, you have no idea.

We sang that night as we had never sung before. Those shepherds believed they were the primary audience. True, they were important — the Mighty One has always favored the lowly. But there was much going on that night. The other reason we sang in the fields was to hallow the ground where Rachel would weep over her sons. There the graves would be dug, the graves for the little boys of Bethlehem. 

Herod’s rage soon stripped dozens of firstborns from the breasts of their mothers. Those so fresh from heaven, so quickly silenced. Slaughtered like animals. So much blood...

The town had no room for Mary, and Herod’s heart had no room for another king.  He would not share his glory.

Although we do not exist in time, there are moments when the affairs of earth are hard to endure. Even Angels desire vengeance. 

“Vengeance is Mine,” declared the Mighty One. “Justice is coming. I need you to sing.”

And so we sang. What the shepherds heard as an anthem the innocents would hear as a lullaby. We sang as we had never sang before. A song to bring Him safely into the world, a song to guide them safely from it, and a song to help Mary endure it:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,                            
Fly, fly to the breast of the Father,                                    
This wrong will be righted,    
Jesus is here,                     
Peace to all men and women on earth                              
who please Him.                  
Rest, rest in the arms of the Father,                                 
His fury remembers,               
His love holds you dear.  

Many do not sing of this horror at Christmas. That is understandable; it was an unspeakable deed. But I remind you that His birth was opposed. You have no idea.

(Adapted from Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas by John Blasé)

​John Bucchino is a talented composer and lyricist whose songs I stumbled on several years ago. My favorite tune of his is one called “Grateful.” “I’ve got a heart that can hold love,” it says, “I’ve got a mind that can think.” It’s impossible to stay depressed, writes Bucchino, when he remembers how he’s blessed. 

I get it. I am truly blessed and duly grateful, too. I’m grateful for any day of late that feels more like fall than summer. And for the birds outside my window that I love listening to most mornings. Grateful for the work that is waiting for me each day: good work that I enjoy; work that consistently puts gas in the car and groceries in the pantry and gives my heart and mind a workout in the process. Grateful for the friends whose questions keep me honest and whose prayers keep me close. For a husband and little boys that I adore. For parents who believed in me no matter what goofy thing I did. For big stuff like life and health and small stuff like raspberries available in spring and glory of autumn in October and November. For things hoped for and things unexpected. 

Mostly, though, I’m grateful that my heart knows whom to thank for all the goodness that is mine. Sure, the list of things is gratifying, but it’s the Giver who really makes my heart sing. Any gift divorced from its giver is a lifeless thing; I’m grateful God “leaves the tags on” for me so I can see where all the best stuff comes from.

God has enabled me to see with what I'm calling his gratefulness glasses. It doesn't come easily for me. My mother only asked me to count my blessings once a year at thanksgiving so it wasn't a habit for me. I had to meet people who I thought were worse off but had great perspective.

I recently talked to a godly young man named Brian who suffered severe burns in an industrial accident more than a decade ago. He lost 90 percent of the skin on his body, lost his eyesight, and had two arms and a leg amputated. As I listened to him, I was astonished at his utter lack of self-pity; on the contrary, he expressed great thanks for how God used the injury to cement his faith. He has become a tower of strength, and as he described his relationship with his wife, I marveled at the obvious intimacy of their relationship on all levels, even in the face of such a debilitating injury. 

I compared his Christlike, thankful spirit with my own whining when I suffered a common foot injury this past spring and had to take a few weeks off —and I just sighed. In a fallen world we can develop a radically unrealistic perspective. One severely disabled man said, “When you’re a quadriplegic, you look at a paraplegic and think, ‘Man, they’ve got it made!’ “ When we feel sorry for ourselves, we work against finding positive solutions. Brian can’t see his wife, and he’ll never be able to hug her, but he can talk to her, pray with her and for her, and comfort her with wise words of love, care, and concern. Through the Internet, he has even discovered ways to buy her presents without her knowing about it ahead of time. 

Sometimes, in God’s providence, certain pleasures may be closed to us, as they have been to Brian. God says, in effect, “This is not for you, at least not now.” We have to trust him to provide alternate pleasures —perhaps of an entirely different sort —that will sustain us in our trials.

The bottom line is without gratitude we are wallowing in our selfishness. With gratitude we can see with our Godly glasses on.

Feelings of entitlement feed anger; feelings of thankfulness swell our souls and can make us tear up with overflowing gratitude.

​Thanking God helps us recognize what pleasures we have while at the same time increasing our pleasure. Only when we become grateful for what we do have, or what we might work toward, do we find true joy. 

When we look at life through these Godly glasses, we become lost in wonder and convinced of God’s astounding generosity, marvelous mercy, and gigantic grace. Sin causes us to look at life through the lens of entitlement —that we deserve salvation without repentance, wealth without work, accolades without self-denial, health without personal discipline, pleasure without sacrifice. Biblical truth reminds us that, in reality, we deserve hell. 

Every small laugh, each tiny expression of joy, a simple meal —indeed, every single moment lived outside of the agony of hell —truly is an undeserved gift. When we add the assurance that the completed work of Christ guards our eternal destiny, our lives should radiate not merely joy but wonder and astonishment at how good God truly is. 

What are you grateful for—and for whom? What satisfies your soul and makes your heart sing? Whose presence blesses you like crazy? What beauties threaten to take your breath away? You really should thank Someone, don’t you think? 

Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning. By His own choice, He gave us a new birth by the message of truth so that we would be the firstfruits of His creatures. JAMES 1:17-18 HCSB

It’s no secret that I am in love with this season. October in particular. The chill of the fall, with its shorter days and falling leaves. And the colors. The golds, crimsons, reds, browns of the falling leaves are a feast for the eyes.  The trees in all this color-filled are reaching to heaven, another great sight.

The sounds are amazing too. Leaves crunching under my feet. The noise of harvest as the farmers around us bring in their crops. The change from t-shirts to sweaters and sweatshirts. From cool drinks to warm teas. 

But the smells of autumn are the best.  Smell is one of our most powerful senses, connected to our subconscious memory in a way that our other senses are not. The smells of pumpkin, apples, peaches, and other vegetables are a delightful aroma.

When Paul calls the Corinthian Christians “the fragrance of Christ,” (2 Corinthians 2: 15, NASB) I marvel at the metaphor. Although their relationships were difficult and their circumstances trying, he envisioned them as a victorious parade wafting the incense of grace wherever they went. 

Maybe today you’re thinking that you would be the fragrance of Christ, except you’re heartbroken. Or you’re longing for something that isn’t and may never be. Or you’re sick. Or someone you love is. Or you’ve lost someone immeasurably precious to you. Or you’ve messed up. Big-time. 

If that’s what you’re thinking, the gospel contains better news for you than you could ever imagine: through the triumph of Christ, our emptiness can become abundance; our helplessness can become hope; and our failures can be exchanged for forgiveness, time and time again. 

Peter denied Jesus right after he boasted to his Master, “I would die for you.” What kind of God would accept such miserable failure? Our GOD! Through the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ, our failures become acceptable, and our shame survivable. 

Like Peter, we can move from failure to forgiveness. Because we are the fragrance of Christ. Empty, helpless, ashamed . . . we are the fragrance of Christ. His presence is the divine alchemy that makes a beautiful aroma of our suffering and shame and spreads the sweet knowledge of him in every place. 

Today, may his presence create an unforgettable fragrance in you. 

Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. 2 CORINTHIANS 2: 14-16, MSG

What aspects of autumn are you in love with? 

Autumn is a very welcomed and refreshing time of the year, particularly here in South Korea where we just finished the hottest summer on record. I am welcoming the cool breezes in the evening and paint brush strokes of oranges, golds, yellows and browns. It's an added bonus that my husband and I just celebrated our 20th anniversary amidst the fall splendor.

September always brings reflection for me. It is like an early thanksgiving. Here are 10 things I am grateful for and/or looking forward to over the coming months. 

1. Our 20th Wedding Anniversary.  It is a double anniversary because it always represents 20 years living in South Korea.  I wouldn't have imagined 20 years when I first got here, but I have more than lived it now!
 
2. Hot mugs of beverage.  Tea. Hot chocolate. Hot Cider. Mulled wine. . . I could go on.  These are best enjoyed, of course, with a book. . . on a porch on a fall afternoon.

3. New Books, of course! Book girl by Sarah Clarkson arrived just the other day. I am also interested in reading Anne Bogel’s charming and winsome I’d Rather Be Reading. Might I suggest either as an ideal read for an autumn day?
 
4. Back to school. It's a new semester for this English language professor. New beginnings, new students, new school supplies, new pages to be turned on brand new books. And I should mention that I love encouraging my students to pick a book and read it just for the pleasure. New beginnings, and new routines. LOVE it.
 
5. Autumn sweaters and sweatshirts. In fact, I was just thinking about pulling on a big, warm sweater and grabbing that warm beverage to sit outside this morning.
 
6. Long walks. Autumn walks without the heat and humidity give me time to clear my head, to ponder what I’m teaching or writing, and to enjoy the fresh air.  Throw in crunchy leaves, and I’m especially thrilled.  I loved this when the boys were little and I love it still now.
 
7. Apples, peaches, pumpkins, autumn harvest. This area we live in in South Korea is blessed with great apples, stunning peaches, and amazing pumpkins.  I love the fresh fruit, but this is the time to enjoy an apple, peach, or pumpkin pie. This, of course, should be done on a day when I am not teaching or writing. A creative baking day to get all my own creativity flowing.

I also love the fall displays. I love the way pumpkins appear on front stoops and entrances to store fronts. A hot drink, a warm sweater, a porch with pumpkins, and a book.  Ahhh!
 
8. Early sunsets. This time of year, I love watching darkness crawl in earlier and earlier each evening, and likewise, I love the way the changing light makes these early sunsets more orange, somehow smokier. Darker evenings have always felt like prime reading time to me.
 
9. Manuscript finished! For those of you who have been cheering me on, I have finished an Advent Book that goes through the named trees in the Bible. I'm excited about finding some beta readers (message me or email me if you are interested) and working with my illustrator. I also took the advice of Hope Writers and will work on making this a printed book.
 
10. The Great Slowing. My way of being, on my best days, is slow and deliberate, and fall is a season of intention. I am slowing, reflecting, and enjoying.
Just writing this list gave me joy. I cannot wait for that first crack of air cool enough for me to turn back around and get my cozy sweater and sit outside with a book.  Oh, autumn, I do love you.
 
Thanksgiving is always words fitly spoken.

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.              Proverbs 25:11(NRSV)

Are you interested in Hope Writers? Check this webinar out!

https://www.hopewriters.com/a/10210/L2GbuERH

Hope Writers has been a wealth of information and support while I have been teaching and writing. They only open the doors twice a year so you won’t have another chance to join until next year. If you’ve dreamed about writing a book, growing a blog, or just getting your words from out of your head and onto the screen, this is the member community for you.

Click here for general information:

​https://www.hopewriters.com/a/10106/L2GbuERH

Click here to learn more and join today! 

https://www.hopewriters.com/a/8310/L2GbuERH

Are you interested in an early Advent reflection from my book? Please sign up for the mailing list on this site and I will send it to you.

Grace and peace beautiful people!