It is amazing how God meets us where we are. It is the beautiful, hope-giving reality of grace. 

In my life, God has given some things away. He is making room for other things to grow. I was talking to someone just yesterday morning about all the ideas I am having right now. I am so excited about this book, Fifty Sermons for Children, that is is coming up. And God is blessing me with other ideas for teaching, blogging, and blogging. 

It has not been easy to get here. There has been much to get through. And it reminds me of Jesus' response to Peter after Peter denied him three times.

"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John do you love me more than these?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.'" He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.'"

"He said to him a second time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Tend my sheep.'"

"He said to him a third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?' and he said to him, 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep. Truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.' (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said, 'Follow me.'
John 21: 15-19

If there is someone on whom you would expect Jesus to turn his back to forever, it would be Peter. How could he deny Jesus, even after being warned? Wasn't that unforgivable? Apparently not. 

What Peter did was not a picture of the defeat of the cross. The opposite is true.

Peter's denial is a shocking concrete picture of the essentiality of the cross of Christ.

The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus were necessary because we are people like Peter.

We have no power in ourselves to be faithful, wise, good, or righteous. We cannot save ourselves, We are people in need of rescue, grace. Without the rescue of grace, we are a danger to ourselves and to others, without hope and without God.

In amazing condescending grace, God meets us where we are, just as he did with Peter.

He comes to us in our fear.

He draws near to us when we are separated.

He meets us in our doubt.

He pursues us when we wander.

When we sin, he comes to us with conviction and forgiveness.

There is no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about anymore than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth.

He empowers us when we are weak. 

He restores us when we are unfaithful. 

When we deny him, he does not deny us. 

He comes to us at the moment of our salvation, and comes to us again and again as we journey from the "already" to the "not yet".

He sits down with us, assuring us again of his love, drawing out from us his love for him, and sending us on our way to do the work he has chosen us to do. 

He does not wait for us to come to him; he comes to us.

It is the way of grace.

A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams.

Most tears are grace.

The smell of rain is grace.

Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. 

Like the many leaves that adorn the ground, so are the bits and pieces of grace. 

How much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Romans 5: 15

God's grace says, "Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are. The party is not complete without your. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you."

The good news is that I am about to publish a book! I have wanted to do this since I was a teenager! It has been a dream to publish something for such a long time that I can hardly believe that I am in the final stages of doing it! 

What is the book about? It's a collection of 50 sermons about the life of Christ and the life of Paul for young children. It is an extension of my ministry to children and their parents and I am excited about it! This is something churches could use, but it really is to support families who are interested in discipling their children. It will come out mid-November.

Discipleship is a strange word. A Jewish word. 

Discipleship is a word that implies a learner. But it means so much more. 

If one is involved is discipleship, someone is a disciple. 

Disciple. It implies a relationship between a teacher and learner.  

There were twelve disciples in the Bible. 

These men spent time with Jesus, learned to love him, learned to do what he did, and died for Him.

Discipleship. It implies whole-heart commitment. 

The twelve disciples didn't have a program that they followed. They watched and learned and followed.

The twelve disciples were not involved in a discipleship program, but they met, ate, and lived with Christ.

The twelve disciples were not reading devotional material. They lived with Christ. We, of course, do not have this option, but we do have God's word. The Bible. 

It's a truly beautiful thing that we have the Bible and we use it. 

This book will go through gospel stories and the book of Acts.

You will feel like you walked with Jesus.

You will feel like you walked and talked with Paul.

You will understand a little bit better how much God loves you and wants to heal you from your sins.

I am excited and I hope you are too!

The challenge, of course, is to work through the wealth of information that I have received about self-publishing. Yes, you heard that right. I am self-publishing this book so I can learn all about how to sell it! Every Tuesday evening I am sitting down and watching videos that discuss this very topic. Every Wednesday, I am reading about the steps in publishing with amazon and how to navigate amazon, and other book sellers, to sell it. Hopefully, this is first step in a ministry for children about discipleship.

But even if I sell less than ten copies, it will be worth it because I know there are children, parents, pastors, teachers out there that are interested in discipleship.

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Mark 10:14 

Discipleship is a word that gets thrown around a lot. I have heard about it over this summer. Our church is trying to  put together groups to go over Multiply by Francis Chan. I am taking a class called Christian Education for All Ages. I am reading a myriad of different books that talk about discipleship. At the very least, it is getting quite a bit of discussion. 

Discipleship. It's a word that implies a learner. But it means so much more. 

If one is involved is discipleship, someone is a disciple. 

Disciple. It's a Jewish word. It implies a relationship between a teacher and learner.  

There were twelve disciples in the Bible. 

These men spent time with Jesus, learned to love him, learned to do what he did, and died for Him.

Discipleship. It implies whole-heart commitment. 

The twelve disciples didn't have a program that they followed. They watched and learned and followed.

The twelve disciples were not involved in a four step discipleship program.

The twelve disciples were not reading devotional material.

The twelve disciples went off in different directions to do God's work.  

So, what kind of a discipleship program should our church have?

We could use Multiply from Francis Chan or we could use The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. We do need to use good material and it does need to be chosen carefully. 

But more than that, we need need less strategy and more mystery. We need less on focus on training people will and more focus on knowing them fully. We are not all "one size" and a "one size" discipleship solution just does not fit.

We need "anamchara", a Celtic term that means "soul friend". We need to be that compassionate presence that supports others. 

I need to be reminded that I am anamchara. I am that compassionate presence. Didn't Jesus reach out to Thomas the doubter and let him touch His hands and His sides? Didn't he weep with Martha and Mary? Didn't he let all those children come to him?

I need people around to remind me to be that compassionate presence for others. After all, we all pursuing Christ together, and He really is the most compassionate presence of all. 

The thought I have been home with my children for the past two weeks and it has been good. We have played, we have engaged, we have read, we have written, and we have done all kinds of things to keep everyone busy! We have yelled, we have hugged, we have enjoyed each other's company, and we have fellowship with Him! God is there in the midst of everything. 

I have a bit of an outlet with this blog. I can get on the computer at any time and write. God is there in the midst of this too.

With that said, I am willing to admit to the world that homeschooling has got to be the hardest thing in the world to do well. I feel like I am surviving. I am reading water. I want so much to bless my children but it is so hard.

This morning was a case in point. I was the first one out of bed and it was 8:00 am! We went to bed early. I had intentions of getting up around 7 but it just didn't happen. 

The other case in point is the morning Bible reading. I had intentions of blessing the boys with a Bible reading this morning. I wanted them to eat their breakfast and listen to the story of how much God loves them. The thought was food for the bodies and food for their souls. They barely listen to the Jesus Storybook Bible or to Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing. I keep hoping for a slightly longer interaction! 

Another case in point in screen time. They are constantly wanting screens, and it is a constantly battle to get them off of the screens. As I write this, my youngest is in the kitchen, playing on my phone. He enjoys Youtube videos! LOL!  Lord help me with this!

I do get them to do a little bit of handwriting and write in a journal everyday. They don't really like it. I hope they will see the merit in it someday. Small things build character. I really am interested in building up the character of my children.

We went swimming today down at the reservoir. There are free pools available from 9 to 5, so we went down after lunch. It was so good to splash in the water for an hour and a half! They were happy to play. The boys found a couple of friends to play volleyball with. The pools are a God-send!

So what do other people with their children during the holidays? My other question is what do homeschooling Moms do to keep their children busy and happy? Are there lessons and activities all day? Are there moments when you through up your hands and say, "I know you're bored! Find something to do!"

I just want to say that I admire you homeschooling Moms.

You have taken the hardest job on earth and you have added teaching to it! God bless you!

You serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. God bless you!

You plan lessons for your children. God bless you!

You tolerate artistic messes in your home. God bless you!

You slow down to enjoy your children. God bless you!

You encourage them to read when they are bored. God bless you!

You encourage them to find something to do when they are bored. God bless you!

You let them capture than bug and encourage them to let it go. God bless you!

You let them listen to Mozart and Beethoven and hope it inspires. God bless you!
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You stop and smell the flower that your youngest brought to you. God bless you!

You tuck them in at night with a good night kiss and hug. God bless you!

And you fall into bed exhausted from the activities of the day. Tomorrow you will wake up and repeat it all again. God bless you!

I will be in a better mood when there is a change in the weather (it's 35 degrees as we speak!), but for now I would like to say kudos to you! You are amazing! You are doing the hardest job on earth! 

​I admire and love what you do!

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

I am not sure how to start this, but I want to talk about pain. We all have it in some form or another. Everyone goes through things, and some of us come out on the other side. The other side is the side of faith. The question is how do you get there?

I want to confess that I have had an awful week. I am tired. I am grumpy. I am angry that things are not going my way. You see, I have this plan. It's a plan to just not be here. it's a plan to quit life as it is. Just disappear.  I think life would be better in Canada. At least I imagine it is.

So what do you do when you are angry? If you are C.S. Lewis, apparently you just keep caring for people. 

Let's talk about C.S. Lewis and the amount of loss he suffered from. He lost his mother at the age of nine and was sent off to boarding school. He didn't fit in very well, and he asked his father if he could have a private tutor. His father, overwhelmed with grief for his wife, granted his request. His father was distraught and bereaved, but he did manage to grant that request. In addition to this, C.S. Lewis experienced WWI. 

He wrestled with these experiences and become a Christian in his early thirties. That seems like a lot of loss to me. His mother gone, a distant father, boarding school, and a war. Could you manage?

Well, he did. He and a friend experienced WWI together. Paddy was what they called him and they were very close. They were so close that they had an agreement. If one of them died, the other would take care of his family. Paddy died during the war and that's how C.S. Lewis ended up taking care of Paddy's mother, Mrs. Moore. 

Mrs. Moore moved in with him. Apparently, she was quite demanding. She kept him on his toes. 

Add to this his brother. His brother had a problem with Mrs. Moore and with drink. He would leave, go some place, and drink himself silly. The nuns apparently dried him out and would send him back. C.S. Lewis would take care of him.

Keep in mind he married his American wife in his fifties. He was happy for a very short time. And then he watched her die of cancer. (Have you watched Shadowlands?) And then he took in her two stepsons.

This amazing man was able to take care of all these people! How in the world was he able to do all of this?

I suppose the writing helped. He wrote The Problem of Pain as a response to watching the love of his life die. He had come out of his tunnel and came out stronger on the other side. He wrote of Pam in The Great Divorce. Pam was the woman eaten up by the loss of her son. I'm sure he based that in Mrs. Moore. 

What was he trying to show us? Why all the writing?

He wanted people to go from doubt to faith. He wanted people to make the right choice. He wanted God to lead us all. 

So, when you are you are feeling down in the dumps, remember C.S. Lewis. We are called to love people. It doesn't matter how long. 

He often said we need to go down to go up. What did he mean by that? You have to remember that you are going to die eventually. While you are there you can remember that you are not made for this world. You are made for another world. 

If you feel like your plans are not going to work out, you can take some solace in the fact that God's way is probably better. We need to abandon that false hope. We cannot create our own happiness. Only God can create our happiness and joy. We need to built our hope on something better. It's hope in Christ.

Over the weekend, I heard about another beautiful person who passed away. I saw a notice on Facebook on Friday about Rachel Held Evans. I know she had the flu and I knew that there were complications from a medication she took to treat a routine UTI. I had watched and read as a prayer community had developed online in response to a coma she had been in. I don't know why I wasn't prepared for that news.

This is the third death from this year. The first was a wonderful teacher who had been central to the KOTESOL community here in Korea. She committed suicide, leaving many people mystified and confused, but it has brought up a discussion on how people living overseas deal with depression. The second was the father of a Sunday School teacher. He died well. That funeral was a beautiful celebration of a life devoted to God and family. 

In the midst of news about Rachel Held Evans, I am thinking deeply about salvation, sanctification, reflection, and how everything revolves around story. Our lives and our legacies revolve around story. We want to live in such a way that the story of Christ's saving grace is told through us. 

I think Rachel did that. A big part of her writings, her story, is her critique on modern day evangelicalism. She was reflective, opinionated, and critical. She was a faithful doubter and became a leader as a result.

The Atlantic wrote an article about her death. These next two paragraphs appear there as well as here in my thoughts.

“Death is a thing empires worry about, not a thing resurrection people worry about,” she told me in 2015. “As long as there’s somebody baptizing sinners, breaking the bread, drinking the wine; as long as there’s people confessing their sins, healing, walking with one another through suffering, then the Church is alive, and it’s well.” The lasting legacy of Evans’s writing, and of her public life, is her unwillingness to cede ownership of Christianity to its traditional conservative-male stewards—her unwillingness to give up on Christianity, period. 

Evans did not lead a denomination or a movement or even a church, but she did invite people to come along as she worked through her relationship with Jesus. Her very public, vulnerable exploration of a faith forged in doubt empowered a ragtag band of writers, pastors, and teachers to claim their rightful place as Christians. Evans spent her life trying to follow an itinerant preacher and carpenter, who also hung out with rejects and oddballs. In death, as that preacher once promised, she will be known by her fruits.

She has a legacy. She leaves behind family and community with her early death. Her story matters to us. Christ's death and resurrection is told in her story. She refused to give up on it.

Your story matters. My story matters. All of these stories matter. Stories open up paths of vision that weren't there before. Mitzi Kaufman opened up a discussion on how to deal with depression. The father of the Sunday School teacher, 'Teacher Yang', had me reflecting on legacy and vision for this mother, wife, teacher, writer, and pastor on what I need to focus on. Rachel Held Evans' death continues this this reflection on what is important. Her death and all these stores are about legacy. Her's reflected the fruit of the Spirit and not giving up on Christianity.  

It's all beautiful, and the stories need to be told. Why don't we start with the big one?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 
John 3:16 ESV

Let's tell our stories to each other in every way possible. Our words reflect back to the living Word of God. Let's story in person, on the page, over email and through social media. Let's tell our stories. 

Most people know C.S. Lewis as a theologian, an apologist, and a writer of children's literature (Narnia Chronicles). But this piece of information may be a bit of a surprise. He was also a poet! 

I'm including a poem entitled Love's As Warm as Tears. I read this in a Lent devotional earlier on in the week and was blessed by it, so I wanted to share it here. This well done piece goes to the heart of both our human loving and the divine and costly love revealed on the cross. 

Love's as warm as tears,
   Love is tears:
Pressure within the brain,
Tension at the throat,
Deluge, weeks of rain,
Haystacks afloat,
Featureless seas between 
Hedges, where once was green.

Love's as fierce as fire,
   Love is fire:
All sorts - Infernal heat
Clinkered with greed and pride,
Lyrics desire, sharp-sweet,
Laughing, even when denied,
And that empyreal flame
Whence all loves came.

Love' as fresh as spring, 
    Love is spring:
Bird-song in the air,
Cool smells in a wood,
Whispering 'Dare! Dare!'
To sap, to blood, 
Telling 'East, safety, rest, 
Are good; not best.'

Love's as hard as nails, 
    Love is nails:
Blunt, thick, hammered through
The medial nerves of One
Who, having made us, knew
The thing He had done,
Seeing (with all that is)
Our cross, and His. 

What I love about this is how he has cleverly woven the four elements, and even more faintly the four seasons into these verses. 

We begin with water. Love is 'as warm as tears'. He describes tension at the throat that comes before long held back tears and them moves to an image of floods that come.

Next, we meet love as fire. He speaks of 'infernal heat' perhaps hinting at human love but ends with the Divine love or 'empyreal flame' whence all loves came.

Third is the element of air evoking spring. The imagery here speaks to sounds and smells of spring and dares us to give to sacrifice in love.

Lastly, we meet love as earth. This is the last and lowest of the elements. Here the verse achieves one of the things that poetry does best, which is to take a cliche, 'dead language that won't lie down', wake it up and breath new life into it. The cliche is 'hard as nails'.

Love's as hard as nails, 
    Love is nails:
Blunt, thick, hammered through
The medial nerves of One
Who, having made us, knew
The thing He had done,
Seeing (with all that is)
Our cross, and His. 

These short, sharp sounds of blunt, thick, and hammered and the accuracy of 'medial nerves' keep the crucifixion visceral and incarnate. Through this, Lewis moves a theology of both creation and atonement, simply and beautifully expressed.

Since the beginning of Creation, God had forseen the sorrow our misused freedom might bring, and chose, from the beginning to share with us the consequences of our own mistakes, that he might redeem us from them.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
​John 3:16 ESV

​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