A Season of Change

Red-gold beauties; a tree on fire.

God speaks as though to Moses: "See me, I am."

I stand in dumb silence;

Tears watering my cheeks I kick off my clogs,

For here is sacred ground.

"I will change you like this tree"

He whispers in my soul's ear.

"For as there is a season to grow,

So there is one to prune,

And reap, and harvest, and lie fallow."

"Now is the season to grow,"

Said the Spirit-Voice inside my head.

"Yet the old leaf must fall to make room for the new.

And some of your leaves, while beauties,

Do not have eternal value."

I cast doubting eyes to the ground;

Resting on a leaf of beauty,

Perfect in size and colour, yet left to rot.

"You would prefer it rot on the branch?" asks the Voice.

"No," I reply. "Make way for the new leaf."

... A Bowl Full of Cherries

Life really is like a bowl full of cherries. Or was that a box full of chocolates? Well, to me life is like a bowl full of cherries. Think about a cherry: It's meaty, substantative, firm yet yielding, has a hard center, and can be tart if it hasn't had time to ripen. It takes work to take off the stem and spit out the seed, but when you get a cherry that's perfectly ripe it's like heaven.

I think that's a little bit how I am, you know? I require effort, and I've got a hardness that has to be gotten around, but in general I am sweet and pliable to the person who allows me to reach my potential.

So yeah, cherries.

And if you're wondering about the strawberries, they're just in the picture. But I bet you could come up with something. Why don't you? I do love to get comments. :)

Wit & Wisdom Wednesday

Time for Wit & Wisdom Wednesday, where I post a quote from a well-known (or not so well-known) person. Please feel free to comment with quotes that have touched your soul.

~

"Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength."

~Author Unknown~

So Why Do You Believe (or not)?

I need your help! Please read below for a survey I'm doing for a class.

Full disclosure: I am a Christian. I love Jesus and he's absolutely gone on me, which is evidenced by the fact that he died to save me from an eternity of separation from God on account of my own sin. But because I accepted that, I'm guaranteed a spot in Heaven, no matter how well or poorly I finish out this life. (Of course, I hope to do well.)

More Full Disclosure: I am taking a 2-year post-graduate level leadership course through my church, and I'm supposed to be talking about Jesus to some people this quarter. Problem is, most of the people I've "met" lately are online.

So here's my plan. I'm going to put a few questions below, and I'd simply love it if you commented, honestly, with your answers. Christian, Buddist, Athiest, Whatever you call yourself, I would be honored if you would take a few minutes to answer this survey. I will answer all comments via email so please make sure you've got your email set up, especially if you have any interest in engaging me in discussion, asking your own questions, giving me feedback on this survey, whatever. If you would like to send your answers directly to me you may email me at janet_nowlin@hotmail.com.

Thank you in advance!

1. Do you identify with a specific religious type (Christian, Hindu, etc) and if so, which?
2. What is the very first thing you think when you see the word "Christian?"
3. Please list both a positive and a negative effect that you believe Christianity has had on the world.
4. What does it mean to "be a Christian?"
5. If you are not a Christian, is there a reason why (grew up in another faith, had a bad experience, etc.)?
6. If you are a Christian, why are you (it's just what you do, you had a personal experience of God, etc)?
7. How do you know that someone is a Christian?
8. Have you ever verbally, out loud, accepted Christ into your heart, admitting that you were a sinner, that He died to save you from the consequences of your sin, and embracing Him as your hope for a new life?
9. If not, would you like to?

Thank you!!

It's the Same Old Thing... And It's New Every Time

When's the last time that you read the Bible? Do you have a favorite verse? Have you ever done the Bible-in-a-year reading program?

I'm taking VLI (Vineyard Leadership Institute) and since it's a church-based leadership program, we do a LOT of talking about the Bible. Like, a lot. I just finished reading Matthew, Mark and Luke (in one night, I'm pretty impressed with myself).

But what I find the most amazing is that no matter how many times you read something in the Bible, there's always something new. Really there is. Think about it this way--have you ever watched a movie at the theater and you love it so as soon as it's out on DVD you buy it and watch it over and over? And maybe the second time you realize that the kid really IS wearing red in all of the important scenes, and the third time you catch a line that didn't make sense the first two times and you just laughed because everyone else did, and the fourth time it suddenly dawns on you that yes, that is the girl from Braveheart.

OK, so think about it like that, only Biblical.

Really honestly, you can read the same book, chapter, and even verse over and over and over again and get something new out of it each time. Of course you do have to want to.

But just last week I was starting Matthew for this VLI project, and I figured it would be a fast read, right? Yeah... until verse 5. Yeah, not book 5. Book one, verse 5. The geneology that everyone skips over. Where it says that Rahab is the mother of Boaz.

Wait, Rahab the prostitute?

So now suddenly I'm thumbing through the Old Testament, trying to find that one book where Rahab hangs a red scarf outside her window so her family will be saved because she was promised her life in thanks for hiding Joshua's men. And of course it doesn't say who she marries. But two books later is Ruth, the one about Ruth and Boaz (right, the son of this "Rahab" woman). Hmmmm...

So what on earth did I get out of this, you might ask. Well it came to me that God doesn't look at "who" we are, but rather He looks at our hearts and our willingness to do His will, no matter how hard or scary or unpopular it may be. And I realized that His rewards for doing His will are way cooler than the world's rewards. I mean, come on, Rahab is listed in the lineage of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Savior of us all.

Dude.

Wit & Wisdom Wednesday

Time for Wit & Wisdom Wednesday, where I post a quote from a well-known (or not so well-known) person. Please feel free to comment with quotes that have touched your soul.

~

"I'd rather change my mind and succeed than have my own way and fail."

~Felix Lugo~

"There Is No Rest for Success"

Picture Perfect

Where do you live? A city? On a mountain? In a suburb? Do you know that you live in God's good creation? That He designed the very earth on which you walk and created the seasons which sustain your life and the very air that you breathe?

I admit, it's harder to think about it that way when you live in a city and the only true green you see is the astroturf field in front of the grade school down the block.

But it's true. God, the maker of Heaven and Earth--He created earth for us, for you, to live on, to sustain your life, and on which to live out His will.

Maybe it's hard to believe that this planet was created by a Creator, that it didn't just "happen" to be in exactly the right spot around a sun exactly the right temperature, with exactly the right size moon giving us exactly the right tilt which created the exact right seasons... no, maybe you do believe it's all chance.

Well there's not a lot I can say to that. Which is why a picture is worth a thousand words, because when we are silent, even the very rocks will cry out His name.

And no matter where we live, we can remember that God, our Father, created it just for us.