In His Time

On Tuesday, I was delivering lunches in an apartment complex where we have yet to serve many children. I was stocked with twenty lunches and only three kids came out to eat them. Becoming impatient, waiting in the heat for these three children to eat thoughts of "other more important things" I should be doing began to dance in my head. 

These thoughts were interrupted when the smallest little girl finished her orange. She saved the seeds in the palm of her hand. As I was packing up to leave, she held them up to me and said, "Miss Anna, will you help me make these pretty flowers?" 

Looking down at those orange seeds in her hand, at first I laughed. "Well, those aren't going to grow into flowers!" I explained. "They are going to make oranges, and you'll have to wait a looooong time." 

She looked down into the seeds kind of disappointed. Thinking on my feet, I grabbed a cup and some cotton balls out of my craft kits for the day. My plan was to put the seeds under the cotton in the cup, add a little water and pray for the best. It was better than a flat out refusal to help, but in my heart I knew those orange seeds didn't stand a chance. 

It was when I looked at the cup, that I knew the Lord was teaching me in this moment. The day before, in preparation for our craft, I'd written "The Lord keeps His Promises! Deuteronomy 7:9" on every one of the cups. 

I looked at the smile on the little girls face as she held her freshly planted orange seeds, and thought about how, really she and I are in the same boat. Everyday when we are delivering lunches and planting God's Word in the hearts of others, I feel like I'm holding up two little seeds to God and expectantly asking, "Will you make this grow into something beautiful?"  

And every day He reminds me of His promises and His faithfulness to keep His promises. The seeds that  are planted in His Name will go forward to accomplish all He has planned for them to accomplish. 

We must not grow weary! I am learning to be patient, to be faithful and grateful for these little glimpses of His Glory. 

Lunch Ministry Update

At the other two complexes on my delivery route I have a growing group of children who meet me each day. I've introduced different activities to do with the kids each day while they enjoy their lunch. We have Scripture Memory contests and good old fashioned Tic-Tac-Toe tournaments. 

On Thursday, my friend Mary Brown went along. Mary has a passion for literacy training, so we took some donated books along with us to give away. Mary sat at my table and sorted the books according to reading level. Every child received an age appropriate book and even enjoyed story time along with their lunch. 

It is truly a joy to walk with the Lord every day and witness how much He cares for those that many of us would overlook. If you would like to join us as we deliver lunches please contact me at missionokc@outlook.com or call or text (405) 694-8380

The Citizen's Band

My brothers and I grew up during the golden era of the CB radio. I remember having these fancy radios in our cars and they provided all kinds of entertainment during long road trips. We would figure out which channel had the most traffic and tune in to hear the long haul truckers banter back and forth. Usually it was “channel 19”, so channel 19 on our CB radio became known as “The Learning Channel”.

The trouble with the CB radio was indicated in the name. “CB” stands for Citizens Band and any one with the gumption to plug in the radio can get on and say whatever is on their mind. Many times we would find ourselves on the receiving end of some colorful radio rants against our misuse of the “Citizen’s Band”. The serious radio operators didn’t appreciate us littering their airwaves with funny impersonations and roadside observations. Our silliness was disruptive and caused confusion and we really didn’t care.

It seems there are a lot of voices these days that are being amplified, they have a message and they’re delivering it loud and clear; but should we give their voice a place of authority over our life? 

 This morning I woke up to see Kim Kardashian on the morning news. She was being interviewed as if she is a head of state when in reality she is only a spokesperson for her family on the subject of her step father’s new gender revelations.

The media shows such reverence and respect to anyone who will deliver their talking points. They will give platform to anyone who will stand and be a spokesperson for their brand of morality; thus lending their choice of voices a worldly authority.

For many, this bombardment can be very confusing when it seems our entire culture, even Christian culture shifts and begins marching to the beat of the loudest drum. How do we get clarity on this chaotic “Citizen’s Band”? How can we discern between the amplified voices and the Voice of authority?

Well, The Word of God is the best place to start.

In Mark 9:2-8 we see the account of the transfiguration of Jesus.

“After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves to be alone. He was transformed in front of them, and His clothes became dazzling – extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them. Elijah appeared to them with Moses and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here! Let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah’ because he did not know what he should say, since they were terrified.

A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud:

           

This is My beloved Son;

   Listen to Him!

Then suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus alone.”

Jesus was revealing His glory, as God, to the disciples. They were awestruck and fearful at the sight of Moses and Elijah there with this bright and glorified Jesus! Their reaction was to say, “Great! We’ll build three tabernacles here! One for Jesus, one for Moses and another for Elijah!”

             God Himself created a whole different station for the disciples to listen to. He gave them Jesus, God the Son. God was showing Peter, James and John that moving forward as disciples there should be no question in their hearts whether or not the man they were following had the authority to lead them. In verse 7 it says a cloud overshadowed them and a voice coming from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son; LISTEN TO HIM!”

            I heard that call this morning in my Spirit when I prayed, “Wow, God there are so many messages out there about everything, how do we stand! How should we respond?”

            He points to Jesus, His only Son! Jesus lived to please the Father, He gave His life for this sinful world, for me. Look to Jesus, Listen to Jesus! As followers, we have to tune out the voices that are not speaking truth, trust in His word and keep following. 

            “Then suddenly,” it says, that the disciples were looking around and no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus alone. In Matthew it says that they fell on their face before Him.

It comes down to whom we’re living for. Whom and what are we worshipping? Whatever we worship will have the most influence over our life, those voices will speak loudest, drowning out all others. Jesus made it clear for His disciples, and He offers us the same clarity – there is no other standing, there is no one more worthy than Jesus. He is the ultimate authority on all things. He is Lord of all. Seek Him with your whole heart today.

“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable – if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise – dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.“ Philippians 4:9-8

May the God of peace be with you today as you continue in your walk with Jesus.

Sunday School Answers

 I don’t ever write on Sunday. We are always involved in worship and preparing for worship. But a word has been stirring in my heart all weekend; then this morning I wake up to see grieving families standing at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial and my brothers in Christ lined up along the beach ready to give up their lives for their faith. The gravity of these events has pressed my heart and the conviction God has been giving is even clearer to me now.

 

It was actually just a funny story that provoked a thought. On Friday I take guitar lessons. My instructor, Ernie is also a worship leader and he helps me develop the songs that I lead on Sunday. We got to laughing about the lyrics of an song. He said, “That reminds me of when I was a kid and all I knew was to give Sunday School answers.”

Any kid that grew up in church knows what Sunday School answers are. No matter what question the teacher is asking the answer is going to be one of a few options. Kind of like guessing on a multiple choice test, only instead of guessing “A”, “B” or “C” the answers are “The Bible”, “God”, or “Jesus”.

He said one Sunday when he was a little boy in Sunday School his teacher told the class, “I’m going to describe something and I want you to tell me what you think it is that I’m describing.” The teacher went on to ask, “What can run real fast, it’s covered in fur, it likes to eat nuts, it lives in a tree and has a big bushy tail.”

Ernie said, “It sounded like she was describing a squirrel! I wanted to say squirrel so bad, but since we were in Sunday School I raised my hand and answered, ‘JESUS!’”

I grew up listening to the Andrae Crouch song, “Jesus is the Answer”. My parents had it on 8-track and would rock out to it in our station wagon. We sang the song in church, and I grew up believing every word.

“Jesus is the answer for the world today, Above Him there’s no other. Jesus is the way.”

But deep down I wondered what it really means. How does singing about Jesus solve the big problems our world is facing today? The answer is, it doesn't. 

I have learned that my Sunday School answers aren’t enough anymore. I believe that Jesus is the answer, and it has to become more than a line in a song to me. These words have become my marching orders.

We go to the dark places. We live sacrificially. We obey though faith is required and we love the un loveable, because of Jesus. It’s not enough to just read about Him, and know who He is. He has called us to bear witness to His power with our life.

It’s what Paul was talking about in Ephesians 6:19-20 when he said, “Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough in Him to speak as I should.”

 I am going to begin praying for the same thing as Paul, that when I open my mouth to speak, that the mystery of the Gospel will be made known. As an ambassador of this message, I pray God will continue to send me out and give me the courage to speak and live as I should. To say and do the hard things, and to demonstrate with my life what my heart believes. The answer is Jesus!

The Process

Ugly, grueling and often times humiliating; these are the words that could describe the process. The process is the progression of events that take place between the beginning of something and the end result. It’s in this space between that dues are paid, bootstraps become frayed and battles must be fought and won in order to press forward.

My father was an artist. He started sculpting when we lived in Alaska, to occupy his mind during the long dark days of winter. One winter he sculpted the scene of Abraham and Isaac. Isaac was tied to a rock, Abraham had his hand lifted in preparation to sacrifice his only son. Behind Abraham whose face was lifted towards heaven, was the ram - the sacrifice that the Lord provided to take Isaacs place.

As a child I remember watching this sculpture come to life.                

The clay comes out of the package and it needs to be softened. Dad would hand me a block to roll into a ball. It kept me busy and kept him in pliable clay.

He would build the rudimentary structure underneath out of wire and sometimes he would use toothpicks. These were the bones of his sculpture. Slabs of clay were layered over these bones, and then he would begin smoothing and shaping.

He had commandeered the kitchen table for this project, so my brothers and I had front row seats. Dad would let us work next to him to make our own sculptures. We would take a ball of clay, roll it out into the shape of a snake, give it eyes then ask Dad to look up, “Is this good?” we’d ask. “Look what I made!”

He’d take a glance and just keep working. We probably made five hundred snakes and disproportioned clown faces in the same amount of time that he made his Abraham and Isaac sculpture. He had a vision and committed himself to the process. The end result was a treasured, meaningful work of art.

         
Every body can be a beginner, everyone wants to experience the glory, but only the focused and determined heart can endure the process.

            
This is what we miss out on in a prepackaged, instant success world; we miss out on learning to run with endurance through the process. We miss out accomplishing great things, we settle for less because we fear the process.

            
Here are some things to think about, that will hopefully keep you going, wherever you are in your process.

1.) Expect the Process

            The Bible tells us it came as quite a shock to the children of Israel upon hearing the report that giants currently occupied their promised land! Then they were told that it was no big deal because God would fight for them and help them to possess the land if they would only trust in Him. No doubt they imagined just walking right in and taking over this land, but God had other plans.

            God knows the dreams and ambitions we have, He also knows how we need to be equipped and how reliant we will need to be upon Him once we arrive. In the book of James he tells us to “Count it all joy when we fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” James 1:2-3 The process is inevitable and necessary if we want to realize Godly success.

2.) Engage in the Process

            I started out in college as a nursing student. I was able to get by my first year, but in the second year it became clear to me that God had other plans for my life. What I didn’t understand about being a nursing student is that you don’t just go to class, take notes then go home. The best nursing students are the ones who stay late in the lab, draw their own anatomy flash cards, sign up for extra courses and work part time in the nursing field as they are going through their course work. These fully immersed students graduate with more than a license to practice nursing they have become excellent nurses.

            It is an act of faith to stop fighting and engage in God’s process. When we have joy and take heart we are showing the world that we trust in God’s plan, we are standing and walking in the belief that He will keep His word. However, sometimes I get so focused on graduating out of the process I forget to take in the education I’m receiving along the way.

             Time and again, when I have come out on the other side of a storm in life I’ve wished to go back and take better notes. It becomes more clear that every trial had it’s purpose and the experiences, good, bad and humiliating were necessary.

In James 1:4 we find this instruction, “But let patience have it’s perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

          I think this is why I love to write so much. It keeps me engaged in the process; it keeps me attentive to the hand of God on my life as He does His perfecting work. Whatever you are going through, don’t miss out on the treasures God is revealing every day.

3.) Endure Through the Process

            Can I remind you of the grand prize for those who finish well? James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

            Whenever my dad would finish a sculpture he would take a ball of clay, press his thumb into it and fix it onto the back of his work of art. This was his signature, and there was no denying that fat thumbprint belonged to Don Lane. His signature showed that this one-of-a kind work of art was complete and approved by the artist.

            One day I’m going to stand in the presence of Jesus. I’m not going to just roll off of an assembly line at the Christ follower plant to be passed over and inspected by a heavenly factory worker. No, Jesus has been creating me since before I was born. He gave His own life so that mine could be redeemed and made beautiful, into His likeness, used for His divine purpose. He has used many processes to shape, mold and refine me. One day I’ll stand before Him, to receive the crown of life.

            God is calling you to do great things! Don’t trust the process trust Jesus. Hold fast to His word and look forward to one day seeing the fruit of the seeds you will plant today.

            

Jesus Take My Skis

            I like to think of myself as a pretty “gung-ho” gal. I’m usually up for some good high adventure type fun. However when it came time to go skiing my knees started to get a little wobbly. We had been blessed with a beautiful cabin in Angel Fire, NM where we could spend the week together as a family. There isn’t much else to do in Angel Fire if you aren’t going to ski and we were excited to take the kids for the first time. 

        We woke up Wednesday morning and I confessed my fears to Chad. My main fear being that I would get to the top of the mountain and not be able to get down. Still, I didn’t want to miss out on all the fun. I decided to quit being a scaredy cat and go. 

            After breakfast we loaded up the kids and went to the ski shop to rent our gear. There is a high intimidation factor to skiing and it starts with making sure you have all the right gear. Thankfully, the man at the ski shop was helpful and very knowledgeable. He could tell this was a new experience for our family, so as he fitted us he offered expert instruction, no extra charge.

The tips he gave seemed pretty easy to grasp in the warmth and shelter of his cozy little shop. But an hour later, from the top of the mountain, I was screaming, “THE MAN AT THE SKI SHOP TELLS LIES!”

           

The First Lie: Skiing is a natural body movement.

            He reiterated this statement by telling us about how he began teaching his children to ski at twenty months. “Good, a baby can do it!” I thought. If a baby can do it, this grown woman can too! Grown woman are the two key descriptors here. It is my personal view that I am too grown to be strapping waxed boards to my feet and propelling myself down a mountain.

As a matter of fact, if there were an award for gaining momentum, I’d take GOLD. Gaining speed was not an issue, but once I got going the only thing capable of stopping me were large piles of snow, padded barricades and condensed masses of human beings.

            Do you know what else is a natural body movement? Falling down. It is perfectly natural to just fall right smack down on your rear end. I repeated this natural movement more times than I could count. Time and again I’d get back up and try to ski again all the while thinking, “It’s going to be a long day.”

The Next Lie: Pizza and French Fries

            It was just as simple as that, he told us. Make a wedge with your skis to stop, line them up parallel to go fast. Pizza and French fries, got it. Pizza is break, French fries is gas. Sending me down the mountain with such little information is like saying, “Okay, gas on the right brakes on the left, now let’s go drive some NASCAR!"

            So here I am with my full grown woman self, headed down the mountain with enough momentum to take out a family of five. I hear Chad behind me yelling, “pizza, pizza, PIZZA!” Another instructor skied by with a student and yelled, “JUST LEAN INTO YOUR WEDGE!”

            About the time I’d get going and feel in control of the speed, I’d see Sean or Ruby skid out. I’d take my skis off and walk out to get them back on their feet so they could keep going. Every time I’d put my skis back on it was like learning all over again. Chad was out front patiently picking us all up and getting us back on our feet. Finally, I just took off my skis and decided to walk.

            Chad tried to encourage me to keep going, but I. was. done.

It was more important to me now to help Ruby. As I was walking along a little five-year-old girl in a puffy pink snowsuit sped by me. She saw me carrying my skis and yelled, “You should be skiing, but suit yourself!”

In that moment, I felt like putting Ruby back up on her skis, setting her on a trajectory of the pink puffy ski expert because, “Ruby, it’s time to go full French fries!”

The Whopper: Once you can all stop and turn, you’re ready for the Homeward Bound trail

            The homeward bound trail is a two and a half mile trail. It’s the easiest trail to take down the mountain. It’s easy if you know how to ski on even an beginner level. The man at the ski shop told us that we should be able to “take it slow”, “stop to have a snack and get a drink” and “gain some confidence along the way.” He said we should expect to be down the mountain in about two and half hours.

            After two hours, we found ourselves spread out across the mountain in varying states of disrepair. It was starting to get late when the same instructor who told me to lean in to my wedge stopped to check on us. He could see that we had probably made it as far as we could go and said, “You know it’s about that time that they start to sweep the mountain for stragglers. If you want to just wait where you are, they’ll be by in a little while to pick you up.”

            Chad and David were doing good. They decided to ski ahead while Sean, Ruby and I “straggled” until the truck came. About ten minutes later, the familiar face of a grizzly bearded man came riding up on a snow mobile. “Do you all need a ride back down?” This was the same man I had run into getting off the lift. By this time, I had become numb to my humiliation and said, “Yes! We do!”

            “I can take the two kids. That way you can just ski down and pick them up.”

“Just ski down” he said. I appreciated the vote of confidence. Part of me thought that I might could give it a try now that the trail wasn’t as crowded. I said, “Okay, I guess I can just ski down. About how much further do I have to go?”

            He hesitated to give me his most honest estimation, “Well, you’re still pretty close to the top”

I started to cry and said, “Then I’m not going to make it.”

He really didn’t even wait for me to answer. He was already on his radio calling for back up. “Yeah, uh, we’ve got a basic 10-14 up here in need of transport.”

            I’ve decided that whoever came up with radio code talk is a person who understands mercy and grace. I never want to find out what a “10-14 in need of transport” means, but I was just glad he didn’t say it to my face. At this point I didn’t care if every guy on ski patrol was sitting around snickering when the dispatch came in, as long as one of them responded to this 10-14’s need for rescue.

            Before speeding off with Ruby and Sean, he said, “They’ll be by for you in about 20 minutes. I’ll keep these guys safe until their dad or you come to get them.”

            There I was, the last straggler on the homeward bound trail. As soon as I lost sight of Ruby and Sean, another ski patrol came riding up in the distance. He pulled up beside me and asked me if I needed a ride back down.

As I was loading up on the back of his snow mobile he said, “Are you doing alright?”

 “Yes, I probably shouldn’t be up here.” Was my response.

He paused and said “Look up at where you are! You’re on top of the mountain. Just enjoy the beautiful view!”

            The sky couldn’t have been bluer. The air was cool and crisp and it was a privilege to enjoy the mountains from the top. On the way down, I saw David and Chad smiling as they soldiered on, Ruby and Sean got to add a snow mobile ride to their already exciting day. It was a beautiful day on top of a beautiful mountain, just like the guy at the ski shop said it would be.