32 weeks

  We're getting close.  Only 8 weeks until little Xerxes will be full term!  It's a strange deadline--it's the most fluid one I've ever had in my life.  Usually I know within a few days when something will occur.  With this, we know when the due date is, but we're very aware that day is not a hard and fast date.  We know Mortimer could come now, or he could come in another ten weeks.  I don't know when they induce labor, but we're hoping that we don't get to that point.

  I was talking with my piano teacher (if you'd like to hear a recording of my piano playing, find the nearest cat, set it on the keys, and then release a very unfriendly dog into the room.  It sounds like that, only a little less organized) about the chaos that seems to be prevalent all over the world.  He joked about how we were bringing  a child into this world, especially since it was the youth that seem to be determined to steal anything not nailed down in London.

  I suppose I could despair, and wonder if there is any hope, but at the same time I remember the promises the church makes at baptism, about how the entire church promises to help raise the child as a Christian.  Rachel and I aren't alone in this--we're surrounded by the entire church that promises to help us.

  When we feel desperately alone and confused by a child that can't communicate, the church is there to support us, to love us, and offer their wisdom.  When we're frustrated by a child that communicates very clearly, the church offers a sympathetic shoulder as well as a community to show the child what integrity is and why it matters that we live as Christians.  When we're uncertain as to how to shepherd our son, the church will help point to Christ.

  I don't know what the next twenty years will bring, but I am hopeful.

Devotional--Work, Part I

We're going to spend some time focusing on what the Bible has to say about work.  At one point or another, we all work.  Some of you work in businesses, some work at home, some work for small, demanding children at home!  What does the Bible have to say about this?  (I'm glad you asked!)

1 Corinthians 12:27-31

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

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  I think the first thing to say about our work is that it is all holy.  Each of you has been given certain gifts, and the gifts you have are unique to you.  No one else has your same combination of gifts, and you are then called to use these gifts for the glory of God.  Some people are given the gifts of pastors--so they should be pastors.  Others are not given these gifts, and it's not because they aren't as holy, but rather because our big, complicated world needs people with different abilities.  The gifts of teachers, the gifts of nurses and engineers and students and mothers and accountants and fathers and servers and artists are all equally valuable, and each one is needed in this world, and God equips and calls different people to each.  

  We glorify God when we use our gifts, whatever they may be, to the best of our abilities.  It's not the type of gift that matters--it's the way in which we respond with gratitude to God, the way we use our gifts, that matters.  When you do work, whether it's changing a diaper or balancing a corporation's books, it's an offering.  Are you looking for a way to make your work holy?  Let us simply open our eyes and recognize that it already is--the Holy Spirit is at work around you, within you, and may we offer our work to God, doing it to the best of our ability for the glory of God, and in so doing we recognize that all our work is holy work because it is God who has given us our gifts and the opportunity to work.

Blessings

Devotional--Plans, Part IV

Psalm 146

1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.

5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith for ever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 The Lord will reign for ever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!
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  It's tempting to believe that we will live on this earth forever.  We get so wrapped up in what we are doing in the day-to-day that we forget about the long-term.  We forget that we are going to live forever, but it will not be in this world, with the things we have now, living the life we are now.  This life will come to an end, and we will pass through the defeated shadow of death, and into full and eternal life with Christ.

  So when we think about plans, may we also think about how we are living here on earth, and how that is preparing us for what is to come.  Imagine this life as practice for heaven--think about the ways you serve God by serving others, the way you pray, the way you worship.  All of those are practice for heaven.  Think about making plans to be as focused as possible on God throughout your life, so that when you die you will be as ready as possible to spend eternity in heaven.  The Kingdom of God is coming, but it is also here and now, so let us live and plan as citizens of heaven.

  One way to do this is through a rule of life.  I'll put a couple of links below that might be helpful if you're interested in creating or exploring a rule of life.  It is simply a framework that helps us see all that we do as an offering to God.

  Blessings

Thoughts on the rule of life
Example rule of life

Devotional--Plans, Part III

Genesis 50:15-21

15 Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, ‘What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?’ 16So they approached Joseph, saying, ‘Your father gave this instruction before he died, 17“Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.” Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.’

Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, ‘We are here as your slaves.’ 19But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? 20Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. 21So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.’ In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.
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  God sometimes does strange things in this world, things we don't understand.  God takes what humans have done, terrible things sometimes, and turns them into something good.

  For instance, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was surely the darkest day humanity has seen--we strung the best man this world has ever seen on a cross to die, and then God turns around and uses that to redeem all of humanity.

  Instances throughout history have been used by God for good, when they were initially terrible.  God can bring good out of the worst circumstances.  Some of the instances of reconciliation coming out of Rwanda have been so uplifting, which is amazing when one considers all the tragedy that took place there.

  Our own plans often leave us broken and weeping, wondering what has happened.  What we thought would be so good turns out so poorly.

  And God can use that for good.

  May we remember that whenever we think our plans are terrible failures, and when we start to believe that we, too, are failures.

  God can bring good out of any situation.  Just look to the cross and be reminded that we worship a God of redemption, of love, of second chances.

Blessings