BLESS: Lenten Devotion Day 20

Lenten Devotion Day 20

BLESS

And the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone.

 I will make a companion who will help him."... Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib and brought her to Adam. "At last!" Adam exclaimed. "She is part of my own flesh and bone! She will be called 'woman,' because she was taken out of a man." This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 

Genesis 2:18, 22-24

From the first sentences of Genesis we are drawn into intimate relationships.  When God created man it was important that he not be alone. We were not created for isolation and loneliness - we were created for relationships...for intimacy...for love.

Today's Lenten word is BLESS and our challenge is to stop and think about all the many blessings God has poured out upon us. I'm sure we could list hundreds if we thought about it enough but as I contemplated that word this morning I looked down to see my husband's hand reach over and take my own. It is something we don't think much about anymore...but something that I realize is one of the biggest blessings in my life....relationship...intimacy...love.

On March 17, Tim and I will be married for 23 years and the fact that, when we are riding in the car, he still wants to hold my hand fills me with great blessing. I know that God blessed me through this man I share my life with. I know God has blessed Tim through me. I also know that Tim and I both hope that our marriage is a blessing to God. Blessings after all are a two way street...we are blessed so we can be a blessing.

What blessing is on your mind today? 

How are you a blessing to others?

BLESSING

EARTH: Lenten Devotion Day 16

Lenten Photo Day 16

EARTH

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 

Genesis 2:15

As we contemplate our Lenten word for today (EARTH), I can't help by be drawn back to the creation story of our wondrous garden. Which also then draws me to the command that was given to Adam - "till  it and keep it." Our culture today is now in a heated debate over just what that means. Some believe that the earth's resources should be stripped and used up by her inhabitants. I even saw a quote recently from a preacher that said we were sinners if we didn't use the resources the good Lord had provided in the Earth. Hmmm, is that really what Adam was commanded?

Till it and keep it. I'm certainly not a farmer but I did learn a few things from my garden growing family. I learned that the ground has to be tilled to be productive. You break up the hard soil so that the seed can take root deeply and grow strong. I learned that the soil sometimes needed help to stay productive - You had to allow a field to stand empty every few years so that the nourishments could build back up. Sometimes you fertilized so that you could help add nutrients back into the soil. I learned that the earth must be respected - A little gift from our Cherokee neighbors. They taught us that you give back to the earth if you take from it.

I believe this is what God had in mind when he commanded Adam (and those to come after Adam) to till and keep it. That isn't a command to strip her of all she has and leave her used up it is a command that says take care of her, she will give to you abundantly if you take care of her.

EARTH

till it and keep it

safe.

"Look What We Did"

"Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing."               Genesis 12:1-2


Today my husband and I are celebrating 21 years of marriage. We were 24 when we got married so we've now spent almost half of our lives together. I admit it is a pretty amazing feeling. I have been reflecting on family a lot lately. It was actually something that my husband said at his father's funeral that nudged me to this introspective mood.  You see, my husband unexpectedly lost both his parents this year. First his father and then 7 weeks later, his mother.  It has really shaken our family. At his father's funeral, my husband stood and told something he had witnessed once at one of our family gatherings.  It was a moment when the entire family was crowded into the tiny kitchen, no doubt fighting for a piece of birthday cake.  My husband witnessed his father just standing back and taking in the chaotic scene: Two parents, three children, two children in-law,  six granddaughters and accompanying boyfriends or husbands, and, at the time, one great grandson mixing it up around a four seat table.  He suddenly got his wife's attention, smiled broadly and swept his arms open, gesturing to the scene before his as if to say, "Look at this! We did this!"  They smiled lovingly at one another and jumped back into the family fray.

That story has caused me to look for those moments in my own life and has surprisingly drawn me to God's call to Abram in Genesis. Abram is directed to leave his family home and begin a totally new life under God's command.  I remember something similar in my wedding vows...that we were to leave our fathers and mothers and cling to one another. But it is the second part of God's command that catches my heart right now..."I will bless you...so that your will be a blessing."

That moment in my in-law's kitchen was my father-in-law realizing he had been blessed to be a blessing. God had provided  for him in life and he had shared it with his children and they were sharing it with their children, and now they are beginning to have children of their own and they will share it with them.

It is easy to get caught up in thinking the wonderful blessing of family is a personal matter. We give thanks to God for it and we cherish it and enjoy it. But we also can't forget that God blesses his children SO THAT they will be a blessing to others.  The blessing of a healthy marriage will become a blessing to the children of that marriage. It will radiate outward to be a blessing to the in-laws who are welcomed into the family later. It will spread to blessing the neighbors, friends, co-workers and church goers of the couple first blessed.

We leave our fathers and mothers homes and we enter into marriage but we are not to be in this marriage alone, as Abram was not on his journey alone. We are to go forward in this marriage with God as our guide and companion. In obedience to God we submit our marriage to God and he will pour out blessing upon it - not for the sole benefit of the couple - but so that their witness will then bless others.

We celebrate 21 years of marriage today. Our daughters will all too soon be starting families and lives of their own. My blessings from this marriage are too numerous to count and I realize I am guilty of selfishly trying to keep all of them for myself - but Abrams story reminds me they are not mine to keep. They are mine to share. I can't wait to celebrate the next 21 years of marriage...to watch the number gathered around my table grow to a chaotic mass fighting over birthday cake...to look at my beloved and smile knowingly...look what we did...look what God did through us.

Get Behind Me Satan

"So when the woman saw that the tree...was to be desired...she took...and ate." Genesis 3:6

Have you ever had a good think right in front of you and not even realized it? My parents were always pretty great but I don't think I realized it until I became a parent myself. My husband is terrific but when I first met him I didn't care a thing for him, it was only later that I saw how wonderful he was. Sometimes there are good things right in front of us and we don't even notice.

As I was scanning the Genesis text this week, it caused me to quickly read vs. 6 and leave out some words...what I read is what you see at the top of the blog. It struck me then that Eve had been living in this Garden of Eden for a while. God had obviously pointed out the tree and given her instructions on it. She was surely familiar with the tree. But it wasn't until Satan arrived and began his conversation with her that she saw it - really saw it - and suddenly understood it was something she wanted. I find that intriguing. She didn't want it before that moment. It was right here all along and she was satisfied to just leave it alone like God asked her to. Until Satan pointed out it was the ONLY thing in the garden she didn't have...suddenly, she had to have it.

Isn't that just like us humans? We feel content in life, satisfied to receive all God has blessed us with - until someone points out we are lacking in some way. Then temptation and desire kick in and we spent time, energy, and money doing what we can to get that one thing we are sure we are missing. No longer can we look around and see we are surrounded by a lush garden of blessing - all we can see is the one thing we are missing.

I was reading that is was pride that drove Eve to commit that first sin - pride in thinking she could be as wise and knowledgeable as God. I do believe that is a valid assessment. But I can't help but wander if perhaps it was more an issue of ingratitude. An ingratitude that caused Eve to be temporarily blinded by all God had done for her. No more did she see the refreshing beauty of her surroundings. No longer did she think about the vast amounts of fruits and vegetables awaiting her consumption. Not another thought about the companionship she enjoyed not only with Adam but with God. All she could see was that one tree - the one thing she had been denied...all else faded to black.

Perhaps because I have been journeying through a season of death, but I have grown weary of black. I crane my neck to all sorts of crazy angles trying to catch a little sunlight and warmth on my face. In seeing precious life fade away I have re-evaluated my priorities and found myself more determined than ever not to take anything God has given me for granted. He has filled my life with blessing upon blessing and too often I have been like Eve - peeking through the blessings for what I don't yet have. Today my Lenten journey reminds me to stop peeking through and instead to look fully upon what I already have. When I begin to take stock of my blessings, how can I help but feel the satisfaction of contentment?

Satan, you might as well get behind me - because you have nothing to offer me that my God hasn't already made mine.