Category: life

Delight: Extreme Satisfaction; Joy

Keep company with God,
    get in on the best.
(Psalm 37:4 The Message)
 
Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you your heart’s desires.
(Psalm 37:4 NLT)
 
 
 
 
Last month filled my heart with great satisfaction. I kept company with God with my nieces and nephews. We had quiet, creative mornings and fun-filled afternoons. We met with friends and we stayed home.
 
My favorite memory of the month was introducing them to the idea of meeting with Jesus in their heart room. My sister gave us a book of meditations to read over the month. Most mornings after breakfast, we gathered in the quiet corner and contemplated some object that introduced us to an aspect of God’s love and presence in our lives.
 
We imagined a kite flying freely in the sky, and then we thought about how God holds us secure, yet allows us to express ourselves freely. How the presence of the Holy Spirit sustains us and thrills us as we soar in God’s loving care.
 
One day we recalled the birth of Jesus. Then we contemplated the cross and the pain He suffered on our behalf. The next day we celebrated His triumph over death. We remembered His sacrifice with the bread and with the cup.
 
Our days together ended with a loss. During our last week together, our dear dog, age fourteen, became feebler. Each child responded in their own way, when we told them she had died. We cried and talked about her life, and my youngest niece led us in a meaningful memorial time by burying Milli’s collar and play toy in the garden.
 
What delight children and pets bring to our lives. I am grateful for the time we had together, both the highs and lows of the month. As we go into July, I have prayer on my heart.
 
Sometimes I find it difficult to pray. At those times I am drawn to the written prayers of others. Last week, also marked the death of a dear family friend. She lived far from us, and I am thankful for the years we were able to visit with her the past several summers. Over the years my family and I enjoyed Mary’s company and her hospitality, whenever we came in to town for a visit.
 
Here is a prayer for those who love her and miss her:
 
Almighty God, Father of all mercies and giver of all comfort, deal graciously we pray as we mourn, casting all our care on Thee, knowing the consolation of Thy love; through Christ Jesus Our Lord.
 
(Book of Common Prayer 1928, adapted)
Posted on by kelrohlf 3

Revisiting the Dream Retreat

In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:

 
Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
Who got the last word, oh, Death?
Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?
 
It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!


With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work [the dream] of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.  (1 Corinthians 15:53-58  The Message)

 
 
As I strolled through the historic Key West cemetery, I was looking for some metaphor of life overcoming death. Mostly I saw rusted gates and concrete angels. Row upon row of family plots and cement boxes stacked on top of each other memoralizing lives now gone. Some were topped with crosses and others with plastic beads and silk flowers.
 
Then I came upon this plot, where the cement beds looked quite worn, the names of the deceased long eroded. Yet grass was growing up through the cracks. How can life flourish in the midst of death? That is the miracle of resurrection and Easter.
 
And that is the mystery of dreams.
 
Just about the time you believe your dream has died and been long buried, growth appears. An idea pushes up through the cracks.
 
I checked the church calendar today. It’s the sixth week of Easter. Most of the candy is gone, the palm branch is drying out and the fancy clothes have been pushed to the back of the closet, but the pulsing life of Jesus still runs through my soul. It calls me to live and to dream big. To embrace the resurrection power. To claim a mind that is not daunted by fear, but filled with Spirit strength and love and sound thinking.
The dreamer’s retreat has faded to the back of my mind, but I still pull out the notes I scribbled in my notebook, looking for those words that moved me and affirmed that I should keep moving ahead.
 

I appreciated how Holley Gerth  invited us to explore practical, tangible ways to handle our dreams: Write your dream on a card. Draw three intersecting circles and list your skills, your strengths and those people you want to serve. What connections do you discover?

I rediscovered that I am an encourager who loves to use words and creativity to draw out the beauty of our God-created identities, so together we can live generously and graciously toward one another, like God lives towards us. (See Matthew 5:48b The Message)

 
And that’s the point. Holley said it well, “God is the point of the God-sized dream.”
 
 
Posted on by kelrohlf 6

Bethlehem: The Burial Place of Rachel

Advent{ures}: Let’s Go to Bethlehem

Before heading off to a new destination, it can be interesting  and inspiring to pour over the guide books. To check out the attractions offered, to find out any historical significance about the place and to look at a map to survey the layout of the town, all this information can help prepare the way before your arrival.

Each day this week, let’s look at some information about the little town of Bethlehem.
 
 

Bethlehem still exists today, situated southwest of Jerusalem about five miles. It is known for being a fertile area that produces corn, figs, and olives, as well as  boasting fruitful vineyards.
It is first mentioned in Scripture at a crossroads in Jacob’s life. He and his family are returning to his homeland. On the way he encounters God at Bethel, where God reminds him that He plans to bless Jacob with the land and inherited promise of his forefathers, Abraham and Isaac. The promise reaffirms that Jacob’s descendants would increase and from his lineage would come kings. (Genesis 35:11-15)

On the way back home, his wife Rachel  gives birth to Benjamin:

Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have another son.” As she breathed her last — for she was dying — she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin. 

So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.  (Genesis 35: 16-20 NIV)

A death and a birth introduce this little town. And later a birth darkened by the death of “Rachel’s children” will accompany the introduction of our Savior. This little town will be marked by both tragedy and majesty.
Rachel prophetically names her son, Ben-Oni, “son of my sorrow,” foreshadowing the Man of Sorrows. Jacob renames him, Benjamin, “son of my right hand,” which also prefigures a role of Christ, as the triumphant Son of God, who now sits at His right hand.

This tragic association appears to offer little hope. Yet Benjamin will be a solace to Jacob in the days ahead, just as Jesus’ presence comforts us in our broken worlds.

Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
for the help of His presence.
(Psalm 42:5 NASB)
Posted on by kelrohlf 4