Cookies in the Yard

It's easy to show God's love to most of our neighbors. Like today, I finished up painting a fence for one of our elder church members. The mission group had started the project, but ran out of time. I volunteered to complete the job.

It was fun to spend time with this woman; she's funny and interesting. She sat on her porch and chatted with me while I painted. We shared some stories and talked about serving God. I brought her some muffins I had made, and she appreciated them. I know she'll mention the fence to me on Sunday, with a thank-you for finishing the job.

She's easy to serve; it's easy to express God's love to her. I'll be back later in the summer to work on painting her porch, which looks like it needs it, now that the fence is freshly painted. Easy peasy.

Not so much "easy peasy" when a man wandered through our yard this afternoon, obviously intoxicated. My husband greeted this man, and he sat down at our patio table to chat. I don't know what they talked about, I was getting supper ready, but I know they chatted for a while.

I stopped by a couple of times to say hello. I was introduced to the man, and he tried to engage me in a conversation about basketball (I think). After listening for a bit, I excused myself to continue supper preparations.

In cleaning up the counter, I realized I had fresh-baked cookies... so I stacked a bunch on a paper plate and took them out to the guys. Just a little thing, but God has called us to serve all of the Jicarilla Apache people here in Dulce... not just the easy-peasy ones. Maybe even especially the difficult ones. The messy ones. The drunk ones. The lost ones.

I am blessed to serve God's will in the Jicarilla Apache Nation. I am His, not my own. May He work through me in every circumstance.

Hands

I've always loved hands. I remember my grandmother's hands: warm, solid, and loving. I remember the first time I saw that my mother's hands were aging; the fear that filled my heart at the thought of losing her someday. My first hand-holding... his hands were cool in mine.

Hands playing flutes... trumpets... drums...



And oh! The beautiful mommy hands touching and holding our newest granddaughter, who was born three months early... and her own tiny, miracle hands!






And my hands, working in glass, bring me great pleasure. I love the feel of glass, the snap of cutting and breaking glass, the texture of glazing, the pressure of grinding...



And then there are the hands that were here in Dulce last week.

 Approximately thirty people from the Denver (Colorado, not Iowa!) area loaded their cars, trucks, and a small bus, and came down to Dulce to help at our church.




They ran a fabulous VBS for the children of Dulce;

They cleaned...

                       They served,
                                 they raked,
                                        they painted,
                                                  they lifted...




  They drank coffee together,



They fed.....
            they hugged....
                       they built and rebuilt steps and ramps.



It was amazing and wonderful to be on the receiving end of such giving in the name of Jesus.


 The blessing of these hands in this place is gratefully accepted.


We pray that these lovely people were as blessed to be here as we were blessed to have them.

Caught in the Rain

Rain in a drought-weary land! What a blessing! I should be doing a happy-dance, at the very least, right?

Except I had to unload groceries.
In the rain.
In the mud of our driveway.

Ugh.

Glazing is like mud...

I was dreading it, to say the least. Load after load of wet mud tracked into the porch and kitchen. Soaking wet hair and clothes. Muddy shoes. Wet groceries.

Did I mention the mud??





So I was dreading unloading the groceries, despite the fact that the rain was a blessing from above! How wrong was that? It struck me as really, really wrong. My own comfort is not more important than the life-giving rain that will sustain the cattle, the horses, the people in this land.

But isn't that what we humans do all the time, when we beg for God to make our lives how we want them... when we despair that our lives are ruined by our circumstances... when we demand that God correct some "injury" to our expectations... when we doubt God's existence, goodness, or power because something is "wrong" with our lives?

God really does have all things under His control. He is the Lord God Almighty! (Hosea 12:5) 1 Chronicles 29:11 says, "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all."

He is Almighty God; how can we doubt that He has the bigger, better picture in mind, even when we go through difficulties? Not only is He all-powerful, he loves us. He knows us and he loves us. John 10:14 assures us that Jesus is "the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--"

So, the next time it rains in my life's circumstances, I'll probably still dread the situation. Unloading groceries in the rain is no fun. Facing serious illness or the loss of a loved one is not what we enjoy. But I can fully depend on God's power, His love, and His knowledge. He works all things for good. (Romans 8:28) I can trust that this (whatever this is), too, will be Good in the end.

Not My Own

On our recent road trip back to the Midwest, someone asked our 7-year-old if she knew who her "real" parents were. At some points in my life, I might've been offended, or at least have corrected the person's language to "birth parents". Our daughter took it absolutely in stride and said, "Well, duh. Yes." And then she named her birth parents. And she's right; they are really her parents, and so are my husband and I. There is no threat to me or to my relationship with our wee one in acknowledging that we are not her only parents!

Again on our trip, I was asked if I minded not having "my own house" anymore. We live in a parsonage, owned by the Jicarilla Apache Nation. It has been allotted to the church for 100 years, and the current allotment has about 46 more years to go. If we have a maintenance problem, Tribal Maintenance will come and fix it. Seems like a good set-up to me!

We don't have much of our own furniture. We only have one car that is ours. We don't own a lawnmower, snowblower, or weedeater anymore. We have shared money with missionaries, family members, and others in need. 

None of this is mine! The Bible tells us not to lay up treasures here on Earth, but to lay up treasures in heaven. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21)

It's so easy to get caught up in what's mine. It's easy to close our hearts to abundance and live in fear. But we don't have to. The entire chapter of Matthew 6 lays out God's promises to provide for us. And He asks us to give to others, to be His hands and feet in providing for them. (Matthew 19:21, Luke 19:8, Mark 10:21)

I was pondering all this lately. And then I heard this song by Matt Redman. The first lines of the song say, "When I stand before your throne, dressed in glory not my own..." And, oh! How true.

More than anything else, glory is not mine. I am the opposite of glorious on my own. But Christ has dressed me in glory! God the Father sees me as holy and perfect.

Me??!!?

Yes, me.

And you, dressed in Christ's grace and glory.

Definitely not my own. Better than my own!

Blessings.

Rez Dogs

Foundation  $60.00

There are lots of dogs around Dulce. I guess that's fairly common on reservations. Some are tied up or kept inside, but many are loose and run around town in packs of a couple of dogs up to ten or so. Many people are afraid of the dogs, and I have to admit that I am wary of them. When I am walking, I see many of the same dogs each day; that's nice because they get used to me. They might bark, but they don't usually chase after me anymore.

I was bitten once, not long after we arrived here. I rearranged my walking route to avoid that street! I occasionally pick up a stick when I see an unfamiliar dog.  Once I was followed on the high school track; six dogs were trailing me in this fenced area. I planned my escape onto a retaining wall, figuring I could kick them off the narrow ledge one by one. As it turned out, I growled at them and stomped my feet; they dispersed into the neighboring area pretty easily.

This past week, though, I noticed something curious. I was walking by two dogs that were chained up when a loose dog came tearing through their yard. The chained dogs strained at their chains, barking madly, while the loose dog almost pranced just out of their reach. He dashed off down the road after he passed the chained dogs.

At first glance, it's easy to feel sorry for the chained dogs. After all, the other guy got to go wherever he wanted, right? But as the loose dog raced off, I caught a glimpse of how skinny he was... and his fur was matted and ragged.

I looked over at the chained dogs. Each had a doghouse, a water bowl, a food bowl, shade, and a long chain. Neither was skinny... or matted...

And I thought about how God's Ways... Like in Psalm 18:21: "For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not turned from my God to follow evil." And in Isaiah 55:9: "For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways..."

For some people, following God's Ways seems to be a restriction... a tying up.  Being "free" for them often means pursuing the pleasures of the flesh... to the point of the destruction of relationships, health, and even life itself. The ways of the world appear to promise fun and excitement.... but they do not offer Joy. Not the kind of joy I have in knowing that I am resting in the care of the Almighty. I am given the kind of Joy and Rest that only God can offer, only Jesus can redeem, only the Holy Spirit can lead me to.

I used to spend much of my attention on what others thought, on how I was perceived, and on how much fun I could claim as my own. Now I am at peace with my place in the world. I don't seek attention; in fact, I prefer to serve quietly. And the fun I find in my life overflows every day: playing with our daughter and her friends; teaching our wee one; taking kids out into the wilderness of this beautiful place; creating glass to glorify my Lord. I am more at peace than I ever dreamed was possible. I am freer to love and serve than I ever imagined I could be.

Foundation  $60.00

I was called a "rez girl" for the first time recently; I am happy here! I am growing, and I am serving. And I am tied to God's Ways, anchored in His love. My life is overflowing with Grace, and I don't mind being His and not my own.

Happy to be "tied up" with God.

Take for Granite

 I recently read a delightful post on Facebook that used the phrase "take for granite." Now, obviously, the person was really talking about taking something for "granted," not "granite," but as I read the post, I realized that there are some things I take for granite!

Granite is a rock-solid substance. It is a good thing to build on. Stable. Non-shifting. Secure. Firm.

So....things I take for granite:
 

 1. God's Grace. All of the sins I have committed (or will commit) are forgiven in the finished work on Jesus Christ on the cross. Amazing Grace.

2. God's Love. I am God's precious child. So are you. And you. And you! Yep, even you.

3. God's Call. My life is not my own to spend in serving myself. I am God's for His purposes. He has called me to fulfill His will.

4. God's Gifts. I am surrounded by abundant gifts: Loving and supportive nuclear and extended families. Friends. Time, sweet time. Prayerful support from many for the mission of our church. Prayerful support for our family from the members of our church. Enough food, clothes, money, shelter... actually, more than enough. Abundance.

These are the bedrock of my life. What is the bedrock of yours? What do you take for granite?

Love and Logic

Mother's Day #1

There was a time in my life when I walked far away from Jesus. I lost His way for many years. The precipitating factor was (ironically) an "Intro to Religion" class in my freshman year of college. Faith was so "illogical"; I had many new friends who were good people, but not Christian. I followed my "rational" thinking into non-faith.

I lived much of my life during that time in fear. Fear that I wasn't good enough. Fear that people would leave me. Fear that I would be left alone.

God slowly called me back to His fold. It happened moment by moment. Love conquered "logic." The first time I took communion following my lost years, I was positive that I wasn't "Christian enough" to partake. God disagreed; he clearly called me to participate. He said in my heart, "Just take it. I love you. I will complete your return to faith."

And He did. My faith has blossomed into the definition of my life. I seek God's Truths, Jesus' Grace, and the Holy Spirit's guidance in all I do. Not perfectly, by a long shot! But this is my constant prayer: That I might be closer to God today than I was yesterday. That I might do His will today.

But Satan knows my penchant for logic. This is how he attacks me as I draw closer to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He uses my intellect against me, putting "logical" thoughts into my head. Like, "Every human civilization has manufactured a 'god,' yours is no different!" And, "What about all those good people you know? How can you think they won't go to heaven?"

These insidious thoughts occasionally creep into my days, and I doubt. Sometimes I have asked God why these thoughts keep coming back when I have Jesus in my heart. A few times, I've even doubted if I had Jesus in my heart... If I did, why would doubts come in???

Mother's Day #2

Recently, I was having these kinds of thoughts. I asked God to show me where my sin was, where these doubts were coming from. I asked Jesus to come into my heart, and He said, "I'm already here."

Seriously.

It wasn't a voice aloud for my ears; it was a voice for my heart. But it was real.

I must've forgotten His answer, though, because I asked again a few days later, "Jesus, please fill my heart with your presence." And again I got the answer, "I'm already here." This time I listened. And I asked God to help my unbelief.

And He did. Through Scripture and song, my faith has been bolstered, and I have become convicted that this "logical" voice in my head is Satan working to destroy my faith. After all, the Bible says, "The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom." (1 Corinthians 1:25)

I am certain of God's victory. Jesus has already paid the price. And I am equipped with the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11), which enables me to stand against the schemes of the devil. My life is built on the firm foundation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen.