“Don’t cry because its over, smile because it happened.” – Dr. Suess

I say that this quote is one of my favorites, but do I like the sentiment, or do I really try to live it? Hmmm. I do tend to lament the ending of something that was beautiful or fun or exhilarating. This week I have seen the ending of a life, of a dream, of a job, of a program and said goodbye to some friends as they move away to start a new life chapter. Each of these made my heart hurt, but then I realized that the reason for my heart-hurt is because each of the things I am losing have brought me joy in the form of either love, or expansion and growth, or encouragement, or fun! My heart is so full with my blessings that when it is pricked, it feels like it is bleeding. What a blessed girl I am to have so many good things that my heart aches when loss or change comes. Heart emotions of pain from past joys lost aren’t always the reason for pain, but grieving can be a sign that great blessing has taken place.

Happiness may come and go, but JOY is a state of being created by the sum of what we have been given. The more we realize what we have been given, aka, the more we are grateful for our blessings, the more joy we experience. It’s like a beautiful dance where the music never stops. We are guaranteed to eventually lose everything that we have here on this earth. The beauty of being a Christian is that we have a joy that we will never lose! We have been given the greatest gift of all: unconditional love and eternal life with Christ. Once we accept Jesus as our Savior and make Him the Lord of our lives by honoring His commands, our gift and thus our joy cannot EVER be taken away.  Jesus Himself says, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-29) What a wonderful promise! So, when circumstances bring us down, we have something to make us smile through our tears and pain. The apostle Paul had it all: heritage, status, power, position, respect, zeal for his principles and beliefs. He was a big deal! He forsook ALL of it in the light of the gift of eternal life He received from Jesus. “I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him – a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8 AMP) Paul endured the best of life, and the worst (flogged 5 x, beaten with rods 3 x, stoned 1 x, shipwrecked, in danger of being murdered, was hungry, thirsty, cold and naked – all for sharing the Good News of Jesus). YET He rejoiced because he was able to grab hold of the unequaled joy of a life in Christ.

I am guilty of perhaps staying a little too long in the depths of my losses, instead of leaning into thankfulness to Jesus for the blessings that I had for the time that I had them. When my eyes flap open every morning and my lungs grab a good-morning breath, am I more sad because the comfort of my soft, clean, warm bed is over? Or, do I smile and thank Jesus for the restoration that I have received, and for the gift of the day in front of me? Do I allow sadness to become my constant lifestyle in the wake of a loved one going to heaven to be with Jesus? Or, do I, after I have mourned the loss, try to focus on the blessing of the time that I had with them and radiate to others the joy of knowing that I will see them later? That IS the promise that Jesus gave us when we came to Him!

Let’s let our smiles and joy in the knowledge of our future outweigh what Jesus promises are our temporary tears of today.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 2 Corinthians 4:17

Mother’s Day reminds me of the children’s Dr. Seuss book Are You My Mother? by PD Eastman, about a baby bird that hatches while his mother is away. He then sets about the task of finding his mom. He asks everything from animals to inanimate objects if they are his mother. His last ask is to a bulldozer, or a “snort”, who then dumps him back into his nest, he is reunited with his mom, and all is back right with the world. Mother’s Day is not always a fairy land of memories and/or celebration for kids, or moms. Sometimes the relationships of biological parent and progeny are complicated.

There are other kinds of mothers that can emerge in our lives besides our biological moms. There are those that adopt – for life, for a season, for a sport or activity (team moms, band moms, etc.). There are career moms and office moms, and there are spiritual moms.

If you don’t have a spiritual mom (parent), go get you one! Pray for the Lord to bring someone into your life who is more tenured (older) than you. One with experience and perspective that you do not have. One who loves the Lord in a way that you can see, feel and sense whenever you are with them. It may, in fact, BE your biological mom – what a gift! These beautiful souls will lift your name to the very presence of Jesus, so that you feel stronger and more able in any given situation. And if they don’t offer to adopt you, ASK THEM! Be like the little bird searching for his mom. The person you ask will be humbled and encouraged that God has used them to impact you. Their physical time with you may be limited due to life situations, but their prayers for you will be intentional and specific.

My husband said that when his grandmother, who he knew prayed for him every day, went to heaven, he actually felt the loss of her prayers on his behalf. I love to sit at the feet of someone like her that has an infectious and intimate love for Jesus. I am so enamored with the way they peer through their God-lenses as they wisely view life. They relay a love and a peace and a joy that I wish I could capture in a bucket. These people read and study the scriptures and then LIVE THEM.

In cultures where the written word was not used, or not used often, there was a hierarchy of learning that came through mentoring, storytelling and teaching. Apprentices learned skills, disciples learned doctrines, generations learned history and practical application. In early Christendom, the stories of Jesus, His life, His love, His miracles, His death and resurrection and His Kingship was passed down mostly by word of mouth until copies of eye-witness accounts, inspired by God and written down for posterity, began to circulate. In the Old Testament, God gave orders to teach the next generation of His love and commandments. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul wrote a letter to his spiritual son, Titus, directing him in the first chapter toward what kind of person he should look for in a spiritual parent, aa well as who to steer away from. In the second chapter, Paul says to teach older men and women and for them to then pour into the younger men and women – in speech and by example. He told of the importance of the teachers LIVING what they teach: “it makes the teaching about God our Savior attractive.” Titus 2:10

“The grace of God…that offers salvation to all people…teaches us to say “no” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and Godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness…These then, are the things you should teach.” Titus 2: 11-15.

Paul goes on to say – teach these things because you know FROM EXPERIENCE that living outside of the grace and love-centered life that Jesus leads from is unfulfilling and brings destruction. Keep those following behind you from pitfalls. Raise them up! Younger people – PAY ATTENTION! LEARN WELL! LISTEN!

In your life, there are those more spiritually mature than you that you can learn from. There are also those you can pour into. Pray for and seek out a spiritual mother or father. Pray for and seek out one to whom you can BE that spiritual mother or father. There is “no greater joy than to hear that [your] children are walking in the truth.” 3 John 1:4

“I saw a copperhead!” This was all it took to get my mom wholeheartedly set on burning the 20’ x 20’ and 3 foot deep leaf and lawn clipping pile in the backyard. “It is housing rodent and snake nests. It needs to go!” So, despite the week’s rain and the wind advisory for the day, the fire department came and gave us their approval and our permit to burn the pile. With a hose handy and my husband as sentry lest the flames go astray, the burning commenced.

There is a song by Hillsong whose lyrics are “I will never be the same again…Whatever you need to do, Lord, do in me…sweep away the darkness, burn away the chaff, and let the flame burn to glorify Your Name.” I couldn’t help but sing that as I watched the process of burning the pile. It was tedious. There was resistant fodder as beneath the surface was wetter than the top and the pile was so deep that the cinders just seemed to sink and smolder without making progress. Something we wished had taken just a few hours ended up needing to be a several day ordeal.

Not unlike we humans trying to deal with our sin…we think/hope that when we come to believe in Jesus, our sins are forgiven so our struggles should disappear and we begin being our perfect Christian selves in the blink of an eye, right? Um, no. The Apostle Paul describes it hilariously, but exactly – our knowledge of the perfect One, and His desire for us to live a better way, simply makes us aware of our sins, so we struggle even more as we recognize their control over us. Paul says: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep doing.” (Romans 7:15,19). The devil, satan, the serpent – more crafty than any beast – successfully tempted Eve and Adam (Gen 3:1-6), and snakes, rats and mice, deemed unclean by the Lord (Lev 11:29-31), will always be the metaphors for nuisances in our lives that seek ways to create a wedge between us and our Father. Paul comes to this conclusion: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death [because of my sinfulness]? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:24-35

We must seek to burn away the things in our lives that create a disruption in our relationship with the triune God. And just as our backyard fire took tending and patience for the fire to burn away the stuff that had been there a looong time, and was deep-seeded, so we must be diligent and patient in burning away the things in our lives that have been there a while. It won’t be overnight, and we can’t do it ourselves! But the closer we get to Jesus, the easier it becomes because He helps us to burn away the chaff. In the App series The Chosen, Mary Magdalene, who was healed by Jesus, relapsed into sin. She knew Jesus’s redemption, and the joy that held, but sadly, slid into old habits. When friends wooed her back to Jesus she told Jesus that she was so ashamed. She said she “threw away” her redemption He had given her. He then asked her “what kind of redemption would it be if you could throw it away in one day?” He told her that He and the Father wanted her heart, and that they had it. He said she wouldn’t be rid of sin and temptation until she is with Him for eternity, but for this life, once you give Him your heart, you are forever forgiven. (Season 2, Episode 6)

God’s enemy, and therefore our enemy, satan, would like nothing better than for us to be so lost and ashamed in our sin that we try to hide ourselves from our Savior. The evil one wants the snakes and the rats to have permanent residence. We need to perpetually clean house by staying close to our Redeemer. This allows God’s refining fire to do its cleansing and purifying work in us because until we are with God in our heavenly home, we will never be rid of the struggle against sin. When in heaven, we will be clothed in pure white, the filth of our sins having been washed away by the blood of the Lamb: Jesus Christ, the Righteous!

In an airport in Barcelona many years ago, I saw my life flash before my eyes. The airport began to shake hard as a loud rhythmic reverberation enveloped us. This sound was accompanied by an inaudible chanting and it seemed like everyone was running in a frenzied manner toward something that was beyond what we could see. Come to find out, and much to our relief, a renowned soccer celebrity had just arrived. It was not an earthquake! In a country where the sport is revered, the star was being heralded and people were clamoring to catch a glimpse of the famous Rivaldo. When we asked about the commotion, we were regarded with unbelief when it did not register to us who the figure was. My question, “Who is Rivaldo?” was regarded with incredulous looks likened to an accusation of blasphemy.

Now picture this same scene in the early centuries of the Roman Empire. You are living in or visiting Jerusalem for the Jewish celebration of Passover. All of the sudden, there is a frenzied commotion ensuing and people running to catch a glimpse of The Miracle Worker, The Prophet, The Messiah – Jesus of Nazareth. People are taking off their outer garments and laying them down to carpet the way for the coming King of the Jews, who is riding on a donkey colt and headed into town. They are also laying palm branches and reverently, excitedly, joyfully, emotionally crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Mark 11:9-10) If you didn’t know who this man was, you probably didn’t get out much, because the stories about He and His teachings had spread far and wide.

What would you do in the midst of the maelstrom? Join in the fray? Try to find out more of who this person is? Shrink back, a little afraid and in awe? Pay attention to what this person says and does?

This was the kick-off scene as Jesus of Nazareth entered Jerusalem on the week that is the crux of the Christian faith, Holy Week. People had seen Jesus do radical things: heal the lame, blind, infirmed and those out of their minds. He raised the dead and even forgave sins. He defied the legality of religion and pointed instead to a humble and loving posture of our hearts toward the God who loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son to tell us, and then demonstrate, just how much.

This King, a humble servant-Savior, was expected to overthrow the current oppressive regime. Instead, He came to free us from the bondage of our minds and hearts and the hold those things have on us. He came to show us how valued and valuable we all are. Some recognized that this man was worth fighting a crowd to catch a minute with the Messiah. Do we fight that hard to spend time with Him? Do we recognize Jesus for the Messiah He is instead of trying to fit Him into what our finite and fallible minds want Him to be?

Through Jesus the Christ, we have victory. Victory over anything that keeps us from experiencing Him, both now, and for eternity. Let’s fight to get close to this Bright Morning Star (Rev 22:16) who not only came to us then, but is coming again. Here He comes! Let’s be ready!

You can always tell when someone is “on a mission.” They have their eyes fixed on something ahead that is far beyond their eyesight, their pace is sure and usually rapid, and their approachability vibe is non-existent. If one of us on said mission is on a path where the footing becomes irregular, or treacherous, the fixed eyes then focus on what is just in front of us, even if we aren’t actually seeing it, but simply reacting to what is necessary to navigate the terrain.

I was recently in the mountains. Beauty surrounded me. I took time at various vistas to appreciate God’s creation, but as I descended, I was unable to look around, because one wrong move with my feet could lead to my taking a big tumble. At one place, I happened to glance up toward the sky for a quick second and the beauty of what I saw took my breath away. I had to come to a complete stop so that I didn’t miss soaking in the beauty of what was up above me – a stunning panoramic view of the mountains with the sun just on top of them. I then heard loudly in my head, “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1 The Psalm goes on to say that the Lord doesn’t slumber, He watches over and protects us as we come and go FOREVER. Now, you might be thinking that there have been times, maybe even now, where you don’t feel very protected, and you just aren’t sure if God, perhaps, just might be sleeping on you. Are you overwhelmed, weary, hurting, gut-wrenched? Stop and look up!

I was not able to fully appreciate the serenity of the beauty in front of me until I physically STOPPED my forward momentum so that my focus wasn’t on my path, but on what was above me. Sometimes, we are so in the trench of navigating life that we don’t take the time to stop it all and look up. God never moves, sleeps or leaves us! But we MUST stop and focus for a minute on Him. God promises to be the God of all comfort, peace, rest for our souls, strength in the storm, organizer of the chaos and joy in the journey. We miss that when we don’t allow for “reminder time.” There is a reason God says “be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 I urge you to read all of the two super short yet power packed Psalms 121 and 46. These Psalms are reminder time well spent! It makes us remember that God is bigger than our boogey men, and is ever-present…and because of this, WE “WILL NOT FEAR though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the sea.” Psalm 46:2

God may not take away the treacherous path, but He WILL change our perspective when we look up. We will trust that there is an eternal purpose because God wastes nothing. We will know that God will work these ashes into beauty because He is a God who redeems. We will feel that we are loved and not alone. Crowder sings a song called Lift Your Head Weary Sinner. It speaks of coming off of the treacherous path where we haven’t been acknowledging God. In my opinion, this lack of acknowledgement can be in our life in total, or in short stints along our journey. Some of the song lyrics are “Love is here to lift you up, here to lift you high…All who’ve strayed and walked away…Fix your eyes on the Mountain”.

Let’s stop and look up, so that we can be reminded of the Mastry of the One who says “Be still and know that I AM God.”