13
June

Unity

This is the last post of my little anniversary series. It’s actually something I’ve been thinking about for a while; it just makes the most sense when framed in the context of marriage.

Chris and I were not similar creatures when we started dating. He was driven, disciplined, calm, and level-headed. I was driven and the similarities seemed to stop there. Discipline and self control have always been huge weaknesses. I was emotional, volatile, and sometimes irrational (sound like a barrel of fun, huh?). We did have fun, so I think we have always had the same sense of humor and adventure and family. But there were some glaring gaps in our personalities initially. And so when the pastor read in our wedding Genesis 2:24, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh,” nothing magical happened to fill in those gaps. We came into our marriage bringing a lot of differences, which made for some fiery evenings, to say the least. But God’s first mention of the institution of marriage in the verse above emphasizes unity and the notion of becoming one flesh – and I happen to believe He means more than the obvious and literal here.

Over ten years of marriage, we have kinda morphed into the same person. We like to do the same things, eat the same things, listen to the same things, go to the same places. I am much more disciplined than I have ever been, and he’s a better communicator than he once was. It’s this very interesting dynamic of retaining our own identities while becoming one flesh – same goals, same values, same passions, etc…

Recently I came across this concept in a different context in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah (8:1) in the Bible (also appears in Judges 20:1). Ezra 3:1 says, “When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem.” A nation, God’s chosen people, assembled as one man. Not as one tribe, but as one man. What in the tarnation does that mean? I think it means just what I explained about me and Chris. They were a nation compiled of many differences: preferences, occupations, how many sheep they owned, etc…, but What united them was so big that it allowed them to show up to worship as one man. Same goals, same values, same passions.

We see this same sentiment in Acts 2:44, “All the believers were together and had everything in common.” This is shortly after Jesus is crucified, and the Church is brand new. What unites them is so big that it allows the believers to have everything in common.” Same goals, same values, same passions.

So, what’s the takeaway? God can bring people together in such unity that whatever is still different no longer matters. He did it for me and Chris. He did it with the Israelites. He did it in the new Church (the Bride of Christ, mind you).

He has not changed. He still wants to do it in our marriages, in our nation, and in His Church. And I thought the unity candle was just a sappy illustration for a wedding…

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6
June

Okay, once there was this prophet, this priest, and this king…

I really may be about to show off my ignorance, but I am reading Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears and have just learned one of the coolest things about Jesus that I’ve ever heard. And it isn’t really that earth-shattering or surprising, but the packaging of it is so fresh that I can’t keep my brain off of it.

The three most prominent positions in the Old Testament were held by prophets (who spoke for God), priests (who conducted sacrifices and mediated between God and Israel), and kings (who obviously ruled over Israel). In Jesus’ mission to come and completely fulfill the OT, He came as one man completely and ultimately fulfilling all three of those roles. As the ultimate Prophet, He proclaimed God’s Word and spoke Truth to the world. Heck, He was Truth walking around in a carpenter’s body. As the ultimate Priest, He made sacrifice and intercession for us. He is our mediator and provides access to the Father. As the ultimate King, he has dominion over everything, and we are subject to his authority over every area of our lives.

Is that the bomb or what?

I am symmetrical and tidy and organized and planned, and I flat out dig the fact that our God is One of order and perfection. The absolute beauty of how every element fits together so snugly and accurately blows my minuscule mind. Pure beauty!!

Mark Driscoll shares,

“As prophet, Jesus was actively pointing out sin in my life through Scripture and the Holy Spirit. As king, Jesus was revealing to me the implications of his rule over my entire life. As priest, Jesus was kindly and patiently forgiving my sin and changing my life through his Word, his Spirit, and the people whom he had brought alongside of me as friends. Early in my Christian life, I was blessed to see Jesus in each of his three roles and experience the difference it makes to see how they work together in a perfect way.”

Boom-Yow! LOVE IT!

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2
June

?

As a very green, short, super young-looking twenty-two year old teacher fresh out of Clemson, I had to learn some quick tricks for survival in a high school classroom. Never show fear was certainly one of them; Establish a community of mutual respect was another. I liked to inform my students that I ran a benevolent dictatorship (a term I stole from someone else). But the lesson I have found to be most applicable in my day-to-day life is one that I learned very quickly as a teacher: Admit when you are wrong or do not know the answer. A hungry pack of high school students love nothing more than the opportunity to pounce on a know-it-all nubie. They will eat your lunch if you are not strong enough to be humble before them. Weakness they will devour, but humility they can respect. That’s a principle that has served me well in my relationship with Him.

In the spirit of real talk, I have times when I’m not doing so fabulously spiritually and emotionally. Times of doubting and wrestling and seeking and questioning. I run into a question for God that I don’t think I get to know the answer to on this side of eternity. “Father, why do You allow_____________?” And the content of my question is not important because if we’re all honest we could probably fill in that blank with a number of scenarios. Cancer. Natural disasters. Child abuse. Birth defects. Divorce. The fragments of earthly pain could go on endlessly… And I don’t really and truly get to understand the answers to those questions, so how do I move forward in my relationship with Him when I run smack into a wall of doubt and questions?

After days of asking to feel His presence and reassurance, asking for joy and peace and hope again, I come to the strength (certainly provided by Him) to humbly say, “I don’t know the answer, Lord. I don’t know the answer to this question, but I am banking on Your promises:

So I am clenching with a tight fist His 100% track record in my life. 100% of the time, He has been right on time, true to His Word, perfectly faithful and involved and present. So in the face of circumstances I do not understand, I am making a conscious choice to trust in His character and believe in His goodness. That is a decision I can will myself to make, even if my emotions aren’t on board initially.

So I humbly admit to you that I don’t know the answers to a lot of life’s hard questions, but I know my God is good and he loves me.

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15
May

Default mode

I totally dig Paul’s writings, and there are some verses from Romans 7 ringing in my ears tonight:

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 have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

Take a minute to digest that one. Can anybody relate?

This past Monday night Matt, our home group leader, taught on anger, and he made the observation that for some people anger is their default mode. When things get harried or don’t go as planned, they very quickly ignite into anger. That is not the case with me. I am quick to become angry, but that isn’t my default.

For whatever reason, life is particularly nutty right now. My life is this runaway stage coach that has me barely hanging on to the door, with my legs flapping behind me in the wind as we recklessly barrel down dirt paths. So I’m hurrying a lot, exercising very little, squeezing in quiet time, feeling guilty about having very little time for my girls, and I find myself slipping into default mode. When I am tired, stressed, bored, anxious, I eat. That’s my default.

And over the last year and a half, God has given me freedom from an unhealthy relationship with food. Not like a typical eating disorder but rather being in a place where my desire for food mastered me – instead of me being able to exercise self control and make wise choices about the food I ate. It was where I sought comfort and pleasure; it was a god in my life.

That is no longer the case, but I am finding it much harder to make wise choices right now. And I am splurging a lot more than I have in a long time. And I stood in my kitchen tonight and inhaled some Sam’s brownies like nobody’s business (from Campbell’s birthday). Now I’m not saying that Sam’s brownies are the devil’s vittles (though they may be), and it’s not even really about food. It’s about not allowing anything in my life to control me, and I know that it’s a slippery slope that descends very quickly from where I am to where I have been. So I’m afraid of what I see going on with me right now, much like the contradiction Paul shares in Romans, and I would certainly appreciate your prayers on this one. I value my freedom far too much to go there again…

And I was wondering…, what’s your default mode?

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4
May

Let us run with perseverance…

A while back some friends and I were discussing the upcoming Cooper River Bridge Run (which was April 5). The race is 6.2 miles long and includes two miles on the bridge, the first of which is a pretty good incline. A friend who does not run jokingly said, “I bet running six miles on the Rail Trail is a lot different than running it in the race on the bridge.” He was dead on but not in the way he suspected. He assumed that the flat shaded course in town would be easier than the race course, and that line of thought seems quite logical; however, that is not the case. I would run that race any day over running the Rail Trail, and here’s why…

1) I am participating in an event with about 40, 000 other people.
2) There are hundreds of people lining the course to cheer me on.
3) Each mile is marked so I can track my progress.
4) The view from the bridge is amazing!
5) Adrenaline, baby, adrenaline!
6) There are volunteers handing out water throughout the course (and there are Port-a-potties should one need such facilities).

So, I’m not promoting the race here (though you can register for next year at www.bridgerun.com once registration opens again). I think there is some application here for our lives.

1) Life is easier and more enjoyable, even if the circumstances are harder, if people are cheering for us to persevere, to give it all we’ve got, to finish well.
2) I didn’t even have to know the people who were cheering during the race to feel encouraged by them. Application: We can be meaningful encouragers to people we don’t know. A sincere compliment to a girl at the gym I have noticed working hard to lose weight. A nice note on a receipt to a waitress. A card in the mail to a new neighbor. An encouraging comment on the blog of someone I don’t know.
3) I think monitoring our progress spiritually is a pretty healthy thing to do. Sitting down at the table of fellowship with the Lord and having an evaluation conference, “Father, we’re at mile three and I feel like we’ve overcome these obstacles, but these are the things I feel like you want to focus on for the next mile or so…”
4) Running the Rail Trail is boring to me because I do it a couple of times a week. It’s comfortable. It’s routine. It’s mundane. There is no adrenaline involved. I think there is totally something spiritually energizing about jumping out of my boat of comfort to do something new and exhilarating and uncomfortable to please my Father.

So I dare you. I double dog dare you to leave this site and send one person an encouraging email (get more creative if you please), to intentionally encourage one person this week you do not know, to sit down and have a straight up evaluation powwow with the Lord, and to do something for Him that is totally out of your boat of comfort. I think He’ll be tickled…

The author of Hebrews compares our life to a race (12:1), and he understood the role of the Hampton Inn bellman I affectionately searched for this year during the race. Last year, as I was running the last half mile I passed the Hampton Inn on King Street and this jolly bellman stood on the sidewalk under the HI awning smiling widely, giving high fives. I made my way to his side of the street, straightened myself up, and gave him a hearty one. That was memorable to me. He spurred me on, and I looked for him again this year. He was there and I got my second annual high five. So as Hebrews commands and the Hampton Inn bellman illustrates, “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (10:24).

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