Born Again

There was a storm in Northern Lower Michigan a couple weeks ago in the area of my family’s cottage.  Can you imagine 2-3 FEET of wet snow accumulating within 2 hours??  It was said you could hear an orchestra of tree branches cracking off in the hills that surround the lake.  While up there checking things out this past weekend, a waitress told the frightening story of her 2-1/2 hour journey from the restaurant to her home…. a mere 6 miles up the road.  Branches and trees were fallen every direction you turned.  Some locals were just having their power restored.  And much to my personal dismay, two of the trees that held some of my most cherished childhood memories were cracked off, uprooted, and lying in the water.  


But then came the unexpected.  What had seemed like winter at it's very worst was replaced with  unseasonable warmth. Humidity.  Sunshine.  Spring.... a month or two early.  Destruction was replaced with growth.  Fields were blushing green.  Trees had buds just aching to unfold.  Daffodils were showing their faces.  Ferns on the forest floor were the most vivid color you could imagine.    


LIFE.


Yes... LIFE.  


New LIFE.  


In the midst of destruction.


It reminded me of a book I really enjoyed by an author I so admire.  The book is "Bittersweet" by Shauna Niequist.  Allow me to share part of the prologue:

bittersweet

"The idea of bittersweet is changing the way I live, 

unraveling and re-weaving the way I understand life. 

Bittersweet is the idea that in all things there is both

something broken and something beautiful, that there is a 

sliver of lightness on even the darkest of nights, a shadow of 

hope in every heartbreak, and that rejoicing is no less rich

when it contains a splinter of sadness.

Bittersweet is the practice of believing that we really

do need both the bitter and the sweet, and that a life of

nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth and your soul.

Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push

through, what helps us earn the lines on our faces and the 

calluses on our hands.  Sweet is nice enough, but bittersweet

is beautiful, nuanced, full of depth and complexity.

Bittersweet is courageous, gutsy, earthy.

Nearly ten years ago, my friend Doug told me that the 

central image of the Christian faith is death and rebirth, that 

the core of it all, over and over again, is death and rebirth.  I'm 

sure I'd heard that before, but when he told me, for whatever

reason, I really thought about if for the first time.  And at

the time, I didn't agree."

I'm thankful Spring came early this year.  I'm not sure what April and May will bring, but for now I'm praising God at every turn... for every flower in bloom... for every drop of sweat on my brow...  every ray of warmth on my skin... every field of lush green I pass.  

I'm praising HIM for new growth after destruction.  

For rebirth after death.  

For LIFE.   

"Behold... I make all things new again".      

SING TO ME

I slept with the windows open last night.  Certainly rare for a mid-March evening.   Record setting temps allowed that special treat.

As my sleepy senses woke this morning, I heard the tree frogs singing their song.  It has to be one of the most soothing sounds in nature to me.  I can get absorbed into it.  Bask in it.  I love just lying still and listening to them... their song quiets my soul and brings my heart peace.  I beckon the sun not to rise just yet so I can listen a little longer before the day begins.


What's that I hear, though?? Oh yeah, highway noise in the distance.  Man, that's certainly loud today.  Lots of trucks on the highway this morning.  Certainly is loud.  Someone's blaring their horn.  Wheels spinning.  Mufflers blaring.  Heavy metal cutting through wind.  Seems extra loud today.  There's no peace in sound pollution.

It didn't take long - or much effort - for the paradigm to switch.  Soon all I heard was highway noise.  The frog's gentle song had faded to the background as I focused on the sound of the trucks.  The peace I felt was replaced with the sounds of chaos.  Quiet broken by noise.  Yet they were both there all the time weren't they??  Of course they were... my focus had just shifted.   When I was focused on the frog's song, I didn't even acknowledge the pollution in the background.

It's the same for me with God's voice.  At times I am SO focused on hearing Him that it overwhelms me with peace.  I want to sit and bask in His presence.  He feels so close.  So real.  But then, what's that??  The voice of the evil one begins to creep in disguised as worry, anxiety, doubt, busyness, fear... distraction.  Things he likes us to simply label as "life".  Before long, the paradigm switches and My Jesus' voice fades to the background.  My focus shifts to what the evil one wants me to focus on instead.  Peace is broken... heaviness sets in. 

I read a simple sentence in a book awhile back that stayed with me.  It said "If God feels far away... it isn't Him who moved".  I'm learning - sometimes the hard way - that HIS voice IS always there.  HE is always present.  It all depends on what I CHOOSE to focus on.  Who's voice I choose to hear. 

Zechariah 3:17 says "For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs".

Today, he delighted over me with the songs of tree frogs.

Thank you God, I love you too. 

FOLLOW

This is something I wrote in the fall of 2010.  The first thing I ever wrote actually.  So, yes, it's out of season... but still wanted to share.

I am a hunter.  Some people think hunters must not care about deer… but quite the opposite.  Hunters typically are nature lovers who have a respect for animals.  Of course, there are certain people who will shoot anything that moves and not care, but those people are “killers”… not hunters.  So, that’s why when I shot an 8-point this week and couldn’t find it… it was very upsetting to me.  Seemed like a beautiful buck wasted… at my hand.

ANYWAY… brother Jon came out to help me track (thanks, Jon!! You’re awesome…), seeing how the rest of my “home team” was out of town in one place or another.  At first, the blood was very light (typical as they bolt) and we were searching hard for each spot.  Then it became very heavy… to the point of just walking along at a good pace next to the blood trail.  At that point, our spirits became optimistic and our conversation was something like “yeah!! This is what we’re looking for!!”… but when the trail got sparse again, I was getting frustrated and Jon told me that the tracking… the search…  was his favorite part.  Me??  I want to go straight from the shot to the prize.  We kept following and the trail got heavier again… then down to just a few small spots… and then it stopped.  We stood there with our flashlights… searching intently in the dark in every possible direction for a clue as to which way the trail led.  After a long search, brother Jon said “getting kinda quiet out here…” and I told him I was very discouraged.  We had followed the blood trail for 2 hours… and then it stopped.  We couldn’t find any more blood to tell us what direction this buck had gone… so we called it a night at 10:30. 

I went back yesterday and re-walked our toilet-paper-marked-trail… looking for any pattern in the trail that would give me a clue what direction he was heading.   As I was literally down on my hands and knees looking for the next drop of blood… searching every leaf and blade of grass for any clue as to which way the blood trail led to my “prize”… a thought crossed my mind very clearly that I want to share with you.  I asked myself how often I search THIS HARD for the path God wants me on in my life.  Do I put as much effort, intensity and passion into finding God’s will as I have in finding this deer??  Do I take time periodically to look back and re-evaluate the path I’ve been on thus far??  How often do I dig into His word… pray… study… keep my ears and eyes open to where he wants to lead me to the ultimate prize of hearing Him say “well done good and faithful servant”??  Life can be like tracking deer.  Sometimes the trail is very obvious and easy to follow… and other times, it’s less clear.  At times, it may appear to have no direction whatsoever and it can be very discouraging.  But during those times, do we get down on our hands and knees before God?? Do we search desperately for any sign of which direction He wants us to take??Are we willing to walk through the briars, the thick stuff, to crawl under, over and around anything in our way to find His direction??  Do we treasure the search?? Or just want to head straight for the prize.

9 hours later, utterly exhausted, scratched up, and bruised… I never did find that deer.  Breaks my heart.  Seems like this buck’s life was wasted then… but maybe not totally after all.   God works in mysterious ways, they say… I guess it’s true.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Additives and Preservatives

Ever wonder how much sickness, disease, and just plain ole’ feelings of lethargy/fogginess would go away if we simply lived on the foods that GOD gave us??

On a few occasions for health reasons, I’ve had to eliminate all foods from my diet that were not basically God given.  I lived on fruits, vegetables, meats and fish, certain grains, non-dairy milks, and water… for 6 months at a time.  Never felt better in my life!!  I could pile my plate FULL of these things, eat as much as I wanted, and yet was leaner than I’d ever been before.  My head was clear and my body just - “worked”.   I found myself choking on the sweet juice that bursts out a plump grape.  Colorful vegetables were exploding with so much flavor I couldn't get enough of them.   Diving into a delicate piece of fish was a savory sensation… why would I ever want to fry one??  And without worry about counting calories, I could even enjoy the simplicity of sweet cream and salt in a concoction we call... butter.  The grocery store became a new experience. I loved looking down into my cart knowing everything I had in it was for my benefit.   It wasn’t easy though.  I still craved the foods my body was used to.  The ones it became literally addicted to.  And it was hard at times to watch other people indulging in whatever looked good to them on the menu.   

Did you ever notice how all the “healthy foods” are typically around the perimeter of the grocery store??  It’s because they need refrigeration.  And why do they need refrigeration??  Because they don’t have additives and preservatives.  God given foods are meant to supply what our bodies need… NOW.   

After the 6-month elimination was up... I was "allowed" to add foods back into my diet.  I started slowly... trying a little of this and a little of that.  No harm done at first.  But it didn't take long until my body started craving those man-made foods once again.  Slowly the additives and preservatives entered my body... slowly my body started getting used to them... until slowly, the symptoms returned.


So the question is WHY.  Why would I trade the vast array of foods that God put on this earth for the ones that some guy is designing behind a computer screen??  "Whaddathink, Harry... do we need more orange #58 to make cheddar color look more real??".   Does it make any sense that I would put in my body what man makes to last on a shelf for years... when God's design of what my body needs is for NOW???

* * * * * * * * * 

Ever wonder how much sickness, depression, pain, and overall feelings of despair/desolation would go away if we simply lived by the guidelines God gave us???  

When we face the mountains, walk through the valleys, or are led into the deserts of life... we tend to go back to those basics.  It's what our souls NEED when our lives are no longer "working".  We long for the sweetness of His Spirit.  We sink our teeth into the richness of His Word.  We fill our emptiness with His presence and we feel FULL.  We are so HUNGRY for Him... we can't get enough.

But when things settle down and life starts clicking along again, it's easy to get distracted by the things of this world.  By the delicious offerings that distract us from the basics.   Every form of media tells us that where we will REALLY find satisfaction is in "adding" more of this and a little of that.  As we watch others around us indulge, the old cravings resurface. Our focus begins to turn from what made us well... to "preserving" the very way of life that made us sick in the first place.   We are left once again... feeling hungry.

So the question once again is WHY.  Why would we trade the abundant life... life beyond our wildest dreams... for what some guy in a marketing department is saying.  "Whaddayathink, Harry... if we tell them they'll be happier when they're thinner, richer, more famous, more accomplished.... think they'll buy it??".  Does it make one lick of sense that what "this world" says will make us happy eventually could even compare to what the CREATOR of the universe has for us NOW??  

* * * * * * * * * 

From the beginning of time in the garden and that first bite of "wanting more"... it has been human instinct to strive after it. But just like perimeter shopping at the grocery store, GOD has surrounded us with what we need. What we need physically. What we need emotionally. What we need spiritually.  Not only what we need to survive, but what we need to live life to the FULL.  When we examine those things God puts in our "cart"... we'll notice that what He's supplying is what we need right NOW.  He specifically tells us not to worry about tomorrow or next year.  He gives us what we need TODAY.  

No additives or preservatives.

Just HIM.