I have a fascination with Moses.  When I started this blog I referred to it as my “Moses basket”.  It was intended to be used as a vessel in bringing us our adopted daughter.

Moses’ Mother put him in a basket and set the basket in a river.  He was found and adopted by the pharaoh’s daughter.  Moses married the daughter of Jethro.  Jethro was a priest and a shepherd and for the forty years before God appeared to Moses in a burning bush, Moses busied himself with tending to Jethro’s flock.  There is a Jewish story (midrash) that seeks to explain why God chose Moses to lead the Israelites.  The midrash tells that Moses was chosen to lead the Children of Israel because of his kindness to animals. One day he was bringing the sheep to a river for water and one lamb did not come. Moses went and got the little lamb and carried it to the water so it could drink.  Aligned with the heart of God, Moses cared about each individual in the group, and not just about the group as a whole. His ability to recognize the value of each sheep in Jethro’s flock proved that he was worthy of leading God’s flock.  If you want to read all about this portion of Moses’ life it’s covered in Exodus 2 and 3.  In this part of the book of Exodus, God is simply known as “Jehovah”.  The Great I am.  The Hebrew name for God is actually unpronounceable.  His greatness is to not to be truly comprehended, but experienced.

In our journey to bring Sofija home and in the twenty months that she has been our daughter, my fascination with Moses has led to many moments of experiencing the greatness of God.  God likes to place orphans in families.  God LOVES adoption!  God loves to find those stray little lambs and carry them if necessary to make sure they belong to a flock.  As a special needs Mommy, we call that INCLUSION!  How cool is it that our maker loves inclusion?!?!!

With that little piece of the heart of God in mind, I came across a story in the Bible yesterday that I haven’t thought about in a while.

Mark 2:1-4 ¹ A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. ² They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. ³ Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. ⁴ Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.

Those four men who lowered the paralyzed man through the roof got it.  They understood and had a moment of experiencing Jehovah ~ The Great I Am.  Throughout our adoption journey we repeatedly experienced Jehovah-Jireh (God as our provider).  He gave us everything we needed to bring our daughter home and He has continued to provide everything we need to help her develop her God-given potential.  Yesterday I realized that God has allowed us to walk in the shoes of the four men who went to extreme measures to bring a disabled man into the presence of God.  I also realized that we are not done walking in those shoes.

The Great I Am has entrusted us with two very special gifts that require special accommodations in order to participate in our flock.  And… we have faith that Jehovah-Jireh has already provided all of the resources and manpower necessary to meet those accommodations.

Look out, Church!  We’re bringing our stimmers through the roof….

Have you ever walked through a difficult situation and known that sharing it with others would only justify and affirm wounds and bad attitudes? Yeah. Well, that’s where I am at this very moment.
Our family is walking through a difficult situation and we have some big decisions to make. There is no easy way through and we can’t see how we will exit the other side of this trial without witnessing a few people hurt and humbled.
And… that’s all I can really say. Prayers for wisdom please!

Go’el, Go’el, Go’el, Go’el
Born is the King of Israel!

Isaiah 60:16 “You will drink the milk of nations
   and be nursed at royal breasts.
Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior,
   your REDEEMER, the Mighty One of Jacob.“

Jehovah-Go’el translates to “God is my redeemer”.  According to thinkexist.com, redeem means:

1. (v. t.) To pay the penalty of; to make amends for; to serve as an equivalent or offset for; to atone for; to compensate; as, to redeem an error.
2. (v. t.) To make good by performing fully; to fulfill; as, to redeem one’s promises.

Think coupons.  Every coupon has a redemption value.  The person using the coupon uses the coupon as the equivalent of cash and the grocery store redeems the coupon by receiving compensation from the manufacturer who created the coupon.

I have spent my entire married life (almost 18 years) attempting to be a couponer.  I have given up.  I am not saying that I don’t use a coupon that I happen to come across, but I will not spend another hour of another day organizing piles of coupons into boxes, file folders or binders in an attempt to save money on groceries.  I know that I have a few friends who will read this and have an instant impulse to pick up the phone and scold me or remind me of the few times that I’ve cut my grocery bill in half by cutting coupons.  Before you act on that urge, let me explain my concession in the couponing game….

First, my time is more valuable than the money I can save with coupons.  Second, I watched my Mom arrested in a grocery store at the age of five and I am choosing to no longer engage in an activity that makes me think of grocery shopping.  That’s my concession speech.

Here’s the real deal.  I don’t need to be a redeemer.  God sent His Son to pay the price for every single thing I have ever done or will ever do that needs redeeming.  I looked up the meaning of redeemer on dictionary.com.  Wanna know something really cool?  They gave two definitions for the noun redeemer.  1: someone who redeems.  2: Jesus Christ.

One week from today people all over the world will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  I could write a book on all that his birth and redemptive power mean to me, but probably the most important thing I can say is that…He Lives!

You don’t have to spend hours cutting and sorting coupons to cash in on the redemptive power of Jesus Christ.  You simply have to choose him.  Go ahead!  Do it!  Ask him to be your Go’el!

Job 19:25 “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last.”

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made Heaven and earth of nought
And with his blood mankind has bought.
Go’el, Go’el, Go’el, Go’el
Born is the King of Israel!

New obsession (yes.  I know I’m a nerd.): Studying the Hebrew names of God.

If you’ve been around me or my stimmers at any point in the last year you’ve heard the words, “Jehovah-Rapha” spoken.  If you heard that name slip through the lips of my darling baby girl, you’ve heard them screamed out repeatedly and emphatically.

Today I was challenged.  Oh, how I love a challenge!!!  I’m going to attempt to blog as I discover exactly who my daddy is. One thing I’m finding fascinating is that the 40+ Hebrew names of God all have root words that are verbs.  My conclusion is that in order to experience God in any capacity there is an action that must be taken.

I started the day trying to learn all that I could about Jehovah- Go’el.  If you’re intrigued by the heart of God or have anything in your life that needs redeeming or avenging, check back tomorrow.  Daddy Go’el just happens to be the “avenger” and “redeemer”……

….when it comes to faith.

So Little Faith

Matthew 17:20, NIV: “He replied, Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Why is it that when faced with a task that exceeds our faith, it is often the task that comes under question and not our faith? For, in truth, we frequently believe that with God all things are practical–rather than possible. Who, or what, is it that tells us that a ministry won’t work because of budget constraints, or that certain people will not change and therefore aren’t worth witnessing to, or that spiritual peaks cannot be maintained? Where does it say in scripture that God provides up until the point where things go beyond our resources, abilities, or knowledge. Either all things are possible with God, or they are not. Either you believe ALL things are possible, or you don’t. On one hand, we have our almighty, eternal, steadfast and faithful God. On the other hand, we have our experience, tradition, and our own understanding. In what, or who, will we put our trust? And what can ever truly be done with so little faith?

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written by Randy Chambers
http://reflections.daybyday.org

Tonight one of my very favorite preachers (Matthew Stroia ~ look him up on Vimeo) spoke on the power of our words and the need to choose them carefully.  As I sit here swimming in contemplation and conviction I keep hearing the words to a song that has been one of my very favorites for more than a decade.

Some may say I already live an uncommon life.  At least I hope so.  I know that I want my words to always speak freedom and I want to make every effort to avoid lending my energy to the things I wish to be free from.

Do you put your energy into things you wish to be free from?  Do your words speak freedom? Are you living an uncommon life?

With four kids running around the house, the phrase, “That’s not fair!” is commonly heard.  Bedtimes, curfews, chores, academic expectations, you name it, are all used to validate my children’s belief  that the hand of cards they’ve been dealt is just not quite as fair as the hand of cards their siblings are holding.  Haven’t we all been there?!

When I was diagnosed with cancer in May of 2007, I spent many days crying and whining about the fairness of life.  I was sexually molested as a child.  Unfair.  My parents split up when I was in kindergarten.  Unfair.  My Mom battled an addiction to prescription drugs until she died at the age of 59.  Unfair.  My third child is autistic.  Unfair.  After being robbed of self-respect through being molested, I made choices that stripped away what self-respect I had left.  Unfair.  I spent nearly thirty-five years of my life trying to earn grace and not grasping that it was freely given.  Unfair.  My husband went to war in order to protect and fight for freedom while our children and I stayed home and learned to live without him.  Unfair.  At age thirty-five I was diagnosed with cancer.  Unfair.

But you know what?  I wouldn’t trade the unfair in my life for easy and normal on any given day.

When James said, “Consider yourself blessed when you are faced with many trials…”, he meant it.  All that unfairness is what God has used and will continue to use to perfect my faith.

I do believe that.  But in the last week that belief has been tested.  On July 6th 2010, I awoke at 4am after a bad dream.  I waited for the sun to rise before calling the friend who was the subject of that dream.  She answered the phone and said, “It’s Joe.”  This was not just any friend.  This is one of my very best.  A sister.  Joe is her husband.  On the day before, at the ripe old age of 44, they discovered that he had brain cancer.  I have no great or even justifiable excuses, but I have not done a good job at maintaining communication or offering ongoing encouragement over the last year and a half.  Every time I called I felt a little guilty.  I’m cancer-free.  Unexplainably, undeniably, miraculously, cancer-free.  While I’ve embraced the miracle that is my life, my dear friend and her two young children sat and watched the man of their house lose his.  Unfair!

Last Wednesday I awoke after a similar dream.  This time I waited for the kids to get off to school before I called.  Joe had been moved to a hospice center and he was nearing the end.  At 4 the following morning I received notice that he had died during the night.

It’s the last day of my fast and the reflecting that I’m doing is drastically different from what I had expected.  God has highlighted some amazing truths in the last twenty-one days, but it’s the last three that have proven to be the richest.

You see.  In all the years I’ve known Joe, he rejected salvation.  He didn’t think he needed God and he didn’t understand how a loving God could allow horrible things to happen.  Haven’t we all been there also?

I’m sure Joe is now questioning God about the evils of the world.  I can have that certainty because I know that he did have a “come to Jesus” meeting with the chaplain who would perform his funeral just a few short weeks before he died.  As a result, his funeral service was the most amazing celebration of life I’ve ever experienced.  He wrote letters to his family that were read by the chaplain and followed by songs specially selected for each of them.  Joe’s sisters read Psalm 23 and a selection from John 14.  It’s the latter that shook me to the core.

John 14:1-3 NCV  Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me.  There are many rooms in my Father’s house; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am.

As a little girl I memorized  Acts 10:34-35  Then Peter said, “Now I understand that God doesn’t play favorites. Rather, whoever respects God and does what is right is acceptable to him in any nation.

The minute I heard the reading from John 14, I recalled the verse from Acts.  Jesus didn’t say that God prepared a place for anybody special.  He didn’t say one single thing about fairness or equality.  He’s prepared a place for each of us.  In the house where God’s family lives, there are rooms for each and every one of us.  God doesn’t play favorites and he doesn’t care if you invite Him into your life at the age of five or on your deathbed.  He doesn’t care where you come from or what you’ve done or not done or accomplished or failed to accomplish.  He just wants you to choose Him.

Joe’s death has hurt.  It’s not fair.  It’s not fair that my precious friend is widowed.  It’s not fair that a 14 year old girl knows that her Dad will never walk her down the aisle.  It’s not fair that a 15 year old boy knows that his Dad will not see him graduate from high school or college.  It’s not fair that there will be a daughter-in-law and son-in-law and grandchildren who will never know the kindhearted brilliant man that I had the privilege of knowing.  But God’s not about fairness in this life.  My God is focused on eternity.  He’s about making this life as bearable as possible while He prepares a place for us to live out our eternal lives.

On day one of this fast I began asking God to strip away anything in my life that may hinder me from living the exact life He has purposed for me to live.  I asked Him to transform me and rearrange my priorities.  I also asked Him for something very selfish.  I asked Him for the certainty that my dear friend and her husband would someday sit around with me and my dear husband basking in the glow of the presence of God.   As undeserving as I am, He answered my prayers.

This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for a God that is not fair.