Reformation Day

Happy Reformation Day! On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed his "95 Theses" to the door of the All Saints' Church in Wittenberg (Germany), laying out his challenges to various corruptions in the Catholic Church at the time, and inviting open discussion of the issues. He did not seek a split with the church, but a restoration to the truth in the Bible as opposed to man-made doctrines.

Luther had grown exhausted by the weight of guilt and grew to nearly hate God for being so judgemental. Then he started to read the Scriptures and found the truth of the gospel and discovered God's amazing and profound love for him (and for us). He began to see the corruptions of truth in the church body, along with the need for people to read the Scriptures themselves in their own languages. He was driven by a passion for the truth of God's love and the message of salvation by grace, through faith.

Today, on Reformation Day, we do well to remember the message is the same. Not by works (so that no one should boast), but by grace, through faith in Jesus we are saved. God gives us the gift out of His great and deep love for us, in spite of ourselves.

Blue Dog

Blue Dog was missing, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Where could he be? Blue Dog is Will's absolute favorite thing... a tiny (maybe 1 inch long) blue plastic dog that he found at his Grandma's house and no one knows where it came from. Irreplaceable. Beloved. Easily lost.

Jon and I remembered seeing Blue Dog when I was painting Will's face, getting ready to go to the Pumpkin Patch Party at "the big church" (Will dressed as Blue Dog... in a Blue's Clues costume). But we couldn't remember if Will had brought Blue Dog in the van with us. Was he lost at home or at the giant party in the midst of thousands of people? Through careful examination of our photos taken at the party, we determined that BD did not make it far into the party if he went there at all. The next morning when I took Anna and Will to school at "the big church" (aka "school"), I looked in the parking lot where we had parked the night before, and I looked around the entrance of the festivities, but no Blue Dog. We had already searched our house and the van, and had begun to lose hope, trying to figure out how we might be able to replace Blue Dog. After school and Anna's field trip to a pumpkin patch, Anna and I returned to the parking lot to look one more time before picking up Will from class.

Maybe the sunlight was different; maybe I had looked in the wrong place earlier. But there, where we had parked the night before, laying on his side after a long night out in the cold, was Blue Dog!! I couldn't believe it! I hugged Anna (who just looked at me like I was crazy). Blue Dog once was lost, but now was found! I thought of the story of the lost sheep, and how God loves us so much that He will go to every length to seek out those who are lost from Him, and how even the angels in heaven rejoice when the lost are found. As a parent searching for her son's most beloved toy, I got a sweet glimpse into the heart of God.

Ode to Autumn

Autumn is in the air... crunchy leaves, smiling pumpkins, fall festivals complete with crafts and hay rides, and finally a chill in the air. I love fall! I love changing seasons anytime, but especially changing to fall from the long hot drudgery that summer becomes. And fall has great holidays and times of anticipation... Harvest time/ Halloween/ Reformation Day, Thanksgiving, spending extra time with family and friends, Christmas programs starting up, preparing for Christmas... So many reasons to feel warm and cozy. So much to be thankful for... God's provision for our lives in every way: from food to faith to family and friends, to His promise and presence with us. All wrapped up in autumn.

Where is Your Hope?

Where is your hope? Hopefully not in the stock market or money or the government or... yourself. The headlines are full of great examples of sin these days... besides the usual robberies or shootings, we see greed, corruption, fraud, cover-ups and scandals. Many of us will suffer or pay because of the sins of others, and it's just not fair. What's wrong with "those people" anyway? But while we point out their faults, we should also take a look at our own hearts, for "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Sure maybe our sins aren't in the process of destroying capitalism and America as we know it. But sin is sin. We cannot pull ourselves up out of it; we are stuck in the mire of dishonesty, jealousy, hatred, lack of self-control, dishonorable desires, etc. It isn't pretty.

But thanks be to God, we can put our hope in Jesus. (Warning: Here I go clinging to my "religion" - better get a gun in case Obama becomes president and takes away that right!) He has taken care of this sin problem; we just have to trust Him with it. On the cross Jesus took the punishment for our sins, and credited to us His perfectness, bringing us into peace and relationship with God. We can put our hope in Him because He is absolutely trustworthy (unlike so many making headlines these days). So, although the days may look dark and times may get harder, take hope in the assurance that God is real; He is there for you; He is faithful; you are His as you trust Him with your life. God is still good, a refuge in times of trouble, a mighty fortress of strength. Amen.

High School Reunion

I recently attended my 20 year high school reunion. How crazy is that??! There's no denying your age when you see your old friends and classmates all grown up... when did that happen? It was a lot of fun (even though some people were missing), and I would recommend everyone go to their reunion, too. My sister-in-law Rose made the comment that you kind of owe it to everyone else to go, too, because they want to see you also. Everyone is curious and good-natured about it. And as Jon noted, it's nice because by this age everyone has figured out who they are basically and are comfortable with themselves. There's a sense of being settled and established.

Anna and Will went on their first sleepover at Aunt Rose's house the first night of the reunion. We bought them sleeping bags to make it extra special, and they had a great time! I was just a little concerned about Will because he's only 2 1/2, but he (and Anna) had a fun time playing with their cousins. The second evening we had a sitter come to our house, which Will found to be much less agreeable, crying off and on the whole evening apparently. Builds character, right? Poor little guy! Anna told me the next time we need to go to a reunion or go to do anything, we should just call Aunt Rose and she and Will can spend the night there again - no problem.