STAR STRUCK

I was recently telling a friend about the time I almost got to go to a birthday party at Stevie Wonder's place. The party was for the sister of Syreeta Wright, who he was married to at the time. My aunt and her grandmother were friends. I can't remember exactly why I couldn't go, but I have always regretted it. Can you imagine the bragging rights? To be able to say, "Oh yeah, that time I was at Stevie's house...."

I admit it. I am star struck. To be able to say that you know or have met a famous person, is a very cool thing. I remember when Magic Johnson was the Grand Marshall of the Detroit's Thanksgiving Day Parade back in '88. I had a friend who had an office right on Woodward. My brother and I were watching the parade from the second story balcony when I heard someone say, "That's Magic Johnson!" I yelled, "Hey Magic!" He looked right up at me and waved!

My sister-in-law loves to tell about the time she met Bill Clinton when she was on trip to New York. My friend had his picture taken with Rick Warren. A guy I go to church with has a picture with Ravi Zacharias that I am so jealous of, because I think I have bought all of Ravi's books!

What is it about meeting or seeing a famous person that makes us feel like WE are special? We are all like that, even if we hate to admit it. We all have a story of the famous person that intersected our life at some point. I think it must be the longing that each of has to BE special. To be significant. To matter. To belong. To create. To accomplish. To be recognized. To maybe simply be noticed.

The reality is...in Jesus Christ, we are special. We were created in the image of the Creator. We are significant because Jesus graciously and gloriously redeemed us by dying for our sins, and then rising victorious. The One who is worthy of all glory and honor and adoration, sets His eyes on us and sees us. Knows us.

I don't know about you, but that excites me more than anything. In the words of Stevie Wonder, it causes me to pray, "Lord...signed, sealed and delivered....I'm Yours!"

Image taken from here.

RENEWING VOWS - PART 2

(In this pic Matthew, Tracey, Pastor Rob, Kyle, Michael)

I love weddings. It is always an honor to be invited to join the celebration as people you care about cross that portal from singleness into marriage. Being invited to share in the celebration of renewed marriage vows takes on a whole different level of special. There is something wondrous about witnessing couples who have lived the day to day of married life and say "I still choose you."

.

I have been to several vow renewals, each one a cherished memory. I remember sitting with my friend, Carole, in a salon as she was getting her hair done. She was surprising her husband. He thought he was officiating as my husband and I renewed our vows. I sat in the chair next to her as the hairdresser was styling her hair into a beautiful updo. I was transfixed as I watched her transforming from my dear friend, into a beautiful bride. I thought I had never seen her lovelier, until I saw her standing across from her adoring husband, a total expression of love and devotion radiating from her face. Breathtaking!

.

My sister-friend Tracey (that's her and her family in the photo above) can "out Martha" Martha Stewart. I have seen her fashion beautiful roses from toilet paper (during a shower game!) She always adds these incredible touches to anything she decorates. I was sitting at a ministry meeting waiting to head out to my friends' house for their vow renewal. My cell rang and it was Tracey. "Can you come. I need you right now." I don't even remember if I said goodbye as I sprang from that room to go help my friend. Remembering that moment reminded me of how much I love this friend and how often she has come to my rescue. Tracey looked stunning. Again, she was transformed from my dear friend, into this beautiful bride. Her home was perfectly decorated, all these touches of flowers in just the right places around the rooms. I recall how much she had put in to this event, wanting everything to be special and beautiful and romantic as she looked in to her husband-groom's face and said "I still do!" Kyle choked up as he said his vows and I loved him for loving my friend so much that the thought of their union evoked such emotion.

.

This summer, one of my favorite couples, Amy and Craig, will be renewing their vows. Everyone can see how they love each other, how they take care of each other. A family with two children now, they haven't lost that sparkle in their relationship. I cannot wait!

WHERE I AM

In Mark Chapter 4, Jesus is at this lake and begins to teach. The crowd grew so big, that Jesus got into a boat so that the people could sit on the shore and everyone would be able to hear. He told them stories, illustrating the mysteries and truths of God's Kingdom.
.
Now you should know that in the days preceding this, Jesus had healed people and touched lives in such a way that you could be pretty certain he wasn't your "average Joe".
.
Anyhow, at the end of the day, Jesus says to the guys on the boat with him, "Hey, pull up anchor and let's go over to the other side of the lake." So the guys on his boat, and a few other boats that were with them, set out to do that very thing.
.
On the way, a storm blows in. Not just any storm, but a "furious storm" of hurricane proportions. And the waves are crashing against the boat and filling the boat with water. I have been sailing on Lake Erie in gale force winds...well, not actually on the Lake, but in a channel off the Lake, and let me tell you....wow, that was some ride. It was pretty intense despite the shelter of the channel. Can you imagine how things must have been for the boat Jesus was in? Wind and waves and water. The crew must have been scurrying, orders being called out, water being bailed...fear and panic and chaos.
.
And where was Jesus during all this? Asleep on a leather cushion in the back of the boat. Oh man, imagine how those guys must have felt. Jesus really?! This was YOUR idea to head for the other shore, now we are all going to die and you are what? Sleeping? The words they said to him when they woke him up said it all. "Master, don't you care that we're perishing?" I can hear the accusation echoing over and over. "Don't you CARE?"
.
Jesus gets up and reprimands the sea. Did you get that? He REPRIMANDS the sea much like one might reprimand and impudent child. Jesus tells the sea to hush and settle down. AND IT DOES! The sea immediately settles down, exhausted and perfectly calm.
.
Ok, I don't know what that crew was expecting when they woke Jesus up, but it sure wasn't that. Their eyes must have been like saucers, and it is recorded that they were totally in awe but also filled with fear. I can see them, voices lowered, asking each other, "Holy cow, who IS this guy? Did this just really happen?" Oh, how about the poor guy that woke Jesus up? In my imagination, he was trying to remember if he might have shook Jesus just a little too hard. "Uh, Jesus, about that bruise I gave you when I woke you up. I'm really sorry man. Can I get you anything? A cup of coffee? Another cushion to rest on? Sorry I flung the other one overboard...I wasn't really mad I was just a bit scared there...not really myself."
.
Remember what they had all seen and experienced in the days before this one? Jesus said to them, "Why are you afraid of me now and why didn't you trust me?"
.
For the past weeks, I have been bailing water from my boat. My mom is getting worse, bills are piling up, I could lose my house, I am not where I thought I would be at this stage in my life, my options are few, even the dog is having health problems....bailing, bailing, bailing, bailing. I am being swallowed up in fear and panic and chaos.
.
And there it is. Once again, that accusation from long ago. "You are Sovereign. You have chosen this rocky path for my life. Why aren't You rescuing me? Don't You care? Don't You CARE?"
.
Jesus reminds me of the many ways He has proven Himself and His love to me. Events, people, His Spirit, His Word, His life, His death.....healing, rescue, healing, rescue...again and again.
.
"Daughter, why the fear? Why aren't you trusting me?"
.
"I don't know, Jesus. I don't know."
.
"Hush. Let there be peace."
.
And there is. And it is immediate.
.
.

WHAT IMPRESSES ME.....

1. True Leaders....because it is a mighty thing to have people want to follow you.
2. Peace Makers....it is an easier road to sow conflict. A much harder way to delicately navigate conflict with wisdom and righteousness.
3. My co-worker, Jill. She does not pontificate. She does not theorize. She just washed 14 loads of laundry for someone who did not have a washer. She has made countless blankets for the poor. She bought a suit for a child who was graduating at the top of his class but did not own a suit. She delivered several dressers to families nearby after brokering them from a storage facility for a very reasonable price. All this in the name of Jesus and within the last two weeks.
4. Artists and writers and musicians. Because they capture what beats in our hearts but often finds no adequate way of expression.
5. The Generous....who have unwrapped their fingers from self and material gain and in turn, have met the real needs of others.
6. Seekers....who do not boast of knowing all truth...but commit to the journey of discovery beyond themselves, and in their journey, teach others.
7. The Simple....who often in their simplicity, live profoundly.
8. Old People who still hold hands and old women who still blush at a compliment from their aged lovers.
9. Creation....the vastness, the diversity, the expression and the unexplainable....more than enough to ponder and wonder about for a life time and forever.
10. The Creator...who is and was and is to come.

MY EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

My daughter has been torturing me for several weeks now. She has gotten me a couple of Christmas presents that she knows I will just love. Everyone she has told has said, "Wow! Where did you find that?" She is so excited about these gifts...the perfect gifts! What she doesn't know is that she has already given me the best gift...her excitement, her search for just the right things...that is reflective of the love she has for me. It fills me with wonder and awe and gratitude!

.

This morning I called a friend to check on her dad's progress. He had been through a serious surgery with complications afterward. He almost died. She shared with me that just the other day, when she went to leave, he told her he loved her. She couldn't remember having ever heard him say that before. It was a precious gift that she received...hearing those words. And sharing in the wonder of this gift with her....well, it just left my heart full and bowed in prayer, if that makes sense. All day, as I have reflected on her story, I have felt the miraculous.

.

I know it has been said more eloquently than I can, but sometimes, the best gifts aren't found underneath a tree.

.~

Image taken from here.

THREE KERNELS OF CORN

Saturday I was out doing some yard work. I went to sweep up some old dried grass and when I did, I uncovered three kernels of corn stuck into a small crack in the sidewalk. They were so bright and golden against the contrast of the dried brown grass and the gray of the concrete. I wish I had thought to take a picture. They must have been planted there by a squirrel, storing food away for the winter. I stopped to think about how amazing that was really. And then for some reason I thought, "Trinity...Father, Son, and Spirit."

Later, I was getting some things ready so I could put my mom to bed. I was standing in front of the window and happened to catch the teenager across the street walking out of her house toward a red car in her drive. From her happy face, you could tell that she was excited to be going out with her friends. The smile on my face as I watched them pull out turned to concern. They had backed right into my friend's car which was parked in the street. The police were called, I dished out some mom hugs to the crying teen, and my friend took the officer aside to ask him if at all possible, not to give the girl a ticket. I stopped to think about how amazing that was really. And I thought, "For one who has not been shown much mercy in life, to show mercy to another...now that is a sign of a life transformed by Jesus."

On Sunday, I was watching my friends' kids. They played with this toy and that. I was just enjoying their youthful imaginations and exuberance. Then they started to play with a train set. As I watched this brother and sister, I flashed back to another picture. It was this same little boy playing with a train set. He was in an orphanage. Wearing green overalls...community overalls since none of the children owned their own clothes. He looked so small. And here he was now, in front of me with his own clothes, his own train set, and his very own family that fills his life with love. I stopped to think about how amazing that was really. And I thought, "God, You are truly good!"

I think God can be like those kernels of corn sometimes, revealing Himself to us when we aren't really looking for Him. He has His revelations squirreled away in the nooks and crannies of our lives. And in a moment, we sweep away something ordinary to find divine beauty and wonder. Like a life transformed. Or a life rescued.