January 27, 2007
More Reflections on 2006
I’m writing this from my cabin on a cruise ship. Now, before you get too jealous let me just remind you that I’m STILL on the Daniel fast! Yes, on a cruise. Actually, it hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be. Although, I have no intention of eating one more piece of fruit in any form: raw, cooked, dried, preserved, rolled up, or chocolate-covered for the whole month of February. And, I can’t wait for my first cup of coffee on Sunday morning! Yea!
This is the K-Love Friends and Family cruise. Premiere Christian Cruises puts this all together and they are the same people who will also be putting together the Music Boat cruise to Jamaica in April of this year. If that sounds interesting to you please click on the banner on my home page and find out more about the trip. I took Clancy on their Girls’ Getaway cruise two years ago and she celebrated her 13th birthday on board. So, I’ll be taking Haven on that cruise this year to celebrate her 16th birthday.
So, I got to thinking, I would really like to take Tucker on a cruise, just the two of us, before he leaves home. Since this cruise was scheduled for the same week as his 17th birthday I called up my friend at Premiere Christian cruises and asked if I could hop on board even if I wasn’t speaking on the cruise. He shocked me when he said, “Lisa, I just sent my last son off to college and I so believe in what you want to do I will give you a cabin and all you’ll need to take care of is the tax.” Oh my goodness, what a gracious and wonderful gift of time and memories with my son.
But that’s not all, my best friend in the whole wide world, AngelaThomas.com, was to be speaking on the cruise so I would also get to spend time with AngelaThomas.com, which is too rare since LisaWhelchel.com and AngelaThomas.com live in different states and both have crazy busy lives. (By the way, you really must check out her website, www.angelathomas.com to see if she is speaking near your home town. And sign up for her Mailing List while you’re there!)
Right this minute, Tucker is waiting for me to walk upstairs for dinner. That, plus the fact that I made a promise to you last week, means I will be posting a few more random journal entries from my 2006 personal Bible study journal for this week’s Coffee Talk. (The rest of the pictures this week are from the same time period my personal ramblings were written.)
“Zechariah 4: 6-7 ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts. “Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’ I got two nuggets today from this passage. 1. The issue is not “Work harder!” The issue is “Get oil!” 2. Perhaps, from the very mountain which became the plain, the capstone was mined. And every time the thing that was built from the broken pieces is viewed it reminds us of God’s grace and we can’t help but declare it.”
“Psalm 37 – I LOVE this Psalm. It corresponds with my life verse, Proverbs 3:5, 6. As the body of Christ, I think we often have specific life focuses. For some it might be the power of prayer, others, the treasures in the Word, some, spiritual warfare, others, service, etc. For me, I believe it is trust in God. Choosing to trust, to rest, to wait patiently and enjoy peace knowing that God is sovereign, powerful, able and good. Trust is similar to faith, yet distinctly different. I like what God has called me to be. When I walk in it, it makes life so much simpler. I need that.”
“Genesis 22:9 – ‘Then they came to the place of which God told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.’ So often I worry about “sacrificing” my children on the altar of ministry. I fear they will grow up and say, ‘You were always gone, traveling and speaking. You were always writing books about family or at the computer writing to moms about their kids but you weren’t there for us.’ I struggle with such guilt. Today, in this passage, I realized that Abraham basically said to his son, by his actions, that he was even willing to sacrifice his own child’s life unto God, who was his first love. God intervened, as He so often does in my life, but the message was modeled. That isn’t a completely bad thing. After all, don’t I want my kids to be willing to lay the heart of their hearts on the alter for God? Hopefully, in my most mom-guilt moments I will try to remember this aspect of the sacrifice.”
“Philippians 3:10 – ‘That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death.’ As my teenagers sleep in this morning, I am grateful for this extended time in the Secret Place. Compassion welled up in my heart for the mothers of young children who are so often wrapped up in guilt because they so rarely have a chance to draw close to God and just sit at Jesus’ feet when their children are up early and the demands of a busy home last into the evening when their head crashes onto the pillow. I called to mind those days for me. I know I was growing in the Lord, but how? Then I realized it was through actions and living out what I had and was learning. Yes, we know Jesus by sitting at His feet, leaning into Him, and learning of Him but this verse is pretty clear that we KNOW Him by sharing in His sufferings and His death. I don’t think it is a stretch to say that young moms, especially, end up laying down their lives for their families. In this way, they are definitely reflecting Jesus. I want to encourage busy, weary, young moms that knowing Jesus is ultimately even better than gaining knowledge about Jesus.”
“Psalm 101:2 – ‘I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.’ So often we can “pull it off” around other people but the ugliness is most likely to still show up at home. This verse is a great reminder to me that if I really want to “behave wisely in a perfect way” and I really want the answer to “when will You come to me?” then I need to be careful to deal with attitudes, thoughts, actions and reactions that show up when defenses and pretenses are down at home. “Dear Lord, I ask You to nudge me and shine the spotlight on the things at home that aren’t pleasing to You so I may confess them, deal with them, and enjoy the most precious gift of Your presence drawing close to me and reigning in my home.”
Oh my goodness, I can’t believe that in two “Coffee Talks” I’m still only through May 2006 of journal reflections. Well, I guess I’ll have to continue another week (or two.) By the way, I’m back from dinner and now I have to pack my bags, set them outside the door and meet Tucker for a late-night concert by “The Afters.” “Thank You, God, for the gift of this cruise, a son who still wants to hang out with his mom, a best friend I can’t get enough of, cyber friends who care enough to read my personal ramblings, the treasures you hide in Your Word just for me, the promises attached to fasting, and the hope of coffee in only two more days! I am lavishly blessed by Your generous Father’s heart.”
(And, yes, the whole AngelaThomas.com thing is an inside joke with her manager, David, but I am sincere about you clicking on the link www.angelathomas.com and joining her mailing list.)
Posted by weblion at 06:21 PM
