My Bucket of Sand

Instant RePray

2012-01-23T10:16:00.000-08:00

Have you ever come across a prayer you wrote in the past, and you realize you could have written the very same prayer today?

Here is one I found a while back and taped up in my workspace...it is dated 07/07/80:

O Father, I make a promise to you today:

I will trust that you are in control of my life totally.

I will ask your help and direction in every matter.

I will have no part of or fellowship with doubt.

Forgive my lack of trust,

my giving ear to the accusations of Satan,

my lounging in doubts.

You are my life!

I praise your name.

Thank you that you inhabit that praise. (Psalm 22:3, KJV)

Camping Angel

2012-01-20T11:52:00.000-08:00

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them. (Psalm 34:7)

I have been “camping” on this verse quite a bit lately. One reason is that I pray often for my youngest daughter, Corrie, who is currently living and teaching in Bogota, Colombia. As a mom, of course, I would like to live closer to her, but Tom and I have no plans for such a move.

At my desk in front of me is a board on which I pin various pictures and papers and lists. Inspired by this verse written by David, I have a picture that reminds me that God’s angels are “encamping” around Corrie. This was taken on the front porch of an artist friend of mine in Montgomery, Alabama.

As you see, the angel (sculpted by my friend) is in close proximity to Corrie. She is right there with her all the time. When I get up from the desk and can no longer see the picture, that angel is still right there beside her. She is camping with her for the duration, and she is never distracted.

What a comfort this is to me as a mom.

I hope this picture can also remind you that God’s angels are encamped around you too as you go through your day today.

Jesus: The Most Focused Man

2010-11-29T14:26:00.000-08:00

Six weeks ago, my husband's dad died. His name was Thomas Reuben Jones, and he was generous, smart and witty. We miss him.

We have been with Tom's mom (two hours away in Sheffield, Alabama--our hometown) 80- to 90% of the ensuing time up until now. There was much to clear up and to get done...as there always is after a death.

I had my computer with me, of course. I worked and kept things going with DPI. But one thing I realized was that it was very hard to stay focused. This was true in my time with God too. My rhythm was off, my schedule derailed, and my thinking distracted.

Today...this Monday morning, I had some good time with God (I decided to read back through DPI's first book: Thirty Days at the Foot of the Cross. That book and the scriptures it points me to always help me focus on the center of God's message.)

And I love being back in my office, at my desk, in front of my large-screen monitor. My to-do list is getting checked off with precision. I'm riding high in the saddle of productivity.

All this made me think of Jesus, a man who never once lost his focus--not even while in torturous pain, hanging on a cross. What love, what power, what confidence in God.

In Proverbs 4:20-27, Solomon gave his son instruction about staying focused:

My son, pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.

Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;

for they are life to those who find them
and health to a man's whole body.

Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.

Put away perversity from your mouth;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.

Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.

Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.

Lord, help me to "look straight ahead," to stay focused on your words, and not to "swerve to the right or the left." Thank you for walking with me and lifting me up when I stumble. I need your help!

God's Heart for the Alien

2010-04-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

After we lost our little Shih Tzu Lydie last May, my only pets were “my” bluebirds. I eagerly anticipate their inspection of the bluebird “condo” I put up for them outside our bedroom window. I enjoy seeing the guy bring his girl to check out the digs. The male seeks to impress the female by finding a great first home and proving himself to be an able provider. I have seen the female stick her head into the entrance hole at least thirty times to carefully inspect the box and figure out if all the furniture will fit.

This year, there was a problem. A big problem…with a small bird: English sparrows, to be exact. Sometimes they take over bluebird houses, and they have been known to actually kill the bluebirds if they trap them in the house. So bluebird enthusiasts instruct you to trap and kill the sparrows (since they are not indigenous birds, it is legal to kill them). I could never do that, so I just clean out the nesting material and put duct tape over the hole, hoping they will give up and settle elsewhere.

This year I went back and forth with them, but they kept persisting. Finally I thought I had won the battle when a pair of bluebirds came house hunting and seemed to be settled on my offering.

But the next thing I knew, here was Mr. Sparrow popping into the hole carrying a load of straw. Foiled again!

I finally gave up, assuming that the bluebirds had been intimidated and decided the neighborhood was too dangerous.

I used to get up in the mornings and open my blinds to check in on the bluebirds. I still open the blinds and look out, but it doesn't give me any pleasure to see the little sparrow head poking out of the house.

I realized that I had to get a handle on this. I really resented the sparrows for messing up my joy. Those alien birds. They don’t belong here anyway. I missed my beautiful bluebirds.

Tom said, “Maybe God is just protecting the sparrows.” Which I know is true; the Bible tells me so. But I still muttered a bit.

Then I thought about God’s heart for the aliens in the Old Testament:

"Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21)

“And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.” (Deut. 10:19)

“Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:10)

God has a soft heart for the alien. And if I get right down to it, I was an alien myself before God redeemed me and brought me into his family:

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household." (Ephesians 2:19)

And in another way, I am now an alien in this world:

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." (1 Peter 2:11)

I pray that God will use that little brown English sparrow to remind me to have my Father’s heart for the alien.

The Kingdom: God's Book of Poems

2010-03-10T19:59:00.001-08:00

My husband, Tom, and I got to hear the gifted author John Ortberg speak about his newest book, The Me I Want to Be. He quoted Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Ortberg makes the point that disciples are never mass-produced; they are handcrafted by God, always in the context of who they uniquely are.

In some study Tom did after hearing Ortberg, he found that the word translated “workmanship” is poiēma, rendering the English “poem.” And in his Mind Change Online blog this week, he commented that “just as every poem is uniquely designed, so each of us is uniquely designed.”

This got me to thinking.

It is so true that all poems are very unique; they are completely original and individual, just as people are. They are the creation of an artistic mind, just as we are the creation of The artistic mind who spoke the world into being.

This thought encourages me in two ways:

First, it reminds me that I am special to God. He loves me, quirks and all. And as I yield myself to him, he is handcrafting me into the “me” he has prepared me to be.

Second, it reminds me that every person is special to God. Think about another disciple whom you find it difficult to like, maybe one who really gets on your nerves. (Even though we are “good Christian people,” we still have to deal with feelings like this—be honest—admit it!) Now think of a person you genuinely like and are eager to spend time with. Each one is God’s poiēma. Each one is special and is being handcrafted by the God of Creation to be exactly who he or she was born to be.

I know what it feels like to share poems I have written. It is like transferring your child with trembling hands to someone else’s care. There is a certain vulnerability, a fear of rejection and a flush of victory in the risk.

As God shares his poems with each of us, every day, in our interactions with others, let’s remember to listen to the heart of the poem, and not to judge its style or delivery. Let’s try to look more through the Poet’s eyes and less through our own.

Follow Me

2010-02-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)

Jesus calls us to follow him...throughout our lives...all the way to self-denial...all the way to the cross.

In Hebrews 12:2 Jesus is called the "archegos" of our faith, the one who goes before us and establishes the way for us to follow:

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author [archegos] and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Have you ever tried to follow a friend on an Interstate highway? Let's say they are driving a blue van. You have absolutely no idea where you are going, so you are totally dependent upon their guidance...upon keeping that van in view.

But have you noticed how many blue vans there are on the road? If you get distracted, look to the right or to the left, and then look back at the road ahead, you can lose contact with the lead car. Where did it go? Is it that one getting off on the ramp? Or is it the one that just passed that semi? Or maybe the one three cars up behind the U-Haul?

When we lose touch with who we are following, we become disoriented and confused. Left to our own senses and thoughts and figurings, we are lost. Totally lost.

This is why we are enjoined to "fix our eyes on Jesus."

Be at Rest My Soul

2010-02-11T07:49:00.000-08:00

Be at rest once more, O my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you.
Psalm 116:7

When troubling and challenging times come, and my soul is not at rest...when it is anxious and searching, I need to remember this pithy verse.

I need to think back to other difficult times and to remember that God saw me through. I must tell my soul: "Be at rest once more becuse your God is faithful. He has been good to you in the past, and he will be good to you now."

Good Things in Our Feeders

2010-01-29T08:46:00.000-08:00

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men,
for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things. (Psalm 107:8-9 )

As I shuffle out in bathrobe and slippers to feed the birds, they sense the winter storm on its way. As it was “rescheduled,” it is slower to arrive than originally thought. But it promises still to come.

As cardinals, titmice, chickadees and other bird-types hungrily munch the seeds, I am praying to God about my day. Whatever I am going to need, he has already put in my feeder.

Though God doesn’t wear a bathrobe or slippers, and he has never “shuffled” once in his eternal existence, he always moves ahead of me, anticipating and meeting my needs.

Thank you, God, for all the “good things” you put in my feeder every day.

To Live Is Sheila?

2010-01-20T07:53:00.000-08:00

Paul was a man with a single focus: "For me, to live is Christ..." (Philippians 1:21).

How easy it is for me to live by another focus: "For me, to live is Sheila." When I approach life with this focus, everything revolves around my comfort, my convenience, my desires, my time, my opinion, my sleep.

Much like the sea gulls in the movie Finding Nemo, my heart cries, "Mine! Mine! Mine!"

I love Paul's heart as it cries: "His! His! His!"

My heart is never more at rest than when I offer myself as a living sacrifice to the one who gave all for me...when I realize that "for me, to live is Christ."

Seen by an Unseen God

2010-01-06T07:46:00.000-08:00

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1)
"When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:6)

Jesus warns us not to do our acts of righteousness to be seen by men. Then he goes on to assure us that we will be seen by an unseen God. I love the interplay with the word “seen.”

He basically says,

“Do not give to the poor, or pray or fast to be seen by men. But just know that in your quiet obedience, your unseen Father is very aware of you; he sees your heart and your sacrifice.”

God is never interested in deeds apart from a pure heart. We cannot buy our way into his graces. But he never misses any nuance of a giving heart.

This passage always challenges me. Am I content to know that God sees and affirms me? Or do I have to make sure other people do too? Do I have to be recognized, applauded, lauded, lifted up, shouted-out, praised by others to feel a satisfaction in being obedient to God?

Or am I encouraged to know that the unseen God, who sees what I do in secret, is saying to the angels: “That’s my girl!”

Looking Through Feathers

2009-12-21T08:33:00.000-08:00

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
   will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
   my God, in whom I trust."

He will cover you with his feathers,
   and under his wings you will find refuge; (Psalm 91:1-2, 4)

I love the imagery used by the psalmist: we are hiding beneath the wings of God, finding shelter, safety and comfort.

It seems likely to me that Jesus had this psalm in mind when he spoke of his heart's desire for Jerusalem:

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed  to  gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing."

Lord, I am willing--gather me under your wings. I want to view life through feathers.

The Smile of a Child

2009-12-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

King of the Wild Frontier, scaler of the swing set, and muser with a downward gaze... In this second grade picture of me, coonskin cap and all (if you were born after 1960, don't even ask), I am so unaware of the camera. In those days we had little sense of the paparazzi's presence. We didn't pose when the camera came out; we kept on doing whatever we were doing and just slowed down a bit.

I would like to think that we cusp-of-the-boomer kids did not think we were the center of the universe...but I know it is not true. But because of a simpler, advertising-"deprived" life style, we did have a wonderful opportunity to just be children. That was pretty cool.

I once wrote a poem that included these lines:

I smiled
a quiet smile...
a thankful smile.
The smile of a child.

When I saw this MonaLisaesque smile on my rounded baby face, it make me think of these words. And made me long for the inner innocence that renders such a smile...the smile of a child.

"Unless you change and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." (Jesus)

This little me-girl speaks a message to my heart that spans a fifty-four-year bridge of time. Like a time capsule I just opened.

"When you grow up, don't let anything take away your childlike heart."

An Undivided Heart

2009-12-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

Teach me your way, O Lord,

and I will walk in your truth;

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name.

An undivided heart. A heart not going in many different directions. A heart focused on God and his will for my life...no matter what else is going on. How I want that kind of heart! Don't you?

Going into the busyness and distractions of December, I need to hear the simple truth of David's psalm.

Just to think of an undivided heart causes me to feel more peaceful. To take a deep breath. To remember to rely on God...not on myself. To seek to bring glory to God...not to myself.

The undivided heart is set free to "fear [God's] name." Not to be shivering in dread, but to affirm the power and majesty and sovereignty of the Lord God Almighty.

Just as a mother gently cups the face of her distracted child with her hands and turns it to focus on hers as she gives direction, so God says, "Look at me. I love you. I want your life to be full and fulfilled. Have an undivided heart. Do not be distracted by all that must be done. Be still and know that I am God."

O Lord, give me an undivided heart.

Don't Freeze-Frame

2009-11-17T20:58:00.000-08:00

Here is a short entry in the My Bucket of Sand book called "Don't Freeze-Frame."

******

The other day I was looking at a picture of my husband taken about five years ago in a park. My eyes were drawn to the background where I saw a child wearing blue jeans and a red shirt. He was running—frozen in the posture of pumped arms and legs.

Though he was moving quickly, though he had assumed many different poses within a few seconds’ time, in this photograph he will always be in this position—trapped—captured—no escape—freeze-framed.

Though he will change clothes many times in his life, in this photograph he will always wear blue jeans and a red shirt—trapped—captured—no escape—freeze-framed.

With each other, we can freeze-frame a hurtful action, a senseless statement, a stupid idea. Then forever in our minds, this is who that person is. He or she is characterized by the snapshot of that moment.

And yet there are so many more moments in a person’s life that define them fully. Millions of frames in the moving picture of their grace-filled, imperfect life—times of great sacrifice and love, times of noble deeds and insightful comments, times of deep faith and strong conviction.

I don’t want to be freeze-framed in anyone’s mind. And I don’t want to freeze-frame anyone else. Sometimes we don’t even know we have done it—that we have judged someone on the basis of frozen evidence.

I am so grateful that God does not freeze-frame me when I am being prideful, or when I am being selfish or jealous. Through the grace of Jesus, he lets the picture keep moving and forgives me as I go. I am never trapped or captured in my sin.

Let’s not freeze-frame each other. Let’s start the action and let people move on in our minds—let them continue to grow, mature, change…and be forgiven.

Treat Each Other As Treasure

2009-10-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

Tom and I shared with our family group on the topic "Joy on the Journey of Marriage," as a continuation of the theme I recently talked to the women in the Greater Nashville Church about. One of the main points was to treat each other as treasure.

The quality of your journey is dependent upon the quality of your marriage. The quality of your marriage is dependent upon the way you treat each other.

All of us have flaws. If we gave you time to sit down and write out the flaws of your spouse, no one would have much trouble completing this assignment...unfortunately. But the truth is that each of us also has good points and strengths. We can decide which of these we will focus on with our spouse: his or her flaws OR his or her strengths.

Everyone wants to be affirmed and appreciated. We are just born that way. Jesus very clearly told us to treat all people as we would want them to treat us. How much more should we be practicing this in our marriages?

The more you treat your spouse as a treasure, the more secure and loved and accepted he or she will feel...and the more he or she will act like the treasure that they are.

You are linked with your spouse for life in this joint journey. How much better it is to treat each other with kindness and respect. This goes a long way to make the journey more that just something to be endured...it will make it a joy!

My Bucket of Sand

2009-10-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

My new book, My Bucket of Sand, will be released around November 30. The book has 40 short chapters with each presenting a word picture, an analogy, or an insight to help us appreciate our relationship with God. It is my hope, that you, the readers, will also share what God is teaching you. You can preorder the book at http://www.dpibooks.org/

The following blog entry is the introductory chapter of the book:

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand. (Psalm 139:17–18)

The thoughts of God are vast, uncountable, infinitely far reaching. As the Psalmist says, they outnumber the grains of sand. Have you ever tried to count teeny, tiny grains of sand?

God is gracious. He shares his thoughts with us. His people. His children. The citizens of his kingdom.

He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth--
the LORD God Almighty is his name. (Amos 4:13)

Through his indwelling Spirit, the Lord God Almighty opens up to us his heart, his mind, his plans, his dreams. And he doesn’t view it as casting his pearls to the pigs. How loving of him. How trusting of him. How amazing of him.

"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"—
but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. (1 Corinthians 2:9–13)

Are we grasping this? No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit. And then…we have received the Spirit who is from God. So the Spirit, who lives inside us, reveals the thoughts of God to us. He is the only one who knows them, and he is commissioned to share them.

When I consider the thoughts of God…those uncountable grains of sand, I feel like a barefoot child walking on the beach with the shoreline stretching as far as I can see. I am carrying a small bucket with me that is full of sand. The sand is in my bucket, but it isn’t mine; it comes from the boundless store that is all around me.

Any thoughts that are true are first his thoughts. The sand in my bucket is his sand. In this book I am sharing with you some of the sand God has graciously put in my bucket.