Easter Everyday
The bunny wreath is off the door. The Swiffer discovered the last of the runaway jelly beans under the couch. The Easter bonnets are in the dress up bin. Oh wait, make that the stocking hats. I didn’t see any Easter bonnets in church this year. I did see a few bare legs in anklets and patent leather shoes running into church. Brr...
You Are Loved
Here we go, we’ve arrived at Holy Week. There’s a light at the end of the Lenten tunnel. Pretty soon we can stop feeling guilty that our Lenten resolve dissolved in week two. We can start doing those things we gave up and stop doing those things we started, like sacrificially turning my husband’s t-shirts right side out when he throws them in the laundry inside out. Argh...
Martha’s Fan Club
My blog last week generated a lot of comments. Well three really, but that’s a lot as far as I’m concerned. I wasn’t sure three people even read my blogs! The comments were mostly from Martha supporters, women who relate to Martha and would like to see her appreciated for her focus on doing, preparing, and serving. I agree that the world is a nicer place because of women with the gift of service and hospitality that Martha had. We should commend Martha. She is willing to use her gifts, her charisms, in service to Jesus. We are learning in the Called and Gifted Workshop at Firstfruits that we all have been given gifts or charisms. They are given to us to carry out our mission in life. That mission is to bring Christ to the world. How we are called to bring Christ to the world however is different for each of us. The mission is universal, the method is unique. And the “world” we are called to minister to could be our workplace, our school, across the nation, or across our kitchen table. God has equipped us with exactly the gifts we need to carry out our unique way of bringing Christ to the world. Those gifts are called charisms. For some it’s the gift of Administration, Service, or Teaching. Others it’s Wisdom, Hospitality, or Mercy. Still others Craftsmanship, Music, or Leadership. And no gift is better or more important than another. How many of us realize this? How many of us know what our gifts are and where God is calling us to use them? Martha is to be commended for her willingness to use her gifts for good. She just needed to be reminded of the importance of finding a balance between doing for God and being with God. Prayer and productivity in equal measure. In defense of Martha, someone pointed out to me this week that Jesus appreciated a nice table and good food too. Look at the Last Supper. This is true. There must have been a woman with the charism of hospitality behind that. Otherwise, we’d see Jesus and the apostles sitting on mismatched furniture surrounded by beer and pretzels! Here’s to the Martha’s of the world! God loves you and so do we. Joan...
The Martha Syndrome
Sunday nights I usually sit down and write the Firstfruits blogs. I was on a roll there for weeks. I couldn’t type fast enough. In fact, I had to see my chiropractor and go for a massage on my upper back and neck ,because of the strain I had put on those areas from sitting at my computer so much. Occupational hazard I guess. But for the last few weeks, I have had writer’s block. My shoulders and neck are happy about it, but I’m not. Every time I would sit down to write I had nothing. It was unsettling. So I prayed, hard. I demanded that the Holy Spirit give me a topic, an insight, a story. Nothing. Then I had a visit. Three women who are affiliated with Contemplative Outreach, an international organization whose primary mission is to spread the teachings of Fr. Thomas Keating on Centering Prayer and Contemplation. After talking to these women and hearing their personal stories of the power of silent prayer to bring us into the presence of God, I realized why I hadn’t had anything to say or to write. I had become very busy doing for God and not being with God. I fell victim to the Martha syndrome. Remember Martha and Mary? They were the sisters of Jesus’s friend, Lazarus. Martha was the doer bee. When Jesus came to visit she was all about seeing that he was taken care of and comfortable. Her priority was making sure things were in order which stressed her out and caused her to resent and judge her sister Mary because Mary’s priority was sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to him speak. Just being with Jesus was all she needed. Jesus chastised Martha for this and said “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” How easily we become Martha. We mean well because on any given day there is a lot to do even if we aren’t entertaining Jesus in our home! We can get caught up in the necessary tasks, and the not so necessary self-inflicted stress and work we put on ourselves because of our need for perfection, control, or affirmation from others. I had unconsciously become Martha and no longer was making the time to sit at Jesus’s feet and...
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
I’m a big fan of Mr. Rogers. When the kids were little, our daily routine was lunch at noon, Mr. Rogers at 12:30, then down for a nap. I remember for a while, after our youngest was in all day kindergarten and I was home alone at lunchtime, I still tuned in at 12:30 with a sandwich and a smile. There was something so calming and reassuring about the words of his opening song, the sound of the trolley, and the sight of those six cardigan sweaters in his closet, not 75 golf shirts! (See my blog from 2/1/18) I wanted to live in Mr. Rogers’s neighborhood. Things were simple and honest. He was always positive and encouraging. He made you feel good about yourself. He gave you the feeling that each day was special because you were part of it. Not to mention the trips to the crayon and the saxophone factories! And when he did address some more difficult topics, he always left you with a sense of hope regardless of the challenge. I think hope was one of the greatest gifts he gave his viewers, young and old. We have the capacity to bring hope to the lives of everyone we meet. We heard this sentiment echoed by both presenters at our first men’s event at Firstfruits last week. Dan Burnett and Tim Christian both spoke on the powerful positive effect we can have in the lives of everyone we meet. Dan outlines in his book, I Am CXO, Now What?, the six behaviors or attitudes we need to make our encounters with others positive and life giving—hope giving. He lists them as: Approachability, Positivity, Authenticity, Vulnerability, Humility, and Generosity. Sounds a lot like Jesus. Sounds a lot like Mr. Rogers. There is a quote from Mr. Rogers with a similar focus. He says in his book, The World According to Mr. Rogers, “ If you could only see how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of you that you leave at every meeting with another person.” The world needs hope. The exhausted new mom, the grieving widow, the unhappily married, the recently unemployed, and the newly diagnosed all need a neighbor. You or I might just be that source of hope for someone that God puts in our “neighborhood.” What...
A Fairy Tale
Once upon a time in Wauwatosa, a land not so far away, there lived a stay at home mom named Joan. Joan and her Prince Charming decided that it was time for her to quit her job and stay home with their three offspring. Joan’s kingdom got much smaller as did her brain some days. Adjusting to this new role was taxing and unsettling. What pray tell, is a full-time mom? There is no job description, no performance goals, no paycheck and certainly no employee of the month parking space. Joan found herself in need of help. She decided to spend her days outside in the front yard as much as possible with the little ones in hopes that another mom would happen to walk by looking for help too. Alas, many days went by like this to no avail. Then that glorious day! Joan couldn’t believe her eyes. Coming down the street was another mom with an offspring on a bike. The child looked to be the same age as one of hers. As they got closer Joan’s heart was racing! “Please let her be confused, lonely and in need of help too.” As fate would have it, or more correctly, God would have it, this mom was all those things. Her name was Sally. Joan and Sally became good buddies. Joan often would just walk over to Sally’s unannounced and knock on the back door. Sally always answered with a smile and Joan would say “What’s for lunch?” The kids would play and Joan and Sally would eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and wile away the hours visiting. It was exactly what they both needed to be ok. Truly does sound like a fairy tale in our world today. I feel guilty if I call someone without first texting them now to see if it’s an ok time to talk, let alone show up at their backdoor. If the doorbell rings or I hear a knock at the door in the middle of the day you can be sure it’s the UPS driver or the neighbor kids selling Girl Scout cookies. Gone are the days of casual visits. And I think that is very sad. Call me old-fashioned. Tell me I have my head buried in the sand. But I believe there is nothing as powerful and life-giving as a visit, in person, with a friend. In the Bible story of...
Our Real Valentine
Valentine’s Day carries with it a mixed bag of emotions for me. I remember the excitement when I was in grade school and I traded valentines with my classmates then couldn’t wait to get home and make my mom sit down with me and painstakingly look at each card and pretend to be as excited as I was. (Another merit badge for moms) And back then there weren’t handmade heart cookies, boxes of gummy trolls, or even a red sucker attached to each card. It was just a piece of paper. I remember things got a little dicey in middle school and then high school when there was a different meaning to those valentines. It was still exciting when I got a surprise card from an admirer or maybe a red dyed carnation left anonymously at my locker. But I also remember feelings of disappointment and jealousy when I didn’t receive anything. Then I got married and figured I was set. I had my forever Valentine who would never disappoint me.❣He would fill that void in my heart. I would never feel lonely, disappointed, jealous, inadequate, or sad again. (We all know where this is going, right?) That is an unrealistic expectation of any other human being. That void was created by, and can only be filled by God. God created us with this deep longing for love, for Him. He wants to be our ultimate and everlasting Valentine. I think there is something special about the fact that Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the holy season of Lent, falls on Valentine’s Day this year. Don’t let the irony of that pass you by. Take time to really ponder what that means. Ponder the sacrifice of the Father, giving us his only Son because he loves us so deeply and wants us to spend eternity with Him. Ponder the depth of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross out of love for us. So that all can be saved. That kind of love can’t be expressed in a card, a carnation or a cookie. That love is indescribable. That love is what we all are looking for. It’s waiting for us. I bought a box of those candy conversation hearts a few years back. Most of the hearts had the usual sentiments on them like Be Mine, Say Yes, Luv U. But one heart had the numbers 143 on it. (See the picture above.) I couldn’t figure...
A Lent to Remember
Lent conjures up many memories for me. I remember in grade school during Lent we brought in all our spare change and dropped it in this can labeled Pagan Babies. Each classroom had a chart on the wall to keep track of how many Pagan Babies they had “bought.” Not sure what that was all about but I felt good doing it. Lent also conjures up memories of the confessional. We were taken to confession during the school week more frequently during Lent. I can still hear the ominous swoosh of the screen when the priest slid it open. My palms are sweating just thinking about it. And those little red Stations of the Cross booklets...
It’s All Going According to Plan
I haven’t always been this deep, theological, well-spring of knowledge and wisdom. Before that I was a microbiologist. Instead of spreading the good news of God’s love and mercy, I was spreading Pseudomonas in a petrie dish. (That’s for all my fellow microbiologists out there, you know what I mean.) Sr. Jean, my high school chemistry teacher saw in me great potential in the sciences and encouraged me to pursue a degree in Medical Technology. As part of my degree I spent 12 months doing a clinical internship in a hospital. We rotated through all the departments in the hospital lab; chemistry, hematology and immunology to name a few. My favorite rotation was in the Microbiology department, because it was one of the few areas that wasn’t automated. It involved hands on investigation. It was just you and some unknown bacteria. Your job was to uncover its identity. It was all about mystery and solving the puzzle. And the thrill of discovery! As exciting as that sounds it just wasn’t my life’s calling. Sometimes I wonder if it was wasted time. Very soon after, I “merged onto the spiritual highway” in my early 30s, putting my faith and my desire to know God more personally on the front burner. I felt a restlessness. It was a desire to do more with my life in gratitude for the deep love and forgiveness I felt when I let God into my life. At the same time a church friend of mine saw a flyer for the Catherine of Siena Institute’s Called and Gifted Workshop that was coming to Milwaukee. It’s a program that helps participants through a process of discernment to discover their gifts and where God might be calling them to use those gifts. She thought I should go. My life hasn’t been the same since. Through that program I learned that we all have been given charisms, or spiritual gifts, to carry out our mission in life which is to bring Christ to the world. How we do that is unique to each one of us as is the mission field we are called to. For some it’s a classroom of students we are to bring Christ to, others an office of coworkers, and still others those tiny faces across the kitchen table. Our job is to discern what gifts God has given us and be willing to use them to bring his goodness to the...
Too Many Golf Shirts
My blog this week is late because I was waiting on the OK from my husband. Why you ask? Because it involves me making fun of him, one of my favorite pastimes. He said it was OK. He would take one for the Firstfruits team. To set the stage, I have to explain to you about the closets in our house. We live in a four bedroom house but only use one bedroom now that the kids are grown and gone so we have three empty closets. (Empty doesn’t exactly describe them. They are full of grade school art projects, high school yearbooks, homecoming dresses, trophies, and old Halloween costumes.) One of the extra closets houses our daughters’ wedding dresses and some blankets. The other two extra closets house my husbands extensive golf wardrobe. No, that’s not a typo. Two closets full of golf attire. I counted his golf shirts and needed a calculator. Seventy five in all. Hung by color and all facing the same way. In his defense, I can honestly say they were all either a free gift given in a golf outing or purchased with pro shop credit from his winnings. He’s a really good golfer. When I ask him why he doesn’t get rid of some, he says they have sentimental value. Out of desperation, I found a small section in the Golf Shirt Closet to store my out of season clothes. You know summer stuff in the winter and winter stuff in the summer. The other day my sentimental, Jack Nicklaus, called me upstairs and looked at me very serious and said...