The Two Weeks of Advent
If you looked at our 30+ year old family Advent wreath you would swear there are only two weeks to this season leading up to Christmas. Even after all these years the pink candle and the purple candle representing week three and four of Advent look like new. The first two purple candles, not so much. I’ve had to replace them a couple of times at least. Its a yearly reminder of how I lose track of what this time of year is really about. I always started out with good intentions. Lighting the candles as we all sat down for dinner each day for the first two weeks. But by week three my mind was full of other things. Which is a shame because the third week of Advent, represented by the pink candle, is all about rejoicing. It’s a time to spend in joyful anticipation! Our world could use a little more joy. When was the last time you felt true joy? Someone told me JOY stands for Jesus, Others, You. If we live our lives with our priorities in this order we will have joy. And to that I would like to add that if you take the J out of joy it’s just OY. And isn’t that the truth. Take Jesus out of the equation and our days are filled with..OY, OY, OY! Be joyful this week. It’s a choice. It starts with counting our blessings and looking for the good that surrounds us each day. If you need a reminder, light a candle. If you need a pink one, I’ve got one, good as new. Joyfully yours, Joan...
Shoes Off!
It’s a strange feeling the first time your children teach YOU something rather than the other way around. Like how to work the DVD player, how to pick the winning Fantasy Football team, or even how to behave properly. One day, unbeknownst to me, my daughter was within earshot as I was talking on the phone and when I hung up she said “That wasn’t very nice, what you said about that lady.” Ouch. I am convinced that God works through children to teach us some of the most important lessons we need to learn in life. What is even stranger is when God’s loving guidance comes through grandchildren. Two and half year old grandchildren to be exact. Our granddaughter, Harper has recently taught me a very valuable lesson. A few weeks ago when I walked into her house, she ran up to me so excited and the first thing she said was Num Num (a.k.a. Grandma), shoes off, shoes off? My first thought was wow, my daughter has her trained well. I then realized she wasn’t concerned about keeping the floors clean, she was concerned that I would leave right away. She wanted me to stay. She knew that if I took my shoes off, I was staying. Once I removed my shoes, there was a look on her face of relief and sheer delight. She twirled around, squealed, took my hand, and skipped me through the house to the playroom where she knew she had me. I was going to stay. Everything else that needed to get done would wait. Nothing was more important. And that was all that mattered at that moment. What I learned was how powerfully important the gift of our time is to others and that includes God. I can hear him whispering “shoes off, shoes off?” As the countdown to Christmas reaches the 14 day mark, work hard to give God the gift of your time this week, even if it’s just five minutes at your desk, in your kitchen, in the break room. Let him know he has you. That everything else that needs to get done can wait. Nothing is more important than your relationship with him. He is all that matters for that moment. And that you plan to stay forever by his side. How excited He must get when we do that. Shoes off! Joan...
I Dare You
I’m doing something different this Christmas season. You could argue I’m just lazy or getting more “Scroogesque” in my old age. I like to think I’m getting wiser. This year I am not just mindlessly doing everything the way it’s always been done. I realized my pre-Christmas rituals had taken on an almost superstitious quality like crazy Packer fans who have to wear the same shirt for every game or eat the same food at the pre-game tailgate. Somehow I had, over time, come to believe if we didn’t do things exactly the same every year, Christmas would be a disaster. If we didn’t get the icicle lights on the roof peaks or bake at least four different kinds of cookies, Christmas would be a disappointment. I often found myself going through the motions and doing things I didn’t enjoy in an effort to make Christmas great. This Advent I am taking the time to think about why I do some of the things I do in preparation for the holidays and getting rid of things that steal my peace and make the lead up to Christmas anything but silent nights, holy nights. I’ve already put out less decorations. The icicles lights are still in the attic. The rolling pin is gathering dust on the top shelf. I trust that the spirit of the season will prevail regardless of what I do or don’t do. I can’t make Christmas great. It couldn’t get any greater. Christmas is God’s gift to all of us. The gift of His Son. Dare to be different in the next few weeks as you prepare for Christmas this year. Slow down and simplify. Consider doing away with some of the things that keep you so busy you miss the great gift that this season is meant to be. Join us at Firstfruits December 5-8 for Dare to Be Different Week. Stop in anytime between 11-1 on those days for a break from the busyness of the season. Spend time in our Prayer Room or relax over a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and some homemade goodies. Or join us Tuesday evening from 5:30-6:30 for a soup supper and at 6:30 my Advent reflection called "The Weight of the Wait." Trust it will all get done. Seek first the Kingdom and all the rest will be added...
Uncle Lee
Thanksgiving must be right around the corner, the Christmas decorations are up in the stores. That’s a topic for another day...
The Raining Tree
I saw the weirdest thing this week. I was stopped in my car at the end of my block waiting for traffic to clear so I could pull out when a tree in the front yard of a neighbor’s house caught my eye. Leaves were falling like rain. You say, what is so weird about that? It’s fall, Joan. But this was like nothing I had ever seen before. We’ve all seen leaves slowly floating off a tree or with a gust of wind there might be a whole bunch of leaves tumbling down but this was different. There was no wind. It was a very still day. Yet all of a sudden leaves just started raining down. It was as if the Alpha leaf sent out a command, “On the count of three we’re out of here...
Me and Ruth
I once knew a woman named Ruth. She was a very close friend of my friend Deb. I’ll never forget the first time I met Ruth. We were at a party and Deb introduced me. Ruth knew I was involved in a bible study so her greeting to me isn’t as random as it may sound but still very memorable for me. She cupped my hands in hers, looked me straight in the eyes and with a big smile on her face she said: “So tell me about the God YOU know.” Just like that, like you or I would ask someone at a party, “Do you have the name of a good plumber?” Or “Who made the guac?” I have to say my reaction surprised me. I wasn’t embarrassed or uncomfortable at all. Instead, I felt this rush of excitement inside me. I couldn’t wait to answer her question. I don’t remember what I said but I do remember chatting with Ruth for a long time. Like kindred souls. At our Firstfruits event this past week at St. Alphonsus Parish I posed the same question to the women when we gathered for the welcome talk. The answers were as varied and unique as the women in the room. “The God I know is always there.” “The God I know is a good listener.” “The God I know loves me no matter what.” As I was listening, a thought popped into my head. The God I know loves when we talk about the God we know. Think about that a minute. I had a sense that God was smiling on our group of women as we shared our personal experiences of him. How powerful it is when we hear from each other who God is. It’s so different than reading about him in a book. There is so much that we can learn from the personal revelations that God gives all of us. We just need to be willing to share our stories. Ruth is no longer with us. She went home to that amazing God she knew. I think of her once in awhile and a big smile crosses my face. In honor of Ruth, will you tell me about the God YOU know?...
I Quit the Gym
I’ve ended an 18-year membership at a local health club this week. No fanfare, no pleading for me to rethink my decision, just a signature, and a thank you. I paused a moment in the parking lot as I felt a wave of melancholy pass over me. This place was a lifeline for me at times. When I needed to work off some stress, when I needed to feel physically strong because I was feeling weak in other areas, when I had indulged in way too much ice cream (see my last post). And simply needed to fit my waist into my pants. So why did I quit, you say? I’ve come to realize that the emphasis on a strong, toned, perfect body that permeates the media, and society in general, has caused us to neglect what is just as important, if not more important and that is a healthy mind and spirit. What good is a perfect, toned, strong body with a flabby, weak, unhealthy, underutilized and underdeveloped mind and spirit? Imagine if we spent as much time strengthening our relationship with God as we do our abs! Imagine if we were as aware of how many times we spoke to God in a day as we are how many steps we took? I’m not implying that I don’t see value in physical activity. I am a strong advocate of anything that keeps your body moving. Activity is vital to a healthy body. I just think it’s good to challenge ourselves to keep a balance between our efforts for physical health and our efforts for spiritual health. I found a way to combine my desire to fit in my clothes with my desire to fit God in my life. I now attend an exercise class at a local church called Firm Believers. It helps me stay balanced. How about you? How much time and effort are you putting into your spiritual health? If it existed would you join a spiritual health club? Well, it does exist, it’s Firstfruits! The Holy Spirit, your personal trainer, is waiting to guide you in your quest to strengthen and shape your soul. Just a warning, saying yes to membership in this club could change your life. Oh and one other thing, the joy, peace, and purpose you will find from your workouts here will make it impossible to quit!...
Bad Ice Cream
As Executive Director of Firstfruits, I have had to wear many hats, some that don’t exactly fit really well. For the last five months, I have been wearing the expediter, general contractor, frequent Menards and Home Depot customer hat as we built the new Firstfruits space in Elm Grove. By the grace of God, the power of the Holy Spirit and the blood, sweat, and tears of Brian Studebaker, Mary Stachowiak and a crew of dedicated volunteer remodelers that space is a reality! (I hope you will come see it soon!) With great joy and anticipation of what God has planned for this new home, (in addition to great relief) I am hanging up that hat and focusing on what I feel most comfortable doing; sharing stories of our amazing God. One way I know God is “messing “ with me is when I become restless causing me to indulge in uncharacteristic behaviors like eating a lot of ice cream, flavors I don’t even like. Key Lime at Kopp’s last week. God speaks to us each individually. It’s important that we learn His unique language. I have come to know through prayer that when God is calling me to something, the first warning light is this restlessness. I used to be annoyed by it. I would try to ignore it or deaden it (thus the ice cream) or busy myself so as not to feel it. But I know now, I need to listen to it. The restlessness is a message. In this case, the message is start writing and talking again. Share the words, the wisdom and the love that I give you. So stay tuned….more to come. I can’t keep it inside anymore. It’s Jalapeño Butterscotch next week. Save me. Joan...
Going Where Your Feet Don’t Touch The Bottom
Snorkeling in Hawaii. Sounds wonderful doesn’t it? I was on the vacation of a lifetime. Everyone else was going snorkeling, so I said: “What the heck.” Without life jackets, the group headed into the water from the beach. I was ok until my flippers didn’t touch bottom. Then, I got a little shaky. Thoughts of self-preservation overtook any thoughts of a Kodak moment in the Pacific. So I stayed back and snorkeled in the shallow water. Come on, it was still beautiful. I saw lots of brown driftwood, and an occasional yellow fish. Alright, it didn’t quite compare with the stories I heard from the group - giant sea turtles, coral the color of the rainbow, fish too beautiful to describe in words. I guess I missed out on something amazing because out of fear, I wouldn’t go where my feet didn’t touch the bottom. Hmm...
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Did you ever stop and think about the similarities between the Wizard of Oz story and Christian discipleship? Look, - an unfulfilled farm girl is looking for happiness in the glitz and glamour of the carnival. She’s on a path to disaster when her world is turned upside down (literally). She lands safely, but in a strange new world. In this new life she finds a community of people willing to help her on her walk. She finds the way is made perfectly clear to her. She finds an advocate in the good witch. Someone who helps her fight evil. Because evil does pursue her but can’t overpower her. Hmm...