There’s No Place Like Home
I received a bag of M&M’s this week from Kathy, a faithful blog reader! As you know if you read last week’s blog, I can eat chocolate guilt-free this Lent. It isn’t on my list of things to fast from. At least that is what the Holy Spirit has told me. This Lent I am open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I am fasting from my own idea of how this Lent should unfold and feasting on the creativity and the clarity that the Holy Spirit offers. Last week I was convicted of my habit of entertaining negative thoughts and was encouraged to fast from that and instead cultivate gratitude and turn my thoughts outward in prayer for others. I’m finding this has become a habit and very easy to do. It feels so good. This week I heard a gentle, yet distinct call to come back home. It was a call from the Father. To fast from my self-sufficiency and feast on God’s desire to take care of me. We are studying Henri Nouwen’s book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, in our Spiritual Scholars book group at Firstfruits. We all could relate to the younger son who “left home for a distant country.” Why is it that we have such a hard time just believing and resting in the amazing promise of God’s provision? Of God’s unconditional love? Why isn’t that enough? Our age-old fears of rejection, abandonment, being disliked, disregarded, or ignored cause us to take matters into our own hands. Or maybe we become discontent and lose hope or lose faith that God knows what is best for us and follow our own will rather than the will of the Father. We set out from the home God longs to provide for us with Him and look in all the wrong places for the fulfillment and the love we so deeply desire. As Nouwen says, “I leave home every time I lose faith in the voice that calls me the Beloved and follow the voices that offer a great variety of ways to win the love I so much desire.” Have you left home spiritually? Sometimes we think we are home. We do all the right things, we follow all the rules, it appears we have given much to God. But really there is a big piece missing because we haven’t given Him our heart. Do we know the tender embrace of the...
“Let Go” Lent-Part 2
So how is your Lent going? If you read my blog last week you know that I have handed Lent over to the Holy Spirit and am allowing myself to be led to what it is I am to fast from and feast on. What new prayer practices, inspirational books or forwarded emails I am to focus on if at all. Often, I try to cram so much into my spiritual life that nothing sticks. I don’t want to repeat that habit this Lent. So far, it has become apparent that I am not supposed to get bogged down in three “Make This Lent Your Best” type apps that I downloaded on my phone. (You just can’t tell which one might have the magic formula so you might as well download all of them.) Two of the apps don’t let me get past the screen where they insist I didn’t enter the right password. Too much frustration, so they are out. So, I’m down to one and that feels just right. It’s also been made clear that chocolate is fair game this Lent. I tried to fast from the left-over Valentine red, pink, and white M&Ms. I was about to throw them away but ended up eating them instead. The Holy Spirit didn’t stop me. :) What I have felt a very strong pull to fasting from is negativity. I am being called to feast instead on gratitude. So, every morning before my feet hit the floor I thank God for three things. Sometimes they are big things and sometimes not. Yesterday, it was Covid vaccines, my husband, and my warm slippers. When negative thoughts show up and I am tempted to encourage them, the Holy Spirit has shown me how to turn my thoughts outward to prayer and that has had an amazing effect on me. Every time I am tempted to think negatively about a person or situation, I stop and pray. I have chosen three people I know of who are battling cancer right now and I pray for them in those moments. It’s amazing how it defuses the negativity and redirects your mind. And who knows, maybe heals some cancer. These are the creative ways the Holy Spirit has guided my Lent so far. How about you? Joan...
A “Let Go” Lent
I can get overwhelmed in Lent trying to figure out what to do and not do to make it as meaningful as possible. We had Well Time on Zoom Wednesday morning at Firstfruits and we were sharing what books we were reading for Lent and what we were fasting from or trying to do more of. My head was spinning because I hadn’t yet figured out just what I wanted to do for this Lent. I often find myself in that place where the things that are supposed to bring me closer to God and usher in a new-found peace and serenity, like new prayer practices or an inspirational book, end up doing just the opposite. They become a new chore or task hanging over my head that I can’t seem to find the time to attend to and then I feel guilty or discouraged. This usually happens because I try to do too many things. I’m always planning my way to God and my plans aren’t always God’s plan. My plans are hurried and laced with a sense of urgency. I don’t know what I think is going to happen, but I try to cram so much into my spiritual life that often times nothing takes hold. So, this Lent I have decided to fast from planning my way and I’m going to feast on being present in each moment to the movement of the Holy Spirit that will guide me to the prayers, the books, and the practices that will stick. I will trust that God will show me the way. This week in Truth Be Told we finished up our study of the Gospel of Luke and caught glimpses of what is to come in the study of the Book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit enters the scene. In our study of the Gospel of Luke, we walked with Jesus and learned first-hand what it means to be a disciple. Jesus modeled for us The Way. The real way to God. We saw that even the apostles, who witnessed the example of Jesus first-hand didn’t quite “get it”. Not until their eyes and hearts were opened by the power of the Holy Spirit. They needed to fast from their way and feast on the Holy Spirit. We all have that same indwelling Holy Spirit to guide us. We just have to stir it up. We have to believe it and ask for it. This...
Respond in Love
In the Gospel of Luke chapter 6, verse 12, it says, “In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent all night in prayer to God.” Often times in Scripture, we hear of Jesus going off to pray to the Father during the pivotal moments in his ministry. You sense that when he did that, something big was going to happen. When He returned, we see in the stories this week in Truth Be Told, that something big did happen. He chose His twelve apostles and then He gave a sermon that ushered in a radical, reversed, upside-down world. The kingdom of God. In this kingdom, blessed are the poor, hungry, the weeping, the hated, excluded, and insulted. Cursed are the rich, the full, those laughing, and those highly regarded. Upside-down! Then He goes on to top it all off with a command to love your enemy. This radical revelation of the kingdom demands a response and that is just what Jesus desires. He doesn’t want us to just hear, He wants us to hear and respond. We are being called to a faith that responds. And what is the response Jesus is after? Love. Love that includes our enemies, love that keeps us from judging others, love that puts others ahead of ourselves, love that extends to our neighbors-whoever they may be. Directives from Jesus after spending a night in prayer with the Father. We can’t take this lightly. How will you respond? Joan Truth Be Told Video - Session 2, Week 5 Truth Be Told Session 2, Week 5 Faith Moves Me to Action Luke 6:17-49 Sermon on the Plain Luke 8:4-21 The Sower and the Seed Luke 10:25-37 Good Samaritan...
Safe and Sound
God wants nothing more than to be in a love relationship with us. How appropriate to talk about love relationships as we turn the calendar page to February. But God doesn’t want just any relationship, He wants us to be in right relationship with Him. The perfection of God, His holiness and sanctity, require that any relationship with Him be nothing less than right. What exactly is this right relationship we are invited to? It is a relationship characterized by our total and complete love of God and others and our own holiness and sanctification. Tall order? Yes. We can’t accomplish this righteousness on our own. No amount of good choices, rule following, piety, or intellect can do it. It is only accomplished through faith in Jesus Christ. As it says in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us 'the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ' and through Baptism." (CCC1987) God doesn’t want us just following the laws. He wants our hearts too. He wants all of us, mind, body, and soul in this love relationship with Him. He longs so deeply for us when we are lost and rejoices when we come home. This week in Truth Be Told we looked at the familiar story of the Prodigal Son. I have read that story so many times, but one line really struck me this time. In verse 27, it says “The servant said to him, your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.” God rejoices when we are back in His arms safe and sound. Why would we want to be anywhere else? Joan **Lent is a time to return home from our wanderings that have taken us away from God. I hope you will consider joining us for a four-week Lenten book study of The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen. For details and to register visit Firstfruits.info/Events. Long have I waited for your coming home to me and living deeply our new life. Truth Be Told Video - Session 2, Week 4 Truth Be Told Session 2, Week 4 Right Relationship Luke 15:11-32. The Prodigal Son Luke 18:9-14 The Pharisee and the Tax Collector Luke 18:18-30 The Wealthy Ruler...
Follow Me Moment
I have always considered myself a self-aware person. For the most part I have benefitted from this trait, but I have come to realize that to be self-aware is very different than being able to take a good hard look at yourself. That is a whole different story. Facing the truth of our weaknesses and sinfulness is not easy. It’s something we don’t like to dwell on. But the path to the knowledge of how much God loves us and His almost incomprehensible mercy and forgiveness depends on our ability to see and admit our sinfulness. And to repent, to change. We can live in the muck of our sinful ways for a long time, denying they exist, downplaying their impact or rationalizing them away. We go our merry way putting more value on our selfishness than the value in turning ourselves away from sin and following the Light. We can let shame keep us from the relationship God is calling us to. That is what we saw in the story of Levi, the tax collector, this week in Truth Be Told. Living in the sin of greed and dishonesty for so long, Levi became numb to it. Jesus knew this but also knew his heart. Jesus approached him and said “Follow me” and he did. Something in Jesus made Levi ready to come clean and to enter this life-giving relationship. He saw something of true value in Jesus. He was ready to change. That change brought great blessing. The knowledge of God’s love and forgiveness transformed his life. Have you ever had a “Follow me” moment in your life? A time when it felt like something was pulling you, asking you to move out of your comfort zone and into a new place spiritually? Is it happening now? Does this pull include a good hard look at yourself? Is that what is holding you back? Nothing but love and forgiveness is waiting. Don‘t miss it. Joan Truth Be Told Video - Session 2, Week 3 Truth Be Told Session 2, Week 3 Obstacles to Relationship Bible References Luke 5:27-32 Eating with Tax Collectors Luke 7:36-50 Woman with the Alabaster Jar Luke 12:13-34 Greed and Division...
Facts on Faith
If you knew you didn’t have much more time on Earth and wanted to teach two or three life lessons to those you leave behind in order for them to be prepared for when you aren’t physically with them anymore, what would be the essential lessons? That is the situation we saw Jesus in as we studied the Gospel of Luke in Truth Be Told Bible study this week at Firstfruits. Jesus and his beloved apostles are traveling to Jerusalem. A trip that will end in His crucifixion. He knows he doesn’t have much time and there are still some really important lessons he wants to be sure the apostles learn to prepare them for life without Him. He teaches these lessons through example and increasingly more dramatic healing miracles. Like raising a young girl from the dead. Last week’s lesson was the importance of prayer to maintain and nurture the intimate relationship with God that is a gift to all disciples. This week’s lesson is on the power in the saving response of faith. In the miraculous healings Jesus performed, it was the deep faith of those involved that facilitated the healing. Faith that has God at its center when all other options are gone. Faith that is the response to the absence of hope in anything or anybody else. Often, we reject God because there are too many other things or people to trust in or put our faith in. Things like wealth, status, power, or intellect. We need to get to a place of vulnerability and humility where we can admit our need: complete need for God and God only. Many times, we have to be brought to a place of desperation before we admit that. Jesus wants that to change. I hope you will find the time to view the videos of my reflections on the Scripture readings from Truth Be Told for the next five weeks. In this week’s lesson we learn more about this faith Jesus wants not just the apostles to know about but us too. And the life-giving hope and disposition for gratitude that comes with it. Grateful for you, Joan Truth Be Told Video - Session 2, Week 2 Truth Be Told Session 2, Week 2 Faith and Gratitude Bible References Luke 8:40-56 Healing of Two Daughters Luke 17:11-19 Healing of the 10 Lepers...
Ponderings on Prayer in a Pandemic
How is your prayer life these days? Does it feel predictable, pointless, powerful, or pitiful? Have the uncertainties and challenges of this unprecedented time had an effect on your prayer? We started the second session of Truth Be Told on Monday. In this Firstfruits Bible study we are focusing on what it means to live the life of a disciple of Christ. Nurturing the gift of an intimate relationship with God that comes with discipleship requires prayer. It is essential. We see that the apostles asked Jesus to teach them to pray. We too can ask the same. Prayer comes in many shapes and forms. There is an evolution of prayer in our lives. We start out as children learning rote prayers. Soon they evolve into prayers of petition, that is prayers focused on requests. Often that is where our evolution stops. We never get to the conversational prayers or the prayer with no words. We get stuck in the rubrics and miss out on the romance. Prayer is where our intimate connection with God happens. Where we reveal ourselves to God and he reveals himself to us. It’s like the courting time in a relationship only in this relationship it not only leads to the possibility of living the rest of our lives together, it’s the invitation to live the rest of eternity together. During this time when the draw to a deeper connection to God is so powerful, I challenge you to broaden your idea of what prayer is. Don’t let old notions box you in. Joan For more ponderings on prayer, check out this video of Joan’s talk from Truth Be Told. Truth Be Told Video - Session 2, Week 1 Truth Be Told Bible References Luke 11:1-4 Instructions About Prayer Luke 11:5-13 Seek and Find Luke 18:1-8 Widow and the Judge...
View from My Chaise Lounge Chair
Last week I ended my blog suggesting that we thank God for the work and the healing He has done in us through this past year and its challenges. There was a reference to the fact that the struggles this past year were necessary to tear down the old and clear the path for the new. With our patient endurance we have been able to build new solid foundations of thinking and acting that will last. Now is time to “move in the furniture” and enjoy the fruits of our labor. So, I moved in my dream imaginary furniture, the comfy chaise lounge chair I’ve always wanted with the overstuffed pillows that looked so luxurious but so impractical. Next to the chaise is a soft rug, a table, and a lamp (operated by The Clapper). A Sherpa heated blanket lays within reach. With my furniture in place I began to take inventory. I began to make a mental list of the ways that God has been at work in my life through the challenges of the past year. The areas where there has been a transformation that feels permanent and the areas that aren’t quite there yet. Those areas in my life that I hang on to so tightly that not even a pandemic can pry them loose. Here’s what I came up with on my chaise lounge chair. Things God has transformed in me through this past year: · My capacity to live in the present. I used to always be thinking of the next week, event, appointment, or meal! Trying to stay one step ahead of life instead of living life as it was in the moment. As a wife and mom that kind of thinking comes with the territory, but it can become more of an obsession than a necessary skill. I was always moving the bar farther out instead of relaxing in the accomplishments, or the lack thereof. This past year God showed me that some things just don’t need to get done and life is still worth living. So good. · My expectations of pretty much everything and everybody The greatest lesson I learned this past year was that the true path to lasting contentment starts with having no expectations of anyone, any place, or anything. Period. Yes, we can choose to hold others accountable for inappropriate behavior, but we can’t expect anyone to act in a certain way. They will act the way...
With Outstretched Arms
The Christmas tree ornament in the picture above rates in my top three favorites, along with the plump sugar plum fairy with the dangling legs and the vintage plastic gazebo looking ornament with the metal inside that twirls from the heat of the tree lights. That was from my mom’s collection. Notice I didn’t have to pretend anymore that my favorites were the toothpick framed second grade school picture of our son or the glitter-bedazzled mini dixie cups. Those have been promptly delivered to their adult creators to deck their own halls … or not. I love this ornament because it makes me smile. The carefree joy on her face and the way she seems to be flying with outstretched arms in a wide-open space are things that I long for. Especially after the year we have just experienced, a very confining year. But not a wasted year. Yesterday I pulled out a book I hadn’t looked at in a while entitled The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie. The title of the reading for the day, December 30, was "Laying the Foundation." She states, “The groundwork has been laid. Do you not see that? Don’t you understand that all you have gone through was for a purpose? There was a reason, a good reason, for the waiting, the struggle, the pain, and finally the release. You have been prepared.” She then goes on to use the analogy of a builder and how they must tear down the old to make way for the new. What is old and decayed must be removed, replaced or reinforced. If the finished product is to be what is desired, the work must be done thoroughly from the bottom up. As the work progresses, it often appears to be an upheaval. Often, it does not seem to make sense. This long, hard time in your life has been for laying of groundwork. It was not without purpose, although at times the purpose may not have been evident or apparent. Now, the foundation has been laid. The structure is solid. Now, it is time for the finishing touches, the completion. It is time to move the furniture in and enjoy the fruits of the labor. Congratulations! You have had the patience to endure the hard parts. Now, you shall enjoy the good that has been planned. Now, you shall see the purpose. Now, it shall all come together and make sense. Enjoy! Meet God in the wide-open...