Honoring Dads, Post #35

June 17, 2014

Honoring Dads, Post #35

As this past Sunday was Father’s Day, please forgive me for not sending a blog post honoring our Dads prior to their day. It’s hard to believe my Dad passed away from colon cancer 10 years ago this year. I pray you gave your Dad and the Dad-like men in your life encouragement like we did for Mother’s Day.

It would be an honor to tell you some of the many ways my Dad impacted my life. For so many years our relationship was strained, as my parents divorced after 37 years of marriage. The Lord helped heal our relationship. I know my Dad loved me the best way he knew how.

Here’s to you, Dad, just a few of your lessons for which I am thankful:

Thank you, Dad, for teaching me how to check the oil dipstick in my old car, so that I never messed up my engine or blew my transmission. That car I drove in high school, Awesomobile, burnt a quart of oil every 200 or so miles. I loved that car and am grateful that I had it.
Thank you, Dad, for providing for all my needs and many of my wants. We were blessed with a nice house, plenty of food to eat, plenty of clothes and shoes, and you even paid for my wonderful out-of-state college education. It was such a gift not to have to pay back college loans.
Thank you, Dad, for teaching me to appreciate the outdoors and fishing. You even taught me to cast a fishing rod and how to bait my own hooks—I wasn’t squeamish about the worms and minnows most of the time.
Thank you, Dad, for taking us to church every time the door was open. Your dedication to the Lord and His Word helped mold my faith.
Thank you, Dad, for teaching me how to budget my money and spend wisely. I remember how you paid bills promptly and taught me how to abhor debt. I still to this day try to avoid debt, except for my mortgages.
Thank you, Dad, for teaching me a strong work ethic. You worked hard at Delta Air Lines for 33 years before you retired. You liked to finish tasks you started and showed me follow through and doing what you said you would do.
Thank you, Dad, for showing me to volunteer in the community and help others behind-the-scenes. You used to mow and weedeat the end of our street where no one would mow. You also mowed around the Turkey Creek bridge in Hanahan where you would walk daily. You thought no one knew. We knew and appreciated your quiet good deeds.
Thank you, Dad, for trying to come to many of my basketball and volleyball games. Your presence was such a present.

Dad, I pray you can see from heaven I’m trying to carry on the Jordan legacy. Rest assured that I love my Heavenly Father, my Abba, with my whole soul. Thank you for loving me, Dad.

Reflect:

–What are some ways you are thankful for your earthly father? Please comment.

–How will you strengthen your relationship with him.

Renew:

–“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” –Exodus 20:12 NIV84

–“Listen to your father, who gave you life…” –Proverbs 23:22a NIV84

–“The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise son delights in him. May your father and mother be glad…” –Proverbs 23:24-25a NIV84

Recharge:

–What is something you did on Father’s Day or can do this week to honor your Dad?

–If your relationship with your father is strained, please prayerfully consider reaching out and forgiving him. I reached out years ago, and it was such a relief to our hearts.

May 20, 2014

Different Season, Different Fire, Post #31

This glorious spring weather invigorates me. Invigorates me so much so that I felt the urge to clean out my fireplace this past weekend. It’s the annual spring rite of passage. Many life lessons learned in this tradition…

I love my fireplace. I love even more the warmth and beauty of a wood-burning fire roaring and flickering in that fireplace. After a long, cold winter of cozy fires, all that is left are the ashes, ash-covered iron grate, and the sooty, tiled walls inside the fireplace.

The wonderful spring sunshine and breeze on my face whisper gently. . .winter is over. It’s a different season, time for a different fire.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…He has made everything beautiful in its time.” –Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11 NIV84

I prepare myself for the mess. Placing gloves on my hands, I gather a few plastic bags and double them. Carefully I use the metal ash scooper (you know, the one that comes in the fireplace tool set) and begin scooping the gray, dusty ashes, dumping them in my bag. Gross.

Next comes the heavy iron grate. It fits awkwardly into a plastic bag, and I walk it clumsily outside to the backyard shed, closed away until next autumn. It had done it’s job well.

Scoop by scoop all the ashes are removed from the fireplace. The blackened, sooty tiled walls and floor of the fireplace remain. With my cleaning spray and cloths, little by little the true color of the tiled walls and floor peak through. The fireplace is ready.

Years ago I bought a mirror and had it cut the dimensions of my fireplace back wall. Retrieving the mirror from the hallway closet, I clean it off, and gingerly place it in the back of the fireplace. It fit perfectly, reflecting the light pouring through the windows across the living room.

My favorite part comes next. Inside the fireplace I insert my old, multi-tiered wrought iron fireplace candle holder. I place the fresh, white pillar candles on each pedestal and commence to lighting each one. Setting the torchiere down, I get off my knees and sit back a few feet. Glorious. Breathtaking. Different season, different fire.

Oh, how I love candles, not just at springtime but all year. So romantic, so symbolic of God’s Light, of shining, of hope. The candles take my breath away when their sweet light is reflected in the mirror behind them…

Is that not what we are called to do, to shine God’s Light, to be His reflection?

“In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that Light, so that through him a men might believe. He himself was not the Light; he came only as a witness to the Light. The true Light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” –-John 1:4-9 NIV84

Are you still sitting in the ashes of the winter’s fires? It’s a different season, time for a different fire from the same Source.

May your soul be reinvigorated to reflect the Light of our Lord. Shine, my friend, Shine!

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives Light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.“ –Matthew 5:14-16 NIV84

Reflect:

–What can you learn from today’s “spring cleaning” story? Please comment.

–How do you or will you shine and reflect God’s Light?

Renew:

–“The Lord sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; He seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor.” –1 Samuel 2: 7-8a NIV84

–“Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” –1 Thessalonians 5:19 NIV84

–“Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heart, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does.” –James 1: 23-25 NIV84

Recharge:

–What will you do this week to “let your light shine?”

May 6, 2014

Thank You, Mom, Post #29

With just five days before Mother’s Day, let’s ponder our moms for a bit. What are you planning to do honor your Mom?

This Mother’s Day, let’s try something different. Let’s try to write at least 30 memories or characteristics you’re grateful for with your Mom. Then write or type them, cut them into slips of paper, and give to her for Mother’s Day in a little box. She can enjoy reading a month of encouragement over and over, one for each day. This is what I plan to do for my Mom (shhhh, please don’t tell her). This blog or a box simply cannot contain my gratitude. The following are the first 11 Mom gratitude memories:

1) Thank you for praying for me for years before I was even conceived. Since my only brother Jamie is 12 years older than me, you said you suffered miscarriages and complications as you and Dad tried for more children after Jamie. You were about to give up when you found out you were pregnant with me. Thanks be to God for His plan and His timing. Thank you for being my Mom.

2) Thank you for serving as a room mother in elementary school and chaperoning our field trips.

3) Thank you for dancing and for teaching me to dance. I always loved watching you and your brothers, your family shag dancing to beach music at my grandmother’s home growing up. I remember after Thanksgiving meals that the men would push aside the dinner table to create a large dance floor, perfect for dancing and making a “Soul Train” line. We had so much fun. Watching you dance is a joy.

4) Thank you for displaying the Fruit of the Spirit each day and showing me Jesus’ unconditional love through you. “But the fruit of the Spirit IS (that means all one fruit) love, joy, peace, patience kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” –Galatians 5:22-23 NIV84

5) Thank you for teaching me that if three or more cars are in line at a fast-food restaurant, it’s faster to go inside to order your food. I don’t eat fast food much, but I still abide by this.

6) Thank you for attending all my home and away basketball and volleyball games in high school. Sometimes you and Dad were two of a few parents.

7) Thank you for the example of your well-read, well-worn Bible that shows to me and to anyone how “Thy Word is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path.” Psalm 119:105. If we may be the only Bible someone may ever read, you radiate the Word. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” John 1:14a NIV84

8) Thank you for making me have a curfew, even though I didn’t appreciate it at the time. I so respect the healthy rules and boundaries you set for me growing up. You set them with love.

9) Thank you for teaching me the love of flowers and God’s majesty. I appreciate that you asked me growing up to “dead-head” our 100+ roses each day after school in our garden. I will always remember the wonderful fragrance of roses in every room of our home growing up–what a gift.

10) Thank you for letting me go away to college out of state to Appalachian State University. I know it was a sacrifice for our family to pay the higher tuition. I appreciate the investment and pray you know in my heart it was worth every penny.

11) Thank you for giving me the grace and freedom and wide open space to fail and succeed, knowing you would love me unconditionally. You are the best cheerleader and encourager I know.

Do you struggle with this upcoming holiday? Some have beloved Moms who are in heaven. Some struggle with their relationship with their Mom. If either is the case, my hearts hurts as yours does. I encourage you to seek out an older lady in your life who can or currently serves as a mentor to you. Please consider honoring her for Mother’s Day. Some Moms are blood-related. Others are related by the blood of Jesus.

Reflect:

–How do you plan to honor your Mom for Mother’s Day? Please comment.

Renew:

–“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” –Exodus 20:12 NIV84

–“Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopus), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, ‘Dear woman, here is your son.’ And he said to this disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from then on this disciple took her into his home.” –John 19-25-27 NLT

Recharge:

–Which mentor lady in your life will you show appreciation for?

—“All I am I owe to my Mother.” –Abraham Lincoln