Category Archives: Tangible Truth

The Celebration Table

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Recently I had the opportunity to hear Jon Acuff speak.  I don’t know if you are familiar with him, but you need to be if not.  He works for Dave Ramsey in Nashville, speaks across the nation, has written some books, and writes regularly here and here.  He is HILARIOUS yet also speaks some solid wisdom.  He spoke on….well, lots:  creativity, work habits, learning, editing, mastering, harvesting, starting, support, and more.  One of his points resonated deeply with me, and I keep mulling the idea around in my head:  the importance of having a “Celebration Table”.

A “Celebration Table” speaks of an invitation to a select few who will come and celebrate you.

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We lean on each other, share burdens and concerns, and pray, but often when the really great thing happens, we downplay the situation, not wanting to be arrogant and prideful.  Sometimes we are just exhausted at the end of a journey and don’t want to call attention any more to a situation because we feel we have already worn everyone around us out talking about it.  However, “there is a time for everything under the sun”, and we need to embrace times of rejoicing in answered prayers, accomplishments, a finished race…..and celebrate!!  This is a fun part of life, and these moments need to be lived full when they come!

There is a reason there is such a big hoopla at the end of a race because there is accomplishment, a finish, a victory, and it gears one up to want to do it again and again.  Would times of perseverance change if we envisioned the party at the end and then literally had a “Celebration Table” when it was over?  I’m thinking about my own life, about friends walking through healing in marriage, about professional projects going on with others, personal goals, medical issues.  I SEE these people.  I’m walking with them as they are with me.  What we are doing is HARD, and a party will be in order when it is over.  

 

outdoor dining under a tree

 

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Not to poop this party so soon, but a comment Jon Acuff made to keep in mind is being careful who you invite to your “celebration table”.  They need to be the same ones you would welcome at a “challenge table”.  These are the ones who can speak freely to you and you will listen, who tell you what is wisdom and truth, and who will walk the distance with you in sun or rain.  These are the ones you celebrate when a party needs to be thrown for them while you are still walking in the dumps.

I’ve been in a long waiting season, and let me tell you…….I’m planning my “celebration table” party in my head.  I can see faces I will gather.  Some of this party will need to be a virtual experience as not all live close to me, and I’m going to have to think creatively as these people are most valued in my life and sit in prominent places in my heart.  Candles will be lit, the table decorated, the food will be good, and we will pray.  I will sigh with relief and breathe in deep the moment because it is not me that we will celebrate, but HE……the Lord…..the One who has been working all things for His glory.  Glory!  He wants us to see His GLORY!  He wants us to celebrate His GLORY!

Yes, bring on that celebration table!

outdoor dining.

Photo source

 Luke 15:9

And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’
Truth

Green Pastures

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The phrase “green pastures” is kinda special to me.  Oh, I love its reference in the Word and the visual imagery it brings. But, there has been something about the way this phrase has been repeatedly given to me that has my heart pricked.  I could go a step further and tell you that every time I look at a clock and it reads 10:23 I pray a “green pastures” dream that means something to me……..but then you would know I was weird.

Anyway…….

I remember sitting in a chair on Oct. 1, 2008 while my mother was in surgery for breast cancer.  Not knowing what to do with myself while I waited, I picked up Psalms and turned to the 23rd chapter.  What leaped off the page that day was verse 2:

“He makes me lie down in green pastures………”

He makes me…..

He MAKES me……

When my heart and mind run wild……..He MAKES me lie down.

Knowing that the phrase “green pastures” is special to me, you can imagine how my ears perked yesterday during my Bible study led by Priscilla Shirer titled He Speaks to Me…….Preparing to Hear From God.  She referenced “Green Pastures” through the story in John 6 when Jesus fed 5000 people.

“Jesus said, ‘Have the people sit down.’  There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about 5000 of them.”  John 6:10

A green pasture is where they sat, and it was there and in that position where they were fed.  Priscilla goes on to explain what our “green pastures” are…….places of rest and stillness where there is also life.  They are places of knowing His Word, His works, and His faithful history.  It is dwelling on what we know of Him and leaning on trust.  Green pastures are places to sit and remember.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures…..”

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So today as He makes me lie in my green pasture, what am I remembering?

  • I’m remembering various times of God’s provision in seasons I didn’t know where else it was going to come from.
  • I’m remembering how clear He made big decisions that John and I have had to make and the overwhelming peace that followed His clarity.
  • I’m remembering the verses I’m meditating on regarding trust.
  • I’m remembering God who created all, who parted the Red Sea for Moses, who brought down walls of Jericho, and so much more is the same God of today and tomorrow.
  • I’m remembering……..

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.   Psalm 23:1-3

Truth

 

Lesson from a dork

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I was just trying to do something nice.  As I picked up my boys from school and started home, we passed a friend of my son walking home.  It was a hard two mile walk for him to get home, and the January day was cold!  I couldn’t stand it.  We pulled over to wait for the boy to reach us and get in the car for a ride home.

The problem came when I pulled into a cleared unpaved area and then attempted to turn around to face the way I needed to go.  There was a lot of traffic due to other people also leaving the school.  I wanted to position my vehicle where I didn’t need to back up onto the street, but just face forward to move ahead.  The smooth appearance of the area I was on hid the fact that really it was all solid mud.  I instantly started sliding and sinking.  Thankfully, the four-wheel drive on my car saved the day or I would still be there.  It was a mess with mud slinging this way and that as my vehicle twisted and turned its way out of the situation.  All kinds of cars were close and watching me get out of my predicament. My sons just hung their heads.  As our car finally settled, I rolled down the window of my muddy car and called out to the boy getting now closer to us, “Hey!  Can we give you a ride?!”

Muddy Car

(Photo source – and OK…..It wasn’t THIS bad……but I don’t have my own picture of our car.  Didn’t want to snap pictures and thus revel in the moment.  Just wanted to get out of there.)

I found peace knowing I knew none of the other cars around.  We are new to the small school district this year, and I literally know only one other family….and they weren’t around for my show.  Sometimes it just feels great to be anonymous.

I forgot though that especially in a small town area, you might not know them, but they know you.  You are “the outsider”, and they have ways to figure out who you are.  The kids came home from school the next day laughing because all their friends (in two different school buildings!) were saying, “Whoa!  I saw your mom muddin’ in that field!  She was tearing it up!”.

Humiliating…….yet laughing at myself.  I crack up every time I pass my tracks off the road.

Take away from the story:  remember that you are never as anonymous as you think you are.  People are watching each other……constantly.  You may very well be testifying about the Lord and the life He offers to others without knowing.  You also never know when a “stranger” in your life may resurface or enter into your life in a new way.  What will they know of you?   What will they know of what you believe?  They may have been watching you.

May graceful moments follow you all the days of your life.  As for me, I’ll just try to keep on laughing.

Matthew 27:55

Many women were there, watching from a distance…..
Psalm 119:74

May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.
Truth

Gift of Truth

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In 2005, my dear friend (that term just doesn’t do her justice!) Kelli faced a move she and her husband had not anticipated.  They knew God was leading, so forward they marched through the transition process.  She made herself a book filled with scriptures about trusting and waiting on God who is most faithful and capable of doing more than we could ask or imagine.  She wrote these promises down on index cards and just placed them in a cheap photo sleeve book.  I saw her holding this book numerous times. It was with her everywhere she went thus anchoring her mind and supplying her with a steady digest of truth.

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Last August, I moved away from this best friend and mentor.  Through tears because our hearts were ripping, she handed me a gift……her 2005 book of trust.  I just doubled over when I unwrapped it knowing not only what it meant to her (and how she had seen the fulfillment of the promises), but also because I knew it would be a way of survival (mind, heart, spirit) for me.

I carry it everywhere I go.

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There have been times I’ve sat with it almost hyperventilating only to slow down and catch my breath again.  At other times I’ve poured over the promises with joy and worship rejoicing in God who is alive.  It is all truth, and yes, it has set me free time and time again. I love these scriptures are in her handwriting.  While we now live apart, I still have a sister’s “voice” encouraging and speaking truth over me.

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Four years ago my mother had surgery for breast cancer.  Her dear friend did something similar with little pink cards tied together with ribbon.  Each card had a verse……a promise….of God’s love and faithfulness.  I still picture the cards beside her bed on her nightstand…..close to her…..feeding her truth when most hungry.  She still holds on to the gift of those promise cards.

Need a gift idea?  Maybe even a gift to yourself?  Let me testify the gift of truth keeps giving and giving and will forever be a cherished favorite. 

(In case you would like to know the verses in the book, I’ll list them for you:  Psalm 37:4, Psalm 37:5 &7, I Thess. 5:24, Proverbs 3:5-6, Luke 1:45, Psalm 22:4-5, Psalm 9:10, Psalm 4:5, Job 39:11-12, II Chronicles 26: 4-5, Psalm 62:8, Psalm 27:14, Isaiah 40:11, Jeremiah 6:16, Romans 15:13, John 14:1, Isaiah 26:4, Isaiah 12:2, Psalm 143:8, Psalm 91:2, Psalm 56:3, Proverbs 15:22, Daniel 10:19, Psalm 115:1, Psalm 31:14, Joshua 23:14, I Peter 1:13, Ephesians 2:10, II Timothy 2:21, I Corinthians 1:8-9, Deut. 31:8, Jeremiah 29:10-11, I Peter 5:10, John 1:16, Joshua 1:9, Isaiah 30:20-21.  Whew!  That is a lot of promises, and just think!  There are more where those came from!)

Joshua 21:45

Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
Truth

A Tale of Two Cake Mixes

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I sat slumped in my chair as my then five year old son excitedly posed his question to me:

“Can we bake a cake and throw an ‘I LOVE JESUS’ party?”

I sighed.  I was hurting inside.  Throwing a party was the last thing I wanted to do.  I really wanted him to run off and play somewhere and just let me be.  But as he stood in front of me with his eyes bright with hope, I remembered I actually had a box of cake mix in the pantry.  I never kept that kind of stuff on hand.  I even had a can of frosting to go with the mix.  Double crazy!  As I sat dazed wondering why in the world I actually had the ingredients on hand, I realized I had no reason to say no.  Ingredients aside, how could I even say no to my beaming child wanting to throw Jesus a party?!  With a simple nod and quiet “Yes”, I moved off my chair and made my way to the kitchen to begin a party. 

Our tight knit neighborhood street housed 22-26 kids at the time, and we were a middle house with a circle drive and basketball goal.  It was easy to have an impromptu party.  All you had to do was stand at the front door , declare that it was party time, and a crowd instantly gathered. We told the neighborhood kids a cake was in the oven, and the party would be because “WE LOVE JESUS!”.   Some made signs and banners.  At the party before the cake was cut and served, each child told why they loved Jesus.  Out of mouths of babes flowed one praise after another.  I stood soaking in their young responses still amazed at the party before me. 

I had no idea I would be throwing a party when I woke that day.  It just happened and on a day when that was the furthest from my mind and heart.  I think back to the party believing while we were declaring it was all for Jesus, it was actually Jesus giving celebration and purpose to me…. pulling me off that chair and teaching and guiding me in how to bless His name “when I was found in that desert place.”   Having a cake mix in the pantry that day had not just been a coincidence. 

“Blessed be Your name, when I’m found in the desert place, though I walk through the wilderness, Blessed be Your name……” (words and music of Matt and Beth Redman)

Years later…….in a different stage of life…….in a completely different town and home, I once again opened my pantry to find a box of cake mix waiting to be used.  This time I was the one stirring up the party.  It was a season of feeling life being returned to my dry bones, and joy just could not be contained.  I deemed it “Celebration Cake” for this wasn’t just any ol’ cake.  There was reason behind this cake:  the Lord was so good!   John, our sons, and I ate and laughed and relished in pure joy.  Celebration indeed!

“Blessed be Your name, in the land that is plentiful, where Your streams of abundance flow, Blessed be Your name”. 

Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise…….When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say…….

“Blessed be the name of the Lord.  Blessed be Your name!  Blessed be the name of the Lord.  Blessed be Your glorious name!” 

I smile thinking back to those two occasions when a mix “just happened’ to be in the pantry.  Seasons of life come and go.  In times of joy, bake that cake and celebrate just for celebration sake!  In the other times, grab a cake mix and stick it in your pantry.  You never know when you might need to throw an “I LOVE JESUS” party and name praises and remind yourself of His constant goodness.  It might be seeing the mix in the pantry will prepare you for truth that celebration will come.  Jesus will carry you through the waters to the other side…….and, yes, there is another side.  And when that day comes, joy will break open and will not be able to be contained.  It will be time to celebrate!

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.”  Isaiah 43:2

  “For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”  Psalm 100:5

 Truth