Author: Chrisy

Love Makes People Do…

If you grew up going to church, you have probably listened to “The Music Machine” a time or two. In my case, probably two thousand or more. I still own it on vinyl. And I bought it on CD for my kids a few years back. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is the story of two kids who wake up in “Agapeland” and meet the conductor who shows them this fabulous machine, “put something in it and a song comes out.” After trying a few things like whistles, strings, and a smile, they put in the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This morning, I have the song “Love” from that album going around in my head. I can’t find a video for you, but the lyrics to that song are:

Love, love, love makes people happy
Love, love, love makes people free
Love makes people do the things they know they ought to do
Love is doing things for you and me

Love love, love, love makes people friendly
Love love, love, love makes people kind
Love makes people do the things they know they ought to do
Love is helping those who fall behind

We need more love
It’s easy to see
We need God’s love
That’s the way it should be

Love, love, love makes people thankful
Love, love, love makes people share
Love makes people do the things they know they ought to do
Love is showing others that you care

We need more love
It’s easy to see
We need God’s love
That’s the way it should be

Love, love, love makes people happy
Love, love, love makes people free
Love makes people do the things they know they ought to do
Love is doing things for you and me
Love makes people do the things they know they ought to do
Love is doing things for you and me

I think the reason I am singing this song today is because I have been reading I John this week and I am pretty sure every other sentence is about love and Christ’s love and what that should look like in our lives. This love is not self-seeking, but self-sacrificing. This love is the indicator of our relationship with Christ.

In addition to reading I John this week, my friend and I finished John Ortberg’s book, The Me I Want to Be and in the last chapter he tells the story of Evelyn Brand, a woman who embodied the love of Christ in all she did for her whole life. Here is her story as told in the book:

…When she was a young woman she felt called by God to go to India. As a single woman in 1909, a calling like that required a truckload of faith and an equal amount of determination. She married a young man named Jessie and together they began a ministry to people in rural India, bringing education and medical supplies, and building roads to reduce the isolation of the poor.

Early in their ministry they went seven years without a single convert, but then a priest of a local tribal religion developed a fever and grew deathly ill. Nobody else would go near him, but Evelyn and Jessie nursed him as he was dying. He said, This God, Jesus, must be the true God because only Jessie and Evelyn will care for me in my dying.

The priest gave his children to them to care for after he died — and that became a spiritual turning point in that part of the world. People began to examine the life and teachings of Jesus, and in increasing numbers began to follow him. Evelyn and Jessie had thirteen years of productive service, then Jessie died. By this time, Evelyn was fifty years old, and everyone expected her to return to her home in England. But she would not do it…

She was known and loved for miles around as “Granny Brand,” and she stayed another twenty years under the mission board she had served so faithfully. Her son, Paul, came over when she was seventy years old, and this is what he said about his mom: “This is how to grow old. Allow everything else to fall away until those around you see only love.”

…She had spent her life in India, including twenty years of widowhood, and at age seventy she received word from her home mission office in England that they were not going to give her another five-year term. They felt that she was simply getting too old.

But she was also stubborn.

A party was held to celebrate her time in India, and everyone there cheered her on. “Have a good trip back home,” they all said.

“I’ll tell you a little secret,” she announced. “I’m not going back home. I’m staying in India.”

Evelyn had a little shack built with some resources that she had smuggled in. Then she bought a pony to get around the mountains, and this septuagenarian would ride from village to village on horseback to tell people about Jesus. She did that for five years on her own. One day, at seventy-five years old, she fell off and broke her hip. Her son, Paul Brand, the eminent doctor, said to her, “Mom, you had a great run. God’s used you. It’s time to turn it over now. You go on back home.”

“I am not going back home,” she said…She spent another eighteen years traveling from one village to another on horseback. Falls, concussions, sicknesses, and aging could not stop her. Finally, when she hit ninety-three years old, she could not ride horseback any more. so the men in these villages–because they loved Granny Brand so much–put her on a stretcher and carried her from one village to another. She lived two more years and gave those years as a gift, carried on a stretcher, to help the poorest of the poor. She died, but she never retired. She just graduated.

This is an amazing story to me. Not just because Granny Brand loved God and loved people so much that she spent her life – in sickness and in health – telling people about Him, but the fact that her love for the people and for God had been multiplied and that translated into people loving God, her, and others so much that they were willing to carry her around on a stretcher for two years so she could continue to love people enough to tell them about Jesus.

“Love makes people do, the things they know they ought to do…”

We need God’s love to invade our souls that much. We need to show God’s love in extravagant ways. People need to see nothing but God’s love shining through us.

I want to be like Granny Brand. I want to have that kind of love for Jesus.

How about you?

Miscellaneous Musings 3

My head is all over the place today and I can’t seem to come up with a whole blog’s worth of any one idea. That means that you get a glimpse into my head today.

  1. School is out! Report cards were picked up this morning. I have been thinking for weeks about the plan that I need to come up with for my kids and what they will do every day now that they are hanging at home. I have ideas about time for cleaning, reading, Summer Bridge books, games, cooking, experiments, etc., and yet, today has come (and nearly gone) and I still have nothing down on paper (although I do have some great ideas pinned on Pinterest). What are your kids doing this summer? Anything I can incorporate into my plan – if and when I get to typing it out?
  2. Tonight is the last night of “craziness” that has been going on in our house for the last four weeks. I am so looking forward to actually being able to cook real meals for my family again beginning tomorrow evening. Got any good, healthy recipes for me to try?
  3. Sometimes all you need is good food, good conversation and a good pedicure with a good friend and life gains all kinds of perspective. There is something about sitting in a massaging chair with someone working on your feet for an hour or so that energizes your body. And then to sit over a meal, talking to a friend on a deep level about life – from fears to dreams to desires to failures – and knowing that they not only are listening to your words, but hearing your heart as well, energizes your soul. If you haven’t done something along those lines lately, take the time – make the time – to do so.
  4. I love new ideas. I love thinking about them. I love planning out their execution. I love processing the details. I love doing the research to make it happen. And I even love making it happen. But there is always a point at which I get overwhelmed at all that will have to be done to make it happen. That’s where I am at in a project right now. The hardest part is starting. So I guess I better push through those overwhelming feelings and start.
  5. And just in case you wondered: 80 minutes of intense yoga, followed by a hilly bike ride, then an 11 mile run the next day, and another bike ride the day after that really makes for angry legs – even if you did just run a marathon a month ago.

Have a wonderful day, and may your head be less all over the place than mine today!!

Here I Go Again – Not on My Own

Last night was the 2012 kick-off for the Biggest Loser competition in Greenville. If you have read my blog over the last year, you know that the Bacon Lovers (Anonymous) team that I was a part of last year won the competition. We were slightly competitive.

Well, even though I didn’t plan on it, I have decided to be part of a team again this year. There are three of us from last year’s team returning, with some new blood as well. We are calling ourselves Sizzlean. A leaner form of bacon. (Remember that product from the 80’s?)

So, if i didn’t plan on doing this, (and maybe even didn’t want to), why am I?

Because losing weight, and even maintaining weight is hard. Staying motivated to eat well is hard. And doing it on your own with no motivation, encouragement or accountability is hard. Here is what I wrote in my journal last night:

So, once again, I am teaming up with people who are like-minded and ready to go. We aren’t going to try to be super competitive like we were last year, but we are going to try to cement the changes we made last year into our lives for good. And I am hoping to finish losing what I have left to lose.

What do you need to do that you can’t do on your own and how are you going to do it?

The World on My Shoulders

As someone who struggles with depression, I often deal with what I call “heavy” days. Those days are the ones where I feel down, pensive, like the walls are closing in, like the world is literally resting on my shoulders and I can’t lift it off. Sometimes those feelings have no discernible source. It begins and I can’t tell why and it is really hard to reverse.

Other days there are what I would call internal reasons for those feelings. A bad day of eating. Missing a run. A fight with my husband. Frustration with my kids (or myself for how I dealt with the kids). A bad day at work. These things may or may not be in my control to change, but at least I can pinpoint what is going on and attempt to turn it around.

Then there are days when I feel heavy about things I can’t fix or change quickly (or even at all if it is just me). Those societal things that just crush me. Hatred. Injustice. Judgmental people. Poverty. Bigotry. Racism. Sexism. Oppression. Division. Pride. Superiority. An “I am right and you are wrong” or “God’s on my side” mentality.

And while I know that all of those things really need to be addressed somehow, the only way for me to turn any of this around and be lifted back up out of my funk, is to remember that I am loved, and that love saves me. Daily.

It saves you, too.

Saved by Love
Amy Grant

Laura loves her little family,
And she’s the kind of woman who loves them with her life.
But sometimes in the evening,
When the world rests on her shoulders
With four walls closing in,
She’ll close her eyes.

Oh

It’s not like she misses being younger,
Though she never was in Vogue magazine or on TV;
Her husband loves her dearly,
And the morning shows her clearly,
Kisses her little baby girl.
Laura, she’s the queen of the world.

Can’t imagine ever leaving now,
Now that she’s been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love.
Listen to her quiet heart singing loud.
Laura, she’s been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love.
I know that she’s been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love.
Saved by love.

There’s nothing quite like my family’s love to warm me,
And nothing short of death’s gonna ever leave me cold.
Well, still at times it’s lonely,
But through it all it only
Makes me love Jesus more,
And this is what He came here for.

I can’t imagine ever leaving now.
Now that I’ve been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love.
He’s gone and turned my crazy world back around,
And I’ve been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love.
I know that I’ve been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love

Oh, I’m never leaving now,
Now that I’ve been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love.
He’s gone and turned my crazy world back around,
And I’ve been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love.
Amy, she’s been saved by love,
Saved by love, saved by love
Saved by love.

I’m saved by love.

That’s right.
And nothing I can say,
Nothing I can do, nothing I can say.

We’re all just saved by love.
Nothing you can say, nothing you can do.
Only love can say, only love can do,
Only love can say.

Only love can say, only love can do,
Only love can say.

I’m say-yay-yaved by,
I’m saved by, by,
Nothing you can do, nothing you can say,
Only love can say

You Give Love a Bad Name

Some questions have been rolling around in my head today:

  • Has anyone come to Christ because of a church protesting military funerals?
  • Has anyone come to Christ because of an abortion center bombing or protest?
  • Has anyone come to Christ because of an anti-gay post on the internet?
  • Has anyone come to Christ because of being told to pick themselves up by their bootstraps while in the midst of poverty?

In contrast:

  • How many people have come to Christ because someone supported them in a time of grief?
  • How many people have come to Christ because someone showed them love when they felt like they didn’t deserve it?
  • How many people have come to Christ because someone befriended them when no one else would?
  • How many people have come to Christ because someone picked them up and walked them through or out of their current circumstances?

I am not trying to be political. I am not trying to be religious. I am just trying to follow Christ and His example. And I see things happening in the world according to Christianity that don’t communicate the love of Christ.

This is what the love of Christ looks like:

  • A love that eats with tax-collectors.
  • A love that forgives adulterers.
  • A love that goes to the cross to pay a debt that wasn’t His to pay.
  • A love that overcomes death so I can live.

For this reason, I apologize to those to whom people who call themselves Christian haven’t lived up to that name, and I ask that you would not judge us all by the actions of some.

The rest of us just want you to know that:

  • You are loved.
  • You are forgiven.
  • You are special.
  • You matter to God, and you matter to us.

The Gift of Friendship

Over the weekend, I got to spend lots of time with the person who has been my best friend since high school, Jenny. In Junior High, when she first moved to Taylorville (a town that I was a transplant into about 4 years prior), I remember seeing this girl in the hall wearing a Lincoln coat and making a rude comment to a friend along the lines of, “how dare she wear a Lincoln coat at Taylorville Jr. High.” (What is it about those Jr. High years that make girls such ugly people?) Little did I know then what the following summer would hold.

And little do I know now what it did hold. Neither of us remember how or when we met that summer, other than it had to have been through our mutual friend Lynette. All we remember is from that point on we were nearly inseparable and were adopted into each other’s families. Through high school, college, boyfriends, marriages, children, jobs, and the other stuff of life, we have always been there for one another. Sometimes we don’t physically talk for a while. There have been times when we haven’t seen one another for 6 months or more. But one thing never changes – the ease, comfort, camaraderie, laughter, lack of stress, heart connection and kindred spirit-ness of our friendship. We have a connection that can’t be explained. We know stuff about one another before any words have been exchanged. We can sense what is going on in the other person’s mind from three hours away. It is beautiful. And it is rare. And we don’t take it for granted.

And this weekend we noticed something else. Our boys have that same kind of connection. They are cut from the same cloth. They have a ball with one another. They are so much like us. They are so much like each other. And it is a wonderful thing (though chaotic at times).

I have many other close friendships, and I am so thankful for each and every one. Friendships are a gift from God. From my longest friend (April), to my newest friends (all you Bacon Lovers), and all the ones in between, my life is richer because of my friendships. And I am thankful that my children get to see me grow and develop good and healthy friendships with many different people, so that they, too, can learn to develop good and lasting friendships in their lives as well. This song goes out to all my friends today. Thank you for enriching my life!

Have you taken time to develop any of your friendships lately? Or thank God for the friends He had given you?

Monitor Yourself

I received this e-mail this morning:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION—PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: 

High temperatures and humidity are predicted for Saturday.  These conditions put runners at increased risk for heat-related problems.  Please remember to stay well-hydrated and monitor yourself.  You may need to slow your pace and/or take other suitable precautions to minimize the risk of heat-related problems.

On Saturday, I am running a race with 35,000 other people. The race organizers can’t personally watch each and every one of us, run along side, tell us to drink, tell us to slow down or make us be careful. The best they can do is to warn us of the danger, and have people at various points along the route offering hydration, watching for those that are struggling, and offer first aid if the need arises.

So, basically the most important words in this whole message are: monitor yourself.

Only I will know if I need to slow down. Only I will know when I need to drink more. Only I will know what is happening in my body. When it gets to the point that someone else notices there is something wrong, it is because I have not monitored myself, or I haven’t listened to my body and things have gotten out of control.

I think the same is true for so many other things in our life. Secret sin. Pride. Mental health. Physical health. Spiritual health. We are the ones who have to be always watching, always alert to what is happening inside of us. We are the ones who should be noticing the first hint that something is off kilter in any area. We shouldn’t have to wait for someone else to point out issues that need attention.

Yet, often, that is exactly what happens. For example, your temper is very short. You don’t even realize just how short until one of your kids says, “Mommy, why are you yelling at me all the time.” And then you feel bad and start to analyze what is going on that would bring you to that point. Maybe you’ve had a stressful week and you haven’t been able to get your regular exercise or devotions in. Maybe your husband has been short with you and you are responding to that. No matter what, it is something that you could have caught and stopped if you had been monitoring yourself.

I read this from The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg this week:

Impulses formed in the brain can be measured during neurosurgery. I decide that I am going to move my hand, and then that impulse travels to the hand. But in between the brain activity and the movement of the hand, there is what one researcher calls the “life-giving quarter-second.”

There is a quarter-second between when that impulse takes place in your brain and when that action takes place in your body. And that quarter-second–although it doesn’t sound like very long in the life of the mind–is huge. The apostle Paul wrote, “In your anger do not sin…and do not give the devil a foothold.” That quarter-second is the time when the Holy Spirit can take control. That is when you can give the foothold to the Holy Spirit or you can give it to sin. That one quarter-second in your mind can be an opportunity to say, “Spirit, I’ve got this impulse right now; should I act on it?”

It was a long hot day, the car had broken down once, the air conditioning wasn’t working, the kids weren’t behaving, and Nancy wasn’t being too good either. I tried enticing the kids into “the quiet game,” but they weren’t going for it. I got lost. I was frustrated. The kids spilled food. Finally, the noise level went beyond what I could bear. There was a life-giving quarter-second, but I blew right past it. I wasn’t interested. And I used language on my kids that I had never used before, that I never thought I would.

It is amazing how the desire to hurt someone you love can be so strong in your body one moment and then lead to such pain when you indulge it. But another piece of good news is that when you blow it–and you will blow it–God sends another quarter-second right behind.

And you can get right back into the flow.

We constantly have the opportunity to make choices. Choices about what we wear. Choices about what we say. Choices about how we react. And the more aware of who we are and what is going on inside of us, the more we are able to make better choices. Choices that build up. Choices that give encouragement. Choices that show love.

I will definitely be monitoring how I am doing on race day this Saturday. But even more importantly, I will be working to monitor what is going on in my heart and mind always.

How well do you do at monitoring yourself?

Dream a Little Dream

When was the last time that you intentionally took time to dream about the future?

If you are like me, dreaming about the future dropped pretty far down on the priority list once I got married and had two children. That was my dream. And it was now reality. So there wasn’t really anything else to dream about, right?

On Friday, I spent two hours walking around the 100 acres owned by the church for which I work. As Church Administrator, I was looking at what needs to be done and making a list of those things. But I was also praying and dreaming about how God might choose to use the property for His glory. I was picturing what we could do now, soon and down the road. It was amazing to have that kind of time to just dream about future possibilities.

But even as I was basking in those feelings, I was realizing that I rarely take time to dream about my future. How might God choose to use me? My family? I ask for His guidance, and would say that I am listening, but in the grand scheme of things, that time is pretty non-existent. After all, I am the mother of two kids and work full-time! I don’t have time to dream! I have to wade through the day-to-day “stuff” just so I can maybe dream for a few hours at night as I sleep. 🙂

But I am not sure that is anything more than an excuse. I take time to run or exercise nearly everyday. What is stopping me from using that time to dream? Or really what is stopping me from making time to take a couple of hours a couple of times a year to dream and pray about both the long-term and short-term for my family? Nothing. Except me. If I would put it on my calendar, I would do it. But I don’t think about it. In the craziness of life, dreaming continues to fall to the bottom of the prioritized list. And it shouldn’t. Because if we aren’t dreaming, then we probably aren’t moving toward anything. And if we aren’t moving, we’re stagnant. And I don’t want to be stuck for the rest of my life, always doing the same thing, always thinking the same way, never moving forward.

So, I’m going to try to be more intentional to dream. I’ll probably still get busy and forget, but I am going to try. And that is a start.

How about you?

Connections

The most recent chapter I read in The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg is called “Make Life-Giving Relationships a Top Priority.”  He talks about how God uses others as he is forming us and how spending time with others who love us is an integral part in bringing us to a place where we flourish. In essence, our connection to people who love us is life-giving, and when we are disconnected we are more susceptible to things like depression, anxiety, loneliness, substance abuse, addiction, and even trouble with our appetites and sleep habits.

One of the quotes that Ortberg shares is this:

Robert Putnam made a staggering comment: “As a rough rule of thumb, if you belong to no groups but you decide to join one, you cut your risk of dying over the next year in half.” It is difficult to imagine anyone not interested in cutting their risk of dying in half. That is why the new motto for small groups at the church where I serve is, “Join a group or die.”

The thing about being connected to a community of people is there are people who are paying attention to you and that brings joy and love into your life that encourages you along the way. This helps when you are struggling with the various stuff of life. This helps when you just need a smiling face to remind you that you are loved.

As I read this chapter, I was reminded of the amazing friends that the Lord has brought into my life in the last couple of years. For a long time I felt like I didn’t have that “safety net” of people who I could call at any moment if I needed something. But as I started praying and looking, I have found some amazing connections. Some were there all along and I just needed to foster them a bit more. Some were brand new – people I hadn’t ever met before or hadn’t connected with in a deeper way before. But all of them have been and continue to be special gifts from the Lord to me.

Now, that doesn’t mean that I always feel like I have a safety net. Sometimes I can (and do) distance myself or pull away which changes nothing about my friends and how they care for me, but it changes my perception. And then one or more of them steps in and yanks me back into the circle and reminds me that I need them.

In his book, Ortberg gives this “Connectedness Inventory.” While there was a time that I am quite sure I would have answered many of these questions “no,” my predominant answer now is “yes.” How about you?

If you can’t answer “yes” to most of these questions, it may be time for you to look into ways you can become more connected with people. That may be a small group at your church. It may be contacting a friend that you have always wanted to be closer to and asking them to meet for lunch a couple of times a month so you can build the relationship. It may mean joining some kind of community group. I encourage you to find those connections that bring life to you. You will be better off for it.

A Week to Remember

You thought I died, didn’t you? When I didn’t blog all week, your assumption was that I didn’t finish the marathon because I croaked before crossing the line. Well, I have good news! I didn’t die! I survived! And here is proof:

26.2 Miles!
Crystal & I after finishing the GO! St. Louis Marathon

We did it! We finished the 26.2 mile race! It was hard. Very hard. But it was good. And I spent Monday celebrating my husband’s birthday and recovering from the race and thus no blogging. But I fully intended to blog on Thursday to let you all know about how the race went.

But then this happened:

Baby Laney getting snuggles from Aunt Chrisy (or is it the other way around?)

My best friend Jenny, and her husband David, welcomed Laney Clay into the world on Tuesday, so I spent Wednesday and Thursday in Indianapolis getting all the snuggles and kisses in that time would allow. And therefore I didn’t blog on Thursday either.

So, between those two milestone events, a marathon parenting session with my son on Tuesday, shopping for work on Friday, and running a 5K and prepping a sermon on Saturday, I had a pretty crazy week. But a pretty memorable one as well.

Here’s what I will take with me about last week:

  • Deciding to do something big like a marathon is totally doable when you do the necessary training, have the support of your friends and family, and you depend on God for His strength in your moments of weakness.
  • There is nothing like: seeing your family cheer for you on the marathon route, having your friends chant “bacon” for you .2 miles from the finish, falling in the arms of your running partner after your medals have been placed around your necks and crying that you did it.
  • Even as you walk down the hall two days later in a little bit of pain, you will smile and think, “I just did a marathon!”
  • Even though it is hard, getting to the heart of your kids so that they understand right from wrong and the role of consequences in their lives is so important and worth the time.
  • There is something so peaceful about being with your best friend – even in the midst of chaos.
  • Newborn babies sleeping in your arms relieve stress 100%.
  • A picture can never take the place of seeing and holding the real thing.
  • Remember to enjoy every moment – those babies grow up too quickly!
  • Even a trip to Sams can be fun with your kids, if you make it fun.
  • Running in grass is hard. But running less than a week after doing a marathon is harder.
  • God always has my best at heart, and if I listen to Him, He will share His heart with me.

As I look back on the week and think about the enormity of the stuff that I experienced, it occurs to me that perhaps I need to be looking back on every week this way. Not because every week is full of big things, but because every week is filled with moments that will be forgotten if we aren’t trying to remember. I want to remember the big things, but I also want to remember the little things – like how it feels to hold my son on my lap as we read or watch TV. Or how it feels to sit on the couch and french braid my daughter’s hair. It’s those moments that will be harder to bring to mind as the years go by. And it’s those moments that I will miss the most. So this week, I plan to soak in the moments of everyday life with my family and see what I will take away from those.

What are you working to remember today?