Category: Thoughts on Life

Honor- An Anniversary Reflection

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

A few days ago my beloved husband and I celebrated a big milestone anniversary. Thinking about the days and years that brought us to this occasion has been very profitable to my own daily life. Let me explain. Here in the West we mark significant occasions with many kinds of celebration or commemoration. The hallmark of these is ‘honor.’ We participate in the solemn ceremony and vows of marriage, mourn the death of a loved one at a funeral with various memories and words. Cities and nations honor fallen heroes and great leaders with parades, speeches, statues or even naming streets, buildings, and bridges after them. As we participate in these events, we take time to give honor—respect and recognition of the worthiness of another.

When we reflect on the day of our marriage, or celebrate in ceremony the worthiness of a person who has accomplished much, or are reminded of a loved one’s passing, we think about the noble, good and right things of that marriage union, the work of the hero and the life of the deceased. This is a satisfying exercise of thought. So it is with our honoring of God. We reflect on Him and His work in the world even as we celebrate and commemorate life events.

But even more helpful, I think, is the thought of places in those relationships and lives that were less than good.  Looking back on my marriage, I am reminded of the continuing need to  “… as [one] who [has] been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentle ness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other…just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” Colossians 3: 12-13.  In the ups and downs and daily frustrations involved in living with other human beings, this is really hard. Being changed into the image of Jesus is not a painless or simple “one and done” operation. It is an on-going work of choosing to be like Him in attitude, action and words. Giving up my need to be right, or have my needs met is so contrary to my still-fallen human nature. But thanks to my Heavenly Father, the work is happening! These many years have be marked by lots of “head-butting” and exasperation but God has used those situations to deal with me and is making me more aware of my need of Him to change my heart. I praise Him and own the truth that if it had not been for His kind work in my heart, my marriage would have ended years ago. Because of His grace, I have been blessed with the joy of companionship and love afforded by the bond of matrimony for many years. For this I honor God.

So as I reflect on this anniversary, or think of a loved one’s death on the anniversary of his passing or I join in the ceremony of remembering horrific events like 9/11, I am reminded of God’s sovereign reign over all things, His love and blessing to me and others and I praise Him for the lessons He has taught me through the good and bad of these things.

Choose to honor God by acknowledging HIS might and goodness in all things

There are so many ways to be reminded to praise God for all He is and does. The birth of a baby, the delight in graduation from school, the pain of loss in the face of natural disaster or man-made misery, all call me to remember that God is on His throne. In His almighty power and wisdom, He is still in control. He loves His own and has intimate concern with every part of His good creation. He has plans for every turn of human events even when we see them as mysterious and inscrutable. He is using all my circumstances and all the events of my life to make me more like my Lord Jesus Christ.

As I celebrate my wedding anniversary, attend funeral services for my dead friend, or participate in Memorial Day Celebrations at the Veteran’s Cemetery, I am reminded of the honor due those who are the focus of the events. But even more I am reminded to honor God, the One who brings every occasion to pass. I honor Him as “The Blessed Controller of All Things” and rest in joyful peace knowing that He is “…working all things together for good to those who love God to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

Question: What life events and world troubles turn your heart to God? Have you pondered the ways God is using and has used these circumstances to draw you to a rich and eternal relationship with Himself through Jesus Christ? Will you honor and praise Him today for the good and bad of your life?

 

5 Steps to Getting Things Done Now

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

The time is now. This moment is all I have. Time has been on my mind a lot lately. I have been trying to get my family history scrapbooks caught up after years of neglect. Assembling photos and pages detailing long-past events I am struck by how much time I no longer have to spend. Then I think about what I hope and plan to do tomorrow or even this afternoon, and I realize I don’t have that time to spend, either. The only time I have is literally this moment. Right now. Only now.

My to-do lists are everywhere. I am a serious, some might say ‘compulsive,’ list maker. So many of those lists have the same projects and plans listed and often in the exact same order. One of my constant thoughts is “what is the most important item on those lists to be doing now?” Hmmm. It is so much easier to make lists instead of actually starting on the projects on the list. So, chastened by this truth, I talk to myself and say “pick one thing. It isn’t important what, but pick one things and start. Start now.”

So here I am writing. ‘Writing for my blog’ is on each list. “Good for me,” I silently congratulate myself. ‘Making art’ is on each list so I’ve made some calligraphy to go with this post. Again I pat myself on the back for seizing this moment. So the question arises, “how can I help myself stay in this mode of using the time I have now?” I’ve set up a game plan.

  1. Make a list. What do you really want to do? Be detailed, but don’t get bogged down.
  2. Prioritize the list. Think of all reasons every item should or could be done. Given where you are in life situation, what is the priority for each item? Make a fresh, prioritized list.
  3. Start now. Start with the top item. NOW. (This step requires a bit of “self-talk” – grab myself by the scruff of my mental neck and look myself squarely in my internal ‘face’ and give myself a serious command to “get going, now!”) Begin the doing the top task.
  4. Go back to the list when you find yourself milling around with a sense of “what should I do?“ Take the top item and start. NOW.
  5. Congratulate yourself when you have taken the moment in hand and gotten one of the items done. “Good for you!” Enjoy the sense of accomplishment and maturity you have gained by this process. Don’t stop now! Go back to #3. Soon you will have a list of accomplishments rather than “to-do’s.” And won’t that feel great?
Actor Hugh Laurie puts a fine point on the way to get going. Just start.

Let me encourage you to get going on your list. Do now what you have been stalling while you get “ready.” As the quote by Hugh Laurie puts it, “There is no such thing as ready. Now is as good a time as any.”

With practice, you and I can get much accomplished and who knows, we might just improve the world in which we live as an added bonus!

QUESTION: What are you doing NOW? Have you thought about the loss of letting this moment slip by un-used?

Corona Crazy Days

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

The corona virus has inflicted more than physical harm. Fear and crazy panic are washing over us as a result of corona’s spread around the world. The mandated isolation of huge numbers of people has caused even more anxiety. Fear and isolation are a dreadful combination in our thinking. Why are we in such a dither? What can we do to “keep our heads?”

Not knowing what will happen causes fear. We are not in control. We cannot know what the next moment will bring, let alone what tomorrow or next week holds for us. Our world seems upside down and out of control just now.

It isn’t. God is still God and like the old spiritual says “He’s got the whole world in His hands.” But, this season is a severe test of what we believe about some very serious matters. Life and death are staring us in the face. A huge list of “what ifs” have unfurled before us.

Considering death we ask “What if I get sick and die?” “What will happen to my family?” “What will dying be like?” “Where will I go after death?” Considering life under the restrictions, shortages and isolation, we wonder “What will I do if I run out of food?” “If I can’t go to work, how will we pay the bills?” “If one or more of us are sick, how will we know what to do?” “Will our doctor be able to help?” “Will we get turned away at the door of the emergency room?”  “What will I do to be sure my kids don’t get behind in school?” “What will I do to fill the days and hours of enforced solitude?”

Difficult questions to be sure, but I am reining in my thinking and reminding myself of some wonderful things that are true.

God made me and the whole world. He has not “lost control.” I do not fear what I cannot see because I know He knows and sees all things.

“…I am God, and there is no other’ I am God and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;…Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.”  Isaiah 46:9-11

The Almighty does not slumber or sleep. (Psalm 121:3) He knows the plans He has for us. When the prophet Jeremiah gave God’s people the horrifying news that they were about to go into captivity, he also relayed God’s kind and comforting promise.

“‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope…call upon Me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, ‘declares the LORD.”  Jeremiah 29: 10-14

God has a plan. Think of the confusion the Apostles must have felt in the days and hours leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion. They had come to believe that He was indeed the long-awaited Messiah the Father had promised Adam and Eve in the Garden. But here He was, arrested, beaten, mocked and even murdered. He, who had done not one thing wrong, was dying the ignominious death of a criminal. They must have wondered why God had let this happen. Why didn’t Jesus just speak a word and destroy the hated Roman authorities? He could have become king with the power He had. He had fed thousands from offerings of a tiny lunch, healed dreaded leprosy, caused those who had been crippled from birth to walk and run. He walked on water, calmed a storm with a simple command—“Peace, be still.” He had raised people from the dead. Why was this One who had such power allowing Himself to be crucified?

Nothing can thwart God’s plan. Nothing the world does can change or thwart that plan. The Godhead, in eternity past, determined to bring men who are dead in sin and under His just judgement for that sin to life and to make them into righteous beings for eternity. The Great, Holy, Triune God did what He planned. Jesus—God in human flesh—came to earth at the perfect time, lived and then died exactly as He planned. He was raised on the third day and He lives forever. Jesus is coming back to deal with sin and evil finally and forever. The entire flow of history from the Garden, through the Cross to this day and on to the Day of His appearing is entirely planned by Almighty God.

Not one action or circumstance in which we find ourselves is out of His awareness and control. The spread of this fearsome disease causes us alarm. It is not an easy thing to contemplate being sick and dying. Death is an enemy that entered our world when we fell into sin and rebellion. But God is using this situation to accomplish His plan. We can’t know how that will be except that we know He will use it for His glory. In the meantime, we must discipline our thinking and use what He has given to live soberly and sensibly.

How can we overcome the confusion, anxiety, fear? I would suggest several things, but first and most importantly, I remind myself and urge you to draw near to God and He will draw near to us.

How do we “draw near”? Sincere prayer, careful reading of and meditation on the Bible. His Word gives what we need in time of turmoil. Remember the words He spoke to the storm? “Peace, be still.” The Psalmist says it to us as well. “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 He has promised to hear those who call upon Him.

Question: Will you call on God today? Will you give Him your fear and trust Him to be with you and help you in this time of uncertainty?

Preparing to Travel

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

While I write this post I am in the midst of preparing to travel. Beloved Spouse and I are taking a road trip to see our Granddaughter dance “on pointe” in a grand end-of-year production of The Wizard of Oz. We will stay and help with family projects and enjoy the exuberance of the Ballet Girl’s four brothers, two dogs and 19 chickens. What a fun week it will be! Then our trip will take us to a family celebration of a great nephew’s recent marriage. The gathering of family we rarely see will no doubt be a joyful time.

Preparing for this travel has me making lists to ensure that all of what should be in our travel bags, in the camper’s kitchen, what should be prepared for Mother and the house left behind is fully thought out. This planning for the immediate future is important. What shoes will be needed for the ballet performance and the wedding party? What attire is appropriate for helping wrangle children and chickens and assist with yard and house projects for a week? What details about food in the freezer and notes reminding about yard maintenance should be made for short-term memory-challenged Mother?

Do you know where you will spend eternity?

This puts me in mind of all our lives. We should be preparing for our biggest trip of all. The destination will determine what we do to ready ourselves. So what is your eternal destination? Heaven? Hell? Those are the only two choices for every human being.

Destination: Heaven

If you intend to spend eternity in the presence of the Almighty and Holy God, you must prepare on His terms. First you must have your “ticket” and “passport.” There is only one way to Heaven. Because we are all sinners and separated from our Creator, we may only approach Him if we bow in humility and repentance before Him. He has provided a way for us to live with Him forever, but the “ticket” isn’t automatic. If you know and believe that Jesus– God enrobed in flesh– came to earth, lived as a true man, died under the wrath of the Father in place of us for our sins, was buried and is now raised to life, you may have eternal life in Heaven with Him.  This is the only valid “ticket” to the presence of God and Heaven.

Once you have your “ticket” your preparations will be an ongoing process. But don’t worry. The Spirit of God who lives in the one who embraces Jesus will be sure that soul will be clothed appropriately. You will have the robes of Christ’s righteousness and the shoes of peace. (Philippians 3:9, Ephesians 6:15)

You won’t have to worry about food or drink. Jesus declares and provides Himself as Living Water and the Bread of Life. (John 4:13-14; 6:35)

The trip may be rough. There are likely going to be some tumultuous times and difficult places on the “road.” Your route may take you past perilous ravines that threaten your faith in God. But He is watching over you and calling you onward to Heaven’s gates.  You may think you’ve taken wrong turns and are alone in a deserted place. But God is there and Jesus has promised never to leave or forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5) And just like He promised the thief on the cross in their dying hour, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”(Luke 23:43) Jesus will see you all the way to Heaven.

Destination: Hell

If, however, you decide to go to Hell, don’t worry about taking Jesus’s claims seriously. He says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6). You can just go into eternity on your own. No problem. You–your own self– is the goal, right? “I’ll do it MY way.” No need for this “Jesus is the only way” idea.

That way you don’t have to worry about a thing. No God, no light, no comfort. Just yourself for eternity. (That equals pure misery for eternity, I think.)

There isn’t much to pack since you came into the world naked and will leave it naked. (Job 1:21) “Nah,” you say. “God will let me into heaven. I’ve been pretty good. He’s a God of Love, isn’t He?” But be reminded, that there is only one Way to Heaven: Jesus. All your good works will stay right here. Utterly useless as a way to get through the “Pearly Gates.” God does not grade on the curve. He has a definite requirement for entry into heaven that is non-negotiable. Believe in Jesus, be born again and enter Heaven, or ignore God’s offer of salvation and inhabit Hell for eternity.

Maybe you’ve talked yourself into thinking about eternity later. If that is the case, my advice would be to work hard now to get great clothing and accumulate lots of “cool” possessions and spend every moment of your life relishing them. You need to be sure you have every delight and comfort you can possibly gather. Enjoy them as much as you can. One caution, though.  Be prepared to leave for Hell at any moment. God is the One who decided the day your birth and He is the one who has set the day of your death. Remember His warning to the rich man who was deciding to pull down his barns and build bigger, better ones: “But God said to Him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you’ and now who will own what you have prepared?” (Luke 12:20) Meanwhile, just drift on a river of hedonistic pleasures. Don’t worry about eternity.  It will get here soon enough. Or more likely sooner than you expect.

Prepare to travel! Know your destination! I’m praying you will be sensible and talk with God about your eternal destination. Only He can affect where you go. On your own, you are bound for Hell. If you turn to Him His grace will give you eternal life– in Heaven.

QUESTION: What preparations are you making for your eternal destiny?

 Your Ideas are Showing

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

In this age of trends, buzzwords and memes we Americans are eager to show what we believe in ways that often fail to think through what we are really saying. I recently saw a bumper sticker that read “Protect Abortion Rights-Don’t Criminalize Women.” The ideas, presuppositions, and implications in those six words are powerful. They reflect the zeitgeist of our time. I am distressed at the way we, as supposed “enlightened” and “educated” people, have succumbed to such shallow thinking, careless logic and complete moral blindness.

Let’s pull apart the thoughts in this bumper banner. The well-coifed and immaculately groomed driver of the upscale (and upsized) SUV is shouting at every driver and passerby what she believes. I daresay it is likely she has never thought through the implications of what she is saying.

The “right” to an abortion is a legal perversion of our time. When a child is conceived, sexual intercourse has taken place. With very rare exception (rape or incest) these interactions have been a CHOICE for the parties involved. Each partner has consented to an act in which human beings have engaged since the beginning of time with the full knowledge that the conception of a human child is a possible or even likely outcome.  Until very recently in human history the taking of the life of an unborn or newly born child was considered murder.  Our society has thrown off the “shackles” of admitting we live under the  Creator who has declared the taking of human life a heinous moral wrong.  (One of the 10 Commandments: Thou shalt not kill. Exodus 20:13) As a result our lowest, twisted moral selves have legally sanctioned self-indulgent and irresponsible behavior and even called the evil of murdering the weakest and most defenseless of us “good.”

The couple who CHOOSE to have sex which results in pregnancy can CHOOSE to carry the baby to term. Then, in a few days or months, if they find the baby is inconvenient or not perfect, they can CHOOSE to “terminate” it. “WAIT!” you cry. “That’s murder!” Yes. So what is the difference? What makes killing a baby who is 9 weeks from conception different from one that is 9 months and one hour from birth and one who is 9 years old? Absolutely nothing except time, nutrition and location.

from conception to natural death we are obliged to honor and preserve the life God has bestowed

We “enlightened” and “educated” people of the 21st century have taken leave of our sense. We have abandoned our God-given conscience regarding life and the moral imperative for its preservation.

Consider that bumper sticker: “Don’t Criminalize Women.” Why not? If a woman CHOOSES to murder her child, why not recognize she has committed a criminal act? She has violated what humans have known for millennia: the unborn child is a living human being. The “tissue” in a woman’s womb, from the moment egg and sperm unite, is a living being created in God’s image. That “unwanted” or “inconvenient” child did not CHOOSE to be conceived. We “already-born” “former fetuses” have the obligation to CHOOSE to care for those we conceive. Self-indulgence may run headlong into personal responsibility and “Adulting” may be hard, but there are so many resources and ways to deal with “mistakes” or “problems” that none has an excuse worthy of murder.

QUESTION: What do you believe? Are you giving thought to what is behind the clever saying you posted or “liked” on Facebook? Is it morally true?

Unlikely Beginnings

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey
The gardeni springing to life from unlikely beginnings

A few days ago I made an early morning wander through our yard and marveled at the tiny buds of lettuce and green beans bravely pushing above the brown earth. Amazing isn’t it, that plants and flowers emerge to full-blown beauty from seemingly insignificant, nearly invisible and unlikely beginnings.

Lettuce seeds are very small and completely camouflaged when they are dropped into waiting rows in the dirt. How can that wee bit of organic “crispy” yield such a huge, harvest of summer salad? And the carrot seeds- equally tiny, equally unpromising give us what Beloved Spouse, THE family gardener, calls a “tonnage crop.” We eat so many pounds of carrots all winter it is astonishing when compared to the few grams weight of seed that was planted.

And then consider the flower beds’ denizens. Iris, columbines, daisies, tulips, and hostas all withered and disappeared over the winter. The thumbs of flower beds poking into the matted brown remnants of lawn are punctuated only by gawky dead twigs of rose bushes. Shapeless mounds of rumpled brown and gray earth–tattered remains of last summer’s glory–seem unlikely to have any life, let alone beauty within. Then comes spring. Warmer days, sunshine and gentle rains bring the tiny signs of life from the barren clods. Tulip, iris and hosta nubbins poke up. Little green knobs declare that columbines and daisies are wakening to a new and glorious season. THE gardener, decked in warm jacket against the bite of early spring wind, has shoveled, hoed, raked and planted the rectangle of organic detritus into rows. Wee bits of life promised in seed-packet pictures have been deposited and now are marching in hopeful green rows. They are soldiering their way to vegetable profusion.

So it is with our lives. Often great accomplishments start in small, nearly invisible ways. Consider the small box Beloved Spouse has. It is a rough cardboard shipping container—with “garden stuff” written on one end with magic marker. It contains a big collection of seed packets: opened and unopened. Packets are dated from this year and several previous years’ plantings. The opened ones have made their way to the garden rows and the unopened ones linger in the box with “I’m not sure why I bought this variety” or “This is a great kind of cucumber- I don’t want to forget which kind I used.” Each packet contains hundreds of un-used possibilities. Similarly, our lives have many seeds of creative projects that we overlook, discard or deem unworthy of our time and effort.

I’m pondering several things as possible “new crops.” Calligraphy projects to letter, books to write, and quilts to make. The ideas are tiny and seem pretty un-promising just now. If I plant them into the days I have been given, water and tend the little seeds of inspiration, who knows what kind of yield I may see.

QUESTION: What project or plan is lying in your subconscious waiting to be planted?

Why Weddings? Why Marriage?

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Weddings are so romantic! From the small and simple to the grand and elaborate, everyone seems to think the ceremony and celebrations are the focus. Very few give serious thought to the vows and relationship the two parties are entering as they “get married.” Marriage in the 21st Century is in a really strange place. As Valentine’s Day came and went this year I couldn’t help noticing how it always brings out the “aw, isn’t that romantic?!” soft news stories on local TV channels. There are stories of unusual proposals and folks finding the lost love of their lives after years of being separated by choices and circumstances all designed to elicit warm fuzzy emotions from viewers. But an interesting turn in our local reporting the other day got me stirred up to think about marriage in America. The news anchors shared the interesting and, to me, rather alarming statistics about it. Back in the 1960’s nearly 75% of Americans were married and most married in their early 20’s. By contrast, today only about 50% of Americans are married and most are now waiting until their late 20’s or early 30’s to tie the knot. Reasons for not being married include “not finding the right person” (60%), “waiting to be financially stable” (40%), and 20-30% are “not ready to settle down.”

Committing to one person for the rest of one’s life is a sobering and daunting undertaking and we rightly are nervous about it. But despite the expected “rough spots” married people plow into, it is true that marriage has great benefits for the participants and society at large. Stable marriages develop stable families which contribute dramatically to a stable society. Shared financial efforts and tax breaks are part of the benefit package. Statistically married people have better mental health and live longer, healthier lives. So what is it about the institution of marriage that is becoming so hard, so undesirable and so avoided or abandoned?

I would lay the blame at the foot of the Church and consequently the culture. The two are inextricably linked because “ideas have consequences.” What we believe, especially about God, directs our thinking and actions in every way and that is especially true in our ideas about marriage.

I am convinced that the Church is primarily responsible for the low view our culture has of marriage. Since about the mid-20th Century the theologians and pastors have begun succumbing to the lies about Holy Scripture. Many began to depart from the conviction that the Word of God is authoritative, particularly regarding human sexuality and the relations ships between men and women. Compromise has crept into the Church regarding what is plain in Scripture about sexual purity before marriage and fidelity within it. The efforts of churches to be “seeker-friendly” has become a placation of the lost and self-absorbed by ignoring or changing the awkward words and positions the Scripture contains. Excusing ‘fornication’, ‘adultery’, and ‘homosexuality’ became more important than being willing to obey God’s Word –even in the face of scoffing and derision from the world. As a result of this subtle drift, the cultural tide gathered momentum and now we have rushed into promiscuity, infidelity and all sorts of evil and perversion. God’s boundaries for our behavior have been discarded and flaunted and the result is misery and trouble for individuals and the society in which we live.

As we became more self-absorbed we began to dismiss the value and dignity of our fellow man. We elevated our own “choice” as the standard of right and wrong. As a consequence we justified tossing out marriage vows with the shallow excuse of “I don’t love him/her anymore.” Our selfishness has given us license to kill those we deem inconvenient. One young man I encountered years ago at a Crisis Pregnancy center said he was urging his girlfriend to abort their child because he “didn’t want her to lose her figure during swimsuit season.” He and more than 54 million of us have succumbed to lies about the children we have conceived. “It’s just a blob of tissue.” “It’s my/her body.” “I can’t support a child right now.” “I will have to give up my education/job/home.” “My parents will kill me.” Notice all the focus on “self”? Satan is a liar and deceiver. He has twisted our thinking to focus it around ourselves instead of God and His standards.

So what do all these skewed ideas about sexuality and conception have to do with marriage and our society? As we have embraced immoral sexual choices and devalued the lives of our un-born, we have lost our ability to see the need and worth of a committed, one-man, one-woman lifelong marriage. We have believed the lie that we are just an evolved form of amoeba-life rather than the special creation of God Almighty—image bearers of God Himself. We have dismissed marriage that God instituted in the Garden of Eden as a legal affair that is on par with the agreement to buy a car. We fail to regard it as a mysterious union of two people designed to bring more image bearers into being, to give mutual encouragement in the difficulties of life and to accomplish a joint life-work that would be incomplete or impossible for just one or the other to do alone.

To be sure, we live in a fallen world and there are many who find themselves married to an adulterer or an abuser. Our gracious God has given us guidelines and grace in Scripture to help in these heartbreaking troubles. But for most of us, marriage should be faithful lifelong commitment. We ought to see it through God’s lens and value the purposes for which He instituted it.

God instituted marriage for four main reasons:

For companionship

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18

For procreation

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…” Genesis 1:27-28

For service to God and man

…And God said to them, “…fill the earth and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1: 28

For a display of the relationship of Christ and His Church.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Ephesians 5: 31-32 (for context see the entire passage: Ephesians 5: 22-33)

Let us embrace the high calling of our marriages as one of the best ways to live out our love to God and man. Let us accept the challenges marriage brings as part of God’s sovereign way of “growing us up” into the likeness of Jesus.

QUESTION: What is your evaluation of marriage? Does it reflect what God says or your own (selfish) ideas, desires and “needs.”?

Every Choice Counts

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Several months ago I tried a campaign of intermittent fasting because I had a pretty sizeable number of pounds I wanted to shed. As I was thinking and preparing for that discipline, I came up with the phrase: “Every Choice Counts.” It is very possible that I didn’t come up with it, but rather someone else said it, I heard it and it came out of my mental archives without a credit.  No matter. It has worked quite well for me these past several months. I was able to shed several pounds. But along with the summer drifting and winter waffling (almost literally), I began to make little compromises and small choices. Argh! They have begun to add up to something: the return of those unwanted pounds!

All this puts me in mind of the way that small things can really trip us up. The Scriptures say in that rather neglected book Song of Solomon,

“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, while our vineyards are in blossom.” Song of Solomon 2:15.

The context isn’t about weight loss or anything so “un-romantic” but the principle that small things—“little foxes”—can spoil something lovely or good is quite true.


We all have choices to make that may seem small and inconsequential. But they do matter.  Each time I reach for that Little Debbie Nutty Buddy rather than drinking a glass of water or having a cheese stick instead of a carrot stick, I derail my eating plan just a little more. Last night I had “just a few” tortilla chips, silently excusing the little choice as “it’s probably only about 150 calories.” Those “little foxes” are what are sabotaging my weight loss plan. It was all going so well and then bit by tiny bit I am losing the hard-won ground.

So, today, I am going back to this mantra that has been so helpful.

A new calligraphy piece. I used the Blackletter style and added small glitter dots with “Stickles” gold.

But enough about dieting. What about my art work? What about the reading and writing that are part of my “work”? What about the little failures to speak a loving word or do a kind thing? Those moment by moment choices, little though they be, add up to the whole tenor of my life.

Another new calligraphy piece. I lettered in Foundational hand and used gouache (opaque watercolor paint) to letter and paint the little picture.

Every day that I pick up my pen or pencil and spend a few minutes practicing my calligraphy or writing for my blog, I am adding “little grains of sand” that will help me master and accomplish my goals for these areas of my life. Every time I make time to visit with my elderly mother, I am choosing the path of love that will define my life.  All those little choices and all those little things matter.

QUESTION: What little things are tearing up your “vineyard”? What choices will you make today that will define your life?

Your Life Matters: Lessons from Saint Patrick

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

I’m a fan of the wonderful spring holiday of St. Patrick’s Day. I’m not Irish, but having corned beef, cabbage and Irish soda bread is a great tradition.  And then there is the tradition a friend of mine and I started years ago of enjoying chocolate in the form of “Black Bottom Cupcakes” on the day.  (See the recipe at the end of this post.) I don’t remember how or why, but having the ritual of chocolate consumption is never a bad thing.  But all that aside, there is a much more serious reason I love this holiday.

St. Patrick—he’s technically not a “capital S” saint since the Roman Catholic Church has never elevated him to that status—wields an amazing influence on us today. Let me explain.

In the early 5th century, Patrick was a young teen living in Scotland northwest of present day Glasgow. He was captured and enslaved by a barbarian Celtic lord. During his six years of captivity he returned to the faith he had abandoned. After escaping, he went back to Scotland and became a cleric. When he was nearly 40, he returned to Ireland.  Palladius, the first missionary to Ireland, had gone in 451 AD. Palladius wasn’t terribly successful in his mission to the pagan Celts in Ireland. Patrick, following about 5 years later however, had strong influence and is largely responsible for establishing the Christian faith on the Emerald Isle and virtually preserving Christianity and the Bible throughout the Western world.

There are many legends surrounding Patrick, but what I think is most important is that because he was faithful in sharing the Gospel of Jesus and working to teach and nurture Christian faith among the Irish we have Bibles in our hands today.  I can hear you exclaim, “What?!” Hear me out.

Ireland became and still is the home of many medieval monasteries. There in many of them, the Scriptures were carefully copied by hand by monks laboring quietly in Scriptoriums. These isolated places were first established in the 5th century about the time Patrick was working to share the Gospel.  Hear what “Ask About Ireland”-  a website shares in explaining this to school children:

 

The first monasteries were usually built in isolated places like Glendalough in Co. Wicklow or on islands such as Skellig Michael off the coast of Co. Kerry.   Some monasteries were also built near the forts of important kings like the monastery of Clonard in Co. Meath. The monks chose these isolated places because it allowed them to pray and work without distraction.

As well as praying and fasting, some monks spent their lives making beautiful copies of the Bible. The Book of Kells, written in the ninth century, about 800 AD, is a famous example of this. It was named after a town called Kells in Co. Meath where it was once kept. This book can now be seen in Trinity College, Dublin. Another famous book which was written by monks in Ireland is the Book of Durrow.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/primary-students/subjects/history/history-the-full-story/early-christian-ireland/monasteries/

 

These manuscripts of the Bible were God’s way of preserving and extending the spread of His Word. There were no printing presses for nearly a thousand years yet and Europe was deep in what has been called the Dark Ages. While the rest of Europe was experiencing a time of illiteracy, superstition, cultural and intellectual darkness, these monks were laboriously and scrupulously copying God’s Word. Their work preserved the Scriptures which otherwise would have completely disappeared.

How amazing that the quiet life of Patrick and these unknown men faithfully following their calling have given us the unspeakable privilege of having the Bible in our hands today!

So, thinking of my life, my skills, my “calling” makes me reflect on our Faithful God who uses the most obscure and interesting ways of accomplishing His work. So I ask myself, “Have I been a faithful parent, teaching my children and grandchildren to love Jesus and His Word?  Have I used the opportunities that come because of my daily life to tell others of Jesus? Have I worked to build up and encourage others in their faith? How is God using me and my plain, obscure life to accomplish His Plan?”

Question:

What is your calling? Are you being faithful to it? Do you know that you will have an influence for generations to come if you are faithful?

And here is the promised recipe:

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Mix the following and set aside.

1 — 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened

1/3 C. sugar

1 egg

6 oz. (½ C.) chocolate chips

Make the cake batter as follows.

1 ½ C. flour

1 C. sugar

¼ C. baking cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 C. water

5 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 Tbsp. vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°. Stir dry in ingredients together. Mix liquids and combine with dry gradually. Spoon into 18 paper-lined muffin cups (Be sure to make 18!!)  Top with cream cheese mixture. Bake for 25 minutes until toothpick put into cake comes out dry.

Craving Joy

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

What is the goal of my life? What am I seeking? I think I and all other human beings universally seek joy and happiness. We want something to make our lives meaningful and delightful. Our pursuit takes us to the mall or the auto dealer, to the casino or lottery machine, to the computer porn screens and sexual encounters of every description. Others of us turn to jobs, family, travel and “experiences” as sources of validation and “happiness.” There are those who constantly change homes, remodel or build bigger, better ones in the pursuit of ultimate satisfaction. But it is quite obvious that every one of the ways we try to grasp joy is a vapor that slips through our fingers. The Preacher, speaking in the book of Ecclesiastes says:

“All that my eyes desired did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.“ Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

In this season—very late winter— I have been tempted to grouse and complain about the snow and gloom that just seem to hang on and on. Most folks here in the Inland Northwest are feeling the same. This particular winter has been a rough one. Snow. Lots of snow. Gray skies. Lots of gray skies. To be fair, there have been some lovely breaks–when the world was freshly frosted with snow making a fairyland of an ordinary neighborhood. And when the drizzle of “precipitation” has broken to a wash of glorious blue sky. But mostly, it has been a “long, dark winter.” Definitely no obvious JOY in my attitude or heart.
During this glum time, I have been pondering my faith—where is the evidence that it is real? I’ve wondered about my worship and the reality of my life “in Christ.” What does it all mean? Is it real? Am I kidding myself and just living and believing what I was raised to believe and do? Why do I not experience joy and satisfaction that Scripture says are the lot of the believer in Christ?

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full.” John 15:9-11

Don’t get me wrong. I have a deeply settled conviction that God exists. He is real and knowable. He has spoken authoritatively to the creatures of His creation. What I am fussing about is my response to all this. I know that He in His sovereign might has reached down and transformed my “dead-in-sin” heart to a “new creation” heart that will live forever. But somehow, my love to this wonderful God seems so tepid. I keep loving my own interests and daily thoughts more than Him and His Word. Where is the joy Jesus says is mine? What does it feel like? What is it?
I’ve just begun listening to an audio version of John Piper’s book, Desiring God. In it he lays out a case for being a “Christian Hedonist”—one who craves and seeks the joys and delights of God Himself.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines hedonism as:
1: the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life

That is an amazing thought that my spiritual life should be marked by the pursuit of pleasure and happiness in God as my overriding goal and passion. I want to be saying with the Psalmist

“All my springs of joy are in You.” Psalm 89: 7b

I’m eager to finish this book. I am being challenged and somehow, I think that as my gaze turns toward Jesus my questions will be answered more fully. Already, I know that my faith in Jesus is real. I know I am not kidding myself about the reality of God and His Heaven and His promises and His Word. Yes, I was raised to this, but all these have borne the scrutiny of skepticism and intellectual thought.
Now I am looking to wade into these waters of joyous hedonism. I am eager and excited to find delight in God alone. I have the sense that I am on the verge of a very amazing time in my life.

Question: What is your goal in life? Will you seek to know, love and enjoy God above all else? Will you experience the “joy of the LORD” today?