Lisa notes

What football fans need to learn

By LisaNotes November 20, 2013 Community, Discrimination, Encouragement 25 Comments

Cheer for your team. As loudly as you’d like.
But don’t belittle the opposing team. It’s wrong.
Give respect to your opponent, not degradation. They are people, too.

Show school pride.
But don’t be proud.
Arrogance is ugly.

Don’t think you deserve the win.
Or are entitled to a title.
Humility wins the day, regardless of the scoreboard.

Any favor you have—even hard work and talented players—is a gift of grace.
As sure as it comes, it can surely go.
It’s not yours to brag on, but yours to gracefully steward.

The game isn’t in your control as much as you think.
You’re at the mercy of others. Of time. Of luck.
You are at the mercy of God; you don’t have him at the mercy of you.

Be competitive but kind.
Ambitious but merciful.
Opponents but friends.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

This applies not only to football.
Not only to sports.
But also to churches. To families. To individuals.

Eventually your team will lose.
Your spouse will argue.
Your body will fail.

Your health isn’t yours. Your relationships aren’t yours. Your religion isn’t yours.
All belong to God.
He’s letting you represent.

It’s God’s grace that will never end.
It’s his love that endures forever.
If you must brag, brag on that.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

As football fans of deep rivalries head into competition, including Auburn and Alabama gearing up for the Iron Bowl next Saturday, may neither fan base inflame the other into anger with excessive smack talk. Let’s have fun, but keep it respectful.

It’s possible.

Ask these two groups. Last Sunday the Auburn University Gospel Choir and the University of Alabama Afro-American Gospel Ensemble joined voices again for their yearly concert. For over twenty years they’ve come together to sing—odd years in Auburn, even years in Tuscaloosa—praising God in unison.

Not only is it possible, it is divine.

(If you can’t view the video, click here)

The LORD says, “The wise should not boast of their wisdom, nor the strong of their strength, nor the rich of their wealth.

If any want to boast, they should boast that they know and understand me, because my love is constant, and I do what is just and right. These are the things that please me. I, the LORD, have spoken.”
Jeremiah 9:23-24 (GNB)

* * *

Welcoming prayer

By LisaNotes November 18, 2013 Prayer 18 Comments

doorbell-welcoming-prayer

The doorbell rings. You open the door; you welcome your guest. When the visit is over, you walk them out and close the door.

Such is life.

After several months of practicing Centering Prayer, I learned about Welcoming Prayer, consenting to the Spirit’s presence in all the things that show up at your door.

Maybe they are good things—a date night with your spouse, joy in a good meal, a bonus check at work.

Or maybe they are things that elicit negative emotions—a long line at the grocery store, trouble with a child, a bad night’s sleep.

Whatever it is, you say “Welcome” to the Spirit in the midst of it.

Does that mean you have to like the circumstance or your response to it? No. You may work the very next moment to get rid of it (make a doctor’s appointment; confront your husband; look for a new job).

It is not passivity. It is simply accepting its presence in your life in this moment.

And in this sacred space in time between you and the Spirit, you surrender.

Give up prioritizing a desire for security and comfort. For approval and esteem. For control and power.

The original Welcoming Prayer (originally conceived by Mary Mrozowski) phrases it this way:

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

I welcome everything that comes to me in this moment because I know it is for my healing.

I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions.

I let go of my desire for security.
I let go of my desire for approval.
I let go of my desire for control.

I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person, or myself.

I open to the love and presence of God and His healing action and grace within.
– Mary Mrozowski 1925-1993

Have I learned to do this well? No, not well, but better. I find something healing about welcoming what comes, instead of letting it chase me out of God’s presence.

It doesn’t mean I condone the situation or my feelings about it, but I can believe its purpose exists for my greater transformation into the image of Christ.

And life is never static. As surely as the visitor (situation, feeling, thought, …) comes, he will eventually leave (or else we will).

But in the meantime, ride the wave. Find God in the now.

Because in this moment, in this hour, this is where the Spirit is. And we do well to join him here.

* * *

‘You’ll Get through This’–Book review

By LisaNotes November 14, 2013 Book reviews 13 Comments

Don’t equate the presence of God with a good mood or a pleasant temperament. God is near whether you are happy or not.
– Max Lucado

It’s Max Lucado doing what he does best: encouraging you to keep the faith.

You will get through this. Not because you are strong but because your Brother is. Not because you are good but because your Brother is. Not because you are big but because your big Brother is the Prince, and he has a place prepared for you.

In You’ll Get through This, Lucado uses the life of Joseph from the book of Genesis as the underlying story in each chapter. Sharing Joseph’s misadventures and subsequent victories, Lucado then juxtaposes modern-day stories, showing you how to apply the principles to your own stories because you have the same God as Joseph did.

He reminds you how good and faithful God is, not just in times past, but in times present, in your own circumstances here and now.

Whether you’re currently living through a difficult season, or you just want to remain dependent on God even in good times, this book will help.

Here are some of my favorite passages.

David did not pray, “Do not take my crown from me. Do not take my kingdom from me. Do not take my army from me.” David knew what mattered most. The presence of God. He begged God for it. Do likewise. Make God’s presence your passion. How? Be more sponge and less rock.

~*~*~*~

You will never go wrong doing what is right.

~*~*~*~

Joseph began and ended his crisis assessment with references to God. God preceded the famine. God would outlive the famine. God was all over the famine. “God . . . famine . . . God.”

~*~*~*~

Don’t let the crisis paralyze you. Don’t let the sadness overwhelm you. Don’t let the fear intimidate you. To do nothing is the wrong thing. To do something is the right thing. And to believe is the highest thing. Just . . . keep calm and carry on.

* * *

20 years ago . . . Lessons from Kali and infant loss

By LisaNotes November 13, 2013 Kali, My stories, Pain 16 Comments

Where were you 20 years ago?
What were you doing?
Who were you with?

I was in the hospital delivering my second daughter. Praying she would live here. And crying when she didn’t.

Even though Kali hasn’t physically lived with us the past twenty years, her presence has. Having her in our lives continues to teach us much.

I’m collecting those lessons here. Please share your own as well.

Part of living life well is learning to live through death well.

* * *

Infant loss

Be nicer than necessary

By LisaNotes November 11, 2013 Encouragement 19 Comments

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11

Often in my quests to do good, I fail.

My friend’s mom has been in poor health since spring, going back and forth to the hospital and doctors’ offices.

Because I remember how difficult it was taking my own mother to the doctor—even with my sisters or brother—I offered to meet Julie at her mom’s appointment to help.

But while I waited at one door to the Heart Center, they came through another. And after the appointment, Julie and I together still couldn’t get her mom back in the car.

I had been no help after all. We needed more.

I walked back inside to get more. I hesitantly explained our dilemma to the lady at the Information Desk, expecting a little advice, at best.

Instead, the receptionist hopped up and walked outside with me. Before I knew it, she had Julie’s mom loaded and buckled into the front seat of the car, without any assistance from me or Julie.

She then spoke healing words into Julie’s mom. She said to hang in there. To keep fighting. To resist the urge to sit back and let bad health get the best of you.

After she closed the passenger door, Julie and I thanked her for both her physical help as well as her attitude. Both were valuable.

She then gave us one more thing.

She said her mother taught her this:

There are two kinds of people you’ll remember in this world: those who are mean to you and those who are nice. Since you never know where you’re going to find yourself, you better be nice to everyone. None of us are getting younger; we all need encouragement. As long as we’ve got breath in us, we’re still in the game.

Then she went back inside.

But her words linger with me still.

Most of us have room to be a little nicer to everyone we meet. If we’re still here, still breathing, we still have opportunities to show God’s love.

I’m thankful the receptionist gave the gift of encouragement to us when the gift I showed up to give didn’t work out. Maybe I was there that day so I could receive her gift to pass along to others.

So if you can be nicer today, do. Give away the gifts you have.

You’re still in the game.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.
1 Peter 4:10

* * *

‘Pastrix’ – Book review

By LisaNotes November 8, 2013 Book reviews 15 Comments

The book Pastrix is not for you if:

Messed-up pastors bother you
A church with transgender people seems contradictory
Bad language makes you see red

But this book is for you if:

You believe God uses people however they come
Looking beyond words to see hearts in action is exciting
You’re okay with everybody in church looking different

I’m guessing Nadia Bolz-Weber doesn’t look like your pastor. She doesn’t look like mine.

But no matter; her heart for Jesus beats just as strongly.

She grew up in the Church of Christ, the conservative Protestant denomination that I also grew up in. So stories of her youth resonate strongly with me. For example (and I’ll moderate the language for you here):

In the church of my childhood it was taught me that the “age of accountability” was somewhere around twelve. To hit the age of accountability was to spiritually go off of your parents’ insurance. At age twelve the clock starts ticking, spiritually speaking; you know right from wrong now and because of this you are accountable for every time you f*** up. If you sin knowing right from wrong and then die before you chose to be baptized, you burn in hell for eternity. This is when kids start choosing to be baptized.

But by her teens, her life took a left turn. Sex, drugs, alcohol. Only in adulthood did she start hearing God eventually calling her to ministry after being asked to perform a funeral for one of her friends because, as she puts it, her friends considered her “the religious one.”

She’s now all about Jesus and his beautiful grace. She pastors a Lutheran church called House for All Sinners and Saints. It’s as atypical as she is, both in people and in function, but God is atypical too, right?

I can’t imagine that the God of the universe is limited to our ideas of God. I can’t imagine that God doesn’t reveal God’s self in countless ways outside of the symbol system of Christianity. In a way, I need a God who is bigger and more nimble and mysterious than what I could understand and contrive. Otherwise, it can feel like I am worshipping nothing more than my own ability to understand the divine.

In her book she walks you through her story and explains as best as she understands, how she got from there to here. She’s humble and honest, with enough edge to remind you she’s keeping it real, whether you’re comfortable with it or not.

So I loved reading her story. Decide for yourself whether or not it’s for you.

Here are some quotes:

I’m a lousy Christian, and I hope that’s good enough since our call to be compassionate has to include ourselves, too.

~*~*~*~

Maybe the Good Friday story is about how God would rather die than be in our sin-accounting business anymore.

~*~*~*~

The disciples’ mistake was also my mistake: They forgot that they have a God who created the universe out of “nothing,” that can put flesh on dry bones “nothing,” that can put life in a dusty womb “nothing.” I mean, let’s face it, “nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with. Perhaps God looks upon that which we dismiss as nothing, insignificant, and worthless, and says “Ha! Now that I can do something with.”

~*~*~*~

Growing up, I thought it was a way of guilting us into forgiving others, like Jesus was saying, Hey, I died for you and you can’t even be nice to your little brother? As though God can get us to do the right thing if God can just make us feel bad about how much we owe God. But that is not the God I see in Jesus Christ. That is a manipulative mother.

~*~*~*~

To defiantly say, once again, that a light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot, will not, shall not overcome it. And so, evil be damned, because even as go to the grave, still we make our song alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

* * *

Thanks to Great Book Reviewers Group
for the review copy of this book