Were You Born In a Barn?

I grew up on a 100 acre farm in rural southern Ontario and what farm is complete without at least one barn?  There is an old saying that is actually posed in the form of a question – Were you born in a barn? – probably first asked by some farmer’s wife exasperated by the farmhouse door being left open one time too many!  Meaning that barn doors are more often open than closed for a number of reasons and oops, sometimes one didn’t remember to close the door to the house after coming IN from the barn!  I heard my grandmother ask ‘the question’ several times while I was growing up so I assume we kids must have acted as if ‘we were born in a barn.’

So right about now, you’re probably asking what’s the point of this nonsensical story and if it is leading up to something?  Well, kind of … I’m thinking about a group of folks who have decided that having ‘church’ inside of an 1856 renovated barn is a cool way to worship God.  You know – organically, earthy, all that.   The group is made up of people from all walks of life, religious and economical backgrounds, experiences … of all ages, young and old.  There just seems to be something ‘right’ about leaving behind traditional church buildings, steeples, religious monuments designed by men, and getting back to the basics … I guess the modern version of Jesus teaching on a hillside, from a boat, well anywhere, really, that wasn’t considered a traditional synagogue.

This ragamuffin band of sinners meets the first and third Sunday evenings of the month in the barn and yes, the barn doors are always left open … lets in light, fresh air and creates this wonderful sense of welcome to all who want to come inside.  Most importantly, it’s what happens INSIDE the barn during these times of worship that lends a slightly different meaning to the question of being born in a barn.  Because that is exactly what is happening … many of us who are there ARE being born, or maybe better put, reborn while God speaks into the very heart of us through the spoken Word and songs of praise and worship.  Rebirth of hearts, minds and souls, the kind that leads to spiritual, physical, emotional and mental healing!

Remember the other Guy who, over 2,000 years ago, was ‘born in a barn’ or probably some rustic version of one, complete with animals?  One who was to become known as ‘the Way, the Truth, the Light … the Door’ through which any of us can walk and find Eternal Life …

A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places

Ever since a friend forwarded the following Message scriptures to me, the words have haunted, defined, challenged and convicted me!  If someone told me that I had to destroy any Bible I own but I was allowed to keep one passage for the rest of my life, it would be this …

“If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims,

quit gossiping about other people’s sins,

If you are generous with the hungry and start giving

yourselves to the down-and-out,

Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,

your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.

I will always show you wehre to go

I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places–

firm muscles, strong bones.

You’ll be like a well-watered garden,

a gurgling spring that never runs dry.

You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,

rebuild the foundations from out of your past.

You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,

restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,

make the community livable again.”

My heart’s cry is to lose my life in and for Him, even while the sinful nature tugs and wants to war within me.  God’s greatness IS greater than any other force of nature period, and it is to HIM and that greatness I run and cling.  People around us are crying out for help from their circumstances … by living out the scriptures above, my life can be the conduit through which God can and will affect His greatness in every corner, driving out darkness and replacing with Light Everlasting.

Getting Over Myself

Sometimes after I’ve written an e-mail to a friend or finished a conversation with someone, I realize how many times that little single letter word, “I”, cropped up!  It’s certainly one of the most used words in our vocab but when I try to reduce the number of times I use it, it seems I’m at a loss as to what it should be replaced with.  Which leads me to wonder what would happen if “I” were taken out more of the time and “God” or “Jesus” were dropped in … hmmm, just a thought …

Anyway 2008 is ahead of us with it’s world of opportunities, adventures to be taken and the unexpected to occur.  Some of which I can shape simply by choosing to do so.  It can be a ‘heady’ thing having so much power at hand and yet I wonder if I really appreciate what that means.  While He was on earth, Jesus talked about how we are the ’salt of the earth’ and the ‘light of the world’ and that if we have discovered His love and grace in our lives, we are ‘people of influence.’  The authors of “Living a Life on Loan” write the following, “Salt and light make a difference in their surroundings … being salt and light at the intersections of life can have a huge impact on others.”  Jesus included all of us in His comment and observation … He didn’t seem to be any respecter of persons so if that is true, each of us has been given the power to be His salt and His light to everyone around us, at any given time, in all circumstances.  Jesus didn’t say that we could be, might be, should be … He said WE ARE …

… people of influence, shakers and movers of His Truth and Word, communicators of kindness and grace and most of all, representatives of God’s furious love to all of His creation … wow!  Think of how rich and full our lives can be lived out, every second of every day, simply by choosing to be an authentic Jesus follower.  As followers of Christ, we each have the ability to make the invisible God visible by our words and our actions.  THAT is how people around us can know that God is very real, very alive and very much in love with them!

I’ll leave you with this saying by a gentleman named Peter Sage — “Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “Wow–what a ride!”  I get that visual and want to be one who skids in sideways, having enjoyed the ride!  How about all you guys out there?  Write and let me know what you think!

The New Year of Life

Hey guys, back from a 6 day trip to visit in-laws in Pittsburgh and family in Ontario, Canada (the Motherland!), ate lots of great food and okay, some not so great but we won’t tell who cooked what! :0) Enjoyed rousing games with the family, even shot some video footage of deer feeding in the backyard of my brother-in-law’s home in Pitts. If you know me, you know I MUST have my nature fix! Anyway, I’m so very grateful for the time, laughter, smiles and even a few tears I shared with hubby, Tom, new teenager, Scotty, family and friends.  Thanks to all of you for gracing my life!!!

So I’m not big into the whole New Year’s resolutions and such but have set some worthy goals (it just sounds better worded that way!) to get healthier physically (have already started a walking routine outside … no treadmill for this Canadian!), sharper mentally (can you say, “Improving Your Memory for Dummies?” and I’m not kidding!) and stretching my faith wings even further by spending much more time going after those who God is aching to touch with HIS love, mercy and grace. He can only do that if I make myself available as His mouthpiece, arms and legs!  It’s just so exciting to think I now get to do all this with my new family at Centerville Community Church!!!  Let’s roll!

Again wishing everyone a peaceful New Year!

Merry Christmas & a Peaceful New Year!

Family and friends, as you reflect on this past year and begin looking forward to the next, remember to stay in THIS moment, right here, right now, to look around at faces familiar, or even faces not so familiar … to pause and consider how absolutely blessed we are in the U.S. and Canada, both ‘homelands’ for me, with freedoms and privileges most citizens of the world can only ever hope to savor or even dream about.
In THIS moment, we can choose to love those who aren’t always so easy to love, forgive the unforgivable although our hearts tell us to hold a grudge, show grace where criticism may be the order of the day, give bread to the hungry and poor (then AFTER their tummies are full, share how much God loves them!), love ourselves with the understanding we are God’s magnificent creation, and reach out to a Father “who loves us as we are and not as we should be, in the state of grace, disgrace, beyond caution, boundary, regret, or breaking point.”

Thanks to all of you who have touched my life, whether distant or near, relative, close friend, get together once-in-awhile pal or that casual kind of acquaintance who sees me once in a ‘blue moon’ … no relationship is an accident, only an opportunity … wishing all of you peace, grace and joy always!

P.S. Periodically I will list a book or books (think a ‘poor man’s’ Oprah!) that have left a positive impact on my life, translate that to mean books that motivate me to get myself off the couch potato assembly line and out into the real world where Jesus exists literally on every street corner! Let me know what you think about each book and/or feel free to pass along the names of those books YOU recommend!

Recommended reading: ” The Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brennan Manning (beware, this book is NOT for sissies!) and “Everyone’s Normal Till You Get To Know Them” by John Ortberg (yep, we’re ALL a little or a lot weird in one way or another … isn’t it a relief to know we’re not alone???)

BLESSINGS!

L’amour de Dieu & Second Journeys

Ruminations of one who has been called to the Second Journey by a God who insists on loving her despite herself …

Hello world!

My second journey began the moment I realized I had just lived the first half of my life … in other words, I had just turned the big ‘5 0′.  What a clarifying, if not terrifying, moment it was unTIL I realized I had but one thing to do.  Tell God that, hey, I’ve pretty much messed up a bunch of my life and now might be a REALLY good time for YOU to take over, I mean REALLY take over from here on in!  And what a wild, exhilarating ride He’s had me on since! Lots of Jesus serving, Rock and rollin’ good times … lessons learned and insight gathered.

So since it’s definitely not fun to keep these times and lessons to myself, here goes a 50’something ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ kind of girl (yes, you can be over 50 and still considered a girl, if only in your own mind!) spouting thoughts about this Jesus walk and life as a servant.  Come on and join me on the Second Journey!