Category: faith

Discovering cRaZy jOY: Oct. 1

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With our house on the market, somewhat excessive business travel, and a new homeschool schedule, life’s been a little more crazy than usual for our family.

That’s why I was quite excited to learn that this month Ann Voskamp, best-selling author of One Thousand Gifts, is inviting her readers to join in 31 Days of Crazy Joy. (Check out the video for an excellent introduction to Ann and her message.)

So it’s time to start counting gifts again, and won’t you come along, too? Let’s start with three gifts orange:

1. the fiery orange leaves on the neighbor’s maple tree

2. the little orange pumpkin she hid in the playhouse

3. the bright orange flame of the gas fireplace that warms the room on a cool October day

Right here every day I’ll post three gifts with a specific theme (from this wonderful Joy Dare calendar at A Holy Experience).  Feel free to add your gifts in the comment section.

Let’s discover crazy joy this month!

Glory in the Interruptions

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This week our homeschool had an unplanned, last-minute field trip that turned out to be a very memorable one. We had planned to do our usual school work at home, but then mid-morning a realtor scheduled a showing, and so we needed to leave the premises for at least an hour. I was grumpy about the interruption, but I quickly threw a picnic lunch together and headed to a nearby nature center for an attitude adjustment.

As we meandered into the woods, the sunshine glowing through the brilliantly colored leaves created a magical canopy overhead that helped dissolve my frustrations.

We ate our lunch — during which my youngest lost tooth #6. Oddly, she has lost three of her six lost teeth away from home. After our picnic, the girls and I played for about an hour in the nature exploration area, building a house out of sticks and logs.

The girls would have stayed there the rest of the afternoon, but I was hoping to get in a nice hike through the woods, so we set off on the trail. I lagged behind just a bit so I could capture a picture of them hiking down the path.

I paused to put away my camera, and I looked up when I heard sudden screams. The girls came running madly back toward me in a complete panic. When they ran right past me and nearly all the way back to the visitor center, I knew they must have seen something more frightening than a bee. Through the tears and sobs they finally explained that a garter snake in the path had spooked them. My oldest daughter was first to see it and, thinking it was a colorful stick, had bent down to pick it up just as it slithered off the path.

So much for my hike. Nothing — and I mean nothing — would convince them to head down that trail again anytime soon. I never even saw the snake, but I must admit I felt a little creeped-out, too. We headed toward the nearby dock to re-group for a few minutes at the lake, where snakes weren’t likely to find us. En route back to the visitor center, we came across a “wooly bear” caterpillar, which was much more warmly received than the garter snake.

Shortly after that, we loaded up into the truck and started for home. But just outside of the parking area we noticed a pair of Trumpeter swans on the pond.

Oh joy! And they were close enough to photograph. I turned around, parked the truck, hopped out and captured a few shots of the swans. The girls weren’t eager to hike much closer to the pond, but I didn’t mind. This distance was close enough to photograph the beautiful pair.

If you’ve been reading this blog long, you know I am slightly obsessed with Trumpeter swans, as I have mentioned in this post about a spring swan sighting and this post about how God orchestrates our homeschool plans.

It’s amazing how God truly reveals His glory in the interruptions some days.

 

What is Beautiful

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Come, and I will show you what is beautiful.

It is a rose in full bloom.

See how she sits upon her mossy stem, like the queen of all the flowers!

She is the delight of every eye.

She is beautiful, but there is a fairer one than she.

He that made the rose is more beautiful than the rose;

He is all lovely;

He is the delight of every heart.

(Words by Letitia Anna Barbauld, Hymns in Prose for Children, 1781)

Photos copyright Starlight Writer 2012.

We Heart Family Camp!

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I never went to summer camp as a kid, and last Friday as our family headed off Family Camp at Trout Lake, I certainly didn’t feel much like a light-hearted kid going off to camp. Packing for four and taking a long road trip amidst almost-back-to-school and we-just-put-our-house-on-the-market chaos didn’t lighten my load. At least not at first.

But five days later, I came home feeling a kid again! Maybe it had something to do with being completely off kitchen duty for so many days. I’m still tired from head to toe, but we sure had a memorable and adventurous time horseback riding, canoeing, paddle boating, rock climbing, riding the zip-line and doing the flying squirrel.

My dear friend Alice also came to camp with her precious family.

Ever the fun-loving, adventurous type, Alice encouraged me to do the zip-line with her. I decided to live dangerously.

This was my first zip-line experience, and I wouldn’t have done it without Alice.

My six-year-old was totally convinced I’d chicken out once I got up to the platform. (That’s me, second from the left, and Alice, third from the left.) I’m posting these next images as proof that, while I did scream, hang on for dear life, and close my eyes for a brief moment, I most certainly did not chicken out!

I even completely let go of the rope and threw up my hands when Alice encouragingly yelled, “LET GO, DIANA!”

My 9-year-old says she’d never seen me with such a big smile on my face.

Another highlight from family camp was the flying squirrel, which involves nine people in climbing harnesses. Eight people are “horses,” yoked together and running together in the same direction. The ninth person is the flying squirrel, running in the opposite direction — just a few steps — until he is yanked up high into the tree-tops. What an exhilarating experience to swing freely 35 or 40 feet in the air! I can’t imagine actual squirrels getting this high in the trees, though.

My 9-year-old kindly snapped this photo of me as the flying squirrel.

And this one of my husband as a flying squirrel.

Yes, we both made it back to the ground safely. And by the way, our kids did have a little fun at camp, too.

They rode horses, kayaked, competed in a sack race, paddled canoes, rode the sharking tube and the caterpillar, made rockets, shot bows and rifles, made paracord survival bracelets, hiked, swam and enjoyed a carnival. We also sang some great praise songs and studied the Bible each day. It was church camp, after all.

All this to say, you really must take your family to Family Camp next year. It totally, totally rocks and you are missing out if you stay home!

Brave Enough to Jump

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“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” -Joshua 1:9

Sometimes the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, intimidation or other difficulties shows up in unexpected, unlikely moments. You wake up and suddenly realize you’re in one of those heart-racing, weak-in-the-knees moments, walking to the edge, preparing to jump in deep.

Taking a leap of faith requires letting go of the comfortable yet slippery ground that we so often try to stand on — that slippery lie that makes us believe we can control what happens to us. The truth is we can’t control what happens to us. We can’t control the wind or the waves that rock our boats and make us long for dry land.

But there is an all-powerful, all-knowing God whom even the wind and waves obey. He is always in control. Taking a leap of faith requires trusting in Him, knowing He is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do. And He is with us wherever we go.

When we trust Him, God can make us brave. He can help us conquer fears.

In Him, we can be brave enough to jump.

And in Him, we can be brave enough to fall.

Even brave enough to fly.

Next Sunday, our youngest daughter is getting baptized — taking the next step in obedience to Christ as she tells others about trusting in Him. In her walk with Christ Jesus, we pray that she faces trials courageously, trusts the LORD wholeheartedly, and acknowledges Him in all her ways. May she always know He is with her and will direct her path — even through the deepest waters, fiercest winds and highest waves.

Whiter than Snow

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Reposting from the deep down in the archives… Happy Good Friday and Happy Easter!

snowbunnies1.gif

Except for a few small patches, nearly all of the snow that had been covering our lawn since Dec. 1, 2007, melted earlier this week. We all rejoiced to be finally rid of that old snow; it had turned ugly and gray over the last three months.

On Wednesday Linnea was able to ride her bicycle and play outside all afternoon. Laurel blew bubbles and scooted around on her trike. Neighbors we hadn’t seen in months came up the street to chat. The hope of spring that had sustained us through this long, bitter winter was finally becoming a reality!

But today it’s a different story. It’s Good Friday and the first full day of spring according to the calendar. But just like Jesus’ disciples felt on Good Friday, we’re feeling confused and discouraged. It’s snowing. Actually, it’s blizzarding. We must have nearly six inches of fluffy white stuff out there right now, and it’s still piling up! We’ve lost a little hope.

So what does snow have to do with Good Friday? After David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, the prophet Nathan came to him and encouraged him to repent of his sins. David wrote Psalm 51, and in verse 7 he says to God, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”

Likewise, Isaiah 1:18 says “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”

All week I’ve been reminding Linnea and Laurel that Easter isn’t about brightly colored eggs or tasty chocolate bunnies. It’s about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. It’s about Jesus paying the blood sacrifice so that we, like David, can be made whiter than snow.

So even in the midst of a March blizzard, we still have hope. We have hope that spring will arrive and the rain will wash away our snow. The grass will reappear and turn green. The birds will return. The trees will bud and the flowers will bloom.

Though our hope for spring may come and go, our hope in Jesus will continue. He cleanses us and gives us a fresh new beginning. He will not disappoint us. He is risen indeed!

Our Friend Spring

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“See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land…”

 

Song of Solomon 2:11-13

We rushed over to visit a dear old friend yesterday.

Spring! And, oh, she does look so lovely!

So captivating — wearing all those blossoms.

We breathed in her fragrant, flowering magnolia trees.

Her little blue scillas, so dainty and sweet, reminded me of someone else I know.

Her helleborous (Lenten rose) bloomed bravely, though nearly hidden behind a bench and surrounded by crunchy brown leaves.

She introduced us to a host of white daffodils.

Tiny raindrops pearled up on her sunny yellow daffodils.

Her dwarf Dutch irises truly delighted us.

Her apricot trees cheered us.

And her lilacs — oh, they hold great promise for April!

Look at the Birds!

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— another favorite from the archives —

 

“Look!” my big girl gasps, running toward the window. “Robins! In our yard!”

Quickly the little one and I join her at the window, and together we welcome the feathered strangers. The freshly falling snow of late March does not deter the playful robins as they flutter about happily in the backyard.  An especially plump robin perches high in the branches, a patch of snow still clinging to his red breast and his feet.

“Cheer up, cheer up,” the first robins sing.

Cheer up, indeed! Even as the snow blankets us again, their songs give us hope for spring as the end of a long, harsh winter draws nearer. Soon will come nests and eggs. Soon will come worms for the chirping baby birds. Soon will come little birds testing their wings, learning to fly.

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” -Matthew 6:26

March melts into April, and the birds return to this Frozen Tundra in great numbers. Red-winged black birds, robins, sparrows, Canadian geese and — my favorite — swans.

As I’m out and about all week long, I see swans everywhere — dozens of them. On the way to church, on a walk in the neighborhood, on the way to and from dinner Thursday night, on the way to pick up a friend’s little boy, and on the way to and from a birthday party — swans, swans, swans! Soon to pair off and settle in ponds and lakes, the swans migrate together, and oh! What joy as they surround us — these amazing creatures, full of grace!

I look at the birds, and God reminds me of His faithfulness.

Without my camera along on any of these trips, my inner shutterbug longs to capture the swans, to store up the grace moment and treasure it.

The week draws to its end; Saturday evening before sunset our family loads up in the minivan and heads back to the one spots where, earlier in the day, nearly a hundred swans gathered in a low, flooded area in a corn field. Leaving my family in the van, watching closely, I head eagerly into the muddy field. My newest tennis shoes greet the muddy field and I manuever carefully, happy to find a narrow path of dry weeds between two sections of the field. I nearly sink into the mud as I approach the water.

Swans! Hundreds of gloriously graceful swans — and several ducks, too. The honking and quacking mingles into noisy bird music. Most of the swans glide gently across the water, but some fish for food underwater.

Suddenly a few swans soar up into the sky. Their black bills confirm they are Trumpeters. Their necks stretch long and wings mount high toward the clouds —  right over my head! I pull the hood of my sweatshirt over my head, just in case.

A glorious swan moment. Finally captured! I stand in the muddy field, thankful I migrated to the right place at exactly the right moment.

Looking down, white feathers float, scattered across the water.

“He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” -Psalm 91:4

I look at the birds, and God reminds me of His faithfulness.

God keeps showing me how faithful He is. May I also suggest this post from last spring: Orchestrating the Swans?

Hymns for the Next Generation

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In our home library we have a lovely set of books that we use off and on for teaching hymns during our family devotions. The “Hymns for a Kid’s Heart” series by Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Eareckson Tada is truly a treasure.

Each book comes with a full-length music CD, which is produced quite well and features very pleasant children’s voices. For each hymn they include about five to six pages. Two pages focus on the hymn story, usually about the life of the hymn’s author. There’s also a one-page devotion, one sheet of music, words of all the verses, a corresponding scripture, and a prayer. In the back of each book is a glossary of words that may be unfamiliar for children, like “bulwark” and “wretch.” The books also include beautiful illustrations in color.

This four-volume series would be excellent to incorporate into your homeschool curriculum or as a regular part of your church’s Sunday School program. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all children could belt out a few classic hymns?

With Easter just a few weeks away, Passion Hymns for a Kid’s Heart would be a fantastic book to start your own collection of this series. It features stories to help kids understand more about God’s character and the meaning of the Cross.

Happy reading and singing!

How Hair Nets Bring Joy

Diana B.3 Comments

Blessed are the heads wearing hair nets, for they help pack food for the hungry. Isn’t there a verse somewhere that says that?

I’m kidding of course. But yes, that’s me wearing a hair net. And I wore it joyfully because blessing others is itself a blessing. Serving in Jesus’ name and showing God’s love to the hungry is a joy. It’s a joy because, as Ann Voskamp says, “…while I serve Christ, it is He who serves me… It’s the fundamental, lavish, radical nature of the upside-down economy of God. Empty to fill.”

Empty to fill.

On Saturday our family — plus an 8-year-old friend and minus our youngest daughter — emptied to fill. We emptied our Saturday schedule and filled the morning with this special project. We emptied any pride we had in our hair-dos and filled hair nets with our hair. We filled boxes and cups with rice and soy nuggets. And then we emptied the cups and boxes to fill meal bags, which eventually filled boxes, which eventually filled pallets that will ship overseas to fill the stomachs of some of the 12 million people who are starving in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

According to the head of the United Nations Relief Agency, these countries in the Horn of Africa are experiencing the worst drought since the 1950s. The land is empty of food. It is the worst humanitarian disaster in the world.

Our family and some dear friends volunteered alongside dozens of volunteers from our church and two partner churches, under the direction of Feed My Starving Children. This nonprofit hunger-relief organization provided all of the food, supplies, equipment, expertise and experience for the packing sessions.

The food we packed was a unique combination of chicken, veggies, soy and rice. Food scientists developed the special formula to include easily digestible protein, carbohydrates and vitamins. It’s a healthy, nutrient-rich meal to fill empty stomachs and satisfy more than hunger pains.

During our two-hour shift, volunteers at our particular location worked together to pack 27,864 meals. That’s enough food to fill the tummies of 76 children for a year. Each meal costs only 24 cents. By the end of the day, our site had packed more than 112,000 meals.

What’s more, volunteers from several other partner churches were also packing meals throughout the day on Saturday, under the direction of Feed My Starving Children and two other hunger-relief organizations: Kids Against Hunger and ImpactLives. This vast effort was called The Hunger Initiative. Altogether in just one day, approximately 4,000 volunteers from 11 churches gathered in eight locations across Minnesota and packed 1 million meals to send to the hungry in the Horn of Africa.

One million meals.

That’s a big number. But here’s an even bigger number: 1.02 billion.

That’s how many undernourished people live in the world today. More than 1 billion.

One in six people worldwide suffer from hunger and malnutrition; it is the number-one health risk and is more prevalent than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Hunger.

Isaiah 58:10-11 says,

“Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as the noon. The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.”

Want to become the blessing? Want to let your light shine? You can feed the hungry by supporting the mission of Feed My Starving Children in a variety of ways — and only one involves wearing a hair net.

  • Pray for the millions of starving people around the world and for FMSC’s ability to serve them.
  • Volunteer to package meals.
  • Donate online (just 24 cents pays for one meal).
  • Purchase FMSC merchandise from their Online MarketPlace. One t-shirt buys 45 meals!

May God fill you with joy in Him as you love and bless others, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. (1 John 3:18)

“The servant-hearted never serve alone. Spend the whole of your one wild and beautiful life investing in many lives, and God simply will not be outdone. God extravagantly pays back everything we give away and exactly in the currency that is not of this world but the one we yearn for: Joy in Him.” -Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts