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When we Carry Things too Heavy

Posted on20. Jul, 2010 by Karen True.

I was barely a toddler when the milkman paid us regular visits. He dropped off bulky bottles fresh from the dairy, and my Dad and I carried in the milk. Norman Rockwell would surely have been inspired to immortalize the scene. That is, until the day I dropped the glass bottle, spilled the milk and ended up with 13 stitches. My Dad still shudders when he recalls the incident. I still have the scar.

The scar reminds me that it hurts to carry things that are too heavy.

Wrath, revenge and anger are burdens we were never meant to bear. Those are God-sized chores that weigh down a human soul like a child on a grown-up’s errand. Just ask Jonah.

Jonah was God’s prophet. A prophet’s job description was simple. God wrote the speeches. Prophets delivered them. God assignment for Jonah was to warn Nineveh of its coming doom. We get only as far as the second sentence in the story when we learn that Jonah “ran away from the Lord.” (Jon. 1:3) God’s man went AWOL, and not until the end of the story do we learn why.

Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the LORD, “O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. (Jon. 4:1-2)

The irony is that Jonah was among a rare group of prophets whose missions actually saw short-term success. The people of Nineveh turned to God while the prophet sat snarl-faced and clenched-fist on a hillside outside the city.

I wish I’d been there to tell him. It hurts when carry things that are too heavy.

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Church in the Barn & Other Life Changes

Posted on21. May, 2010 by Karen True.

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has changed the default font on campus computers. Why, you wonder, do I care? It turns out that their new font, Century Gothic, is thinner than the Arial font they used for years, and it uses about 30% less ink. This small change will go a long way toward making those pricey ink cartridges last a while longer and might save up to $30,000!

This little discovery reminded me that small things add up to big things and brought two thoughts to mind.

I wonder how much I could save by changing the font on my computer.

I wonder how a few small life changes might make a big difference in the end.

Little is the New Big

The cancer ordeal that our family went through this past December was a big deal. Thankfully, it turned out to be “no cancer” after all, but we walked enough of the journey to be slapped around a bit with the realities of life and death. Such a whipping has a way of realigning priorities, so I’ve been making some changes. Here are the starting four:

Diet: Carrot juice, berries, almonds, hearty grains and lots of veggies are in. Dairy is out. (Except for Parmesan…Who can live without Parmesan?)

Job: No work after 6 p.m. Period. (almost) These hours are now focused on relationships and rest, and that’s a very good thing.

Church: As of this past weekend, our family no longer makes the 20 minute or so drive to the “big church.” We are now worshiping at a house church with an eye toward reaching out to our community. We don’t actually meet in a house. We meet in a barn (not the animal lodging kind but a very comfortable metal building kind of barn). Our “Church in the Barn” is still connected to the “big church,” and we are an experiment and a new church in the making. We watch the “big church” service on DVD, sit together as families and discuss the message afterward. We had 64 people there for our first service. That’s what you see in the picture above.

Focus: Blogging is now a priority rather than a sideline. It’s where I express what God is doing in my life at the moment, and I find that God speaks to me as I type. Good reason for writing.

Small tweaks in my schedule. Not as small tweaks in my diet. Some meaningful changes in daily habits. None have been earth shattering. Some have proved challenging. Others are a welcome change. Life has brought a new season, and the aim is simply being faithful in small things for I’m noticing that big things are really just collections of small things.

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Rest is a Hot Topic

Posted on15. May, 2010 by Karen True.

I have often been astonished by how often I’ve picked up on a similar theme that runs through my personal time with the Lord, something I might hear on the radio and another thing I might read or come across in conversation. I used to think it was coincidence. Now, I know it’s God.

Several weeks ago, God began pointing my thoughts to a topic I’ve never considered much: Rest. And lately, that’s what I’ve been reading, studying, writing and pondering. And go figure, a couple of weeks ago my pastor, Randy Frazee, talked about…you guessed it: Rest. Then today, I’m perusing the feeds in my new RSS reader (feedly.com) and came across a recent post at Stuff Christians Like and the topic of choice was: Rest.

Yes, God, you have my attention.

I thought He might have yours too, so here’s a video of Randy’s message. It’s stellar (but I think he might have been peeking at my notes:). And a link to the Stuff Christians Like post, Resisting Rest. You know, at this point it would just be wrong to say you’re too busy to continue, so put your feet up and keep on clicking…

MRFL – Week 2 – The Solution: Restructuring Our Relationships and Time – Randy Frazee from Oak Hills Church on Vimeo.

God is still speaking on the hard work of rest and Sabbath, so I’ll keep on writing. More soon.

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Parable in the Dirt

Posted on06. May, 2010 by Karen True.

The ancients saw Sabbath as a 24-hour idle and missed the mark. I miss it too when I tend toward the other extreme by viewing rest as little more than a lazy escape from the dailyness of life. It’s not that I think R & R is wrong, but it’s not the point of Sabbath either.

One of those mystifying Levitical commands offers a hint about the true meaning of Sabbath.

The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. (Lev. 25:1-5)

There’s a parable in the dirt.

I had to read that a couple of times too. It says the dirt needs a break. Pointers like these don’t often jump right out and reveal themselves as great spiritual truth. This one sure didn’t, but it’s starting to make sense to me.

Moses didn’t have a clue about the benefits of crop rotation when he put pen to papyrus to write these words. He had learned, though, that God’s mysteries had a point even though they might first appear to be, shall we say, a bit off beat. Talking to a burning bush and witnessing a large body of water spontaneously divide itself in two would have a way of refiguring your thinking.

But seriously. Who can afford to take a year off? Where would the food come from? What were the farmers supposed to do for a whole year while the land took it easy?

Now, I think we’re getting somewhere.

If the land rested, the people would too. And they’d do more than just kick back. They’d be forced to really depend on God. Now there’s a novel concept of faith. “Remember the Sabbath,” is God’s way of saying, “Remember to depend on me.” I’ve provided for the last six years. How about you take a break and let me take care of the future?

Learning that I might have ovarian cancer this past December flipped all of my control tendencies into high functioning status. Trying not to be shaken by the shock, I decided to over-manage this thing by phone calls, long lists of questions and demands rather than dependence. It didn’t take long for my attempts at controlling the uncontrollable to wear me out. So, I did the only thing there was to do. I gave up and realized that I had been encroaching on God’s job description while ignoring my own. God controls. I depend. And rest.

There’s a reason for all of this.

Sabbath gives us time to rest from physical work so we can focus on the essential spiritual work of learning to depend. It’s easy to bury myself in my work. The kind that delivers on self-reliance and feeds my sense of independence. And there you have it. The reason for Sabbath. And for the parable in the dirt.  God gave the dirt a rest, so I could rest in knowing that life is neither all about me or all up to me.

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Things Moms Say, #1

Posted on06. May, 2010 by Karen True.

Every Mom needs a stash of tried and true phrases with which they can “train up” their children. Anita Renfroe’s rendition of parenting cliches is the best ever. I have used most of them from, “If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you jump too,” to the ubiquitous, “Because I said so!” Every now and then, though, I try to cultivate a new pearl of wisdom with a bit more lasting value. So here is one of my best shots…

God hates sin because it hurts the people He loves.

Every now and then one of my kids will say something hurtful about themselves. 

I’m not good at anything.
I’m just dumb.

We’ve all thought similar things about ourselves, but when I hear my own children say such things, I feel the mama bear rise up in me and say, “You can’t say that about someone I love!”

I don’t like it when someone does something hurtful to people I love…even when that person is themselves. Neither does God.

I’m not sure where we got the idea that God is the great referee in the sky who is for the other team. Watching with an eye for failure.  Cheering when we fall. Ready to kick us when we’re down. That’s not the God of the Bible.

God has zero tolerance for sin but not because He’s checking us against the great playbook in the sky. God doesn’t put up with sin because it hurts those who are nearest to His heart. Mess with His dear ones, and you’ve got some explaining to do…even if the one you’re messing with is yourself.

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Rest is Hard Work

Posted on24. Apr, 2010 by Karen True.

You’d think that a God-given license to rest would be enough of an excuse for us to take a break, but we even make rest into work. Ever return home from a “vacation” more exhausted than when you left?

Work honors God. And so does knowing when enough is enough. Our cycle of work, achieve and spend was never God’s intention. Work is His idea, but using it to define our lives and fill our pockets is our own design.

I built houses for myself and planted vineyards… I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces… I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me… Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecc. 2:4, 8, 9, 11)

When we use our work to serve ourselves, it loses significance. When work becomes who we are, we lose ourselves. And knowing that the ability to do work is a gift changes everything.

• Wealth comes from God. But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. (Deut. 8:18)
• Power comes from God. No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man.  But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another. (Ps. 75:6-7)
• Knowledge comes from God. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise  and knowledge to the discerning. (Dan. 2:21)
• Talent comes from God. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. (Rom. 12:6)

We are creatures in need of purpose, so God gave us work. But we are also creatures in need of balance, so God gave us rest. Rest comes from depending on God to provide. Work is meant to serve God, and that’s about just one thing…

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (Jn. 6:28-29)

In God’s economy, His ultimate work brings us ultimate rest…

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest. (Heb. 4:9-11)

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God’s Day Off

Posted on23. Apr, 2010 by Karen True.

God rested. Eternity took a break. A day off.

This is the same God of whom it is said, “The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary.” (Isa. 40:28) So God wasn’t tired. Or bored. Or just needing a diversion. Even His day off had a purpose.

The Hebrew word for rest is Shabbat. The word also means seven. Sabbath is its English cousin and is first mentioned in Scripture in the Ten Commandments. Scripture is silent on the subject of Sabbath until Moses repeats the Law in the book of Deuteronomy. These biblical debuts of the Sabbath are curious for the differing reasons they give for this day of rest.

It’s about Likeness… God rested so we can too because we were created to be just like Him. (Gen. 1:26)

In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:11)

It’s about Liberty… Slaves don’t get a day off. Free people do. We are free to rest. (Gal. 5:1)

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5:15)

It’s about Life… Sabbath is no longer a day. It’s a person, and His name is Jesus. (Col. 2:13-17)

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest…. (Hebrews 4:9-11)

So rest. And I’ll take my own advice by joining you. More on this topic next time.

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A Tear in the Curtain

Posted on07. Apr, 2010 by Karen True.

Easter Sunday 2010 has come and gone, but the reality of the celebration cannot be confined to a single day. Our pastor, Randy Frazee, shared an Easter message focused on one of my all-time favorite Old Testament symbols: the tear in the curtain.

Every day at 3:00 in the afternoon, the Jewish priest offered the evening sacrifice. Jesus, the Lamb of God, died on the cross at 3:00 in the afternoon.

Coincidence? Hardly.

When Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, God left cherubim to guard the way to the tree of life. (Gen. 3:24) The next mention of cherubim in the Bible is in Exodus 25:18 where God instructs Moses to have cherubim made at either end of the atonement cover for the Ark of the Covenant.

Happenstance? I don’t think so.

Cherubim guarded the way to God. First, in the Garden of Eden and later at the Ark of the Covenant. Both the Garden and the Ark represented the presence of God. Ever since Adam and Eve’s sin, man no longer had free access to God’s presence. Only the High Priest could meet with God at the Ark of the Covenant, and even for him, only on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). So a curtain separated the Ark from God’s people, and it wasn’t just any curtain. 60 feet long. Four inches thick. Like an impenetrable barrier. You didn’t just happen upon God in those days.

Until the tear in the curtain. A single rip from the top to the bottom. Ripped from heaven to earth by the hand of the Almighty.

Mere chance. No way.

Jesus’ body was torn on the cross.The curtain tore in the temple. His sacrifice flung open the doorway to God to any who would enter. Never would I have thought a tear in the curtain could change the world.

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True Woman

Posted on04. Apr, 2010 by Karen True.

I spent last weekend at the True Woman conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee. No, the conference wasn’t named after me, but I did try to capitalize on it whenever could. The best part of the weekend was spending it with the true women in the picture above (Julie, Jennifer, Theresa and me). Jennifer’s Dr. Phil was there too, and it was great to see him, but I figured he’d consider it a compliment to be excluded from the list of true women.

Julie and I were there to “woman” the womensministry.net booth. Jennifer was there to speak at the conference. And Theresa was there to assist Jennifer. The occasion gave us all a chance to meet a lot of wonderful folks together and also to catch up on life. It was fun and totally exhausting and I’d do it again tomorrow if given half a chance.

We sat in on the conference, and I have to say that I had four highlights: Jennifer Rothschild, Keith & Kristyn Getty, a ministry called Prison to Purpose and Kay Arthur.

• Jennifer shared a message I hadn’t heard before, and though I can still laugh and cry over the stories I’ve heard her tell a jillion times, this one was overflowing with grace and joy, and it has affected me profoundly as I’ve pondered it over the past several days.
• Keith & Kristyn Getty write much of the music we sing in our churches, and it was my joy to hear them sing in person and to occasionally hear their Irish accents as well. They are a lovely and gifted pair who write modern hymns for the church and now have me as president of their fan club.
• The prison ministry I mentioned is called Prison to Purpose and was featured at the conference. The ministry is led by a former inmate who is leading others to Christ as she returns to serve as a prison chaplain. I’m trying to get my hands on the video they showed because it has one of the most powerful messages ever. Yes, I’ll share it here if I succeed.
• And well, hearing Kay Arthur again is, well, there really are no words. She’s Kay Arthur for crying out loud. 76 years old in spike heeled boots, parading the bold truth all over that stage at 10:00 p.m. while I can barely keep my eyes open. Honestly, I was so tired by the time she spoke that I cannot tell you much about what she said, but her person and her passion speak so loudly, I’m inspired still.

Since returning home, I’ve been pondering what it means to be a True Women. Here’s how I’d describe her…

• Unique: She knows to whom she belongs. God is her maker and master, and she finds her value and significance in knowing Him.
• Authentic: She lives for an audience of One, so she can live without being controlled by her emotions.
• Joyful: Her life isn’t perfect, but she knows joy that exists outside of temporary circumstances.
• Purposeful: Her eyes see beyond the moment, and her life reflects a perspective focused on eternal things.

These are some of my core values, and though I don’t always live up to them, I still find in them the basis for living life, making choices and building relationships. Last I looked, God still has His “Under Construction” sign hanging on the door of the soul of this true woman in the making.

I’m curious. How do you describe a true woman?

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One Step Closer

Posted on09. Mar, 2010 by karentrue.

The conversation began with a Friday-morning trickle of dissatisfaction and took only moments to swell into a full fledged deluge of frustration. My 10-year old son’s laments went like this…

While we cleaned up after breakfast:
“I wish I didn’t have to go to school.”

After he brushed his teeth:
“School is boring, Mom.”

As we left the house:
“Other kids have lots more breaks from school than I do.”

While we loaded his backpack in the car:
“I wish I was sick so I could stay home. Do you think I might have a fever?”

As we buckled our seatbelts:
“Homeschooled kids have lots more free time.”

Pulling out of the driveway:
“Can I please stay home?”

Leaving our neighborhood:
“Public school kids don’t have as much homework.”

I’ve presented Mason’s comments as a monologue, but you can be sure that I offered pearls of wisdom aplenty in response to his attempts to weasel out of a day of school. I won’t bore you with them here, but I’m sure you’d have been impressed! After about ten attempts to redirect his focus toward gratitude, instill in him a desire to learn and encourage him to maintain perspective, I realized that it was going to take more than pithy rejoinders to help him readjust.

It was time for a story.

I read this morning about the Israelites. You know, they’d been slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years. God heard their cries for help and sent Moses to plead with Pharaoh for their release. Pharaoh wasn’t so keen on losing his highly productive slave force, so he refused again and again until God helped him see the light, and he let the people go.

They were free, and they were really happy about it for a little while. When they saw Pharaoh’s army coming after them, they complained and told Moses about how they longed for the good old days in Egypt! God rolled back the sea, and they walked across on dry land. Once the last Israelite made it to safety, the wall of water crashed down on Pharaoh’s finest, and none survived. The Israelites had quite a party to celebrate.

It only took three days for them to forget. They were thirsty, and the water was bitter, so they grumbled. God made the water sweet, and they were on their way again. In a matter of weeks, they were complaining again because they were hungry. So God sent bread from heaven, and their full stomachs made them happy…for a while.

They traveled further and grew thirsty again. You’d think they would have learned a thing or two about God by now. You’d think they would have realized that He would give them whatever they needed, but no. It was easier to complain than trust. So that’s what they did. I haven’t mentioned it, but with every complaint, they also blamed Moses for their misery. They accused Him of bringing them into the desert to die. They blamed him for their hunger and thirst and told him they would rather be slaves in Egypt with tasty food than free people in the desert who had to depend on God for their next meal. They were out of water again, so they did what came naturally…complaining. God told Moses to strike a nearby rock to turn into a gushing fountain.

At this point, I asked Mason if he remembered where the Israelites were headed when they left Egypt. He confirmed, “The Promised Land.” I also asked if he noticed a pattern in the Israelite’s attitude. “They complained a lot.” With these satisfactory answers.

It was time to capitalize on the teachable moment.

The Israelites were free. Their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and generations before them had lived their whole lives as slaves, and now they were free. Trouble was, they barely noticed because all they could think about was the moment. They forgot they were on their way to the Promised Land.

We’re all on our way to a Promised Land, but getting there means we have to cross the desert. Deserts aren’t easy to get across. We have to face challenges we’d rather not face. We have to do things we don’t feel like doing. We can choose to complain or to trust. We can focus our attention on the obstacle that gets in the way of what we want, or we can believe that it’s all  part of God’s great plan.

We neared the drop-off line in front of the school, and I stole a quick glance at my son’s face. It had been transformed. Where there had been a furrowed brow and discontented eyes minutes before, now there was peace and resolve. Truth had hit its mark, and this ordinary school day had taken us both just one step closer to the Land of Promise.

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