Canyons & Fireworks

This past spring we planted our herb garden with the help of two of our nieces. The girls, who are four and five years old, were more than happy to dig and not afraid of getting dirty. Grace is the four year old whom I call "Dipples" for obvious reasons. Dipples has a way of tugging on my heart strings with the cute things she says. Once when we were coloring she looked over at my drawing and asked, "Does your little cloud need a rainbow?" She then proceeded to draw a rainbow to accompany my lonely cloud. After planting Dipples made another comment that immediately got filed in my long term memory bank.  She was pleased that I was giving the herbs a heavy watering because, "plants need sunshine, water, and the birds to sing to them." My heart melted at her four year old perspective. Little did I know this was not just an adorable Grace-izm but there is actually a sonic bloom theory. The idea is that the frequency of birds singing early in the morning helps...

I came cruising into my day refreshed and ready to go. Then I experienced anger. Someone's misinformation inconvenienced my easy breezy day.  Anger is one of those emotions I find less becoming than others. I was trying to calm myself down when Holy Spirit reminded me that I was not designed to reconcile my emotions on my own. In the past I have fallen prey to ignoring and stuffing my emotions, but nowadays I am more likely to try and reconcile my emotions on my own. Perhaps when I have "figured out" what needs to change, I then might go to God to request said changes. Today, I managed to be reminded that God likes us to come to Him raw. In the heat of anger or depths of despair He wants to be invited into what we are feeling, thinking, and experiencing. This takes awareness and practice! His ways are higher than ours and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. When we go to Him immediately the rewards are great. But today, I realized the welcoming of raw unfiltered emotio...

What is a father? A protector? A leader? A provider? A teacher? On Father's day Sean Smith said from the pulpit, "We all need sanctuary and it is more than a building. It is a safe place."  We live in a world with fewer and fewer safe places and, less and less fathers.  When men are absent from the home a level of safety is lost. Worse yet, if a father brings violence in, the family is doubly violated.  The Apostle Paul was a part of a violent system but God called him to face that very system. Paul was the forerunner missionary in confronting what was attacking the children of God the most at the time: the oppressive system of religion.  Today, American Christians do not experience religious persecution like in the days of the coliseums. Children are more likely to get exposed to abuse at home.  People who have walked through trauma and into healing can provide a higher level of safety for those who have suffered similar traumas.   I believe there is ...

According to Matthew 18, unless we change and become like little children we will never enter the kingdom of heaven. What does faith like a child really mean? I was recently spending some time with the Lord when I saw a vivid picture of the Throne Room of Heaven. God was huge and seated on a massive thrown. I was happy at His feet but wanted to sit on His lap. After climbing up, I stood on His knees and touched my forehead to His forehead.  Instantly, I was back to being a small child and felt pure trust and absolute protection. I also felt power, extreme power like I have not felt. When I came out of the encounter, it hit me. Having faith like a child takes the intimacy of father and child. The tender image of touching our foreheads together evokes a strong standard. How is your intimacy with the Father? What about with your earthly father? Could one relationship be hindering the other? 

Attachment, like most matters of the heart, is a complex affair. Some days the capacity for deep healing is not available.   If avoidant attachment has hit a suppressive level, withdrawal has most likely become a habit. Habits make it easy to lose touch with what is within your control.  One doable step toward secure attachment is simply starting to recognize when shutting down begins to occur. Awareness of a pattern is the first step in giving yourself another option.  Once you Identify a tendency of detachment, you can then consciously stop yourself from disengaging by default. You can take a moment to evaluate if you feel safe enough to remain engaged, thus breaking the cycle and offering yourself a choice. Take a deep breath, slow down, and give yourself the chance to connect with others.

Some blame Eve for the fall while others say it was really Adam who caused sin to enter the world. The easy answer is both are to blame. God created a wonderful system of protection and nourishment and the first male and female violated His system.  Proverbs 31 says a husband trusts the worthy woman. Eve was not operating from trustworthiness when she presented Adam with the forbidden fruit. The Proverbs goes on to describe how the worthy woman feeds her family and the needy.  God created, through the woman, a sublime system of nourishment. In marital intimacy the woman "allows in" as she does when providing food for her loved ones. It was this God given purpose that the snake attacked by tempting Eve to accept what was forbidden for nourishment.   Similarly, Adam was called to protect or be a shield.  A shield "keeps from coming in" what brings destruction. The other branch of the system of nourishment and protection was broken when Adam did not serve as a shie...

Wedding season is peaking! What better book to read than the Song of Solomon in a month full of marriage? The book of poems is rather sensual for biblical times and reflects God's intense desire for us, His bride; but there is more... Interestingly, the Song of Solomon is considered one of the five books of wisdom and, more specifically, one of the three books of Solomon's wisdom.   In chapter two the bride says, "My lover has arrived and he's speaking to me!" (MSG) What is he saying to His bride? He invites, "Arise and come to me." How can we do such a thing? How do we muster the strength to forgo self-protection and chase after deep eternal love?  The feeling of love might bring happiness but it does not lead to soul healing. Intimacy with a wisely chosen, worthy lover is what generates needed multi-level restoration. Value must be placed on intimacy and the one worthy of pursuit.  The key to recognize merit is wisdom. Simple concept but wh...