Love Those Valentines

Without Valentine's Day, February would be... well, January. ~Jim Gaffigan

Isn’t that the truth? Except for the 8^th and the 19^th (our wedding anniversary and our middle daughter’s birthday) this winter-disliker finds January to be bleak and blustery, cold and cloudy. Even the sunny days are freezingly marred by frigidity. We need Valentine’s Day to perk things up.

When our girls were little I tried my hardest to bring a little festive fun and frivolity into the mid-winter day (I like alliteration, can you tell??!!). At supper time we tinted our milk pink. I made yeast rolls, adding some red food coloring to the liquid in the recipe and letting them rise in a heart shaped pan. There was red jello (molded in a heart-shaped pan, of course) and meat loaf – which was also molded into the shape of the day and topped with red ketchup. It all went atop a red tablecloth and we politely wiped our faces with Valentine’s Day napkins. Very often we topped off our meal with – are you ready for it – a heart-shaped cake with red cherries on top. Each person also received some little Valentine gift. Nothing big, but just some little something. It was a Valentine’s Day supper all the way: everything that could possibly be red or pink was red or pink. It was fun to make it and it was fun to eat it. (Incidentally, we did the same thing on St. Patrick’s Day – just switched the color from red/pink to green!)

Nowadays there’s no more meatloaf, as the daughters informed me that delicacy is no longer on their wish list; and since they are all in their thirties I can’t make them eat it anymore! But we still pull out the red tablecloth, the holiday napkins and everyone still gets a special treat. Because, you know what? Each beloved family member is a special treat and love needs to be celebrated.

Whether or not you think Valentine’s Day is just a “Hallmark holiday,” I encourage you to make the day special for somebody, or those lots of “somebodies” who are permanently imbedded in your heart. Think of a way to show them just how glad you are that God placed them in your life. Whether it’s a husband, a wife, a child, a grandchild or a friend, let them know they are loved in a fun, tangible and memorable way.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

 

My husband was rooting around in the freezer. I was pretty sure he wasn’t searching for broccoli or beans and I was right. “Do we have any ‘Bob’s chocolate chip cookies in here?” came a muffled query. (‘Bob’s Chocolate Chippers,” for the uninitiated, are those deemed too dark for consumption, per his middle daughter; not burnt, mind you – just more brown than she likes them.) Since the answer was no, I decided Saturday afternoon might be a good time to fix that.

So, the sugar, the flour, and other assorted cookie ingredients came out of the cupboard. A cup of this, a teaspoon of that. Baking soda, vanilla.  Mixing, measuring, dough plopping on the pan. But something was poking at me in the back of my mind. Eh, probably nothing. Into the oven went the cookies.

At the beep of the first timer I checked and thought the cookies looked a little odd – not the usual color, not the usual brownness, just didn’t have the usual “look” about them. Second check, third check. Something was amiss. Though there was nothing I could do about it now, I re-read the familiar recipe, just to see. Oh, for goodness’ sake – I had mistakenly added baking powder, not baking soda as the recipe required (both are leavening agents; baking powder contains baking soda; soda is usually used in cookies and powder in cakes). After a taste test (and one more, just to be sure!) I deemed them perfectly edible, if not exactly normal looking. They wouldn’t win a baking contest, but they weren’t a disaster, either. We would make do.

Sometimes I think maybe we “make do” in our Christian lives as well. Some of us slack off a bit in church attendance, knowing we need to get there on a more regular basis than we do, but, hey – God’s not taking attendance, is He? Bible a little dusty? Tithing a little off? Haven’t had a good, heart-to-heart with the Savior lately?. Maybe not, but we’re still doing fairly well. It’ll do.

For sure, the Christian life isn’t just living by the “rules.” God’s got them, and He does want us to live by them. But, no, He’s not taking attendance and doesn’t check to see if we’re at church every Sunday. And nobody’s handing out demerits for non-Scripture reading. But He wants so much more for us in this Christian life than “just making do.” The God of the universe, the Creator, our Savior wants us to fully know Him, have a deep relationship with Him. He wants us to live an expansive life, the best life possible. And the only way to do that is follow His recipe for life: to know Jesus Christ as Savior, learn all we can about Him and what he wants us to do, get to know His people and bring others to Him.

“Making do” is OK for cookies, but pretty sad for Christians. There’s really no such thing as a “Christian Contest,” but perhaps we should all live as if there were. I’ll start by re-reading that “recipe” God gave us.

“Jesus said, Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: Love others as well as you love yourself. These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” Matthew 22:37-40 (The Message)

 

 

 

FEAR

Fear can keep us up all night long, but faith makes one fine pillow. ~Philip Gulley

I did it again, Or didn’t, depending on which way you look at it.

I let fear keep me up all night long. I saw each hour on the clock last night – 11:00, 12:00, 1:00, 2:00 and all their mean brothers as they marched resolutely toward you-have-to-get-up-time. And in worried frustration, I threw that pillow of faith on the floor.

I was worried about going to the doctor. My doctor’s a perfectly nice woman, but doctor visits cause me anxiety. They weigh you there. They pretend to be all happy to see you and then they point to the scale. You have to get on it and I don’t like getting on it. Taking off my sweater, my shoes (my watch? my earrings?) does just about nothing to ease the pain of that obnoxious number that shows up after I comply.

They also take your blood pressure. Just thinking about taking my blood pressure causes higher blood pressure. Not kidding. The doc has me keep a record of readings taken outside the office because she knows what happens inside it.

Then there’s the blood sugar test. Now, I know fruits vegetables are my friends and bread, cookies and chips, not so much. I know this. But the taste buds are tough taskmasters. I have to do a better job policing them. If I don’t, I won’t like the test result number that shows up there, either.

But I ask myself, did last night’s worry-fest change any of those numbers? Did my anxiety “add a single hour to (my) life? (Luke 12:25). Nope. (And at almost 61, I’m pretty sure I can do without the extra hour!)

I did some things right last night. As did the Psalmist, I called with all my heart and pleaded with Him to answer me (Psalm 119:145). In my mind I sang every praise song I knew (“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know; fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go.”) I prayed for others I know who have sleep issues, and any other people with any other issues I could pull out of my sleep deprived memory.

The next time this happens (and I know myself well enough to know the probability of recurrence is high) I will do my best with one more thing. I will “give (my) entire attention to what God is doing right now, and (not) get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help (me) deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” (Matthew 6:34, The Message, parentheses mine). The next time my eyes, like the 119 Psalmist’s, stay open through the watches of the night, I long to meditate a bit more on God’s promises, concentrating more on the Bible than on Barb.

 

:-) 
 

A Little Kindness

 

It seems you either love the store or you hate it – I come across both kinds of people. But I’m a lover. I like the prices, the selection and the fact that it’s pretty much one-stop shopping. From what I’ve seen, however, the employees at this particular location? If they’re not exactly haters they’re really, really dislikers!

I’ve never worked there, but I can imagine the folks who do don’t get a lot of positive reinforcement. Many seem to view their position as being of the dead-end variety. Then there are the customers, who can be a surly sort, taking any annoyances out on a convenient target - very often the cashiers. Cost too high for the bottle of detergent? Yell at the checker. Frying pan you purchased on your last visit only lasted a month? Snarl at the woman scanning your items. That’s how it often goes. I’ve witnessed it.

This morning I was in the 10-items-and-under line, behind a woman who must have been a child-left-behind, because she apparently couldn’t read the sign. On top of that, she wanted her order split into three separate ones – not difficult but I suppose rather annoying, too. I had been watching the sullen clerk for a while (as much as I like the store, getting in and out is never a quick proposition); she dealt with several folks and then came the Illiterate One. Madam Cashier was not having a good day. She was kind of grumpy, down at the mouth. I had been admiring her haircut and, though I didn’t know her from Adam (Eve, either!) I decided to let her know that when it was my turn.

“You have such a cute haircut,” I said to her. “And the color is very flattering, too.” My, my, my – night turned to day and storm clouds to sunshine. “Well, thank you,” she grinned at me. “Nice of you to say.” We proceeded to have a nice little, friendly conversation. She commented on the “Happy Birthday, Emily” cake I was buying. I remarked that I couldn’t believe Emily was turning 36, whereupon the employee said, “Well, you tell her that she’s a lucky girl.”

I can’t say that the few pleasant words I exchanged with this person changed her life. I can say that it changed it for a few minutes, and who knows after that? Eons ago Aesop said, “No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.” A more modern day philosopher, Leo Buscaglia concurred, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb,sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” Proverbs 16:24

I WILL

 

 

I will lose 10 pounds this year.

Beginning January 1, I will limit my TV watching to 1 hour per day.

At the stroke of midnight of the New Year I will stop being a couch potato and start being an exercise machine.

Sound familiar?  Many of us make similar New Year’s resolutions each and every year. The problem comes in attempting to keep them—for at least a week, anyway.  An unknown quipster knows whereof we speak: “A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.”

 

While it’s always good for us to take stock of our lives over the past year and attempt to make improvements in the new, the reality  is that we humans “look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits” (anonymous).

It seems that the tradition of New Year’s resolutions began around 153 B.C. with Janus, a two-headed mythical god from early Roman times. One of Janus’ heads faced forward to the future and the other looked back on the past. He became a symbol of resolutions, many of which were “to be good to one another.“ Gifts were exchanged and many Romans looked to their enemies for forgiveness at this time. Our month of January was named for Janus.

As I contemplated the beginning of 2013 and the folly of most of my past resolutions, I wondered how many “I wills” were in the Bible and whether or not I could start with those instead of making up my own, on my own. 

 

It turns out there are many instances in Scripture where God says “I will.” We know those are really, truly “I wills.” No doubt about that. But how about the “I wills” of mere mortals like me? A number of those can be found, too—especially in the Psalms:

 

●”I will give thanks to the Lord because of His righteousness; I will sing praises of the name of the Lord Most High.” (Psalm 7:17)What beautiful melodies we would make together, beginning 2013 lifting our hearts and lips in praise and thanksgiving to our Creator.

 

●”I will watch my ways...I will put a muzzle on my mouth…” (from Psalm 39:1-2) Whoa! Now that’s a mouthful in itself! But wouldn’t my world be a better place if I vowed, as King David did, to keep these words? You know the answer.

 

●”I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.” (Psalm 22:22) This is a troubled world and people need to know about Someone Who can help. How will they hear if we who know don’t spread what we know?

With Gods help, in 2013, I will. Will you?

 

 

 

Call Me Scrooge

 

Just call me Scrooge.

 

No, I’m not a Christmas hater. I’m a Christmas lover! And so was Ebenezer Scrooge—after his transformation, that is.

 

Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was first published in December of 1843. It tells the story of  Mr. Scrooge’s journey from mean and miserly to good and generous.

 

When we meet the old coot at the beginning of the tale, he snarls to his nephew Fred: "What's Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money and for finding yourself a year older and not a penny richer! If I could work my will every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart."  But, when he meets the ghost of Christmas Future at the end, his tone is decidedly different: "I fear you more than any specter I have seen. But as I know your purpose is to do me good and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was, I am prepared to bear you company and do it with a thankful heart."
 

When a tardy Bob Cratchit arrives for work the day after Christmas, at best he expects a severe dressing-down and at the worst, dismissal from his position. Instead, his boss gives him the surprise of his life: "A Merry Christmas to you Bob! A merrier Christmas, Bob my good fellow, than I have given you in many a year! I'll raise your salary and do whatever I can to help your struggling family. We will discuss your affairs this very afternoon over a bowl of Christmas bishop. But first, let's make up the fires. I want you to go out and buy another scuttle of coal before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit." Ebenezer Scrooge had been transformed—and because of it, his behavior changed as well.

 

More than just changed or transformed, because of what Jesus Christ did for me I am redeemed! To “redeem” is to “buy back.” “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” (Ephesians 1:7) I used to be “dead in (my) transgressions and sins when (I) followed the ways of this world, but through the grace of God (I) am now to do good works, which God planned for (me) to do (Ephesians 2). I am a new me!

 

The name of Scrooge is much-maligned as we remember the man for what he was instead of who he became. Let’s make sure this Christmas that those of us who go by the name “Christian” live as the redeemed. No “humbugs!”

 

 

 

 

 

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Merry Muck

 

My ears perked up. Did she say what I thought she said?

I had been half listening to the Today Show. The program does a periodic panel discussion involving Matt Lauer, Star Jones, Donny Deutsch and Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC’s chief medical editor. The topic was whether or not it was OK to hire people to put up one’s Christmas tree or buy the gifts. After Ms. Jones said she focused on the religious meaning of Christmas Dr. Snyderman rather pompously said, “I don’t like the religious part. I think religion is what mucks the whole thing up.”

Um, what?

We are talking about Christmas, here, right? Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and its name is self-explanatory: Christ and the Roman Catholic mass celebrating His birth, literally “Christ’s mass”. So, Dr. Snyderman thinks Christmas gets “mucked up” by talking about the One the holiday is about? As far as I’m aware, when there’s a birthday party we are celebrating the person who’s having the birthday. But not Snyderman. She said she wanted to focus instead on green trees and snow.

Well, let’s see - there are a lot of parts to our Christmastime, lots of fun places to put our focus. Let’s “focus” on those green trees that Snyderman relishes. Is it Christmas if the tree is artificial or does it have to be formerly live? (After all, hardly anybody has a living, growing-in-dirt evergreen sparkling in their living room.) And what about those folks who prefer pink ones, or silver or white? When I was a kid it was all the rage to have flocked trees and I thought it would be just so marvelous if we could have one. But, no, just plain old green for us. Today we are currently using a 25 year old blue spruce of the comes-in-a-box variety and it suits us just fine, thank you. We’ve had “real” trees before (they toppled over), could have one again, and will likely purchase another artificial one in the future (don’t have to water ‘em or worry about how long they’re “up”). Trees are a beautiful part of Christmas, all shining with bright lights and sentimental ornaments. I love them all, but I don’t believe any one type makes or breaks Christmas. And, you know, “formerly live” trees dry out and are tossed once the season’s over; eventually the fakes make the ride of shame to the dump, too. So we wouldn’t want to focus too hard on trees.

Then there’s the snow. What about that focus? Lovely as it first falls and blankets our world, but what if our white Christmas isn’t? No Christmas then? Ask a native Floridian that question, or someone who lives on Maui. They “do Christmas” quite well without snowmen and icicles and blizzards. The two Christmases I spent in Hawaii were sandy by the sea and very merry to me. Besides, snow melts and disappears. It flubs the focus test.

How about Santa? I love him! Bringer of wishes, fulfiller of dreams - but yes, only in our dreams. We know that. My kids have always known that. He's a fun story, but not a true story. My kids have always known that, too. We can't focus on him.

Well, then, what about shopping and presents? Shall we focus on that? Everybody likes to get presents, don’t they? Unfortunately, many folks spend money they don’t have to buy things people don’t want. Somebody’s brand new dolly is going to break and you know that sweater is, ahem…not going to fit Uncle Phil. Good gifts are great, but our focus probably shouldn’t be there, either.

Sweet treats? Holiday parties? Sounds of the season? All delicious, fun and sweetly melodious.  But just like the trees that get landfilled, the snow that goes away and the toys that break, all those Christmas parts are so, so…well, unsubstantial (not real, lacking strength or solidity).  If our focus (our central or main point of attraction or attention) is on those things, Christmas might well get “mucked up.”

But Dr. Snyderman may also be right when she said Christmas gets “mucked up” by religion. It’s not “Religion-mas.” It’s not about church or rules or “shoulds or shouldn'ts.”  It’s about CHRISTmas, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, come to earth as a real babe to tell us about the real God the Father, to show us the real way. To one day die on a cross and rise again, to make a real way, the only way for us.

Delight in all the pleasures, all the parts of Christmas, but please don't "muck it up" - keep your attention on Jesus and the relationship you can have with Him. He’s real. Substantial. Strong. Solid. Everlasting. Worthy of your focus.

“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”  Philippians 2:8-10