He's in the details.

She and I have spent hours and hours building trust. Quality time that only the God of us both could have orchestrated. I adore her. Well, she's a talker. I adore that about her. She ALWAYS has a story or two or three about anything and everything. When you sit down with her you quickly realize that she is a rare find. A jewel.

She sent me the following email this morning. I didn't ask her permission to share it before I am with you. It actually makes me giddy for her to open up her her direct email of this blog. She will freak out, but not because I am giving you her words exactly as written, but because she's humble to the core. I have read and listened to perhaps millions of her words and I'm telling you, if you read all of the ones below, you will be blessed and I pray that you will hunger for a God of the details.

__________________________________________

As I grew up, my mom would tell me I had a vivid imagination. Today, I really appreciate that the Lord put that in me...as I read the Bible or any book of interest, I can picture the scene in my mind. I can see a young Solomon, sitting with David, 'tender and the only one in the sight of his mother, being taught by dad.' David telling Solomon all about things of God. To love the Lord, to trust Him, to acknowledge Him in all his ways, and his path will be directed. As David was close to death he would tell his son,..you have wisdom, and know what to do. I see the love in so many of these people as I read. Jonathan and David had such a closeness, a bond that was not broken even through death.

How about King Hezekiah having a relationship with the prophet Isaiah. In the past I thought of these major prophets kind of behind the scenes,...not really someone to go talk to. It's just cool for me to know that when Hezekiah needed a prayer, a word in due season, he came to Isaiah. I bet they had great godly chats.

I can picture a very young Josiah begin to seek God. Jeremiah was very young also, when he was called to be a prophet. Now envision Josiah and Jeremiah kind of growing in the Lord together. To see great things the Lord is doing, to give Him the glory,..I can picture them walking side by side making melody in their hearts. Josephus the historian, says that the prophet Jeremiah sang a song at Josiah's funeral, that was sung for the next 100 years. I believe they had a great relationship, and it must have been very hard when Josiah died.

What about Amos, another prophet. Taken from a book written in 1909..." He was not rich. His family had no distinction. He had to work hard. He lived in the country, had no training for public speech, and had no influential friends"..(that we know of). "Now he was to go into a hostile kingdom and there, in the face of ridicule, opposition and fierce threats, he had his say and made men hear...then he quietly went back home to his sheep and sycamore trees. As for training, it did come, in the form of time alone with the Spirit of God." Can you see all of this in your mind? The writer goes into more then likely he had a wife, a Mrs. Amos. Maybe she was thinking,..she should have married Amaziah! After all, if something happened to Amos, then what will happen to her and the kids. Sure, I can see the whole picture.

For me, I also love details. When I learn that someone is reading the Bible, or just got saved, I want to know the details! What are you reading? Is it exciting for you?? What happened to you, that made you turn to the living God 'for reals'! You can ask my brother-in-law, and he may tell you I'm a stalker in that way. It's too exciting to just 'just stand back'.. I want to hear the story behind it. I want to hear the things God has done in your life.

All of this is fresh in my mind, because I have been reading Acts. Paul was in Corinth. When Gallio became governor of Achaia, some Jews rose up against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. Gallio didn't want to concern himself with the matter. Sosthenes had been chosen to be the ruler of the synagogue so he would have been the one to present the case against Paul to Gallio. When Gallio let the matter go, the Greeks grabbed Sosthenes and beat him.

It hurt my heart for him, knowing he was beaten. I just didn't understand. As I looked more into this, in a couple of different study Bibles, and the commentaries, it says this same 'Sosthenes' may be the one who was with Paul in Corinthians 1:1..'Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother.' All I could think of was..his story. When he was beaten, was that when he had enough of that past life? When Paul had preached, was Sosthenes in the crowd, and the still small voice of God making Himself known? I would love to be the stalker right now, and hear his story. If I am going to be obsessed, I'm glad it's this.

And when she's done talking I usually end up in my brain condensing down all those wonderful thoughts into a sentence that barely does all her words justice, but the beauty of the body of Christ is that it takes all of us to learn and grow. We can't do it alone. I for one am happy Deanna majors in details.. just like God. 

the painting i would have missed.

I  can appreciate a great bargain, and truth be told my sisters and I spent hours yesterday talking shopping plans and whats on sale and who opens when. The Lead Singer LOVES black Friday. He's our go-to man on anything related. He loves a deal more than anyone I know and he left this morning with my dad to hit boy stores. Um.... no desire to go with them. Hmmm they didn't even invite me come to think of it. Gosh, I hope that doesn't mean my Christmas present is coming from Cabela's.  Naw.. they don't have fabric there.. the Lead Singer is smarter than that, but I digress..

Well, I woke up this morning well rested. We ended up not attending the very early morning deals and are opting to shop locally today. Shop locally, what a great plan. There are some great people in our town that supply some great things capable of gift giving. Shopping locally is not a high calling. It just makes sense. However, this in and of itself, isn't the reason that we chose to not stay up all hours galavanting with the rest of the city to get the best deals of the year. Nope.

It was the wind.

Windy.

Unseasonably warm, yet windy.

The wind, plain and simple.

That's not an excuse. My sister just didn't want to go out into the wind and I really don't blame her. I normally hate the wind, but this morning I am thanking her.  Had we went shopping, I would have been sleeping this morning when the skies turned bright pink with the first kisses of the sun.

When I'm remembering the good 'ole days I want to remember sunrises that God uses my favorite color to paint with... not the 200 bucks I saved on something fleeting.

just a man and a pen.

One of the things I am extremely thankful for is my church.  Some of my best friends in the whole wide world are there. You know the ones that you just know will be shacked up next to you in Gloryland, but even if they aren't you would walk the span of heaven just to spend time with them. It touches my heart deeply when I think of all the tears shed and growing up in the Lord we have done side by side. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for them. They are often my lifeline to reality. Setting my thinking straight and blessing me with wisdom well beyond this earth. Its sharing life together honestly that we moved beyond the shadows cast on us by the evil one.. past all the pride and selfish ambitions.. to safety. That's what I feel. Safe. A safe place to worship my Savior as He made me. Golly it takes work, with a capital "W" to be in a safe place where freedom is celebrated, but the benefits far outweigh the squirming and flip flops your soul does in an effort to see the Truth as a community. It's a beautiful thing. Trust me. 

Thomas Obediah Chisholm

•  Born: Ju­ly 29, 1866, Frank­lin, Ken­tucky.
• Chisholm was ed­u­cat­ed in a small count­ry school, and be­came its teach­er at age 16. 
• At age 21, he be­came as­so­ci­ate ed­it­or of the week­ly news­pa­per, The Frank­lin Fav­or­ite. 
• In 1893, he be­came a Christ­ian un­der the min­is­try of Dr. Hen­ry Clay Mor­rison
• Chis­holm moved to Lou­is­ville at the per­sua­sion of Mor­ris­on and be­came ed­it­or of the Pen­te­cos­tal Her­ald.
•  He was or­dained a Meth­od­ist min­is­ter in 1903 and served a brief pas­tor­ate at Scotts­ville, Ken­tucky. 
• In poor health, he moved his fam­i­ly to a farm near Wi­nona Lake, In­di­a­na. 
• He be­came an in­sur­ance sales­man, moving to Vine­land, New Jer­sey, in 1916. 
• He re­tired in 1953 to the Meth­od­ist Home for the Aged in Ocean Grove, New Jer­sey. 
• Died: Feb­ru­a­ry 29, 1960, Ocean Grove, New Jer­sey.

He wasn't all that successful.  He never held a high office. By the look of this list his ministry was brief even. You might not know him, but you know one of his famous poems that was put to music. It is the song that you often hum to yourself when you are so thankful for Him that words just don't seem like enough. Words that are wrote by a man who wasn't anything special in the eyes of the world. Words that  give my soul a voice. 

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father; 

there is no shadow of turning with thee.

thou changest not, thy compassions, 

they fail not;as thou hast been thou forever will be.

Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;all I have needed thy hand hath provided;

great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

sun, moon and stars in their courses above

join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth

thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! 

It's this hymn. The words of a man who was just a man who loved God and liked to write that remind me that God is faithful to the core. He can't be anything but.  It's this faithfulness that has allowed me to be a part of something way bigger than me. A church that searches out and clings to His faithfulness. A community of faithful believers who believe that being faithful to God is the most important thing in the world. When we meet, we remind each other there is strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. I  need that reminder often. 

He asked me a question.

He smiled, took my face and asked me a question. I've heard the question asked many times over again through the Bible.. but Jesus was asking me. This was different. He wanted me to be sure deep down of somethings about Him. Confident. He reminded me that this wasn't a content question. He assured me that His fingerprints would be all over the answer so that I would know and also feel that I'm 100% right in His eyes. Do you even know how much that little gift means to me?? There really IS no wrong answer! 

 "Kelly, who do you say that I am?" 

and He had me grab my camera.. and walk. 

You are the morning sun revealing the night's secrets.

You are worthy to be trusted. You are constant. You are free. 

Full of love for those who look, see and taste. 

You are complete. You are perfect words. 

You are the step giver who keeps my feet from stumbling. 

You are my foundation. You are the Rock on which I stand. 

You surround me with your grace. You are my cover.

You sometimes keep yourself hidden until my steps lead me to you. Discovery of You in me is part of the journey. You are a gift to be opened and shared. You are peace. 

I just have to ask you friend.... Who do you say that He is? 

"Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord." 

Hosea 6:3

how to motivate a hinge.

The questions collide in my soul with the force of the sun at daybreak. 

How do you motivate a hinge? 

(proverbs 26:14) 

and

Why did Jesus get seemingly all upset

 at the woman asking to 

heal her daughter 

from a demon? 

(Matthew 15:21-28)

 Did you know that there are no kiddos in the bible that asked for anything of Jesus?  No requests. Nothing. Nada. That surprised me, cuz well, my world changers ask for stuff all the time. They are children and they need stuff. So, why, in the most important book in my life is there no mention of children asking for anything?  I think the answer is found in a hinge. 

A hinge only works if someone attaches it to something. Then, it only moves if someone moves it. A hinge can't do anything by itself. It's a formed piece of metal that has a specific use. It doesn't get to decide if it wants to be a hinge. It just is. So when Proverbs likens a hinge to a lazy person it has me thinking.  

 My heart begins to sort out the evidence. 

• in the bible children don't ask for anything.. a parent does on their behalf 
• a hinge is like a lazy person.. it needs outside force for it to work. 
• children can be lazy and drive their parent's nutso. 

A ton of bricks comes off my chest when I realize that it's my job as a parent to ask God to motivate a changer into something other than a door hinge. It's not my job to motivate. I can however, plead with the Father over and over just like the woman did when she asked that He heal her daughter in Matthew. Jesus wasn't mad at her for asking. He knew she had the faith and could have healed her right there on the spot, but maybe it wasn't about healing her daughter.  Maybe it was about a woman drawing closer to the Father over and over on behalf of her child. Maybe instead of just trusting the hinge to work on it's own or even forcing it to work, the mother knew the only way for her daughter to be healed was to go to the Father ask him to move it... and to keep asking until the Father healed her child.