"Let love be genuine." Romans 12:9
This phrase has been on my mind for the past couple of months. What does it really mean to love with genuine love? Paul wrote that he could be the best speaker, the most faith-filled mountain-mover, and the most giving servant, but still not have love. That threw me when I realized what he was saying. Sometimes it's easy to look like the best Christian person around. Mostly because it's not really a sacrifice to give up or do certain things so that you have a good image.
That's because love is sacrifice. Genuine love means giving up legitimate rights in order to put others before yourself. Sometimes it's easy to give up those rights because you really like the person you're trying to love and want them to be happy. Just because it is easier to love those people doesn't mean that your love isn't genuine - it really can be. Sometimes, though, it's hard to like people because of their weaknesses, or the way their personality clashes with yours, or because they have hurt you. That's when showing genuine love is hard.
"Let us each please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, 'The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.'" Rom. 15:2-3
Learning to love with genuine love is part of the process of becoming like Jesus. I can't barter my way out of this one. Saying "I love you," isn't enough. I need to lay myself aside and really sacrifice for others. That includes holding my tongue, giving people space, digging in and helping out with the most menial jobs, praising people and listening to people, choosing not to do certain things because they frustrate the people I'm around, etc. And even when it's hard, God's grace is enough.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
When God opens a door...
Well, I've promised to blog for the summer, so I'm starting now. I'm going to work on writing again this summer. Being in school has a way of making me forget that I have certain things I like to do besides study, teach, or talk with people. One of those things is writing. There are a few others, which I'll probably talk about at some point on this blog, but for now, suffice it to say that in this blog I don't just want to say "Today I did this and this and this..." but rather actually write stories and devotional notes. I'm not planning on having a lot of time to spend online, but I want to utilize well what I do have.
The Lord has opened wide the door for me to spend the summer in Littleton, CO. I will be living with a Christian family there and going to Littleton Bible Chapel. The church has ESL (English as a Second Language) classes as part of an outreach to the people in their community, and, since I am certified to teach ESL, from Emmaus, I'll be helping out there with the classes, getting some experience working with the believers there. God also provided a part-time landscaping job for me while I'm there, and a 2001 Honda CR-V to drive all summer. I'm pretty excited about the opportunity. Admittedly, I've been dragging my heels to leave Dubuque, because that's where I feel most settled now, with my church the Great Adventure Church, and all the people there, but since I'm not staying there for the summer, I'm glad that God has given me such a great way to spend my summer, in Colorado.
This Kansas farm girl will be living in the suburbs of Denver for the summer. It's a rather interesting concept. I'm pretty sure there won't be wheat fields or combines driving on the roads in Littleton. But recently I was in Chicago for our end-of-the-year school trip, and I was thinking about how I've always wanted to live in a city like Chicago, and it occurred to me that I can be happy wherever God sends me, because life is happy and beautiful when you know the Lord, and when you choose to accept His will for you. I'll miss certain things about a Kansas summer, but I'll get to experience amazing things about a Colorado summer. Most importantly, I'll get to experience knowing the Lord more and more, because that's what life is all about. I love growing and changing and can't wait to look back in August and see how He has stretched me this summer.
God is good! Keep pressing on to know Him more!
The Lord has opened wide the door for me to spend the summer in Littleton, CO. I will be living with a Christian family there and going to Littleton Bible Chapel. The church has ESL (English as a Second Language) classes as part of an outreach to the people in their community, and, since I am certified to teach ESL, from Emmaus, I'll be helping out there with the classes, getting some experience working with the believers there. God also provided a part-time landscaping job for me while I'm there, and a 2001 Honda CR-V to drive all summer. I'm pretty excited about the opportunity. Admittedly, I've been dragging my heels to leave Dubuque, because that's where I feel most settled now, with my church the Great Adventure Church, and all the people there, but since I'm not staying there for the summer, I'm glad that God has given me such a great way to spend my summer, in Colorado.
This Kansas farm girl will be living in the suburbs of Denver for the summer. It's a rather interesting concept. I'm pretty sure there won't be wheat fields or combines driving on the roads in Littleton. But recently I was in Chicago for our end-of-the-year school trip, and I was thinking about how I've always wanted to live in a city like Chicago, and it occurred to me that I can be happy wherever God sends me, because life is happy and beautiful when you know the Lord, and when you choose to accept His will for you. I'll miss certain things about a Kansas summer, but I'll get to experience amazing things about a Colorado summer. Most importantly, I'll get to experience knowing the Lord more and more, because that's what life is all about. I love growing and changing and can't wait to look back in August and see how He has stretched me this summer.
God is good! Keep pressing on to know Him more!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Your face, Lord, will I seek
Yes, Susannah sister dear, I do realize that it has been 4 months since I last blogged. :)
I've been wrapped up for the past few weeks in Hebrew word studies concerning words found in the books of Job and Psalms. My favorite is pānîm , from which the English word "face" is almost exclusively translated. The metaphor for face is overabundant in the Old Testament.
Read:
The word pānîm is translated face or presence most often in the OT. Other words are translated “face” but this one has a wider range of emotions. “Pānîm is the most common word in the OT for ‘presence’ in a broader sense than just ‘face.’”
It is used in connection with entering or leaving the presence of a superior (Yahweh included). “The face expressed a full range of emotions to the Hebrews” – a fallen face meant anger, to fall on one’s face indicated obescience, a lifted face is the opposite of a fallen face, meaning acceptance or approval or the granting of a request.
“’To see the face of a king’ indicated having an audience or entering his presence directly, and not being permitted to see his face indicated the absence of such an audience.” “When the king, or God, with whom one has an audience recognizes the person, he turns his face toward the person. This is a way of expressing the king’s attention and usually his positive response. Turning away the face, or turning the back and not the face, is a lack of attention and response; it is normally a sign of rejection. Hiding the face normally has a similar meaning...Also, one response of mankind to the presence of God is to hide the face, usually out of fear."
(This research from the Anchor Bible Dictionary)
Think of what a person's face means. If you were only to ever see a person's back, you would be able to pick up on their behavior, some, perhaps of their mood (by their body language), who their friends are, where they go, etc. But to see a person's face is to read their heart. You can tell my emotions, whether joy, apathy, or despair, on my face. In my eyes you see my passion, my contentment, my earnestness, my sarcasm. You really get to know a person's heart by seeing their face. This is how this metaphor is used often of the Lord in the Bible.
Job cries out to the Lord, "Why do you hide your face?" (13:24). His heart is breaking because he feels a breach in relationship with the Lord that he doesn't understand but desperately wants to grasp. I'm writing a 10-12 page paper on this subject.
But I've been thinking on the flip side of this as I've been studying some psalms for my homiletics class. I'll be speaking for 10 minutes on Psalm 27 this Tuesday and for 30 minutes on December 10 on Psalm 11, Lord willing. In Psalm 27, David says,
Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, "Seek my face."My heart says to you,
"Your face, LORD, do I seek."
Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the LORD will take me in.
David wanted to know God. He wanted not only to have a vague idea that God was "up there somewhere," but he more desperately wanted to know God's presence with him. He wanted to seek God's face - to know God's heart - to feel God's favor in his life.
William VanGemeren writes in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary, “Little consensus exists on the meaning of the verb ‘seek’...It is probably that he was looking for a divine word or action that would satisfy the longing in his heart. The desire for God’s presence arose out of a need. The psalmist is not an escapist, for he wants to hang on to God until he is fully assured of his glorious presence.”
David was forsaken by men. He was pursued by enemies. He probably often felt alone and afraid. But he chose to seek to know God in His fullness and as he pursued God's heart, his confidence in the Lord grew. Psalm 27 is a joyfully confident expression of David's faith. He says,
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living!
Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!
When things are hard, I want to seek the Lord, not people, to help me and secure me. As I seek His heart, I know He will satisfy me with His presence. I can confidently say with David,
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
I've been wrapped up for the past few weeks in Hebrew word studies concerning words found in the books of Job and Psalms. My favorite is pānîm , from which the English word "face" is almost exclusively translated. The metaphor for face is overabundant in the Old Testament.
Read:
The word pānîm is translated face or presence most often in the OT. Other words are translated “face” but this one has a wider range of emotions. “Pānîm is the most common word in the OT for ‘presence’ in a broader sense than just ‘face.’”
It is used in connection with entering or leaving the presence of a superior (Yahweh included). “The face expressed a full range of emotions to the Hebrews” – a fallen face meant anger, to fall on one’s face indicated obescience, a lifted face is the opposite of a fallen face, meaning acceptance or approval or the granting of a request.
“’To see the face of a king’ indicated having an audience or entering his presence directly, and not being permitted to see his face indicated the absence of such an audience.” “When the king, or God, with whom one has an audience recognizes the person, he turns his face toward the person. This is a way of expressing the king’s attention and usually his positive response. Turning away the face, or turning the back and not the face, is a lack of attention and response; it is normally a sign of rejection. Hiding the face normally has a similar meaning...Also, one response of mankind to the presence of God is to hide the face, usually out of fear."
(This research from the Anchor Bible Dictionary)
Think of what a person's face means. If you were only to ever see a person's back, you would be able to pick up on their behavior, some, perhaps of their mood (by their body language), who their friends are, where they go, etc. But to see a person's face is to read their heart. You can tell my emotions, whether joy, apathy, or despair, on my face. In my eyes you see my passion, my contentment, my earnestness, my sarcasm. You really get to know a person's heart by seeing their face. This is how this metaphor is used often of the Lord in the Bible.
Job cries out to the Lord, "Why do you hide your face?" (13:24). His heart is breaking because he feels a breach in relationship with the Lord that he doesn't understand but desperately wants to grasp. I'm writing a 10-12 page paper on this subject.
But I've been thinking on the flip side of this as I've been studying some psalms for my homiletics class. I'll be speaking for 10 minutes on Psalm 27 this Tuesday and for 30 minutes on December 10 on Psalm 11, Lord willing. In Psalm 27, David says,
Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, "Seek my face."My heart says to you,
"Your face, LORD, do I seek."
Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the LORD will take me in.
David wanted to know God. He wanted not only to have a vague idea that God was "up there somewhere," but he more desperately wanted to know God's presence with him. He wanted to seek God's face - to know God's heart - to feel God's favor in his life.
William VanGemeren writes in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary, “Little consensus exists on the meaning of the verb ‘seek’...It is probably that he was looking for a divine word or action that would satisfy the longing in his heart. The desire for God’s presence arose out of a need. The psalmist is not an escapist, for he wants to hang on to God until he is fully assured of his glorious presence.”
David was forsaken by men. He was pursued by enemies. He probably often felt alone and afraid. But he chose to seek to know God in His fullness and as he pursued God's heart, his confidence in the Lord grew. Psalm 27 is a joyfully confident expression of David's faith. He says,
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living!
Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!
When things are hard, I want to seek the Lord, not people, to help me and secure me. As I seek His heart, I know He will satisfy me with His presence. I can confidently say with David,
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Ask in My name
At least 16 times in the Gospels, Jesus tells His disciples to ask for things. To ask the Father for things. To ask for things in Christ's name. And every time, He connects it with the promise that it will be accomplished. There is generally the stipulation, or understanding, that IF it is for His glory, He'll do it. God isn't a magic prayer button, so I want to add that disclaimer.
But just think about the fact that Jesus tells His people to ASK for things.
"Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."
Here's my question. What do our "whatevers" look like? When I pray for the people I love, do I just ask God to bless them or heal their sickness or et cetera? Or am I asking bigger things for them? Or perhaps, not even "bigger" things, but more specific things.
Over the past couple of years I've been learning to ask specific things. And I'm discovering that God LOVES to give me the things I ask for. Sometimes, sure, He says no, and often I even forget that I asked for those things He says no to. For instance, I may be praying for someone's salvation. That is good. But do I pray for things like:
- that another Christian will run across their path today
- that I'll have an opportunity to show them love in a practical way
- that they will come to the concert I invited them to
- that the Lord will provide money for me to take them out for coffee
- that the Spirit will convict them of their sin and not let up
- that something on the news that I hear and know will make an impression on them will make a spiritual, eternal impression on them
Do I? These are just hypothetical. What situations are you burdened to pray for in your own life? Are you boldly approaching the throne of grace and asking for the specific things that you really want?
Listen to these verses:
"No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly."
"Yes, the Lord will give what is good."
"When You open Your hand, they are filled with good things."
And there are a plethora more.
I love it when my friends ask me for things, whether that is an actual favor that I can do for them, or something I can pray for, or whatever. I love it, and it's a rare occasion that I'll say no. If I am that way, what makes me think that the Lord is any less that way? In fact, because He is God, and so infinitely good, He loves to give so much more than I do.
So what am I asking for, today? What's the harm in asking for all kinds of things? The "worst" that can happen is that He will say no and then, oh well, at least we asked. Our prayers often are so small. Do we think creatively and ask for things in faith, trusting that He will give us what is good?
But just think about the fact that Jesus tells His people to ASK for things.
"Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."
Here's my question. What do our "whatevers" look like? When I pray for the people I love, do I just ask God to bless them or heal their sickness or et cetera? Or am I asking bigger things for them? Or perhaps, not even "bigger" things, but more specific things.
Over the past couple of years I've been learning to ask specific things. And I'm discovering that God LOVES to give me the things I ask for. Sometimes, sure, He says no, and often I even forget that I asked for those things He says no to. For instance, I may be praying for someone's salvation. That is good. But do I pray for things like:
- that another Christian will run across their path today
- that I'll have an opportunity to show them love in a practical way
- that they will come to the concert I invited them to
- that the Lord will provide money for me to take them out for coffee
- that the Spirit will convict them of their sin and not let up
- that something on the news that I hear and know will make an impression on them will make a spiritual, eternal impression on them
Do I? These are just hypothetical. What situations are you burdened to pray for in your own life? Are you boldly approaching the throne of grace and asking for the specific things that you really want?
Listen to these verses:
"No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly."
"Yes, the Lord will give what is good."
"When You open Your hand, they are filled with good things."
And there are a plethora more.
I love it when my friends ask me for things, whether that is an actual favor that I can do for them, or something I can pray for, or whatever. I love it, and it's a rare occasion that I'll say no. If I am that way, what makes me think that the Lord is any less that way? In fact, because He is God, and so infinitely good, He loves to give so much more than I do.
So what am I asking for, today? What's the harm in asking for all kinds of things? The "worst" that can happen is that He will say no and then, oh well, at least we asked. Our prayers often are so small. Do we think creatively and ask for things in faith, trusting that He will give us what is good?
Saturday, July 18, 2009
That's trust
"O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in You."
Today when I was sharing with the little girls who came to the one-day afternoon girls camp that my littlest sister and I hosted, the Lord led me to give the girls different illustrations of what trust was. We talked about meeting someone somewhere - "Meet me in the kitchen at three o'clock and I'll have something special for you." Then, about hanging off of a cliff and reaching out to grab the hand of your rescuer. Then, about trusting a chair and sitting in it. Then, tonight, when I was looking through pictures of time spent with my church in Dubuque, I saw this picture, and it hit me:
That's trust.
Little Fifi, jumping off of the wood platform 30 feet off of the ground, attached to the wire by her little waist belt and a rope. Trust comes in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes it's like jumping off into the air with nothing but a safety belt to hold you. It's crazy. People around don't understand it. (I don't try to understand why people literally do that, like Fiona did.) :) But it's knowing that sure, everything will be fine because the one you trust won't let anything happen to you that will hurt you.
But it goes farther than that, at least one step. This next picture is one of my favorites of all time:
This was taken just a moment before the first picture. Fifi's expression is TRUST personified. Quiet, happy, ready to take the leap, not a fearful thought crossing her mind, just waiting and then going, full out. She didn't make a big deal out of it at all. She just did it. And then she was happy. And she did it again and again.
This morning I was starting to worry about money and relationships again, and the song crossed my mind:
"Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him,
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er..."
So true! I serve a very well-proven God! He is so trustworthy.
I fear pain. So much. The thought of being emotionally torn up again makes me recoil like I've seen a snake. But that isn't trust. Sometimes the path of trust does lead to pain. But as I sat out under the stars tonight, I decided that it was worth it, and I would keep on praying big prayers and trusting my big God to answer. I would keep on following His lead because even if it is uncertain, it's way better than failing when I follow my own wisdom.
It's all over the psalms.
"Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust."
I want to trust my God. So here I go again. I'm taking the leap.
Today when I was sharing with the little girls who came to the one-day afternoon girls camp that my littlest sister and I hosted, the Lord led me to give the girls different illustrations of what trust was. We talked about meeting someone somewhere - "Meet me in the kitchen at three o'clock and I'll have something special for you." Then, about hanging off of a cliff and reaching out to grab the hand of your rescuer. Then, about trusting a chair and sitting in it. Then, tonight, when I was looking through pictures of time spent with my church in Dubuque, I saw this picture, and it hit me:
That's trust.
Little Fifi, jumping off of the wood platform 30 feet off of the ground, attached to the wire by her little waist belt and a rope. Trust comes in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes it's like jumping off into the air with nothing but a safety belt to hold you. It's crazy. People around don't understand it. (I don't try to understand why people literally do that, like Fiona did.) :) But it's knowing that sure, everything will be fine because the one you trust won't let anything happen to you that will hurt you.
But it goes farther than that, at least one step. This next picture is one of my favorites of all time:
This was taken just a moment before the first picture. Fifi's expression is TRUST personified. Quiet, happy, ready to take the leap, not a fearful thought crossing her mind, just waiting and then going, full out. She didn't make a big deal out of it at all. She just did it. And then she was happy. And she did it again and again.
This morning I was starting to worry about money and relationships again, and the song crossed my mind:
"Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him,
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er..."
So true! I serve a very well-proven God! He is so trustworthy.
I fear pain. So much. The thought of being emotionally torn up again makes me recoil like I've seen a snake. But that isn't trust. Sometimes the path of trust does lead to pain. But as I sat out under the stars tonight, I decided that it was worth it, and I would keep on praying big prayers and trusting my big God to answer. I would keep on following His lead because even if it is uncertain, it's way better than failing when I follow my own wisdom.
It's all over the psalms.
"Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust."
I want to trust my God. So here I go again. I'm taking the leap.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Skiles Drama at its Greatest
So this evening I was innocently checking Facebook in my room in the basement. Rebekah was in the bathroom down here dying her t-shirt, Susannah was upstairs on the computer, and Abigail was out in the garden. The rest of the family was out harvesting. Well, I heard this crash and then these frantic tweets and the fluttering of wings.
*Let me take you back for a moment to last summer, when Rebekah and I came home from school to an empty house. I was going down to the basement room when I heard this shrieking sound coming from this little black mass of something on the floor. Rebekah and I, amidst lots of random screams and nervous steps down the basement stairs, discovered that it was a nest full of Chimney Swifts that had fallen down out of our chimney onto the floor. Our basement isn't quite finished yet, see. That was quite the experience.*
So this time, I knew it was the birds again. But...they were big this time, and they were flying.
*Let me take you back again to when I was little. My uncle had a parakeet named Buddy (that was supposed to be a boy but kept laying eggs...so apparently not) and sometimes it would fly around the house. I remember screaming and hiding under my aunt's bed because I was so scared. I like little birds chirping outside and I like shooting pheasants and dove and quail and eating them, but I do NOT like birds flying around in small places where they might hit me in the head.*
Okay, back to the story. So I took a few tentative steps toward the commotion and at the same moment I saw a bird flying into the porch door upstairs and one flying right toward me! I screamed pretty much at the top of my lungs and bolted for my bedroom slamming the door behind me. I could hear the bird flying into things outside. I yelled at the top of my lungs for help over and over again and finally my sisters came around. Rebekah, totally oblivious, came out of the bathroom to the washing machine, when suddenly the bird flew right toward her. SHE shrieked and dropped to the floor in a heap, then pulled the laundry basket over her head. By now the poor bird was behind the washing machine, apparently quite stuck. Abigail and Susannah climbed on top of the washing machines to try to dig it out. You should have heard our dialogue:
Me: Why don't you get a net? Do we have a net?
Abby: I have my fish net, but it's like "this" big.
Me: Oh well. Maybe if we got a hoe. Do you think? (I'm still peeking out from behind my door)
Abby gives up and climbs down, then Rebekah puts the laundry basket down and braves the task.
Rebekah: Here, birdy, birdy. Come on. Ah! (wings fluttering)
Me: Is it out?
Rebekah: No, it just moved. Stop moving!
Susannah: You WANT it to move, Rebekah, you're trying to get it out.
So Abigail leaves, I'm not sure why, because she was the bravest one there. I decide to go look for some sort of tool and bring in a rake. Suddenly the bird flies out of where it is hiding and slams right into the light, and dive bombs into a pile of cardboard boxes. Of course, we're all screaming while it's in flight, ducking and running. And then we were quoting Pete's Dragon:
"And then, he smiled at me."
"Well, did you smile back?"
"I didn't have TIME to smile back! I was too busy RUNNING!"
We all three tentatively start picking away at the boxes, calling for the bird and even whistling for it. I suggested we find some birdseed and lure it out, but you know, that wasn't really considered as a valid option.
Then, we found it, sitting askew on a board. We didn't know what to do, although we considered scooping it into a box, but we were afraid it would fly again. So we called Abigail and she came back downstairs and scooped it up in her hands and took it outside. She set it on the slide and it flew away. End of story. At least it was a happy one. We were afraid it broke itself when it hit the light.
Abigail: It's just a poor little bird scared to death.
Me: IT'S scared to death? What about me? It flew into my head!
So how many Skiles girls does it take to get a bird out of the basement? Abigail, apparently.
*Let me take you back for a moment to last summer, when Rebekah and I came home from school to an empty house. I was going down to the basement room when I heard this shrieking sound coming from this little black mass of something on the floor. Rebekah and I, amidst lots of random screams and nervous steps down the basement stairs, discovered that it was a nest full of Chimney Swifts that had fallen down out of our chimney onto the floor. Our basement isn't quite finished yet, see. That was quite the experience.*
So this time, I knew it was the birds again. But...they were big this time, and they were flying.
*Let me take you back again to when I was little. My uncle had a parakeet named Buddy (that was supposed to be a boy but kept laying eggs...so apparently not) and sometimes it would fly around the house. I remember screaming and hiding under my aunt's bed because I was so scared. I like little birds chirping outside and I like shooting pheasants and dove and quail and eating them, but I do NOT like birds flying around in small places where they might hit me in the head.*
Okay, back to the story. So I took a few tentative steps toward the commotion and at the same moment I saw a bird flying into the porch door upstairs and one flying right toward me! I screamed pretty much at the top of my lungs and bolted for my bedroom slamming the door behind me. I could hear the bird flying into things outside. I yelled at the top of my lungs for help over and over again and finally my sisters came around. Rebekah, totally oblivious, came out of the bathroom to the washing machine, when suddenly the bird flew right toward her. SHE shrieked and dropped to the floor in a heap, then pulled the laundry basket over her head. By now the poor bird was behind the washing machine, apparently quite stuck. Abigail and Susannah climbed on top of the washing machines to try to dig it out. You should have heard our dialogue:
Me: Why don't you get a net? Do we have a net?
Abby: I have my fish net, but it's like "this" big.
Me: Oh well. Maybe if we got a hoe. Do you think? (I'm still peeking out from behind my door)
Abby gives up and climbs down, then Rebekah puts the laundry basket down and braves the task.
Rebekah: Here, birdy, birdy. Come on. Ah! (wings fluttering)
Me: Is it out?
Rebekah: No, it just moved. Stop moving!
Susannah: You WANT it to move, Rebekah, you're trying to get it out.
So Abigail leaves, I'm not sure why, because she was the bravest one there. I decide to go look for some sort of tool and bring in a rake. Suddenly the bird flies out of where it is hiding and slams right into the light, and dive bombs into a pile of cardboard boxes. Of course, we're all screaming while it's in flight, ducking and running. And then we were quoting Pete's Dragon:
"And then, he smiled at me."
"Well, did you smile back?"
"I didn't have TIME to smile back! I was too busy RUNNING!"
We all three tentatively start picking away at the boxes, calling for the bird and even whistling for it. I suggested we find some birdseed and lure it out, but you know, that wasn't really considered as a valid option.
Then, we found it, sitting askew on a board. We didn't know what to do, although we considered scooping it into a box, but we were afraid it would fly again. So we called Abigail and she came back downstairs and scooped it up in her hands and took it outside. She set it on the slide and it flew away. End of story. At least it was a happy one. We were afraid it broke itself when it hit the light.
Abigail: It's just a poor little bird scared to death.
Me: IT'S scared to death? What about me? It flew into my head!
So how many Skiles girls does it take to get a bird out of the basement? Abigail, apparently.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
So, that was camp
For you are great and do wondrous things;
you alone are God.
Teach me your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth.
The Lord truly did great and wondrous things at camp. And most of them revolved around revealing His truth to the girls I was with. It was really beautiful.
The week I counseled high school girls, one of the speakers shared about "toxic faith," or lies that we believe as truth. It fascinated me that this very thing is what the Lord has been trying to teach me this past year, and it was so good to see the Lord open my girls' eyes and show them the very things He has been proving to me - that they are beautiful, cherished, and loved. We had lots of good talks complete with tears and thank-you prayers. The Lord also gave me the opportunity to teach the girls afternoon Bible study for the week! I got to share on Thursday and Friday, and just shared about Hannah and Leah, two of my current favorite Bible women, and all that the Lord did for them and in them. It was really cool. I am always so thankful for any chance to teach, since it's kind of in my blood, but this time I was just really humbled by the fact that the Lord opened the door for me. It was so kind of Him. A girl in my cabin trusted Christ, too, after years of pretending to be a believer. And I got to spend time with one of my favorite boys in the world, who trusted Christ when he was 13, a few years ago, and is doing really well spiritually. He has the hardest life of almost anyone I know, but he is pressing on to know the Lord and it's so cool to see.
The second week was quite a stretching one. I was speaking at KBC for the girls grade school week. I had never been the only speaker at the week of camp, for morning and evening messages, and I must confess, that was pretty hard. Coming straight from school to working at the cemetery and then straight to camp two weeks after school, I definitely didn't feel as prepared as I would have like to have been, but that's okay, because the Lord had important things to teach me about dependence on Him and not on my own ability. Frankly, after I teach (anything, English, writing, Bible) I can generally feel like, "Yep, that went pretty well." But this week I didn't feel that way very much at all. One of my close friends who was counseling said that sometimes she did find it hard to follow the messages, even. That was pretty humbling. But the Lord used them - and even to teach the girls what I felt the Lord wanted as my objective. One girls said she learned more about Jesus' sacrifice for us, another about God's great love, another about the fact that she herself was special and loved, and one told me, after an especially difficult message, "Ms. Liz, that message was for me." So, the Lord was reminding me that it is His work and He only calls me to obey.
I was reminded one evening that it's actually kind of silly that when we have a hard week we talk about dependence on the Lord, when in reality we have to live every day depending on Him. It's true. But He does use those hard days to remind us, oh so vividly, that we have to trust Him for everything.
Thank you for praying. God did prove Himself strong and victorious through the two weeks of camp, and I'm thankful. It's back to work now. I'm not sure I'm ready to face the rest of the summer on a lawn mower, but it's again that daily dependence on my Lord. He will carry me through. :)
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