I don't know if you've seen one of the featured stories on Yahoo News today or not. I heard about it on the way home from the gym this morning or yesterday morning (I don't remember much at that hour of the day, um, like at 6:30 AM--the mornings run together). Anyway, read the story about the zoo keeper and lion who took refuge from Ike at the baptist church on Bolivar Island. In fact, he had full reign of the sanctuary. They locked him in there and watched him from the choir loft! It gives a vivid image of Jesus as the Lion of Judah. In fact, the article mentions how the lion snarled from his perch on the altar. I have images of Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. And C.S. Lewis put it best when he said He is not a tame lion, but He is good.
Here's the link to the article:
http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/20080917/ap_on_re_us/ike_tales_of_survival
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Men Worship and Women Will Follow
I've been meaning to blog this week about my epiphany moment in church on Sunday, but the week has been very full with Southern Living at Home work on Monday while the kids slept, a full day at the mall yesterday, getting the kids' pictures done at Picture People (turned out super cute!), and today, finally sitting down to blog.
I don't know how many times I've sung a song in a worship setting where the men sing one thing and then the women echo. I suppose it could be the reverse, but on Sunday, we did a song where the men sang, women echoed. The phrases included "I will love you..." "I will serve you..." "I will trust you..." The one that really struck me was "I will serve you." I have to add that whenever our staff at Bethany had chapel and we sang a song with echos, I did not quite like it. Our staff only consisted of a handful people, me being one of five women total. So when the men sang, it was great, and when the women sang, we sounded like little birds squeaking out the notes, especially when one of these fine men picked a song that was in a range none of sounded good singing and we probably could've broken the windows if we had projected enough. Well, maybe it was just ME that sounded like a squeaking bird--I'm sure the other gals sounded fine--I just could hear me squeaking! My point is that men always sound pretty fantastic when it's just men singing. They can bolster out the notes, fill a room with sound, and just sound majestic and powerful.
So during this song, I really heard the powerful theological implication behind men/women echo. I heard men belting out the phrase "I will serve you" and then the women following with the same commitment. I believed it was a powerful display of how God wants his Church to be and each family to be conducted, with a man commiting to serving His Maker and the women taking cues off that commitment and following with the same commitment.
I think women are always looking to men, whether we know it or not, to lead us in our faith, to walk with us. Now I have had many women in my life who are powerful faith leaders for me. But there is something distinct and engaging, almost mystifying, about a man who loves Jesus and falls on his knees in submission to him. Men are so macho, powerful, independent, headstrong...and when they show vulnerability as human beings, flawed and helpless, and yield to their Warrior God (if you will go along with that image for a moment)...well, wow, there is power and attractiveness in that all around. It is finally a man being what God says a man is--someone who serves Him and no one else.
I could hear David belting out his commitment to serve and then felt a rush to proclaim that commitment to Jesus with him. I would pause and then listen for his commitment to love Jesus and then I couldn't wait to say my part and commit too.
It was a mind-boggling moment for me since I have sung echos so many times and really have never thought about the power of men singing as one unit and women as another unit, and then united together. It must be an amazing thing for Jesus to watch--I'm sure he's just like, "YES! YES! This is IT! This is what I'm talking about when I talk about submitting to each other and to me and you be unified, one in Spirit--now you're GETTING IT! These men are your cheerleaders! Listen to them! Follow them!"
I believe women, married or not, are looking for spiritual direction from men around them. I believe many married women are dying for their husbands to take the lead. And I believe many men are failing miserably and women are failing miserably at not nagging them about it, instead of showing an example of submission to Jesus as a way to be an encourager in the home. We women just get in the way! I also believe there are many men doing an AMAZING job as leaders for Christ in their homes and communities. I am blessed to know quite of few of these menfolk and I will stand on the spiritual battlefield with them any day, my husband being the main one, of course! But we have some wonderful menfolk friends who are our warriors for Jesus with us, who we admire and know are doing what God has designed men to do.
I read an amazing book at few years ago by John Eldredge called "Wild at Heart." Check it out--men, women, young, old...menfolk--read it with your teen sons or young man sons--women, read it to get a clue...I don't have a clue either, just my ramblings of a wife who needs to silence her tongue more, listen to her family more, and above all, submit to Jesus way more and get off my high horse. Sound familiar, girls out there?
I don't know how many times I've sung a song in a worship setting where the men sing one thing and then the women echo. I suppose it could be the reverse, but on Sunday, we did a song where the men sang, women echoed. The phrases included "I will love you..." "I will serve you..." "I will trust you..." The one that really struck me was "I will serve you." I have to add that whenever our staff at Bethany had chapel and we sang a song with echos, I did not quite like it. Our staff only consisted of a handful people, me being one of five women total. So when the men sang, it was great, and when the women sang, we sounded like little birds squeaking out the notes, especially when one of these fine men picked a song that was in a range none of sounded good singing and we probably could've broken the windows if we had projected enough. Well, maybe it was just ME that sounded like a squeaking bird--I'm sure the other gals sounded fine--I just could hear me squeaking! My point is that men always sound pretty fantastic when it's just men singing. They can bolster out the notes, fill a room with sound, and just sound majestic and powerful.
So during this song, I really heard the powerful theological implication behind men/women echo. I heard men belting out the phrase "I will serve you" and then the women following with the same commitment. I believed it was a powerful display of how God wants his Church to be and each family to be conducted, with a man commiting to serving His Maker and the women taking cues off that commitment and following with the same commitment.
I think women are always looking to men, whether we know it or not, to lead us in our faith, to walk with us. Now I have had many women in my life who are powerful faith leaders for me. But there is something distinct and engaging, almost mystifying, about a man who loves Jesus and falls on his knees in submission to him. Men are so macho, powerful, independent, headstrong...and when they show vulnerability as human beings, flawed and helpless, and yield to their Warrior God (if you will go along with that image for a moment)...well, wow, there is power and attractiveness in that all around. It is finally a man being what God says a man is--someone who serves Him and no one else.
I could hear David belting out his commitment to serve and then felt a rush to proclaim that commitment to Jesus with him. I would pause and then listen for his commitment to love Jesus and then I couldn't wait to say my part and commit too.
It was a mind-boggling moment for me since I have sung echos so many times and really have never thought about the power of men singing as one unit and women as another unit, and then united together. It must be an amazing thing for Jesus to watch--I'm sure he's just like, "YES! YES! This is IT! This is what I'm talking about when I talk about submitting to each other and to me and you be unified, one in Spirit--now you're GETTING IT! These men are your cheerleaders! Listen to them! Follow them!"
I believe women, married or not, are looking for spiritual direction from men around them. I believe many married women are dying for their husbands to take the lead. And I believe many men are failing miserably and women are failing miserably at not nagging them about it, instead of showing an example of submission to Jesus as a way to be an encourager in the home. We women just get in the way! I also believe there are many men doing an AMAZING job as leaders for Christ in their homes and communities. I am blessed to know quite of few of these menfolk and I will stand on the spiritual battlefield with them any day, my husband being the main one, of course! But we have some wonderful menfolk friends who are our warriors for Jesus with us, who we admire and know are doing what God has designed men to do.
I read an amazing book at few years ago by John Eldredge called "Wild at Heart." Check it out--men, women, young, old...menfolk--read it with your teen sons or young man sons--women, read it to get a clue...I don't have a clue either, just my ramblings of a wife who needs to silence her tongue more, listen to her family more, and above all, submit to Jesus way more and get off my high horse. Sound familiar, girls out there?
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
First Bath Together
Kyle and Makenna took their first bath together on Tuesday night! Kyle was so excited about it--I wasn't sure if it's because he had plans of splashing her like Niagra Falls or because playing with a friend in the tub is just way more fun than alone! I did a video clip of them but I am having trouble uploading it to google so if anyone out there knows how to troubleshoot that, please tell me what to do! The kids do a rousing rendition of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." Oh, and the bath water is yellow not from what you might think but from Crayola bath coloring tablets--very fun stuff!
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