I found out recently that July is National Bereaved Parents Month, so if you are one of the unfortunate ones to have lost a child at any point, this is for you:

”Today I wrote a note to a bereaved mother. I wanted to say don’t believe all those sympathy cards. The ones that say ‘time heals’ and ‘God only takes the best’ and ‘may your sorrows be lessened.’ You’ll only be disappointed. I wanted to say this is the most heart-wrenching, chest crushing, breath stealing tragedy on earth. I wanted to tell her there will be days she wants to die, and friends who will not understand some of the things she does or says.

I wanted to tell her she will still feel her child’s presence at times, sometimes so strongly that it is as if they are dancing just at the edge of whatever activity is going on. And other times she might not feel their presence at all.

I wanted to tell her that her life will not go back, that she will never be the same, because a piece of her left with her child. And that even though the pain does not go away, somehow her soul will eventually make enough room so she can hold it all– the grief, the pain, the joy, and the love. 

I wanted to tell her… but I didn’t. Instead, I wrote this: I’m sending love, for words are pointless right now. And that is the truth” (Susi Costello).

This may be a repeat. Actually, I’m fairly certain it’s a repeat.

I’ve mentioned gratitude many times in these posts of mine.

I think I keep repeating myself because I keep hoping it will sink in.

Mostly, these blog posts are just me preaching to myself with you getting to join in the fun.

I’m sure that gratitude is much more attractive than envy, but it seems like every kind of ad for every kind of product or service is banking on the fact that most of us are envious of our neighbors and want what they have.

Gratitude does make what you have into enough. Therefore, to be grateful is one of the most counter-cultural virtues you can have. Giving thanks seems rebellious in this ultra-competitive society.

Choose gratitude.

“And now hear your task. Far from here in the land of Narnia there lives an aged king who is sad because he has no prince of his blood to be king after him. He has no heir because his only son was stolen from him many years ago, and no one in Narnia knows where that prince went or whether he is still alive. But he is. I lay on you this command, that you seek this lost prince until either you have found him and brought him to his father’s house, or else died in the attempt, or else gone back to your own world.”

“How, please?” said Jill.

“I will tell you, Child,” said the Lion. “These are the signs by which I will guide you in your quest. First; as soon as the Boy Eustace sets foot in Narnia, he will meet an old and dear friend. He must greet that friend at once; if he does, you will both have good help. Second; you must journey out of Narnia to the north till you come to the ruined city of the ancient giants. Third; you shall find a writing on a stone in that ruined city, and you must do what the writing tells you. Fourth; you will know the lost prince (if you find him) by this, that he will be the first person you have met in your travels who will ask you to do something in my name, in the name of Aslan.”

As the Lion seemed to have finished, Jill thought she should say something. So she said, “Thank you very much. I see.”

“Child,” said Aslan, in a gentler voice than he had yet used, “perhaps you do not see quite as well as you think. But the first step is to remember” (C. S. Lewis, The Silver Chair).

Sometimes it all starts with remembering who you are and Whose you are.

Sometimes when my creativity is at a low ebb and I’m feeling weary from the week, I get ideas for blog posts from scrolling through my Facebook memories.

Sometimes, I find something I posted that seems so relevant and timely that I have to share it.

In this case, I copied and pasted the entire thing because it’s that good. It’s worth the time it takes to read. It comes from Tyler McKenzie, Pastor out of Louisville, Kentucky:

“If we’re not self-aware, there are many ways social media can make us less, not more, social. One way that quietly goes unnoticed (but whose painful consequences are undeniable in our culture) is that it allows us to choose and filter the voices we listen to. 

It feeds confirmation bias politically, racially, culturally, religiously, etc. It creates a sort of self-made groupthink bubble in which you can simply screen out people who express any opinion on any thing that you don’t like. 

No wonder the States of America are Divided, not United, today. No wonder literally everything feels so polarized – Choose your side! No wonder efforts to find compromise or solutions seem fruitless. 

I believe the Jesus follower chooses a better way. 
-We have the humility to listen, knowing that nothing about us is perfect, including our beliefs. God had to die for us wretches, after all. 
-We welcome conversations that are challenging with those who are different because we know we always have a lot to learn and this may be another opportunity.
-We speak with truth AND love. Love without complete truth is enablement. Truth without love will never be heard because… you sound like a butthead. 
-We honor the God-given-Jesus-died-for dignity of every human being, even our enemies, by at least trying to understand their beliefs, perspective, and cultural narrative. 
-And we do actually try to understand others rather than just win arguments. The most loving thing you can do for someone with whom you disagree is understand and represent their argument fairly. 90% of frustration in disagreement comes from feeling “misunderstood” or “misrepresented” by the opposing voice. 

Boiling it down, what I’m saying is this… The Jesus follower intentionally cultivates diversity in their life. God is an artist, and every person is another portrait that can lend us perspective on Him. #JesusIsWhy“

“‘I SHALL NOT WANT,’ the psalm says. Is that true? There are lots of things we go on wanting, go on lacking, whether we believe in God or not. They are not just material things like a new roof or a better paying job, but things like good health, things like happiness for our children, things like being understood and appreciated, like relief from pain, like some measure of inner peace not just for ourselves but for the people we love and for whom we pray. Believers and unbelievers alike we go on wanting plenty our whole lives through. We long for what never seems to come. We pray for what never seems to be clearly given. But when the psalm says ‘I shall not want,’ maybe it is speaking the utter truth anyhow. Maybe it means that if we keep our eyes open, if we keep our hearts and lives open, we will at least never be in want of the one thing we want more than anything else. Maybe it means that whatever else is withheld, the shepherd never withholds himself, and he is what we want more than anything else” (Frederick Buechner).

One takeaway from Kairos tonight is this: whether you are single and long to be married or married and longing to have children (or whatever stage you’re in), God’s provision for you is never a consolation prize.

God often does grant us the desires of our hearts but usually it doesn’t come how or when we expected. Often, when God withholds a request from His child, it’s so that He can give him or her something that’s 100 times better.

Ultimately, God and only God will be enough. Everything else we rest our hopes and dreams on will fall short in the long run.

I’m tired, and it’s still only Monday. That’s bad.

I also woke up this morning with my health and all my fingers and toes intact. That’s good.

There’s always good and bad in everything. It all depends on you as to which one you will focus on the most.

If you dwell on the negative, you will probably find lots more to complain about because that’s what you will see.

If you dwell on the good, then you will find it more and more, because your eyes see what you set your mind on.

If you dwell on God and on things above, that’s the best. Nothing here below can get to you or get you down if you focus on what is eternal. You know everything else that’s bad will soon pass away, but the eternal, i.e. God and His kingdom, will remain forever.

Choose to set your mind on the good. Choose God and His kingdom first. Wait. Isn’t there a verse or something about that?

I had a great idea for a blog post. It was something I heard from the sermon this morning. At the time, I thought to myself, “I don’t need to write any of this down. I’ll remember it later, right?” Not so much.

Hence the random blog post about anything and everything and nothing.

First off, I sweated a lot today. You’d think it was summer or something. When I got home from church service and lunch and the library, my very festive Hawaiian shirt was soaked through with sweat. It was a hot, muggy day. But I did get a great shot of two deer, so it was well worth it.

As I type these words, my little Peanut is snoozing away on the bed. That’s rare. She hardly ever sleeps on my bed. At least not when I’m in my bed. Maybe she’s starting to come around to being more of a snuggly cat like Lucy used to be.

One takeaway from the sermon earlier is that Heaven will be multi-ethnic and multi-lingual and multi-racial. Actually, ethnicity and language and race won’t matter in Heaven. All that will matter in Heaven is Jesus. But what matters here in this life is making our churches more like Heaven will be.

It’s been a very Peanut-y kind of weekend.

By that, I mean I did a lot of nothing. I lounged and ate and lounged and ate some more. That’s pretty much Peanut’s life 24/7 (with the occasional nap and poop thrown in).

It’s good to do nothing sometimes. To not have an agenda or a to-do list and do nothing productive. My Saturday involved a Stranger Things binge, food, and a trip to Goodwill. It wasn’t super eventful or exciting, but it was restful. Sometimes you need that.

Everyone needs to have a cat or dog to fall asleep in their lap at least once in a while. You need the reminder that the world will go on spinning without you, that the universe won’t fall apart if you take a day off.

You and I both need to remember that we’re not in charge of running the world. That job position has already been filled and taken care of admirably. You might even say perfectly.

Let God be God and enjoy a Sabbath day of rest. That’s my advice for you today.

The long wait is over. Stranger Things is back!

My retro-geeky little heart is happy.

I don’t know any specifics or spoilers, but I know that it will most likely be epic, retro, and — wait for it– strange. Hence the name of the show.

I grew up in the 80’s, so every thing about this throwback Netflix series gives me the feels.

Oh, and it’s incredibly written, acted, and produced. That always helps.

I might actually break down and have a New Coke in honor of season 3.

“Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

I’m thankful for a country where I have the freedom to voice my opinions and speak my mind in peace. I’m thankful that freedom of speech applies not only to people who think like me but also to people who don’t.

I’m thankful for that Grand Old Flag. I’m more thankful for what it represents– one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. FOR ALL.

That’s still the goal. Everyone gets liberty and justice. Everyone.

In this country, there’s still such a thing as due process. Everyone is assumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Everyone.

Are the 100% there yet? Not quite. We still have a ways to go before everyone has liberty and justice, but I think we’re still better off than a lot of places where voicing a dissenting opinion can get you permanently silence.

As always, my ultimate allegiance isn’t to a country and a flag and a President. It’s still to a King and a Kingdom that will never end.