post and photos by Sue Duby,
CELEBRATION cake (or for me, my Mother’s famous rhubarb pie!), cards, family, friends… joy at any age!
Little ones know the art of celebrating birthdays. We’ve learned from the best of them… our grandsons.
For #3, Dawson decided he wanted a “yellow birthday”. Though he couldn’t yet master that “y”, we headed to the nearest Goodwill to hunt down the perfect “lellow” shirts to celebrate his life. Giggles, piñata bashing, Auntie Erin’s famous cake pops, and gifts. For #5, he expanded the color choices and announced, “I want a dinosaur rainbow party!”. Who knew those prehistoric creatures appreciated God’s paintings in the sky!
As the years pass, birthday moments change. For #14, Jack asked to spend the night (graduating from a mat on the floor to the guestroom bed!). With Papa’s 6 am wake-up, they headed out to hunt for misfired golf balls on the neighborhood course. Exploding with rapid-fire sentences two hours later over breakfast, Jack recounted every detail. “Nana, we got 82 balls! Such a great birthday!”. Did I mention we don’t golf? Adventures count for gold.
In my early, young Mama days, birthdays for Krista and Peter brought a good measure of anxiety and stress (ok, maybe a lot!). Worrying about cost. Comparing with other Mom’s creative celebrations. Trying to avoid chaos. So wanting to make it unique and special. More focus on “my plan” than the one being honored.
Along the way, I watched my sweet friend, Candy. Family birthdays always meant a whole day of honor in her house… often simple surprises along the way. Food, fun, and activities – all in the “favorites” category of the one celebrated. In the midst of it all, she modeled “marking the day”… remembering the gift of the life, acknowledging God’s handiwork in creating the “guest of honor”, praying them into the next year. Joy-filled and deep Spirit-led deposits at the same time.
I’ve grown to love “marking the day” for my own Duby tribe. Still a hint of stress in the scheming for a plan, but deep joy in remembering God’s handiwork and delight in His creation.
As the calendar days click by and I approach a new decade (numbers don’t matter, right?), I’m challenged to mark my day by embracing the truths I hold for everyone else. Not squirming or avoiding the day. Working to switch from discomfort in being a focus of attention to gratefulness for the amazing years lived and adventures yet to unfold. Realizing my struggle in answering the dreaded, “What do you want?” question means less about my own indecision and more about a deep measure of contentment He’s given me.
Know and fully recognize with gratitude that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, [a]not we ourselves [and we are His].We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Psalm 100:3 AMP
I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:14 AMP
Our anchor of truth. A foundation that allows us to move into each new year. We’re His… fully, completely. Created with purpose and affection. Belonging. And in the quiet, I do “know it very well”.
For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us]. Ephesians 2:10 AMP
For each new year or decade that’s yet to unfold, He’s prepared a way before us… with the strength, understanding, and wisdom we need to walk forward along His path. He’s ready and waiting to be our guide… now and always.
I’m feeling the bubbling up of anticipation in marking my soon-to-happen day. Entering in with both feet, looking for His hand, remembering His goodness, and embracing the next decade as a sweet gift… knowing His embrace will wrap me close each step along the way.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6 NIV
When you get ready to blow out your next set of birthday candles, may you know He is celebrating His creation . . . you!
P.S. The new decade starts with “7” ☺
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post and photo by Diane Woodrow, Conwy Beach, July 2021.
The Godspace theme of Gearing Up For A New Season got me thinking about what that means to me.
At the moment, none of us really knows what this New Season will look like. With global warming, our seasons are all over the place. Over the last month here in North Wales, we have gone from 17C to 32C and now it is 13C. The only type of weather we haven’t had over July is snow, but we’ve had blistering heat, pouring rain, hail, funnel winds, and gentle sunshine too.
At one time when schools restarted, the pupils would have had time at the end of the last term to go check out their new classes or new schools and have met their teachers and even started making friends, and be prepared for their new season. But due to COVID, many were isolated before the end of term or discouraged to be anywhere other than in their regular classrooms.
For me personally, I can feel a new season starting. Since I published The Little Yellow Boat, I’m being called a professional writer, which has led to me being paid to become part of a long-term youth project. I am also setting aside regular times to write, both in my beautiful study or out on walks. Yesterday I went to the place in the picture and wrote.
But still, the question is – how do I prepare for this new season? How do I gear myself up for it? What will it look like? Or even, should I be planning? I write more about this in my blog post, “Intentionality Written in Pencil”, which will also appear on Godspace on August 17th.
So whereas once we would almost know what this new season would look like with COVID, with the extremes of weather, with new projects, with different working conditions, we cannot predict how things will be. Tom Sine does a good attempt to explore the themes of these changing times on his blog – NewChangemakers.
As the saying goes, “change is always with us”, but it feels like as things start to open up, even with cases of COVID continuing to increase, there is nothing solid to hang on to. I am grateful for my faith but even with that, although the Bible says the Lord is the same today, tomorrow, and yesterday, my relationship with God and how I see my faith has changed.
So what are the concrete things I can hold on to as I gear up for a new season? And what can I share with others?
For me, the big one would be that God is God and is always there no matter what goes on, no matter how much I change, no matter what goes on in the world. And that God wants the best for me and so, if we work together I can grow more flexible, more trusting in God, deeper in my beliefs of knowing God is watching my back. You know I was going to write stronger but I felt like flexible was the word. We talk a lot about growing stronger as though that is a good thing but I actually think that if I can get more and more flexible then I will be able to roll with the seasons, be blown by the winds of change but not fall. I think to be more flexible, I need to have roots that go deep and I think for me as I gear up to this new season, whatever it is going to look like, I want to send my roots deep into my Saviour, Maker of the Universe, and just trust that what will come my way, however it comes, I will remain with my Saviour.
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by Christine Sine,
On Friday, I walked around the garden in the rain. So what you might think, you live in Seattle; it always rains there, doesn’t it? Actually no. In fact, we have had one of the driest summers on record so the refreshing rain was wonderfully invigorating and it was a delight to get out and walk in it.
I have always loved walking in the rain, though I must confess that the cold winter rain of Seattle is sometimes a little miserable for me. In fact, give me a couple of months and I will probably not be rejoicing in the rain but rather grumbling whenever I need to go out in it. However, if I maintain that childhood delight of splashing through puddles and relishing the raindrops falling on my tongue, it is wonderful no matter what the season. And the seasons are changing so I definitely need to get ready for those cold drippy days that lie ahead.
It’s all about attitude though. I am gearing up for a new season and part of that preparation is changing my attitude to walking in the rain. This walking in the rain is really a very spiritual thing after all and there is great benefit in embracing and enjoying it whatever season I am in.
Evidently, rain is good for us not just physically but emotionally and I suspect spiritually too.
Walking in the rain lifts our spirits. Have you noticed that standing inside watching the rain pour down makes us feel grumpy and depressed whereas getting out and walking in the rain actually lifts our spirits? Raindrops on our faces and wind in our hair make us feel alive and renewed. There is nothing more invigorating than the smell of rain after a long period of dry weather. And evidently, there is a reason for that.
Bacteria, plants and even lightning can all play a role in the pleasant smell we experience after a thunderstorm; that of clean air and wet earth. Known as petrichor, the scent has long been chased by scientists and even perfumers for its enduring appeal. (Petrichor: Why Does Rain Smell So Good? )
God has designed us to appreciate rain and to be enlivened by it. Maybe we can even develop our own brand of fragrances from it. At the least, we can learn a few lessons from it as we gear up for this new season.
Photo by Matteo Catanese on Unsplash
Rain is a miracle that helps us see the world and the people in it differently. It changes our view of reality as though we are looking through a different lens. Familiar places look different. Well-known people look different and in the midst, we sometimes catch different glimpses of God – a God who provides the miracle of rain to refresh the earth so that the crops will grow, and people will thrive.
He does wonderful things that confound,
infinite numbers of miracles.
He gives rain to the earth,
sends down water to the fields;
He lifts up the downtrodden, bolsters the bereaved,
raising them to safety. (Job 5:9-11 The Voice)
Rain teaches us acceptance. Rain is indifferent to our plans and our desires. I remember once praying fervently that God would stop the rain… because I had planned a picnic for that day. And guess what, the rain did not stop. God (and the rain) were indifferent to my self-centeredness. It helped me to let go of my best-laid plans and expectations of the day.
Rain represents something beyond our control, like the absurdities that happen in our daily lives. Accepting things as they are and choosing to continue to go about our business of living life in a positive mood leads to greater happiness. (The Benefits of Walking In The Rain)
More than that, walking in the rain helps build stamina and resilience preparing us for the less than ideal conditions that we experience in other parts of our lives too. It takes more effort to walk in the rain, especially against the wind.
Rain provides a place of solitude. I love to walk with my husband and with friends, to talk and share moments of delight as we walk, but I also love the aloneness of a rain-filled walk that isolates me into a secret world of my own thoughts. This is particularly true of an urban walk through usually noisy and crowded streets which have suddenly become a quiet refuge that you have all to yourself.
Rain cleans the air and for those who live in heavily populated urban areas, this might be the most healthy time to get out and explore the neighbourhood.
Rain is a gift that reminds us of that even greater gift – the gift of water without which no life would exist. Walking in the rain is a little like being baptized once more with this precious gift.
What Is Your Response?
Is it raining where you live? Consider a walk outside on your own to enjoy the invigorating effects. Otherwise, close your eyes and remind yourself of the last time you took a walk in the rain and how it made you feel.
Imagine lifting your face to the wind.
Feel the rain in your hair and the wind on your face. How does it make you feel? Are you aware of God touching your spirit in the same way that the rain is touching your hair?
Taste the raindrops landing on your tongue. Imagine them cleansing not just the air around you but also your spirit and your soul. Is there something specific that needs cleaning in your life that God is prompting you to consider?
Look around you – what do you notice that looks different? Is there something that God would speak to you about through that difference?
Listen for the voice of God in the silence. In the uncluttered space, without traffic noise, is there something that you hear God saying to you?
If you have time, watch this wonderful contemplative morning prayer service around the whole topic of rain.
This post is adapted from a previous Godspace post: https://godspacelight.com/2019/10/24/the-delight-of-walking-in-the-rain/
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Another beautiful contemplative service in the style of Taize from St Andrews Episcopal Church in Seattle.
A contemplative service with music in the style-of-Taize.
Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756 with additional notes below:
“Sing Hallelujah to the Lord” – copyright 1974 by Linda Stassen, Renewed 2002 Linda L. Benjamin.
“God is Forgiveness” and “In the Lord” are songs from the ecumenical Taize community in France. Copyright and all rights reserved by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé.
“On Christ the Solid Rock” – is a public domain hymn. Arrangement and additional verse by Kester Limner. Shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY).
“Kyrie” – words and music composed by Kester Limner. Shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY).
This jumble of things represents the last year and a half of life at our house. Masks and hand sanitizer, symbols of things we’ve used in online worship at #thinplaceNASHVILLE, art supplies that have kept me sane, a Santa mask that arrived after Christmas that sadly we might need again this year, lotion for all the hand washing. Carry out/takeaway receipts…including our go-to the cafe at Thistlefarms!
It’s been quite a season of change, frustration, joys, and trauma!
Yesterday, I finally cleaned off this tray and the counter that’s held it for so many months… Opening up the way for new things but taking time to notice all the things that have led to where I am today. All the growth and change and all the things that are still very much the same.
So grateful for life and love and for my husband Rob putting up with me over all these months. Grateful for masks and vaccines and for Zoom church and Facetime calls! And grateful for all that Jesus has done and will do with the piles of stuff we all have from 2020 and 2021!
What are the symbols of this last year for you?
Take a look around your house, or through your journal, what do you notice?
What are you learning about yourself in this season?
Take some time to reflect and ponder before we get so far ahead that we forget the richness of all of the messiness of these months.
What do you want to remember?
What do you still need to grieve and process?
We all have stuff to grieve AND we have things to celebrate and be grateful for too.
Take some time this weekend to be grateful for all the good things in your world right now and all the good things of this past year! Make a list, create a collage, or call a friend and share the good things! Start a gratitude journal for this new month and next season!
You might use the notes app in your phone to make a list each day of things to be grateful for… or take a photo each day to help you remember. Then stop and look back through your lists and photos at the end of the month and praise God for all these wonderful things!
READ PSALM 118: Today and use it to help you get started with your new season! READ in different translations and see what the Holy Spirit has for you!
I’d love to hear what you’ve been learning in these last few months! And what you are thankful for as you begin this new season!
Remember we get to start with a CLEAN SLATE!
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
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post and photos by Lisa Scandrette,
by Lisa Scandrette
I fall asleep under the vast summer skies, a multitude of stars twinkling above. I breathe deep the smell of giant redwoods and duff from the forest floor. I wake to the morning songs of birds. I am part of this creation—right in the middle of it—made from the dirt and the stardust. I am not separate from nature. I am breathing your breath, soaking in your love in the coolness on my skin, reading your messages in the twinkling morse code of stars. When I am here, my daily cares are put in perspective. I am small, you, Creator, are big, and I am both less significant and more precious than I sometimes imagine. I belong, without question, in this place.
Here I am stripped down to what is essential. I am open to wonder and curiosity. What is that bird I am hearing? How old is this tree? What is this tiny flower? Where does this path lead? You and your creation are full of mystery. These redwoods grow to the size of 30 story buildings and weigh a million pounds, intertwining their roots to help hold one another up. When they fall, they feed multitudes for hundreds of years. My mind cannot fathom. Yet, I do not need to understand this mystery in order to enter in. I am content to simply bathe in it.
Your paths are gentler to my feet and joints than the paths I create for myself. You carpet them with redwood duff and moss. Rocks under my feet, cool river water running over my ankles. You lead me beside quiet waters, you restore my soul. The air you surround me with refreshes me. Your fragrances are everywhere. You smell like redwoods, water, connectedness, and freedom. You are spacious—attentive to the very small and the very large. Nothing is beyond your notice.
I wonder if I will become acclimated to this ancient forest, forgetting to stand in awe. Yet, each new exploration catches my breath. You stun me. You have thought of everything—the intricate interconnectedness of every species, the way they nourish and protect one another for thousands of years. You haven’t forgotten anything.
I confess that I forget, that I do not remember our interconnectedness, that I do not care as well for creation as I would like. As humans, we have taken more than we should. We have destroyed these ancient cathedrals and have given up abundance and connectedness for a lie of more and bigger and better. We have been ignorant and greedy. We’ve not understood the mystery. We have destroyed rather than nourished. Forgive us and help us remember how to be a harmonious part of this finely tuned system. Give us wisdom and heart to move forward with healing steps.
Being surrounded by your works heals me. When I wake up and wander, breathing the redwood air, or plunge my feet in cool waters, when I settle into quiet and wonder, it is easy to believe what is most real and true. You meet me, envelop me, surround me. I am safe, companioned by you.
by Lisa Scandrette
An invitation:
As we navigate healing from the past year and a half of COVID-19, raging forest fires, division, and continuing struggles for racial equality, it is easy to become discouraged. We need to heal to keep participating in God’s good dreams for our world. Can you nourish yourself by taking some time to listen to creation speak? Can you find a place to walk in wonder and to listen to God speak through the gift of creation? What will you hear?
Want to experience more of the awe and wonder that God offers us? Check out the Gift of Wonder Online Retreat by Christine Sine. This retreat allows for 180 days of access for only $39.99 so you can move through the sessions at your own pace.
Adaptation from When We Stand by Terence Lester, Adapted from Chapter 9, “Bring Someone With you!”
I was introduced to church as a kid by my grandmother, Jessica Lester. In fact, she’s the reason that I was exposed to church at an early age. She had tremendous faith and made sure that I was around godly things when I was about eight years old when my dad was in prison. However, those concepts were very hard for me to grasp, and my childhood faith was based on needing to get things right. I never fully understood what it meant that God was full of grace and loved me even when I messed up. As I grew, my search for identity was cloudy, and I succumbed to many social pressures. I joined a gang, was rebellious, sold drugs, dropped out of high school for a time, ran away as a teenager, and even ended up in jail once after committing a small crime so I could party with my college friends. Fortunately, a judge decided to show me latitude when my mother begged him to let me go home. I can remember his words even now. He said, “This is the only chance you’re getting. I see the pain your mom is in and the worry in her eyes. You need to get right and never look back.” This is the same judge who was notorious for giving young Black men long sentences. I never did look back.
God used that day to cause me to remember all of the lessons my grandmother tried to teach me as a child. Not long after moving back home from college to start over, I received a phone call from my childhood friend Harvey that changed the trajectory of my life. Harvey and I had grown up similarly, each of us having family challenges and searching for identity. But when we were both in our twenties, Harvey found his identity in God. One day, after he’d only attended his new church a few times, he called me. I was lost. I had just gotten out of a jail and had my charges dropped. He extended an invitation to come with him to church. I remember having some reservations about going, but I also knew that I needed something. So I found myself in church with Harvey that next week.
The pastor preached from Romans, and I listened as he talked about Jesus dying for me while I was still a sinner. The verse that he read was this: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 NIV). Before that moment, I had never understood the true, unconditional love of God. That good news would shape the rest of my life’s work. The gospel message is what has fueled my desire to influence the lives of others for good, showing God’s grace and mercy to those who have often never experienced it. Love Beyond Walls might have never existed had Harvey not decided to follow that nudge to ask me to attend a small Bible study with him.
Our efforts don’t have to be grandiose to have a profound impact. Harvey dialed my number and then sat next to me; that’s it. He had only been back in church for a short time. He didn’t know all the answers to the questions of Christianity, nor did he hold a master’s degree in theology. He only knew that I was struggling, lost, and in much pain from the journey in my life. He also knew I had the potential to be someone great. He was just being the community that I needed. And he communicated this simple but much needed truth with his actions—he was there with me and so was God the whole time. It still brings tears to my eyes because his invitation changed my life, and Harvey is still working alongside me twenty-plus years later at Love Beyond Walls. We can all extend an invitation to people to come with us to serve in order to benefit their lives and because we believe they’ll benefit the lives of others. Whether we’re inviting them to church or to join us at another kind of organization, a simple invitation can have monumental effects.
FORGET ABOUT BEING AN EXPERT
It’s important to educate ourselves on issues of injustice, but a lack of understanding about every nuance shouldn’t keep us from entering into the fight or from inviting others into it. In order to work for justice, we need to possess a willingness to collaborate with others and to learn from them as we navigate new issues or begin to volunteer for an organization. We rarely have everything figured out when God asks us to embark on a task. Rather, he encourages all of us to become part of what he is already doing, right alongside others who are figuring it out as they go too.
There’s an insidious voice that whispers to us, constantly reminding us that we’re either incapable of taking the steps needed to pursue our ideas or that what we have in mind is simply too difficult to accomplish. But the Bible shows us that this is a lying voice. I’m reminded that the early disciples had no special skills that made them stand out to Jesus. He chose regular, ordinary fishermen like Peter and Andrew to be his disciples—men who possessed no unique talents that would have qualified them for ministry. What they had was a willingness to be led by him. In the Old Testament, God acted through Rahab, a woman who worked as a prostitute and who consequently would have been considered by most to be unworthy for God’s work. He often chose people who were not of high status or fame to carry out his work; their abilities manifested themselves in their bravery and in their dependence upon God. Advocating on behalf of the poor requires no expertise, and neither does showing mercy to a condemned woman or giving to an orphan or a widow.
INVITE PEOPLE INTO COMMUNITY
Finding others for the fight cannot be a one-strategy mission. By that, I mean that our eyes should be trained to see the gifts of not only our friends, family, or coworkers but also those whom we serve. As we forge and develop connections with those who are living in poverty, we should not limit our understanding of such individuals by seeing them solely as people who require care; rather, we should ensure that we also think of them as people who have something meaningful to contribute to the community.
The empowerment, the affirmation of the dignity of all people, is that which makes a true community. It is that which helps every member to flourish.
What would it look like if every person were given an equal chance to succeed and to show up as a fully accepted member of society? This is the real essence of social justice: the pursuit of a society that welcomes each and every person and draws them into a community that is excited about what they have to contribute. Jesus extended an invitation to everyone he came across, no matter their social standing, because he knew that they had all been made in the image of God. Indeed, he did so to such an extent that he was criticized for it by those who didn’t understand God’s intention to restore all people.
Challenge yourself to think about the people you know, and catalog the skills of your friends, family, and coworkers. Then begin to cast a vision for each of them. Let them know that you see them.
Adapted from When We Stand by Terence Lester. Copyright (c) 2021 by Terence Brandon Lester. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com
Bio for Terence Lester
Terence Lester is the founder of Love Beyond Walls, a nonprofit organization focused on poverty awareness and community mobilization. His campaign #LoveSinksIn, which provides handwashing stations for the poor, has been featured on Good Morning America and CNN and in Essence and Reader’s Digest, and he was named by Coca-Cola as one of their History Shakers. Terence is the author of I See You and When We Stand.
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