Archive for January, 2010
“Being” More with God Facilitate’s “Doing” More of God’s Work
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Last weekend I was on retreat with my sisters in Christ from St. Peter’s in Round Top, Texas. Although this is not the first “Girlfriend Getaway,” it is the first time that I have been able to attend. Even two years ago when my daughter, Mary Beth, went with the rest of the Children’s Ministry Team, I had a conflict so I missed it. That year, Mary Beth came home with uplifted spirits, great stories and an insistence that I should not miss this event.
As late as Thursday evening, it looked like life would once again interfere with my retreat plans. It was early Friday morning when Mary Beth fussed at me over the phone about not doing anything just for myself. Isn’t it sad when a twenty year old is wiser than her mother?
Due to the loving kindness of my wonderful St. Peter’s friends, I finally accomplished my retreat. In the course of two days I laughed harder than I have in a long time, I cried buckets of tears, and I came home with good intentions about building a closer relationship with God. In my prayer group last weekend, I shared details of my life with women I knew and others I had never before met. And, they shared with me. We lifted each other up while we were there and they have each been in my prayers since our return. My life was enriched by the time spent away from home and in the arms of God, old friends and new friends whom I hope to see again.
Our speaker for the weekend was Rev. Judy Tefteller who is an associate pastor at Kingwood UMC. The theme for the weekend was the story of Jesus visiting the home of Martha and Mary as told in Luke 10:38-42. From that story, Judy led us into a contemplation of how, if we can spend time “being” with God, it will compliment and enrich the things we “do” for God. She was a wonderful speaker and had us all thinking, praying and sharing before the end of our first session together on Friday evening. By the end of the day Saturday I was convinced that if I can take Judy’s message to heart, I’ll be a richer person who serves God with a more open spirit deeply grounded in the love of Christ and scripture.
True confession… for those of you who know me well, you already know that I am completely a “Martha.” My days are filled with lists of what I need to do, what I need to accomplish to have a successful day. My agenda is always a little bit longer than the time I have to accomplish it! And of course those things left undone spill over onto the next day’s agenda. Yes, I do pray, a lot. Yes, I do have a devotional that I try to be attentive to each day. But rarely do I ever take time to sit and be with God. I’m not very good at sitting without a task at hand. So, my “Mary” side in undeveloped.
Now that I have returned home I understand that God wanted me to be in Round Top. Not just for myself but for Him. Never before have I faced the hard truth that God wants more of me than my faith and work! Yes, I needed the time at the Girlfriend Getaway to step away from Houston and all of my commitments. Yes, I needed time to be in community with other women who face many of the same daily dilemmas that I face. But mostly, I think, I needed time to be Mary – to sit at the Lord’s feet listening to what He says. And I needed the urging and challenging of others to develop the Mary side of me.
In my devotional this morning, it suggested that we give up the dream of having a problem-free life. Rather, the author said, pour your energy into seeking God and enjoy Him in the midst of adverse circumstances. The scripture, John 16:33 says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Peace in the Lord, gathered by spending time “being” with God, through quiet, contemplative time, listening for the Spirit… what a tremendous gift that would be in my life. What about yours?
Showers of Blessings,
Leah Taylor
Through the Eyes of a Child
Thursday, January 14th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
The week before Christmas, the Houston Chronicle ran a “Family Circus” cartoon which showed the father and Jeffy, who looks like he is about four, setting up a nativity set. The dad says, “We need more animals.” To which Jeffy replies, “I’ll go get my lions and tigers!”
Yes, I know that today was Baptism of the Lord Sunday, so I’m a week late to be writing about Epiphany. But with the holidays, visiting family and friends, ski trips and my daughter home from college, I’m running behind. And, our Sunday School Class just had our annual Epiphany Party so I decided to go for it!
We have lots of nativity sets at our house and for the most part they all have the same characters represented. Of course, each has Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. Most of them have angels, shepherds, and sheep. Many of them have the three wise men bearing their gifts as well as donkeys and maybe even a camel or two. Some of our sets have a manger and palm trees. We have one set that we used as Mary Beth was growing up to celebrate Advent at home. We would sing carols, add someone to the scene, read the scripture and light the candles.
When I read that “Family Circus” cartoon, it made me laugh…for several reasons. Of course, it is funny and fun to see the entire Christmas season and story through the eyes of a child. But the cartoon reminded me of two nativity sets that we have. Years ago, when Mary Beth was very young, she wanted to decorate the outside of our house for Christmas in a big way. No more tasteful candles in the window and garlands around the columns on the front porch. We’re talking landing strip colored lights lining the sidewalk and driveway, colored net lights across all the bushes in the front flower beds, and strings of white and multicolored stars on the porch and in the trees. To complete the picture, we purchased a huge nativity set for the front yard. It is made of wood and has many pieces — Mary, Joseph, a shepherd, sheep, a donkey, the three wise men, and, a puppy! There is a small wooden cradle and we have a baby doll that we wrap and place in the cradle on Christmas Eve when we come home from church.
In my living room I have a nativity set from Cote d’Ivoire. It, too, has all the usual characters, but the wise men are very different and the gifts they carry are different as well. One carries two bunches of date palms (the kind they use to make palm oil), the second is carrying an armload of fire wood, and the third has no gift but is clearly praying. And, surrounding Mary, Joseph and Jesus are not only sheep and a donkey, but also an elephant, a water buffalo, a giraffe, a rhinoceros, a hippo and a fish!
As I pondered Jeffy’s response to his dad, it reminded me that children have no preconceived notion of what is and is not appropriate in a nativity set — just like they have no preconceived notions of prejudice, hatred or justice until they learn it. As parents, Tom and I have worked hard to teach appropriate values to our daughter. Now that she is an adult (or at least she thinks she is!), we can only pray that the lessons we tried to teach her were learned.
But the unique animals included in the Ivorian nativity set, as well as the puppy in mine, reminded me that Jesus is different for each of us! For me, a puppy in my nativity is perfect. Our dogs are truly members of our family, they are warm and loving and represent much goodness. For the Ivorians, fish is one of the staples of their diet. The other animals are probably the ones they are familiar with, the gifts of the world in which they live. How appropriate that those gifts of their world are included in the way they worship Jesus.
Today in church we read from the book of Luke 3:21-22 which says, “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus had also been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, “You are my son, the beloved; and with you I am well pleased.”
What a wonderful picture those verses paint in my mind. And, for me, the picture is an inspiration to try to make my life one with which God is well pleased! No matter which animals are in your nativity set, I pray that your life, too, will please God.
Showers of Blessings,
Leah Taylor