The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
My Newest Experiment
Experiment.... Day #4
I began an experiment this week......
Putting Isaiah 58 into my life:
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Armed with those verses and the commandment to love God and others... I have begun this experiment......
How can I live a life of Isaiah 58 and the commandment to daily love God with all that I am.......
I have prayed for opportunities to come my way while also seeking out those opportunities....
Here is what I have so far on day 4...... I have been a better mother.... swallowing impatience, sitting on the floor more with a 3 yr old and a 9 month old (hey those are my biggest daily opportunities)...
I am embracing opportunities to help families in need as I have heard of them....
I might not have a lot to give but these are my fish and loaves......
Who does not want to cry to the Lord and have Him answer or who does not what their light to break forth light the dawn?
So even to my neighbors... you know the ones some of you know about... cookies are being baked for them.... and a Christmas card written for them...
I think if we put the practices we preach into action ... life .. well life will be much different.... that is the experiment..... I don't think you need specific revelation to grab something written in the bible and start living it out...... Stay tuned
I began an experiment this week......
Putting Isaiah 58 into my life:
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Armed with those verses and the commandment to love God and others... I have begun this experiment......
How can I live a life of Isaiah 58 and the commandment to daily love God with all that I am.......
I have prayed for opportunities to come my way while also seeking out those opportunities....
Here is what I have so far on day 4...... I have been a better mother.... swallowing impatience, sitting on the floor more with a 3 yr old and a 9 month old (hey those are my biggest daily opportunities)...
I am embracing opportunities to help families in need as I have heard of them....
I might not have a lot to give but these are my fish and loaves......
Who does not want to cry to the Lord and have Him answer or who does not what their light to break forth light the dawn?
So even to my neighbors... you know the ones some of you know about... cookies are being baked for them.... and a Christmas card written for them...
I think if we put the practices we preach into action ... life .. well life will be much different.... that is the experiment..... I don't think you need specific revelation to grab something written in the bible and start living it out...... Stay tuned
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The Kingdom Waltz
That we would have eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart that comprehends.......
For your ways are not my ways ... my ways are higher than
The Kingdom of God is not some American corporation with the proverbial "ladder" that we must climb in order to reach some fantastic goal..... but all too often ministries and individuals succumb to that notion and apply an earthly world view to the dynamics of ministry and Kingdom life.
There are many areas where we plainly get it wrong..... and the church world grabs a hold of some new principal and hails it as the next best thing to advance individuals in their spiritual climbs..... I think it is the temptation of humanity to grab a hold of some "new" idea that will propel them into a greater more anointed walk with the Lord. But neither those lessons nor those temptations are new.
I want to see my Father's Kingdom come and His will be done here on Earth as it is in Heaven..... I want to see His heart manifested upon the Earth and His rule expand across the vast waves of humanity. I want to see the eyes of those that live in darkness opened to His glorious light... There is a day coming that is written in stone. There will be a wedding. There will be a bride.... A bride whose eyes are solely fixed upon Him..... whose identity is solid and affections are true......
How do we get there? How do we become who we need to be? The truth as it is and not as we would make it out to be is what will set us free........ and there are no short cuts... no new ideas.... but an ancient one whose strength and power has stood strong through the centuries..... one that if we were to only lay a hold of we would be the very ones we were created to be.........
If we day in and day out... beginning our day... living our day... ending our day... loving the Lord with all our heart..... and each other we would advance our Father's purposes on Earth much more rapidly than any other "new" five step plan....
Mark 12
The Great Commandment
28(AV) And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" 29Jesus answered, "The most important is,(AW) 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God,(AX) the Lord is one. 30And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31(AY) The second is this:(AZ) 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment(BA) greater than these." 32And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that(BB) he is one, and(BC) there is no other besides him. 33And to love him with all the heart and with all(BD) the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself,(BE) is much more than all(BF) whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."(BG) And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Two things stick out to me here... Jesus saying you are not far from the kingdom of God and then that no one dared to ask him any more questions..... the truth is the truth.... it silences those that would argue....or at least it should....
I was blown away... ecstatic upon finding a specific blog written by a ministry consultant... very earnest and to the point he eloquently without pulling any punches speaks the truth..... In response to one entry he replies:
Your comment, “he has given me a book with thirty ways that we can reach people on every level and we can all become a tool for reaching souls while helping someone in our everyday lives and helping people while giving a taste of the gospel.” is completely unbiblical.
We are not to find ways to reach people. It is by the preaching of the Cross and this alone that reaches people. All other ways are strategies, as good intentioned as they are, they fail to align itself with the will of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
It has often truly bothered me to read about some brilliant new five step plan... or five year plan... or eight ways to become more productive........ What five year plan would reproduce the falling of the walls of Jericho, the feeding of the 5000, the parting of the Red Sea...... It is by knowing God and following him daily that we learn His ways....... At times I wonder if these well meaning strategies are more like the golden calf... an idol we can hold onto and adhere to and touch and see removing the need to trust and follow after God.........
For your ways are not my ways ... my ways are higher than
The Kingdom of God is not some American corporation with the proverbial "ladder" that we must climb in order to reach some fantastic goal..... but all too often ministries and individuals succumb to that notion and apply an earthly world view to the dynamics of ministry and Kingdom life.
There are many areas where we plainly get it wrong..... and the church world grabs a hold of some new principal and hails it as the next best thing to advance individuals in their spiritual climbs..... I think it is the temptation of humanity to grab a hold of some "new" idea that will propel them into a greater more anointed walk with the Lord. But neither those lessons nor those temptations are new.
I want to see my Father's Kingdom come and His will be done here on Earth as it is in Heaven..... I want to see His heart manifested upon the Earth and His rule expand across the vast waves of humanity. I want to see the eyes of those that live in darkness opened to His glorious light... There is a day coming that is written in stone. There will be a wedding. There will be a bride.... A bride whose eyes are solely fixed upon Him..... whose identity is solid and affections are true......
How do we get there? How do we become who we need to be? The truth as it is and not as we would make it out to be is what will set us free........ and there are no short cuts... no new ideas.... but an ancient one whose strength and power has stood strong through the centuries..... one that if we were to only lay a hold of we would be the very ones we were created to be.........
If we day in and day out... beginning our day... living our day... ending our day... loving the Lord with all our heart..... and each other we would advance our Father's purposes on Earth much more rapidly than any other "new" five step plan....
Mark 12
The Great Commandment
28(AV) And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" 29Jesus answered, "The most important is,(AW) 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God,(AX) the Lord is one. 30And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31(AY) The second is this:(AZ) 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment(BA) greater than these." 32And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that(BB) he is one, and(BC) there is no other besides him. 33And to love him with all the heart and with all(BD) the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself,(BE) is much more than all(BF) whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."(BG) And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Two things stick out to me here... Jesus saying you are not far from the kingdom of God and then that no one dared to ask him any more questions..... the truth is the truth.... it silences those that would argue....or at least it should....
I was blown away... ecstatic upon finding a specific blog written by a ministry consultant... very earnest and to the point he eloquently without pulling any punches speaks the truth..... In response to one entry he replies:
Your comment, “he has given me a book with thirty ways that we can reach people on every level and we can all become a tool for reaching souls while helping someone in our everyday lives and helping people while giving a taste of the gospel.” is completely unbiblical.
We are not to find ways to reach people. It is by the preaching of the Cross and this alone that reaches people. All other ways are strategies, as good intentioned as they are, they fail to align itself with the will of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
It has often truly bothered me to read about some brilliant new five step plan... or five year plan... or eight ways to become more productive........ What five year plan would reproduce the falling of the walls of Jericho, the feeding of the 5000, the parting of the Red Sea...... It is by knowing God and following him daily that we learn His ways....... At times I wonder if these well meaning strategies are more like the golden calf... an idol we can hold onto and adhere to and touch and see removing the need to trust and follow after God.........
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The difference peace makes and why we need to care
I got up one morning very early to go stand in line for a toy... not bread.....
I turn on the faucet... I do not walk mile upon mile to get water
I go to a closet or a chest of drawers both filled with clothes and I get dressed.. my children do the same
I open the refrigerator or freezer and I pull out food... I go to a store lined aisle after aisle with food...
I tuck my children into bed at night.. they all have a bed.. blankets.. pillows... I turn off a light and I close a door... I do not worry that tomorrow will not come for them..
My children have not known war.... their eyes have not seen blood.. their ears have not heard bombs .....
It dawned on me that day that I take peace for granted.... and I began to thank God for peace... for the fact that my children live in a place that doesn't know the day in and day out effects of war......
My husband travels for business at most a week .. more than not 3 - 4 days... I miss him... I miss the help he is... the kids miss him .. but he is not away in a foreign land fighting a war to keep me and my way of life safe...
I am an American and just for that fact there are places in the world that I am hated..... I am a born again Christian who loves the Lord and teaches my children to do so... there are places in the world (and my country) where I am hated and mocked for my beliefs......
but there are places in the world that I do not understand... that I have never walked in the shoes of the citizens there... I have not lived their lives or faced their losses.... nothing makes violence alright but who would I be if I did not live in a land of peace... if I had seen mother/father, aunt/uncle, grandparents, cousins, siblings killed in front of me... who would I be if my people were being killed just because of an ethnicity or a religion..... who would I be.....
I read today a blog entry about the civil war in Sri Lanka... to my fault I was ignorant of the situation there... but as I read the blog and then the comments my heart was torn... in my belief system we use words to communicate... we use our power to vote .... we enjoy freedom of speech ... but who would I be if that was all taken away.... if my children faced war day in and day out and hunger... and death.... and their was no freedom of speech and there was no "real" vote... what would I do if it wasn't a given that the bus that takes my child to school would make it there and back safely... how would I view a suicide bomber upon that bus....
I read the comments ... there were those from both sides commenting on the blog posting.. it was eye opening... it was heart breaking ..... there are always moms and dads on both sides... women who have carried a baby within them... given birth to a child... had hopes and dreams for that child... men who have wanted to provide for their families... keep them safe from harm... who would we be if those weren't just something we took for granted ... who would we be if we didn't live in a place where peace was for the most part taken for granted....
I turn on the faucet... I do not walk mile upon mile to get water
I go to a closet or a chest of drawers both filled with clothes and I get dressed.. my children do the same
I open the refrigerator or freezer and I pull out food... I go to a store lined aisle after aisle with food...
I tuck my children into bed at night.. they all have a bed.. blankets.. pillows... I turn off a light and I close a door... I do not worry that tomorrow will not come for them..
My children have not known war.... their eyes have not seen blood.. their ears have not heard bombs .....
It dawned on me that day that I take peace for granted.... and I began to thank God for peace... for the fact that my children live in a place that doesn't know the day in and day out effects of war......
My husband travels for business at most a week .. more than not 3 - 4 days... I miss him... I miss the help he is... the kids miss him .. but he is not away in a foreign land fighting a war to keep me and my way of life safe...
I am an American and just for that fact there are places in the world that I am hated..... I am a born again Christian who loves the Lord and teaches my children to do so... there are places in the world (and my country) where I am hated and mocked for my beliefs......
but there are places in the world that I do not understand... that I have never walked in the shoes of the citizens there... I have not lived their lives or faced their losses.... nothing makes violence alright but who would I be if I did not live in a land of peace... if I had seen mother/father, aunt/uncle, grandparents, cousins, siblings killed in front of me... who would I be if my people were being killed just because of an ethnicity or a religion..... who would I be.....
I read today a blog entry about the civil war in Sri Lanka... to my fault I was ignorant of the situation there... but as I read the blog and then the comments my heart was torn... in my belief system we use words to communicate... we use our power to vote .... we enjoy freedom of speech ... but who would I be if that was all taken away.... if my children faced war day in and day out and hunger... and death.... and their was no freedom of speech and there was no "real" vote... what would I do if it wasn't a given that the bus that takes my child to school would make it there and back safely... how would I view a suicide bomber upon that bus....
I read the comments ... there were those from both sides commenting on the blog posting.. it was eye opening... it was heart breaking ..... there are always moms and dads on both sides... women who have carried a baby within them... given birth to a child... had hopes and dreams for that child... men who have wanted to provide for their families... keep them safe from harm... who would we be if those weren't just something we took for granted ... who would we be if we didn't live in a place where peace was for the most part taken for granted....
Sunday, December 13, 2009
That which we must do
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [a] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Waking up and Learning to Speak
Waking up and Learning to Speak
In the twenty sixth year of my life I woke up and twelve years later I have found my voice.....
I used to be terrified that if I spoke I would ruin my family. So I retreated into a world of my own creation where lies ruled and life was nothing more than a dazed blurry of events that I stumbled through.
I lived that way for so long...... too long....
I think of all the times where my behavior screamed a loud for attention. Where my body shook out of desperation and yet my actions went unnoticed. Time after time.......
I know I am one of the lucky ones....... I know that where I have come to is but a gift of grace.... I have made choices, yes.... but the strength, to make them and then to walk in them, has come from others and from above......
There are too many voices that aren't heard.... and we need to care.... I need to care...... to act...... to educate..... to be a hand that reaches back into the recesses of darkness and pull forth others that are entangled in its grip.......
In the twenty sixth year of my life I woke up and twelve years later I have found my voice.....
I used to be terrified that if I spoke I would ruin my family. So I retreated into a world of my own creation where lies ruled and life was nothing more than a dazed blurry of events that I stumbled through.
I lived that way for so long...... too long....
I think of all the times where my behavior screamed a loud for attention. Where my body shook out of desperation and yet my actions went unnoticed. Time after time.......
I know I am one of the lucky ones....... I know that where I have come to is but a gift of grace.... I have made choices, yes.... but the strength, to make them and then to walk in them, has come from others and from above......
There are too many voices that aren't heard.... and we need to care.... I need to care...... to act...... to educate..... to be a hand that reaches back into the recesses of darkness and pull forth others that are entangled in its grip.......
Friday, December 4, 2009
Lessons Learned on a Three Year Hiatus
"Is this community big enough for us to not be friends?" You read it right... That question began one of the most honest conversations that I had ever had with a friend..... Yes, we were friends. But we lived in a community where at times... well, we joke and say it was the best of times and the worst of times....... and then another friend of mine and I joke that when we write the book ... well, that time in our lives will have it's own chapter... (atleast)
What am I saying? Why this morning.... why these words..... Well I just read an article that moved me..... a commentator expressing his views on watching the movie "Blind Side." Which I loved by the way... side note.... It talked about appreciating what we have and knowing what is truly important....
That friend of mine that I had that conversation with ... well, she is an incredible person... and I love knowing her... she is full of life and energy and a vibrancy that shakes the world.... knowing her changed me... helped me see that some things weren't always as important as I would make them out to be... helped me loosen up a bit....
So the article.. go read it .. I linked it on my facebook page as well.. originally found on CNN.... talked about entitlement.... that we have lost an appreciation for well.. being appreciative because we feel we are due something or owed something... while forgetting to just be grateful and thankful...
For all of my Christian walk I have been in Charismatic circles... having been on a hiatus for more than three years belonging to no congregation nor attending any where weekly... I have gone through many journeys..... the one I am the most grateful for is the break from Charis mania.. a striving to walk in gifts more than character.. more than love.... a looking for anointing before embracing the person next to you for who they are......
That is what had brought my friend and I to the point of that previously mentioned conversation... I had lost the essence of what being a Christian truly means.... and jealousy and envy had taken root.... The bible says where those things are so does every evil thing exist....... and its true... we had lost love because we had thought that the favor or the anointing one had was more important than the actual person standing in front of us ...
Now don't get me wrong... I love ... LOVE ... The gifts of God... but the journey I have been on these last three years has shown me that love, friendship, and family is the greatest of these.... truly.... as people who pursue the movements of God ... let us first pursue love.... because one day prophecy will pass away.. all will pass away... BUT Love will endure forever!
What am I saying? Why this morning.... why these words..... Well I just read an article that moved me..... a commentator expressing his views on watching the movie "Blind Side." Which I loved by the way... side note.... It talked about appreciating what we have and knowing what is truly important....
That friend of mine that I had that conversation with ... well, she is an incredible person... and I love knowing her... she is full of life and energy and a vibrancy that shakes the world.... knowing her changed me... helped me see that some things weren't always as important as I would make them out to be... helped me loosen up a bit....
So the article.. go read it .. I linked it on my facebook page as well.. originally found on CNN.... talked about entitlement.... that we have lost an appreciation for well.. being appreciative because we feel we are due something or owed something... while forgetting to just be grateful and thankful...
For all of my Christian walk I have been in Charismatic circles... having been on a hiatus for more than three years belonging to no congregation nor attending any where weekly... I have gone through many journeys..... the one I am the most grateful for is the break from Charis mania.. a striving to walk in gifts more than character.. more than love.... a looking for anointing before embracing the person next to you for who they are......
That is what had brought my friend and I to the point of that previously mentioned conversation... I had lost the essence of what being a Christian truly means.... and jealousy and envy had taken root.... The bible says where those things are so does every evil thing exist....... and its true... we had lost love because we had thought that the favor or the anointing one had was more important than the actual person standing in front of us ...
Now don't get me wrong... I love ... LOVE ... The gifts of God... but the journey I have been on these last three years has shown me that love, friendship, and family is the greatest of these.... truly.... as people who pursue the movements of God ... let us first pursue love.... because one day prophecy will pass away.. all will pass away... BUT Love will endure forever!
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