Sunday, November 24, 2019

To Jocelyn, on Your 14th Birthday

Dear Jocelyn,
             Happy Birthday! It is easy to celebrate all the wonderful things you are: Christ-like, talented, creative, loving, kind, smart, pretty. I wish that you could see in you what I do. I see the fears that are fighting to steal that light. I wish I could hide you from those anxieties and protect you from the things that try to steal your joy. However, that isn't truly my job. My job is to teach you to turn to the only One who can take away all your worries, and protect you from anything that comes against you.

      My job is to remind you that He alone can truly bring comfort and peace. My words can only be a poor imitation of His, but as long as I have breath my prayer is to point you to Him. In everything, big and small. I keep telling you that things won't get easier, not to frighten you, but to say that now is the time to fully trust Him. Your dad and I do our best to be a loving, safe haven for you, but we are flawed. We will let you down, frustrate you, at times we will even hurt you, because we too are humans. But if I only teach you one thing let it be this: You can trust Jesus fully. He will never let you down, He will never hurt you, He will unconditionally, eternally love you. He will always be there.

       Life isn't fair. Life isn't for the faint of heart. But Jesus can help you learn to live without fear-only imitate me as I imitate Him. My hope has never been to have a daughter that takes after me, but rather one that takes after her heavenly Father. Perhaps one day, instead of hearing that you are like me, people will say that I am like you, as you follow after Jesus completely, unashamedly, without any reservations. That would bring me more joy than anything I can think of. This is my constant prayer for you as you navigate the complexities that maturing brings:


"Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always." Psalm 105:4
   If you can grasp this now, during these tumultuous, coming-of-age, times you will find true success. I could not care less if you are famous, or rich, or even happy. None of those things matter, what truly matters is knowing that you are worth so much to Christ that He gave His life for *you*. And you were created to "glorify Him and enjoy Him forever". You do not have to wait to be a "grown-up", whatever that means, to do those things. Christ is fully in you now-You have complete access to every promise in Him that you ever will. Don't wait to follow Him without reservations. Today is the day! And all I want you to know is I am behind you, cheering for you, praying for you, and at many times, learning from your example. Jesus is all you will ever need. And it is my honor to be able to remind you of that when you need to hear it. I love you.
                                                                                                              Love,
                                                                                                                       Mom

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Cardigans and Kindness

   
     Today is "World Kindness Day". And because Hollywood loves nothing better than a tie-in, they have co-opted this celebration by encouraging people to wear a cardigan, which is posited to be in memory of Mr. Rogers, but is really a promotion of the new bio-pic of his life. 

     Since I am a lover both of cardigans and kindness, I am willing to buy-in and, therefore, I have on a cardigan today. I don't really know that this particular "movement" will gain much traction, because here's the thing: wearing cardigans doesn't make you kind any more than it made Mr. Rogers who he was. And I want to say something else: it won't even be beneficial if it only reminds you to be kind. 

    I am quite certain that there are many who would argue that point with me. "Of course being kind is always beneficial!" "Why don't you want people to be kind?!" "What sort of monster are you?" Here is the thing: there is no goodness apart from Jesus. There is no kindness without Him. That is why I said, "only". Being kind serves no purpose if it isn't based in glorifying God, because apart from that, anything we do is only to serve self.

    I know that it seems that unbelievers do a lot of "good". They feed the poor, they clothe the naked, they visit the imprisoned. And all those things, on a surface level, are "good".

"'Why do you call me good?' Jesus answered. 'No one is good-except God alone.'" -Mark 10:18 NIV
"'I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.'" John 15:5 NIV
    Those things that we perceive to be good, noble, perhaps even righteousness, are "filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6) apart from salvation in Jesus Christ. We can do no good thing apart from Him.

     So, as usual, I have taken something rather benign and made it heavy. I've dragged the Bible into something innocent and silly, right? I disagree. I am firmly convinced that every aspect of a believer's life, even the "little" things actually add up to something very important. And I am certain that even pertains to wearing a cardigan.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV

    If what I eat or drink is supposed to point other to God, then I think what I wear can, too. And that is why I am wearing a cardigan on World Kindness Day. Because Christ showed the ultimate kindness to me when He gave His life. When I placed my faith in Him I vowed to "do it all for the glory of God". So while others might be wearing a cardigan to draw attention to the latest Tom Hanks' movie, I am reminding myself that kindness is showing sinners the way to salvation, that true goodness only can be found in Christ alone, and that *any* "virtue" apart from Him is worthless.

    So wear a cardigan today, or don't, but whatever you do remember this:

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." 1 Colossians 3:12 NIV 1984

   If you put on those things, it won't really matter what else you are wearing, because those suit  everybody and they are not a result of anything we can do apart from Christ. It's a good look for all of us.

   

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