Gruesome Reality

Last night our dwarf hamster, the one prophetically named Chomper, was caught chomping off sweet Bright Star's head.  You can imagine the emotion running through our children's hearts as they processed this disaster.  It was wrong.

Lately my mind has been processing different pictures of brotherhood portrayed in the Bible.
The first example early in Genesis was uglier than our hamsters.

Two brothers, raised by parents who literally walked with God:
Abel with a pure devotion to God, Cain not so much.
Cain allowed the difference to fester, brew, congeal,
Until all the inward angst manifested itself in innocent Abel's corpse.
The first murder, martyr, lifeless man.  Death promised now present.
What did Cain feel afterwards?  Learn?

Then a picture of hope:

Two young, ruddy, handsome men.
Both with much promise.
Both with sincere hearts.
Hearts each continued to keep right before God.
One was the king's son.
The other, only a seventh son of a shepherd.

So when the king wanted to kill that shepherd boy,
The king's son Jonathan
Scorned his right to become king,
Protected his friend, his covenanted brother,
Because he knew David was God's chosen.
He gave up the kingdom, his own life,
For God's plan to prevail.

Cousins John and Jesus,
both promised sons,
but John says,
He must become greater,
I must become less.
And dies for his righteousness.

So I pray for myself and I pray for all
the brothers and sister under my roof:
Let us too, become less,
Allowing Christ to reign in us.

For we are a kind of firstfruits of
All He created.
We, as Christ-followers, can display
The beginnings of the new earth,
When children can play by a cobra,
When a lion will take a nap cuddled with a lamb,
When dwarf hamsters can live together in safety.

Angelic Choirs

Veteran's Day, November 11, comes around every year.  Every year since I can remember I've celebrated my cousin's birthday.

Stopping through Spokane on the trek to North Dakota

My sophomore year of college, the George Fox Concert Choir, which I was a part of, had an amazing director.  He loved to arrange music.  He taught us this wonderfully fun and beautiful rendition of happy birthday.  I made a phone call to my cousin that November 11, surrounded by the choir and we all sang to her.  It was angelically magical.

This year finds me in North Dakota, her in Spokane, both of us so busy with five kids, pastorates, projects, time differences, and basic chaos that we can't even squeeze in a chat.

Nine out of ten...Timmy's missing

I did, however, manage to reach her voicemail.. I grabbed the four kids running about the house and asked them to sing happy birthday.  It was really bad.  Timmy attempted opera, and if you've ever heard him sing, you'll know that she probably could have heard it from here to Spokane even without the phone.

Noelle rapped, she's into stamping her foot really hard on the floor and head banging to everything.  Raleigh and Dawson did their part to add to the silliness, and of course I had to jump in, too.  I wish I had it recorded so I could embed it for you.  Sorry.  Just believe me that it was really bad and really loud.  My little cherubs still have opportunity for improvement.

It is a picture, though.  For all of my life I've been built into by many gifted, loving people.  Now I'm in a new place with a community of strong believers but much more opportunity to share what I've learned from others than I've ever had before.

I'm having to lean harder and harder into Jesus.  Trusting that He'll use me and help me turn the cacophony of wild birthday songs in my life into angelic choirs.

Look at those trees...sigh.....cousins playing one last time in Spokane before we moved.

Katies

The summer's been full and fruitful and all-consuming.  I've so many blog posts written in my head and pray there will be time to get some of them down before they're lost.
I often feel at a loss when I have so many ideas and have to start somewhere.  So I usually choose to start with the most immediate.
In this case, it's the Katies.
Within one month I've been able to spend time with three of my most favorite Katies in the world.

This is nothing short of miraculous and deserves a blog post!

Each one is a blonde beauty.  Each one loves Jesus wholeheartedly and is walking by His Spirit and continuing to grow more like Him each year.

Each one has been an immense gift to me.  Nothing but grace.

Here's the first one I saw in early July:

me, Sissy, Katie

I met her in late grade school when she moved to our country town.  Our families are now fast friends.
I have many a loony memory with her as we snow skied, raised lambs, worked in student government, played in the band, and hatched outlandish plans and songs together.
Mostly, though, she and I planned summer mission trips when she was 15, I 16.  We spurred one another on in our goal, she to Pakistan, I to Tanzania.  It was a trip that changed me forever...where I really and wholeheartedly gave myself to Jesus.
When we returned we worked together to start Bible Studies and a little drama group at our high school.
God used her to change me and bless me tremendously.  Now she happens to live in the same town as me, but usually she's overseas.  She and her family are planning to move to Peru soon to share Jesus with children there.

Katie and I cutting various children's hair this August.  They just jumped into the nearby kiddy pool to clean off.

The next Katie I met probably within a couple days of her birth, I being about 18 months old.  And yes, my aunt let me hold her.
We spent childhood together on the family farm and have more memories than I could ever even remember.  Connected by family blood and the blood of Jesus, we've traveled similar but different roads.
Both of us have five children.  She's got a heart for her family and for Jesus that never empties.  Her husband is in seminary right now preparing to be an army chaplain.  Usually they are in different areas of the country with the military, but right now they're in the area.

Me and Katie in front of our husbands

The last Katie surprised me yesterday.  I've not seen her for 11 years, yet there's a place in my heart especially for her.  We lived together in college.  Her to-be-husband introduced my to-be husband to a personal relationship with Jesus.  We went through our courting days with our future husbands together, a deeply meaningful time and friendship.
They now live in inner-city L.A. where they pastor in a new church there.

I, undeserving, stop and thank God for such beautiful women who've been a part of my life at important  milestones.  Women who call me higher and purer and point me to Jesus with their very beings.

Sometimes I forget what a gift friendship is...so today I stop and remember.  What boundless grace.

How about you?  Any friendships you want to stop and thank God for?