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Legacy

by Ashley

Live In The Round Reader,

In the church today, at least in the church plant that I attend, older female mentors are very rare.  The Bible reminds us that older believers should teach the younger (See Exodus 12:25-27, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Deuteronomy11:19-21, Titus 2:2-8).  However, more often than not, those reminders get lost in the great debates of traditional versus contemporary services, felt boards versus ipads.  Today, Valentine’s Day, I would like to honor a woman who has been a beautiful example of God’s love and forgiveness to His broken bride, the church. 

Dear Grandmother,

There are many reasons for this letter today.  It is good timing as you have retired yet again (Is it the third time?).  I know that this past year has been an emotional one for you, filled with goodbyes to loved ones and hellos to a few more.  Today, Valentine’s Day, whether Hallmark invented it or not, is still a day to celebrate love.  So, this is what I want to do.  I want to show you how much you are loved.

In thinking about all your characteristics, the first thing that popped in my head was how much you love people.  You have friends wherever you go. When I have been out with you, it seemed like everywhere we went, you knew someone.   You know their names, their stories, and their families.

You are deeply in love with your own family.  A sign of this is how you cannot wait to take pictures to capture the few moments when we all can be together.  You have learned how to work an iPad and Facebook, just to connect better with loved ones who you do not get to see on a daily basis.  I love that.

Generosity is written all over your heart.  You give gifts like it is your (fourth) job.  Thinking back to when I was younger, I remember going to your house and receiving presents from you.  I do not remember the experience truly being about the gifts.  I just remember thinking what an exotic grandmother I had for having such treasures. 

Only in the past couple of years, have I actually discovered that my grandmother is such a hottie!  Of course, I am not surprised by this revelation.  Although I do not know the reasons for not pursuing a relationship, I have observed a godly woman responding to offers of romantic relationships when she did not feel that God was leading her in that direction.

I love the way that you seek to leave a legacy to your family.  I love every moment that I get to hear you share stories about our family’s past.  People who were gone long before I was around.  People who I mostly remember through photographs.  Your own stories of crazy adventures that play like a black and white film reel in my head.

The most powerful thing about you, Grandmother, is your love for Jesus.  I know that people in the church have hurt you deeply.  You have experienced more than your share of pain from those who profess the name of Christ.  You have faced backbiters, slanderers, and busybodies.

When so many would give up on Jesus because of His imperfect, broken bride, you have only clung harder to your Savior.  You have responded with grace that only the Holy Spirit is capable of giving His followers.  I have witnessed Psalm 30:11-12 in your life:

“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!”

Because God has turned your mourning into dancing, He has used your story to point others facing the same heartbreak toward Him.  I cannot begin to describe the delight that fills my heart when I think of God using your story for good.  I pray that I remember your example when I face the temptation to blame Christ for the way sinful man acts, instead of looking to Him directly for comfort in my hurt. 

You do not stop there, though, with a story that happened so many years ago.  You follow a living God, who is still sanctifying your heart.  You are always excited about what God is teaching you, and it seems like you are always going through another Bible study or reading another book to keep your eyes focused on Him.  I look forward to our next phone call so that you can tell me all about what you are learning.

So, although we have differing opinions on topics such as Joel Osteen, female pastors, and Calvinism (-hey, why am I the conservative one here?!), you will always be my hero and an example of the command from Paul in Titus 2:3-5,

“Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.  They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”

It is my prayer that God will use your example to challenge many more women and bring them close to Himself, just as He has done for me.

See You In The Round (on your iPad, of course, Grandmother!)

Ashley

“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Trusting God Part One

by Jennie

2013 was one of the most challenging years for me. In May, I finished my final year of grad school, graduating with a Master’s of Social Work degree. After casually looking for a job from March through June with no success, I returned to work at a 9-week summer therapeutic program for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Throughout the summer, I continued my job search, which also included applying to internal positions at the agency where I was working my seasonal job, but to no avail, I couldn’t seem to find a job in the Philadelphia area, where I had called home for the last 8 years. I even interviewed at a temp agency in hopes I could find something through them!

At the end of September, I received a call from a recruiter based out of Colorado who fills positions for medical/mental health agencies looking for employers. She asked me how my job search was going and what type of job offers, if any I had received. I explained to her my current situation at the time, and she asked if I had considered re-locating. She had a job she thought I would be a perfect fit, but there was a catch. It was 2-1/2 hours west of Philadelphia. I was in complete shock, unsure how to answer her, but long story short, I agreed to interview.


On my 2-1/2 hour drive to the interview, I was a complete ball of anxiety! I had no clue what to expect, but God was in control. At the interview, I met the behavior analyst first. She had relocated from northern Michigan for her position back in September. She took me on a tour of the facility while the program director was in a meeting. I was still a nervous-wreck, but I managed to carry on a decent conversation and ask her questions about relocating. Halfway through the tour, the program director came out to meet us. We finished up the tour and I went back in for my interview. It was one of the EASIEST interviews I had ever been in! We sat down, and he asked me if I had any questions, so I proceeded to ask multiple questions about the work I’d be doing, the program, and population I’d be working with. Ten minutes into the interview, I felt a complete peace, my anxiety was completely gone, and I knew this is where God was calling me. If I was offered the job, I would go. I wasn’t even halfway home when I received a call from the recruiter saying they were offering me the job, but negotiations were still in the works. I received the call with the final offer by Friday afternoon. They had given me two weeks. I had less than 2 weeks to find a place to live, pack up all my belongings, and move to start my new position in mid-October!


Even though I knew this is where God wanted me to go, I still struggled with the fact that I had to pick up the life I knew for the last 9 years and move to Central PA in less than two weeks.


The song “I Will Follow” by Chris Tomlin became my never-ending prayer those last two weeks as I prepared to pick up the life I knew and was comfortable with, the life I had expected to continue living, but God had different plans, a different direction for me, and I am blessed to be called His. I leave you with the chorus of “I Will Follow.” You can listen to the song in its entirety here.

“Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow you

Who you love, I'll love
How you serve, I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow you
I will follow you”

See you in the round!
Jennie

Living The Dream Part 2

by Stacy

Read Living The Dream Part 1 here

Picture God saying to you, “There are certain things I want to do with you, FILL IN YOUR NAME.” God has a plan and He is directing your steps. Do you realize how many trials Joseph went through? He was thrown in a pit by his own family and sold into slavery by them. He was falsely accused of rape. He was thrown into prison and spent 13 years in jail!

Get this in your head. Bad things don’t happen to people who are just involved in bad things. That theology is false doctrine and I rebuke it in the name of Jesus. I don’t get how people believe that, but I do see throughout Scripture how the Lord’s children suffer trials and tragedy. Take Jesus for example. God Himself suffered. If the cross wasn’t fair, what makes you think that your life is going to be fair? Joseph went through the bad, yet still knew the promise and dream of God was coming.

God is always directing you. Psalm 37:23-24,

“If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with His hand.”

God tells us in His Word that not even a sparrow falls to the ground that the Lord doesn’t know about. How much more does He love you!

God is always protecting you. Psalm 121: 5-8,

“The LORD watches over you---…The LORD will keep you from all harm---he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

God is always correcting you. Don’t ask “if God really loves us than why do we have these problems?” God’s greatest concern is not what happens to you, but how you respond to it, in it. Psalm 105:17-19,

“and he sent a man before them—Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true.” 

This is the testing. He went through all kinds of stuff “till the word of the LORD proved him true.” Reading this makes my life look like a cakewalk. I have never been sold into slavery, been thrown into prison in shackles, been in jail for 13 years. Wow. REALITY CHECK.

God is perfecting you. God isn’t so concerned about delivering us out of the mess we’re in, but delivering us out of the mess we are. Joseph went from being a dreamer to a slave worker to a prisoner to a Ruler over the kingdom. And all throughout Genesis in the story of Joseph, the Lord makes it clear He was with him. Genesis 39:2, 3, 23, “The LORD was with Joseph…” “The LORD was with him…” “The LORD was with Joseph…” Even in Acts 7:9 when Luke recounts the story of Joseph in the New Testament, he reminds us that “God was with Joseph and rescued him from all his troubles.” Maybe we need to say that out loud more often to remind ourselves. “The LORD is with Stacy.” Say it out loud for yourself.

In case, you aren’t familiar with the end of the story, Joseph becomes a ruler over Egypt and there are all kinds of other crazy, awesome things that happen along the way. He ends up being given the opportunity to show mercy and forgiveness to his brothers and essentially save his entire family’s lives in the midst of a famine. This is a perfect testament to how God desires us to behave, react, and live. Joseph could have let bitterness and scorn and hatred fill his heart and cut off his brothers from help, but he knew and had always known the LORD was with him. His story gives us a perfect picture into the heart of God. Bless your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Love mercy and walk humbly with God. His story can be found in Genesis 37-50.

Though there are times you may not see Him, feel Him, sense Him, He is:

Directing you

Protecting you

Correcting you

Perfecting you

Following Jesus is making God-given dreams come to life.

See you in the Round,
Stacy

*Scripture quotations are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

You And I Are The Same

by Karen

A gnarled hand grabbed my arm as I passed by. In a depressing common room of a “retirement center” outside of Savron, Ukraine, my fellow missionaries and I had finished delivering the good news of the Gospel to about twenty residents.

I was last in line as the 7-member team single-filed out of the room that smelled of stale urine and cheap alcohol. Only a few steps from the beckoning fresh air, my progress was halted by the twisted hand restraining me.

I looked up from the hand to find a pair of blue eyes wet with tears.

The owner of the hand, an older woman, began to speak urgently in Russian. While waiting a few minutes for one of the translators to get to us, my impatience grew. This visit had disheartened me, temporarily stuck in a warehouse of people whose crime of growing old and poor landed them in a collection of decrepit buildings with staff that seemed uninterested.

This place was far beyond my easy faith. Forged on the comfortable pews of Midwestern Lutheran churches, my faith was rarely challenged. Growing up, I had no doubt that God loved me, that Jesus died to save me from my sin, that as long as I believed (whatever that meant), I would be fine.

But the truth was that I wasn’t fine, and hadn’t been in a long while. As soon as I could, I left those comfortable pews and didn’t look back. I still believed (whatever that meant) but the fruits of my easy faith were far from what God promises. He had recently brought me back to the fold but in significant ways, I was still pretending that I was fine. As I stood there in Ukraine, the reality was that my easy life had crumbled.

When the translator reached us, he told me what the woman was saying: “I’m all alone. My husband is dead. I have no children. My family lives far away. No one loves me.” Apparently, she repeated this mantra as Zhenya, the translator, also repeated it in English.

Listening in stereo, I heard a third voice, one that had become too familiar over the past eighteen months. I heard Satan whisper: “Take a good look Karen. This will be you soon.”

Now, my impatience turned to panic – I craved to be out of that room, away from this woman and back to my “I’m fine thank you, and you?” life.

I didn’t need any reminders of the horrible thoughts that come deep in the night when you find yourself a 41-year old widow. When the reality of your life is absolutely not what you pray for.

I guess the woman stopped speaking because Zhenya also stopped. Now, two pairs of blue eyes were looking at me. I was on the spot, needing something – anything -- to comfort this woman, convince her that God loved her.

But how could I do that for this stranger when I couldn’t do it for myself? When that hideous voice, which came during the night, was here now in the bright sunshine of the day?

I opened my mouth, and in answer to a prayer I didn’t realize I had prayed, the following words came out: “You and I are the same. My husband is dead. I have no children. I live far away from my family. But Jesus loves both of us and tells us we are never alone. His last words on Earth were ‘And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”

As I spoke, the woman’s grip on my arm loosened. No longer a shackle, her touch now comforted. I covered her hand with mine and said I would pray that she would always feel Jesus’ love.

When Zhenya repeated these words in Russian, I gently lifted her hand from my arm and murmured “Бог с тобой,” (God be with you).

Zhenya and I walked into the fresh air and bright sunshine.

I then realized I had never said aloud those terrible words – My husband is dead, I have no children, I’m all alone. Keeping them silent made them, and their author, powerful. By insisting that I was fine and needed nothing from anyone, I was easy prey for the lion who prowled around me. I resisted Divine Love and the perfect peace found only in Him.

The fairy tale ending would be that, with this realization, I have lived the rest of my days completely content in the Light of the World.

I wish.

The truth is that the end is not yet here. Just like any believer, I struggle with the old Karen every day. But I don’t struggle alone.

The words I spoke to the woman are truth: You and I are the same. God loves us and where His love is, we are never alone, even to the end of the age.

See You In The Round!
Karen

Selfishness

by Jenn

What an ugly word.

Yet I find my heart can often be described as nothing but that. Selfish. Stingy. Ungenerous. Mean.

I find my selfishness is the problem most often when things are spinning out of control in my home. Relationships are tense. Joy is buried deep under a pile of hurt. My husband suffers. My kids suffer. My communion with God suffers. Sometimes I believe it's really not my fault, but everyone else that has the problem. The kids don't want to obey. My husband wants to be lazy. But reading James 3:16 sure shines a light on that dark place:

"For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice."

Am I more selfish than other people? Probably not. I think most of us can admit that we struggle here. We know the Bible calls us to be self-LESS. Not full of self. It's one thing to know this; another to live it out. What's a girl to do?


Well, for starters, how 'bout a confession of our true heart posture? If selfishness is pouring out, that certainly means our hearts need a good dose of humble pie. What better person to look at than Jesus himself.

Christ's Example of Humility

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Philippians 2:3-8

Jesus was the epitomy of selflessness. He gave up his cozy throne, warm robe, shiny crown, kingship. He came as a humble servant on a cold dark night as a helpless infant to a poor family in a barn. The reason He came? His beloved...us! He came to serve, not be served. Ultimately, he laid down his life so we could hear 'Not guilty' from the throne of God.

 

How does that empower us to live selflessly? Tim Keller says,

"People with a deep grasp of the gospel can turn around and admit that their selfishness is the problem and that they're going to work on it. And when they do that, they will often discover an immediate sense of liberation...You must lose yourself to find yourself." The Meaning of Marraige

Hold on tight to it. For it is the only fuel that can feed us to continually be selfless, no matter the circumstance.


What situation in your life do you need to grasp the gospel more deeply? Is there a struggle of selfishness you need to confess today? Be liberated, my friend!

"...let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross..." Hebrews 12:1-2

See you in the Round!
Jenn

Can You Teach Me How To Shower?

by Kim

"Can you teach me how to shower, just like you taught your kids?"-Daisy

When Daisy first came into our family, she was dirty, bruised all over her body, sick & longing for love. She was so excited to use toothpaste (something she had never used before) that we went through about six tubes of toothpaste the first two weeks. I bought all that the store had to restock our supplies. Even though most of the toothpaste ended up on the floor, it was so special and my little girl was thrilled! Hygiene was a new concept to her.

I did not know that putting her in the bath for the first time would be so momentous. To wash away a layer of uncleanliness, to see hopeful eyes staring back at me, "Can you teach me how to shower, just like you taught your kids?"

"Yes." I replied holding back tears knowing this child had never been taught how to brush her teeth, never been fed properly, barely even knowing what it was like to actually feel clean.

Watching the dirt run down the drain of that first bathwater felt like brokenness and healing all in the same filthy swirls of hope.

Today, my daughter happily plays in the bathtub or shower, whichever she is wanting for the day. She has bath time paints to paint on the wall, bubbles in warm water and most importantly, a loving Mommy who is there to teach her how to wash herself. It has only been a few months of having her here but what a difference a few months can make!

As we allow the cleansing of Jesus' healing to wash over our dirt-covered lives, may we try not to get discouraged when we don't know how to get the filth off. Jesus wants us to come to Him and ask for help to learn, just as He taught His disciples and Saints through history.

Matthew 11:28-30 says

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and LEARN FROM ME, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Lord, humbly, I come before You in awe of Your wisdom. Jesus, teach me. Help me to expand the depths of my thinking to know love and grace which does not come naturally in my humanness.


See You In The Round!
Kim

*Scripture quotations are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.