Faith and learning in Operations Management and the marketplace

As I begin to attempt to write the final discussion board post of my college education with Liberty University, I am deeply honored to think of the roles faith and learning have and will play in my future vocation, and in light of this class on operation’s management. An article out of the Acton Institute’s publication, about theological vocation and the marketplace, resonates deeply in this regard. As a Christian, faith and learning never stop, and their implications reach into all aspects of our lives, including our careers in the marketplace of the world. The perspective in the article was posed of the phenomena of Steve Jobs. Jobs was not a computer programmer, scientist or even a professionally trained developer; he had good business sense, and represented a Buddhist ethic and viewpoint on life (Dalrymple, 2015). The writer asks the profound question: what if Steve Jobs had embodied biblical values and beliefs, having been nurtured by the church, and his foundation was based on Christianity that spilled over into “his work, his product, his company, and his effect on society” (Dalrymple, 2015)? We have this opportunity, through our faith and learning, to impact operations management and more in our future careers.

            Sometimes in our work, in the marketplace, it is not always easy to be a direct witness and light of Christ. Perhaps open sharing of our faith is discouraged by management. Through our own faith walk and learning journey, however, there are numerous other ways to shine regarding basic operations management, no matter what our future careers may hold.

We learned in our textbook that ethical conduct is desperately needed in operations management, and that managers must deliberate and make choices that affect everything from “shareholders, management, employees, customers, the community at large, and the environment” (Stevenson, 2015, p. 29). The Bible states in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that whatever we do, we must do it all to the glory of God (The Bible, n.d.). Our guidelines are clear, and in actions of ethical consideration, our unspoken testimony in areas of operations management can be bold without words, as we seek to do the best of our ability for all the areas mentioned before, in the decisions we make in the marketplace.

            Additionally, sustainability in companies, and including operation’s management issues, has become a major concern. In sustainability, we are to use resources in methods that will not harm the “ecological systems that support human existence” (Stevenson, 2015, p. 28). As Christians, we know and believe in God’s wisdom and divine charge at the creation of this beautiful earth. As humans, God charged us with stewardship of the earth, to have dominion over it (Genesis 1:28) and to work and keep it (Genesis 2:15). This extends in our faith and learning to applying the knowledge we have gained in this course of operations management, and all our prior courses, and taking this knowledge to our future vocations. We are supposed to use resources in a way that make the earth fruitful, and care for it; this applies to the decisions we make in managing operations.

            Faith and learning do not stop, and their impact does not need to end after our degrees are attained. We can implement them, through our actions of ethical integrity at work, and our decisions, in care of our resources in our careers, and we can bring glory to God in the marketplace.

Bibliography

Ballor, J. J. (2015). Editorial: The theological vocation and the economy of social life. Journal of Markets and Morality, 18(2). Interesting commentary on how Christianity influences various vocations whether they are theological or secular jobs.

Dalrymple, T. (2015). Theological vocation and the marketplace. Journal of Markets, 18(2). Direct discussion of the need for theology to influence jobs, and the increased demand of discourse on religion in the world through social media.

Stansbury, J. (2015). Moral imagination as a reformational influence in the workplace. Journal of Markets and Morality, 18(1). Great article discussing the challenges of Christians of living out their faith in a pluralistic workplace, and sometimes an unreceptive environment.

Stevenson, W. (2015). Operations management (Vol. 12th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

The Bible. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2017, from biblehub.com: http://biblehub.com/colossians/4-6.htm

Fasting, Beer, and Friends

So, fasting, beer, and friends, in no particular order…

Let us begin with friends. My favorite Man in the world *Moshe and I were visiting his best friend, and his best friend was talking about fasting late one evening, over beer, or whiskey, or perhaps both. It was a fine discussion, but in a nutshell, he described a spiritual practice of his family in which they would fast from something for a month, such as electronics, or alcohol, as a way of keeping things in check. The whole idea was also beneficial, because they would attempt new hobbies during that time, like cooking for example. The thought struck me curiously, and so I let it simmer.

Not too much later, God impressed on me that I should try it, and I should fast a month from alcohol as well. I do enjoy my beer and whiskey very much; perhaps too much lately,  ha ha! So, fasting from alcohol it is, I told God. He impressed on me to do it sooner than later, so in less than a week I began.

On a personal note, perhaps this will also reveal the more meaningful aspect of it of this choice of fast. Because of all my food allergies, there is not many beverages I can drink. I can have black coffee, unsweetened tea, but most real and artificial sugars really hurt my stomach, so I don’t drink any tea, soda, or juice, unless I have time to pay for it later (and I ain’t got time for that ;) So, most of the time, I drink my Bullet-proof coffee in the early morning, and otherwise I drink water. All. Day. Long. So, to give up any and or all alcohol, which typically doesn’t hurt my stomach, is pretty big for me. I have decided to take up drinking hot teas, ha! Embarrassing side note concluded.

I had been reading Job, and the historical parts of the Bible a lot recently, and in my mind I could see Job sitting in the trash pits outside his home and his town, covered in ashes and sackcloth, baking in the sun with blisters roasting and potshards carving, as he expressed his misery and moaned to God all that he would say. Then I began Daniel, and could see Daniel near the Chebar, waiting on answers from the Lord. In my heart I know my fast is no where near as holy as that, but I am excited still over the possibility of what this fast will reveal, and what is to be learned.

My dear Moshe always points me in a right direction. He reminds me of how, when we give up something for a fast, and then we think about the item, we are prompted to go to God and spend that time dedicated to Him in prayer.  My heart has been so disturbed lately over so many things, and this fast has so far been a great way to clear all that has bogged me down and focus with a more razor sharp clarity on God and His abiding presence. I am trying to retreat to my prayer closet and simply “be” in His presence. I’ve not realized any lofty things, nor been struck by any great ideas, nor came to any divine spiritual realizations, but this strange, sweet sense of His presence, His comfort, His provision of my spiritual needs, has been made more richly known. He is divine, in the realest sense.

Of course I miss beer and whiskey, but it’s a month. What is funny, is that after beginning the fast, our small group also brought up the fast idea, and after discussing it, they are also going to begin fasting in their own way. I’m so excited for each of them, and amazed at God’s timing on each of our respective spiritual journey, and how He provokes the Holy Spirit to prompt things in our soul’s. After our small group was near finishing Phillipians, there was a verse from it that struck me overall in particular, about unity, and how I felt about our small group, and that is Phillipians 2:1-2

“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. “

It has not been an easy fast by far. Definite spiritual obstacles and challenges have come up, some rather frightening, some seem like a downright attack from the enemy. There was an emergency situation, and there was an unexpected plumbing issue, all within the first 9 days. The enemy doesn’t want to make this easy nor a walk in the park, but the struggle—during the fast—-mimics what also happened to Christ with His 40 day fast. There was temptation. We are told to expect it. Whether the temptation is to not complete the fast, or to disobey God, it will come in some form. So, to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, I want to remind you to expect temptation, and be ready for it. Put on the whole armor of God, and stand firm to resist the enemy. But also be prepared, for all the blessing that will come as you strive to grow closer to our Father in heaven, who Loves us and cares for us and sees us when we are struggling. God bless each of you, and God bless our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ who know the struggle is real.

*Moshe, my pet name for my dear Man, James

Enjoying and Sharing the Bread of His Presence

More Ebenezer Stones: The Bread of the Presence

“The LORD is my portion, says my soul, 

therefore, I have hope in Him”

https://www.bible.com/bible/100/lam.3.19-25.nasb

I love it how God will lead deeper into His presence by sensitizing me to a theme of something I'm to learn. It's like a lovely maze, or a game now, whereas I used to feel like it was a case study in repetitive lesson learning: “Oh yea, We’re still working on patience, are we God?” Now, this tutoring has become what unconditional love looks like after a while. I'm no Andre Seu Petterson, however.

These past few weeks, I have been guided to look deeply at the bread references in the Bible. There was the bread of the Presence in the Holy place, Representing...His presence. He tells us to eat His body (Matthew 26:26). Do we take His word into our spirit to sustain our soul? Man is nourished by bread. Bread is the staff of life, so they say. 

This journey began inside with that verse that Jesus gives in response to the Devil in the desert:

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” Matthew 4:4.

It always impressed me how, of all the things Jesus could say to our enemy number 1 on earth, He replied with the word of God—-scripture. Curiosity beget questions, and the perplexity of the statement that mankind, who needs food to sustain him or he will die—- cannot live by physical bread alone, but needs life giving spiritual nourishment as imperatively as the physical. 

Also, as I have followed the daily Bible reading plan (I choose Historical from “youversion" this year), I have gone through the Prophets already, and it was interesting to think about Elijah being fed bread in the desert, and also when he ran for 40 days and was sustained by God till Mt Horeb 1 Kings 19:8. That is what I think about when I read "man shall not live by bread alone…"

Additionally, Moses, on Mt. Sinai, living in the presence of God for 40 days without eating bread or drinking water (Exodus 24:18, Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 9:9, Deuteronomy 9:18, etc). Moses was called a “friend of God” Exodus 33:11. It fills my heart with joy, to contemplate how God wants this type of relationship, this type of communion with us!

I also think of "take this bread... My body, which is broken for you”  and combined with Jesus when He was at the well speaking with the Samaritan woman, and the disciples were amazed at him and wondered where/how he ate, and He responds "I have food to eat that you know nothing about" John 4:32: what is He talking about? Is He speaking about doing the work of the Spirit, and being “fed” by the Spirit? Was He nourished by God's word that day?  The disciples respond with such finesse, like me learning lessons on patience “no one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” John 4:33. And Jesus cryptically answers them “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to accomplish His work” John 4:34. That’s enigmatic to me.

One of our dear Catholic friends gave James and I a book called Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, by Brant Pitre. Fascinating read, that I’m enjoying immensely.

Then I began chapter 4 of the Jewish Eucharist book. Then p. 81 caught me. Referenced Exodus16:16-20, where the Jews only got an Omer a day (about a liter). They had to trust God for a daily allowance, and as I read it, it was like a Rhema moment, where the Spirit of God just jumped off the page again: “give us this day, our daily bread” Matthew 6:11. What if Jesus is hinting at more than food in the Lord's Prayer; what if He's referencing His own body, the word of God, to nourish our soul?

        As a Christ follower, I am part of a kingdom that was prepared for me and others, since the foundation of the world. Part of my task is simple and straightforward: be kind to those  around who are in need. Give water, give food, give shelter, give comfort, because each act of kindness to those who have lesser is a direct act towards God Almighty Himself (Matthew 25:34-40). God knows my limits, and He has no limits when it comes to lovingkindness, so we are challenged to do what we can.

All humans have the image of God in them (Genesis 1:27). What if I began to view all my fellow image of God-bearers as souls instead of bodies? What if I began to share all the Bread/His Word (John 1:1) that He has stored up in my soul, like the loaves and the fishes, and I earnestly began to see the starving souls, so desperate for His nourishment, and simply start giving it all away? One of the first things that my favorite, beloved counselor, Randy Hamrick said to me was “I’m just one beggar, telling (you) another beggar, where to find bread”. What if I have this bread in me, and Being mindful of His everlasting Presence, I began to part with all my loaves stored in my heart, and I try to give this to fellow souls also? His word. His presence. His sustenance and life giving soul nourishment, along with my acts of service? "Give us this day, our daily bread"

Next week I will be writing about beer, friends, and fasting. 

Here’s a tasty, simple bread recipe from another blogger, just to make this all the more savory.http://www.alexandracooks.com/2012/11/07/my-mothers-peasant-bread-the-best-easiest-bread-you-will-ever-make/ 

Entertaining Angels

July 29, 2015

I have humbly noticed that I tend to post money related answers to prayer, and have felt convicted to post more “Ebenezer Stones” related to the spiritual realm. So often, prayers are made that are answered directly through some financial blessing, and these types of answered prayers are very concrete and instant, and often times more obvious. However, this isn’t all that God is up to, and I want to be sure to speak of the more subtle things He is doing. 

Sometimes, the prayer requests and answers are things I haven’t even begun to think of praying for. Sometimes, they are things that are answers to other peoples’ prayers. Sometimes, things are happening, and I know God’s hand is at work, doing something huge and divine, and I am an oblivious bystander, just incredulous because He is awesome. These are the things I want to tell you about also. Because He is always at work. Are we able to hear and see? Are we able to witness, and represent? I want to be, although I am a complete idiot at times, God forgive me.

So, today was normal, and yet unusual towards the end.

After the awful sickness from the preceding month, I was playing a lot of mom catch up on things to do. So, today, I caught up on some emails. At around 2pm today, I was going down my to-do list, and got to:

“Print Jack and Lily’s test scores”

Elias, Jack, and Lily were home schooled this past year, and even though we live in Charlotte now, out of comfortability with that which is familiar, I chose to have their annual testing completed in Fayetteville, where we resided for the past 10 years.

A very wonderful woman named Ronda oversees the annual home school testing co-op in Fayetteville, NC, which we had been a part of for almost 10 years, I want to say, and I loved it. Why rock the boat, when you’ve got something good, I say? So we stayed with relatives near Fayetteville, and tested there, like usual. 

Have you seen our Jack, lately? This kid is great. 

He makes quite an impression on people. Especially boys his age. They say he’s just so great. He is so nice. He is so kind. I’m old enough to know better (or maybe I’m just jaded) but I tend to not let it go to my head. I hear nice things about my kids, and I just try and assume every parent thinks their kids are awesome and well-mannered and make the same kind of impression on the other kids, and so yeah, right?

So I’m catching up on some emails today, and I find an email from the testing coordinator, back in mid-June, about another mom, whose son encountered the awesome Jack, and wants to keep in touch. Unfortunately, we have moved to Charlotte, and so we are no longer in close proximity to Fayetteville to maintain friendship for the boys. But I email the mom, on July 29, 2015, anyway, to let the mom know that I appreciate her email and to let her know that we are open to hang out and let the boys play whenever, if we are in Fayetteville, or she is in Charlotte. I thought it was incredibly sweet that another boy would want to hang out with Jack.

Hilariously, the mom responds, and just so happens to be in Charlotte. This afternoon. Can they hang out, even for a short time, this evening?!?!

Of course! I tell the mom our address, cell phone. It doesn’t occur to me till moments before they arrive, that I don’t know this lady, or her son, from Sam Adams. But, in laymens’ terms: my kids’ testing coordinator, Ronda: she’s got street creed. Like incredible creed. Enough creed that I’m giving out my cell and address to an absolute stranger that wants to bring her son over. 

Only hours later, after the short, sweet visit, does all this occur to me.

But this brave Mama. This Mama that listened to the requests of her son. I gotta love her for that. This simple, sweet, soft spoken Mama, whose circles I have walked on the outside edge of for 7+ years now, seeing her and her family at church and home school events, and not knowing them: Thank God for this quiet Mama’s courage, to contact an absolute stranger just because her kid hit it off with another kid. We’ve passed each other on the play ground and in the church hallways for years, always smiling and quiet and gracious. And Thank God for His absolute, amazing, perfect timing, where He arranges divine appointments with people who live hours away from one another, to meet in a large city unexpectedly. 

They showed up at 8:00, after Jack and Lilly’s swim lessons. They were in town to see missionary friends, who are headed to Sierra Leone. They only had a short time to visit, but the child just said that if he could see Jack just for a few minutes, it would be worth it. God hears 8 year old boy’s requests, you know? God pays attention to these sweet children, and blesses the Mamas too in the meantime. We were able to share a few small moments, and not even an hour went by, and they were gone. Her children were sweet: the girls played with Lilly and the boys ran around playing nerf guns with Jack. If it weren't for this kid, we'd never have this time.

Thank you God, for the moments. Thank you God, for the brief, still moments, where we just sit, and enjoy company for a small time, and none of it makes sense till later, but it’s all good anyway. Because You are all good.

Illness, Paused...

June 29 2015

My immediate family and I try to get together with my step-dad and my siblings one Sunday a month for Sunday dinner. I am so thankful for my Step Dad’s wife, who cooks amazingly delicious meals and hosts this monthly event. This past month we got together on June 28, a Sunday afternoon. Our eldest son, Ethan, was visiting us, and it was very special for all of us to get together, enjoy Betty’s delicious cooking, and fellowship with each other. 

Even though it was a typical Southern summer day, which translates to hot and humid, I was oddly cold, and dressed warmer. I was wearing a shirt, light jacket, blue jeans, scarf and shoes, and freezing! I should have known something was up. In reality, I was running a fever, unbeknownst. i froze all day, and went to bed with check lists’ in my head of all the next day’s plans, because it was Lillian’s birthday on Monday, June 29. 

Little did I know, I was about to embark on a 14 day summer illness, along with the rest of my 5 member household. You see, when a big family gets sick, it’s never nice and neat: for example, everyone gets the same illness, at the same time, at the same rate, for the same extended period. No, that’s too easy. What typically happens in a big family is that each person gets sick in stages, like 3 days apart. Which translates to half a month in mom language.

Long story short, however, I woke up on June 29, 2015, at 7:30am, feeling just fine, and worked all day long to make it the most special day an 11 year old birthday girl could dream of, beginning with breakfast in bed, and a party and Grandparents visiting from Sanford, to a fantastic sleep over with friends, rocking out till 11:40pm when i finally turned in for the night and left the birthday girl partying with a friend for an epic sleep over!

       

And I woke up the next morning with a fever of 103.8, wishing I was at the hospital; the first of almost 14 days straight of a horrid summer illness.

Thus began the first leg of the illness, that took over our family from June 30, 2015, till around July 15, 2015. This was the worst summer sickness we’ve ever had! But the Ebenezer Stone is this: even though I was running a fever on June 28, I woke up June 29, like God paused the illness, and was able to do a pretty fine job of making a fabulous birthday for Lillian physically and mentally, and I just want to thank God so much for making that possible! Even when I was sick the following day, all I could think about was how awesome it was that Lily’s birthday was just fine! Mothers out there: y’all know how much you just love your kid, and want their birthday to be the best one ever…well, God made this possible this year for our girl. As a Mom, I couldn't hope for a more beautiful Ebenezer Stone, than to see how wonderfully God worked it out for me to be just fine and do so much for our daughter's birthday! It makes me so thankful for our health, and all that we are able to do! 

Plus, we are over that awful virus, or whatever it was.  Thank you God!

Signs from Broken grills, broken mowers, and broken perspectives

4/12/2015

Another humbling story in my faith journey. I wish to God I’d have arrived by now, and had achieved St. Augustine status, but the older I get, the more I realize I need to grow. But my Father in heaven—-He is so patient with me, like a child! So I will rejoice, that He cares about me enough to diligently teach me these pearls of lessons. Like an artist, it’s all about perspective. Depending on the light shed on a subject, and the angle, one can view one’s circumstances in many different ways, both good and bad. Here is a bad angle, that He gently turned into a good angle. And then a heavenly angle.

Last weekend was Easter weekend, April 4-5, 2015. Mary Biggerstaff, my mother in heart, died on April 5, so I was already heart sick, remembering her and missing her, and not knowing what to do with all those emotions. We were looking for something to do to fill the time.

We tried to go camping with my sister, but one of our children fell ill with a fever. To salvage weekend plans that went awry, James and I decided we would try out the grill for the first time this season, in preparation for the upcoming cookout.We have two sons’ birthdays that are imminently approaching,  the weekend of April 17-18, and Jack specifically asked for cheeseburgers instead of a cake! So the boy is gonna have cheeseburgers. And his brother, Elias, wants a snake. So a snake he gets. 

Spring has been good here. Good rains, and grass growing fast, causing the yard to explode in green, thick, bloom, alive with bees and bugs. Our sad lawnmower died 2 days before, and sat remorsefully beside the back of the house staring at us on the back deck. Why it had to die, two weeks before a cookout, was beyond me, but at that point, I thought: oh well. That Saturday evening, We pulled out the grill; prepped the hotdogs that should have been cooked over a campfire, and James got ready to ignite it, and discovered that the grill, too, had died. That evening, I boiled the hot dogs, and tried to put this costs all away for a brief time. I had to grieve over Mary being gone, and I had kids to get ready for an Easter service, and outfits, and all sorts of stuff.

Fast forward to this weekend, April 11-12.  We are one week out from a birthday party. The boy wants cheeseburgers; shoot, we all want cheeseburgers. We wanted hotdogs last week! And the yard is starting to look like the Amazon, new creatures flowing in daily among the crazy growth of grass here. After a week, the panic starts setting in, because I had invited a slew of friends and family for a cookout, to celebrate our Sons! Panic. Not, mild concern, but worry!

Now, bear with me for a moment. Not trying to sound like a sob story, but our life is pretty humble around here, after switching jobs/careers, and moving on top of that. Kind of stream-lined, and very basic. In other words, very tight. Job transitions bring change, and sometimes a tightening of the belt, which is us right now. 

I don’t mind humble pie. I’ve ate it most of my life. But the hard part is the “when it rains, it pours” occurrence, that tends to show up at the worst point possible. The “you’re down to the wire”, “all bets are off”, type moments. We simply don’t have enough dough to go around for all the extra expenses this month. We’ve got 3 son’s birthdays, after all, in the month of April! In my head, looking at the grill and lawnmower, I’m thinking “I ain’t got time for that”. Plus, Jack has had this problem with blood shot eyes for the past week, and we thought it was from throwing leaves with his cousins’ at their campsite the week before, but it’s not going away. So I’m looking at him and all I see is the medical bill from taking him to the doctor Monday morning for that..

So, out of desperation, on Saturday morning, after a very busy week, I did what any sane Mom would do that has lost all hope: I made sure the family was happy and fed by mid-morning, cleaned up after breakfast, and went up to my closet and got down on my face and prayed to God and wept over that darn grill and lawnmower. 

Now, in all actuality, y’all know I don’t care about a grill and lawnmower: I care about my husband and children. I care about my children’s birthday party upcoming. Yet, I was praying to God over that grill and lawnmower, and weeping like there’s no tomorrow. I wept; I cried. I claimed all sorts of scriptural promises. “Ask, and you shall receive, Seek, and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened to you”. “if any of you has the faith of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” Matthew 17:20. “But seek ye first, His kingdom, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” Matthew 6:33.  “which of you, if his child asked for a loaf of bread, would give him a stone” Matthew 7:9. 

I was hurling scriptures around like an axe thrower at a crazy circus, and begging God to fix the situation, and balling my eyes out almost hysterically. Truly, the deeper motivation was that Jack had asked for a cook out with cheeseburgers, and to be with his cousins, family, and friends for his birthday. Mama bear just wanted to make his day. And the irony does not fall flat, I noticed while praying: “Which of you, if his child asked him for a fish, would give him a snake instead?” Luke 11:11. And Elias had asked for a snake for his birthday, which we were in the process of trying to purchase as well. But I threw that scripture out there as well, and begged God for mercy to help provide that. And now everything had broken. And we still had gifts to provide, and company to prepare for. 

My life felt like a never ending hiccup. Unplanned, unforeseen trouble seemed to always lurk around the corner, and all the unexpected things were robbing me of my joy. My joy in my children, my joy in the moments I have left on this earth. I know we are a vapor; we had just read the verses in James 4 a few weeks before in our church small group: “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” James 4:14. How does one try and comprehend eternity, focus on the moment, and realize one is a vapor, all at the same time? Still working on that one, and will get back with you later…

Turns out, God had all these problems taken care of. I texted my sister and asked her to pray for us big time with these “bumps” in the road, that felt like earthquakes. I phoned a dear sweet friend, and bemoaned the tragedy of life and grills and broken lawn mowers. I spiritually tried not to shake my fist at God and remind Him that I like bread and not rocks, but yes on the snake, for our son, the rest of the day, and prayed.

Within less that 2 hours, my husband came home from an errand, and we noticed a man mowing the neighbors grass after lunch. James approached him, had a polite conversation, and found out he is one of our neighbors, and he mows grass in the neighborhood for $20/yard. Now, while we are broke, $20 for a mown yard seemed like a lot better proposition than buying a new lawnmower, so we thanked God for the good blessing, paid him to mow our lawn that afternoon, and considered that an answer to prayer. 

Next, the grill. James worked all day, going back and forth to Lowes and Wal mart, trying to get the parts correctly to fix our grill. By late evening, he had finally narrowed down the correct parts and was trying to fix it. I had prayed, but I also put our patio furniture set of 6 on Craig’s List to sell, to pay for the grill or lawnmower to potentially be replaced. I must have under priced my beloved patio set, because after putting it on Craig’s list, I got over 20 emails of interest within a few hours. 

I had a serious buyer coming from Stanley NC at 10:30am Sunday morning, lined up to purchase my set. I was ready to sell it, no looking back, to ensure that this birthday would go off wonderfully. The prayer was practically answered. 

And then the unbelievable happened. I had shared this prayer request with my sister and one other old friend. It was half prayer request, half venting of pain and frustration at the horrible timing of it all. My dear old friend is a problem solver, however, and not one to take any friends’ prayer requests lightly. She turned into the hands and feet of Jesus that day, also. I found out later Saturday evening, through my son, Elias, her partner in miracles, that she had ordered a grill to be ready for pick up at the local Target 10 minutes away; placed there in my son Elias’s name! 

I found out late Saturday evening from Elias, and simply turned and put my face in my hands and wept some more, out of sheer gratitude. Unbeknownst to everyone else, I had secretly prayed that the grill and lawnmower problems, and Jacks’ red eyes (which I later found out were seasonal allergies taken care of by drops that day) were all a general prayer that I had also laid out as a fleece for God. 

I had prayed over finances, and upcoming bills that needed to be paid, over all sorts of stuff that we simply have no control over. The bills are like a black hole sometimes: big, empty, seemingly all powerful void that is forever consuming in my mind’s eyes. I had laid this all at God’s feet, begging for help and a rescue. I prayed that His provision would be a mighty river, that would “break through”, and that I would know that it would be taken care of by these seemingly impossible things being rectified, like grills and lawnmowers fixed.

Stupefied that evening by His grace, I fell asleep. James said he actually felt like everything was going to be okay because of these graces bestowed on us by God. It is a hard thing to change the outlook of a human; no small task for other humans, but God can do it through such small things, that upon outward observation look like trivialities to some, but are mountains to others. Well, I vocalized that I had the faith of a mustard seed, and begged God to move these mountains that day, and He certainly came through. I take confidence that He will continue to provide for us in ways that we can't imagine in the future as well!

But this is where it gets interesting, and He decides to reveal a weightier lesson, because He is concerned with more than just our external circumstances. He is much more concerned for our hearts, and our understanding of His rapturous, deep, all consuming love, so He truly opened the flood gates the following day.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning when we woke up the next day. I hurriedly got myself ready for church, rushed the family along, and went over emails about the patio set that was going to be sold that didn’t even need to be sold by then, but oh well. The sweet lady was on her way from Stanley to purchase it at 10:30 before church; that was taken care of, and the money pocketed would go to buying burgers to feed everyone at the birthday party.

We went to church with light, hopeful hearts, and tried to enjoy the music and sermon. After it was finished, we went to pick up the children from their classes, and as I checked Jack out of his class, a sweet lady named Jayne stopped me to tell what had happened with Jack that morning. She described the visual lesson, that used water, dirty water, and a chemical solution to illustrate what Jesus’s love and death on the cross does for our sins. How our hearts are turned dark through sin with the dark water, but through the chemical reaction of a clear solution in water, Jesus’s love comes into our hearts and makes us all clean. And no matter if we put more dirty water into our hearts: because Jesus’s love is perfect, it has cleaned our hearts in finality. 

She said Jack believes! Jack prayed to Jesus, to make his heart clean, and believes the sacrifice that Jesus made for us! I was stupefied, once again. The next few minutes were a blur, but this awesome lady asked if Jack had his own Bible, and after finding out he uses a borrowed one from another family member, she offered to get him his own Bible, so we accompanied her down to the book store at the church and she gave him the gift of his own Bible!

We rejoiced with Jack, who is generally quiet, and was reserved as he spoke about it. Everyone was hungry, so I began to prepare and heat leftovers for the Sunday lunch. As I sat at our table, making the leftover plates for my family, I felt God’s gentle whisper, and it was like a revelation or light went off in my head. I can’t say it was an actual voice, because there were no sentences, but the spiritual realization was clearly overwhelming. 

God reminded me in that moment: Julie, I blessed you yesterday, and answered your prayers. But today, I gave you an even more precious gift: your child’s salvation. You haven’t asked for your children’s salvation, or wept over them, in a long time. But I give it to you, freely and abundantly anyway, even though you only wept over broken, physical things like a grill and lawnmower. “But seek ye first, His kingdom, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”. Begin to pray for my Kingdom, and my will, and I will take care of the rest. 

The gravity of the moment, the loving kindness and gentle nature of His still, small voice, was so overwhelming. The deep reality of His all consuming presence was only for a few seconds, but there is nothing like His peace, His love, His kindness, once you get a small taste of it. In that moment, I felt like He was wrapping me in His arms and giving me the biggest Fatherly hug ever. In that moment, I knew I should begin to pray and weep for the spiritual more than the physical, because so many need to know His perfect love, His love that is amazing and wonderful and wild and unbelievably huge; bigger and better than anything we can know and experience this side of heaven.

In case you are wondering why I am sharing this. Why would I put something so awkwardly embarrassing and revealing out there, to my shame and humiliation, because yes indeed: shame on me. Well, I want everyone to know that I’m still on this journey in life. I fully know that I have not arrived. I’m still learning. And just in case there is anyone else out there that trips and falls and is struggling to get back up? i want you to know you are not alone. Keep on walking toward the Light. Our Father has open arms for the humble!

Update: so during prayer request time the following week, I humbly share this story with our new small group. I tell them that I want to learn to pray and weep over people instead of tough circumstances, and seek the Kingdom first, and one of our new friends blurts out "I've got a broken mower I think I can fix and give to you!"

I almost fell out of my chair.

The gift of exchange

Some old adage goes like this:

"When God closes a door, He opens a window".

When I was younger, I didn't appreciate the vagueness, and that the adage was meant as a general sense of comfort. All I could envision was the difficulty of trying to escape from a window where once I could have left from a door. I pictured myself struggling to escape a high window, and falling, most likely, upon exit.

It is funny how adages get slipped into vernacular and become accepted, perhaps mostly without thought. What is even funnier, and sad at the same time, is how the richness of scripture, especially during a trying time, can convey a deeper sense of comfort and nourishment for the soul, if one doesn't mind digging deep. The quick adage, like a cheap food, is substituted for the more ardorous one. The choice between the two is kind of like the difference between eating a taco from fast food, and enjoying a very fine, home-cooked, grilled steak. The steak can be laborious to buy, prepare, and grill---whereas the taco is simply bought; however, the satisfaction, nourishment and taste cannot really be compared.

Isaiah 61:3 is one of those nourishing verses that I offer as a trade for the previous adage in terms of comfort during grief:

God, will do many beautiful things, amongst them:

"(and) provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor."

Times of mourning are inevitable for us Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve. Life is full of trials, and sometimes the potential for bitterness can be overwhelming. Mourning is not limited to the loss of a loved ones. Chaotic events, sudden drastic changes of circumstances, illness, and financial stress can also cause excessive grief, amongst other things.

This is why the poetry of scripture can be a powerful comfort in conveying hope during grievous times.

Continuing along the tree analogy referenced previously in another blog, here is the mighty oak of righteousness, and planted by God to display His splendor!

God paints a description of the hope we have to look forward to with the prototype of those who mourn and grieve in Zion with the verse from Isaiah 61:3.

God is going to give those who mourn:

"A crown of beauty for the ashes". Friend, no matter what your ashes look like---there is hope. Ashes vary, by the types of material that they were comprised of and burned previously, but all ashes have a unique characteristic: they are the completely changed leftovers from a previous event. And fire, and burning, can seriously alter ones story.

"The oil of joy instead of mourning". When mourning is spoke of in Job, he tears his cloths, shaves his head, and cuts his body with shards of pottery (Job 1-2), and his friends sit on the ground for seven days with him in his despair. The mental picture is vacuous of hope. Anguish seems permanent. Yet God says He will trade our mourning for the oil of joy. Oil was a symbol of blessing and so much more, in both the Old and New Covenant.  The oil of joy is even more explicit. The mental imagery and contrast between mourning and joy, and ashes(dry) and oil(nourished), are stark themselves.  Later in the book of Job, God blesses Job twice as much as he is blessed in the beginning. God gives Job more children, more flocks, more wealth, and his 'oil of joy' overflows.

Lastly, the "garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair". 

We all know how heavy grief can weigh us down. It is soul-sucking, life-depriving, joy-robbing, and eye-dimming. But it is also a natural human emotion that accompanies many different inevitable life events. Grief is to be expected. Even our Christ wept over Lazarus' death. However, grief is not the end, and our Father prepares new garments for us. 

There is a place for grief, but God has a new garment that He has made ready for us. Let us prepare our hearts also, that we will be ready for the gift of exchange: to be ready to change our mourning to praise when the time comes, as we ultimately display His splendor!