Praising Persistently

Praising my Savior all the day long...

I have not been one who has ever understood the endorphin high that you are supposed
to get from exercise.  There is nothing about getting my heart rate up that feels good to
me.  It feels more like torture to me actually.  The only way I can make myself do it at
all has been in an aerobic dance class when I'm embarrassed to give up too quickly the
way I do with an exercise video at home or when trying to run/walk my dog.  Until 
Zumba that is. Now I get it.  In fact, there is something about the Zumba beat and the
unabashed unleashing of inhibition as even us oldsters shake a tail feather along with
the young gals, that totally is worth getting to the gym by 8 a.m. Can't believe I can say
that. 

 

Now this is something else I can't believe I'm going to say - and maybe you won't
understand it unless you actually try Zumba yourself.  But, I'm going to say it...I find
myself praising the Lord through this exercise in a way that totally gets me a natural
high! Yep, Praising Persistently though Perspiring!  I know it sounds crazy to be
thinking about the Lord while shimmying to the beat of totally secular music - 
"uh, uh, I work out."  But I'm here to tell you that is what happens everytime I start the
Zumba dance.  I get this picture of heaven where we all will be around the throne with
the legions of angels all dancing in perfect unison - a majestic wave of praise pulsating
up  and down and back and forth in  a beautiful syncopation. I also get this picture of
David and the old testament Israelites dancing in delight and worship.

All of the women there may not be thinking of heaven but the smiles and giggles as we
put ourselves through the gyrations tell me that it is truly community in the finest
sense.

I love those transcending moments, because as I grow older, I see the world in direct
opposition to heaven, as it really is, with all the sorrow and the pain that inevitably hits
us all.  Unlike the immortality thinking of youth I now know that we all  get a chance
at some point to feel like a modern Job, wondering what God is doing when He

doesn't always answer our prayers in the way we'd like. I used to think that meant
something was going wrong. But now, though none of us can know the mind of God
and understand why He allows certain pain and suffering that seems so unfair, I finally
have come to understand that He does use pain so that we can share in His suffering. 
Growth often comes because of the direct relationship to how we need to depend on Him.
The more intense the suffering the more we finally get the message that we aren't in
control and need to rely on a Strength beyond our own. 

 

Right this moment, I can think of a childless couple who would be great parents, a single
mom who has become paralyzed and blind with an autistic child, a woman who became 
homeless with three children evicted from government housing because her husband got
caught selling drugs.  Where is God in this?  And yet, if we look hard enough and wait on
Him, we can see how God does work all things to good (Romans 8:28).  I see the
friendships developing because of the prayers and the empathy for this couple.  I see
the testimony of this little mother who has so much physically working against her,
who continues to have a platform for shouting her testimony of faith by her constant
cheerfulness in the face of so much hardship.  I have watched this homeless woman find
an apartment and get a job, hitching rides for weeks until she had a downpayment on a
car - teaching her children what strength is and how important hard work is compared
to relying on the "easy money" that left them on the streets.  Not that all is well, but if
we look, we can see God shining bits of light through the darkness.

I recognize that this world was not meant to be heaven...and that any moment of joy
at all should be returned as praise.  The book "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voscamp 
speaks this message in beautiful, heartfelt prose.  A young mother, married to a pig
farmer in Canada  tells of trying to raise five children without getting caught in the
doldrums of unending chores and thankless moments of dealing with the demands of
children.  Recognizing that she is missing so many blessings, she sets upon the task of
watching for and making a list of one thousand ways she is blessed, until thanksgiving
becomes a way of life, smoothing the bumps in the road with a new way of seeing the
path. This book affected my own thankfulness sensitivity deeply.

 

And so as I began to recognize the praise welling up in me as I thank God that I can
still move my often aching body to the Zumba beat, I also recognize that it has taken
me years to begin to seelife from God's perspective.  To watch and pray (Mk. 14:28)
in the sorrows, and to lift up amazed gratefulness for the glimpses of heaven that we
forget we don't even deserve but that keep us from going under in the hard times is
the way to persistently remain in an attitude of hope and praise. There are so many
blessings that we  often overlook: the quiet of the morning, the smile of a friend, the
easiness of being with family.  And Zumba! Try it you might like it!

Holy Spirit
(taken from Cream for Your Coffee by Sherrill Schlimpert, available on Amazon.com)

Holy Spirit!
So that's what this is!
This wanting to shout
   to everyone that lives
With the joy!
The beauty!
I feel in my heart,
A joy I've recognized only in part.

I've felt it before -
In the heart of young love,
In springtime,
In nature,
All sent from above.

But for so many  years,
I sought it in circumstance,
And despite many tears,
I never stayed long enough
At my Savior's feet
To hear His calming Word,
His perfect heartbeat
That gives rhythm
To such a day as this.
Whether it be sunny or dark,
I can feel His bliss.

It's what I have searched for
My whole life through,
Knowing somehow, someday,
I would find it in You.
It's the Spirit!
Your Spirit!
That's been here all along.
Down deep in my heart
I've heard the sweet song
Of the Spirit,
Your Spirit!
Down deep in my soul,
That gives me these days
When I feel solid and whole.

And it's that same Spirit!
That inspires me now
  to take pen in hand
  and furrow my brow.
And allow thoughts to form
From deep in my soul.
It's the Spirit!
Your Spirit!
That I finally know!

Help me to see it
See it clear
Wherever you send it,
Which releases all fear.
Let me flow with it,
Dance to the beat.
Of the Spirit!
Your Spirit!
That makes me complete.

 

 

 

 

 

The Circle of Life

                                                                                                                    

                        

 
To everything there is a season...I'm reflecting on that as I watch some of life's passages changing right in front of my eyes.  Often changes are barely preceivable - such as when you look in the mirror and think, "How did I get this old?"  But sometimes big changes happen dramatically.

My family is currently experiencing fall, spring and winter at the same time! My son has recently found the woman of his dreams and will be married this summer, my daughter has delivered a precious new granddaughter into our midst, and my mother at 92, in the winter of her life has been peacefully waiting reunion with her husband in heaven and was granted her passage on May 29.

When my faither died at age 62, I remember one sympathy card that said there is nothing that will make you look more closely at what you really believe than staring into the grave of a loved one.  Having said my goodbyes to my mother more than once totally believing she has gone to a better place, watching the new love that has bloomed in my son, and witnessing the miracle of a new, perfectly formed baby has done that for me.

Life surely is a journey - and for me, only makes sense in the light of my faith.  Knowing God has our days numbered, our trials planned for good, and enough blessings to give us glimpses of heaven brings a serenity and appreciation for both the good and the not-so-good days along the way.

It brings such comfort to know that the simplicity of the Serenity Prayer really does give us a blueprint for taking life as it comes...to accept the things we cannot change, have the courage to change the things we can, and have the wisdom to know the difference.  It was an especially great comfort to see a devotional book based on this prayer at mom's bedside the last visit I had with her.  She truly did have the serenity to accept what she could not change at age 92.

So for now, I am basking in the blessings of the fall and the spring and rejoicing that the winter did not bring too much suffering but rather a peaceful fading.  And I wait with expectancy for the seasons to continue to circle - for the spring and fall to fade, for the winter to pass, and for new blessings and trials to continue to emerge with the ever-present opportunity to define my faith, to test it, and confirm it. 


The Circle of Life

Seasons come and seasons go,
Spring becomes summer, winter - fall.
It's beyond our control.  We don't write the script.
It's only God that reigns over all.

Babies are born,
Marriages made,
Death comes to each one
Defying plans that are laid.

And so if we finally accept
What we must
And take what we're given
And forget our lust...

For more than we're granted,
We'll have peaceful days,
Accepting the hardships,
Being ready for praise.

For the circle of life
Comes and it goes.
It includes winter
But in its throes

We must not forget
Any blessings that come
Giving us glimpses of what
Are only some

Of what is in store
If we faithfully keep
Our eyes turned toward
Him who will keep

Us under His wing
Until that day
When the circle stops
And in heaven we'll stay.

 

Glimpses of Heaven

Oh, what peace we often forfeit.
Oh, what needless pain we bear.
I'm reminded of the ageless hymn
As I forget to turn in prayer.


I get so caught up in the cares of earth,
In the busy and hassle of living.
I wonder how often I look right over
The reminders of heaven God's giving.

Gifts that stir our hearts,
That we often look right past
Reminders of beauty fleeting now,
But of what will ultimately last.

For God opens the heavens
To allow us bits of seeing beyond the now,
Of moments of beauty that stir our hearts
And help us to see how...

We can live above the pull of the world,
To brave its cares and woes.
A moment of beauty, the light of the sun
Can lift us high from our lows.

Glimpses of heaven to remind us
That what we see now is not all.
One day we'll live well beyond
What's been left here after the fall.

So we must watch for the God winks,
The moments He sends to restore.
We must look for them, seek them and savor
Knowing in heaven there will be so much more.


A Glimpse of Heaven in the Winter

To my cold-natured bones there are some days in the winter that are just plain too cold for a walk. But then I'm faced with the sad, pleading eyes of my little silky terrier, scampering over to stand at full attention any time he sees me start to put on my shoes. After days of being cooped up in the house and the tiny fenced-in area off of our deck, that litle doggy is straining with all of his soul to find freedom even if it is at the end of a leash.

So after a week of temperatures below freezing, I couldn't ignore the pitiful stares any longer - it was time to give in and take him for a walk. And so, on went my long underwear and layer after layer up to my hooded coat and scarf across my face to brave the elements on a freezing, though sunny, day.

We set off and the cold hit my eyes - the only exposed area allowed - bringing tears and taking away my breath. So, slogging through the remnants of a recent snow, we jogged up to the nearby field - my little guide dog gleefully leading me, straining at the end of the leash.

We left the rows of houses with closed doors keeping in their warmth, and turned onto the gently rising slope of the field, and I am rewarded. A hillside of fairy frost, glistening in the sun that has risen just above the swell of the hill. The sparkling perfection of winter creation takes my breath away, this time not from the frigid air, but from the amazing beauty.

And the creator speaks.

I raise my eyes to the beauty of this hill from whence cometh my help. And I am reminded of Col.3:2 - Set your minds on things above, not on this world.

I think of my morning with thoughts filled with the protection of my comfort, not willing to persevere after the discipline to exercise or to brave the elements. And I think of how my shepherd is also beckoning with soulful eyes that look more deeply into my heart even than those of my devoted little pet - of how they both long to lead me to higher places!! And how I'm often reluctant to venture out.

Those moments He surprises me with beauty are what I call glimpses of heaven - gifts on earth that give us a peek into what the New Earth will be like...endless fields of glistening, sun-kissed beauty, perfection, glory, light and above all, His presence unveiled.

I've seen these glimpses before - in the laughter of my grandbaby, in the etherial colors of a sudden rainbow, in the strains of a hymn that touches my soul. I've seen it at the shore of the vastness of the ocean, in the shared prayer among believers with hands grasped in the warmth of true fellowship, in a moment before the fire with a cup of tea, in the fragile buds of springtime.

And I'm reminded of how I often have to focus to really see these gifts. I have to stop and open them before the moment vanishes. I have to look beyond the dailyness of dealing with the world, to be ready to stop for a moment to be still and know that He is God. (Is. 51:3) And yes, when I am nudged - to put on my snow boots and walk with Him.

It will be easier to see in the spring - I long for the season of new growth. But I must remember, He is there even in the winter.