A plug for rising early

No, I don't think 6:30 is too early to be checking your email.


You may think this is a reflection on computer addiciton in my life. Far from. I stare at a computer all day - I'm not one to get a jump on staring before I go to work, nor do I get particular pleasure out of more staring when I come home. I get on to take a look at my calendar which is kept online to make sure I'm attacking my day before it attacks me, and I do take a look at my email.


Well, Wednesday morning I got on and noticed an email from my mentor. 2 down, 5 to go! it read. Apparently a stomach virus was ripping through the family of 7. "If you have any chicken noodle soup, saltines, or Gaterade you aren't using, we'll take 'em..." she said at the end of her email.

I turned to my husband. "You up for a mercy run?" I asked, reading him the email. We proceeded to make chicken soup, run out for saltines and Gaterade, and drop them by the afflicted family - all before we left for work at 8:00.

There are many reasons to get up early. There is a biblical precedent of peopel rising early to seek the Lord before they started their day. Jesus did it (Mark 1:35. Everyone Christian woman's homegirl, the Proverbs 31 Woman does it (Prov. 31:15). King David did it (Psalm 5:3). This is by far the most compelling reason to get up - you get to fuel up on God's word and promises before you launch into a day where everything you know to be true about God may be challenged by your percieved circumstances and your flesh. It's absolutely critical that we see the danger of entering our day without a big gulp of God's promises, instead of going into our day unprepared and suffer for it (Ps 22:3)

Another reason is simply that we are sowing to discipline when we deny the desires of our flesh to stay in bed in the mornings - and, just as crucially, staying up late the night before. This is where the battle is won or lost for me. It's important to be properly rested by the time we plan to rise early, whatever that looks like for our season. Of course there will be mornings when circumstances keep us from getting enough sleep, but regularly getting up without applying self-control and discipline to the front end is foolishness.

The last reason for getting up early is that you're available to serve others! My husband and I were so blessed to be able to help our friends that morning when they needed it - how many other kinds of service could we pour ourselves into much closer to home if we were up and finished with seeking first God's kingdom when our families rose? Encouragement notes? Real breakfasts all around? Time to look them in the eye and talk with them before we all rush out the door to face the day? Doing a little housework so the evenings are completely free to spend with our loved ones? Planning to bless people in the future? Taking a look at our schedule to prepare and pray for specific appointments in the day? I've got a few friends who like short "good morning!" phone calls. The list goes on... I'm sure there are more creative people than me reading this.

Oh, and, for what it's worth, there's always hot water for yoru shower, because no one's been in there using it up before you. =)

Pearls

My husband got me a strand of pearls not long ago. Then 2 weeks ago I went shopping and found a real bargain at Old Navy, a pretty blue shirt for 3 bucks. I wore them together to the office.

"Kari!" everyone kept saying, "what pretty pearls!"

I found myself answering "Pearls? But what about my shirt, is my shirt cute?"

The pearls were old - the shirt was the thing I wanted poeple to notice, and they weren't noticing. There was something that stood out more.

I can be this way with spiritual encouragement too. Someone will comment on how I encourage others and, though I thank them, think inwardly 'no one's noticing my prayerfulness lately...'. Someone will encourage me about how I love my husband and I'll think "will anyone ever notice the humility I've been praying for?"

This is such a silly attitude to have. I'm so consumed with waiting for the encouragement I wish I was getting that I sometimes totally disreguarding the encouragement I am getting.

There are a couple of pitfalls here, the first being condemnation. If I don't pay attention to the evidences of grace others point out in my life, chances are I won't see them myself. Some days all I can see is my sin, so I need to heed the encouragement brought to me by godly friends and family so I can be built in faith that God is working in my life. Otherwise I might not catch it myself. Beyond that, I could be quenching the spirit in others. They are only encoruaging me because the holy spirit helped them see evidences of grace in me and prompted them to share for my edification. If I disreguard their encouragement, I'm belittling their observation, discouraging them from exercising the gift of encouragement in the future (with me at least), keeping myself from being built up by the church, and ultimately robbing God of the glory that should be his if I'd say "why thank you! It's all because of grace".

I think I got it by the end of the day - I started thanking people for their complements on my pearls - but it was always with the little tag "Thanks! They're from my husband! Isn't he wonderful?" I hope I can do the same with encouragement. "Thanks! That's from my savior! Isn't he wonderful?"

Acts 2:42-47

"And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."


Februray 13th there was a crazy ice storm in Gaithersburg (Maryland's Manic-Depresive season begins...). All the cars were practically laminated. Earlier in the day one of the facilities guys came by my desk and told me things were getting bad. I stood up as soon as he told me, but he read my mind.

"You're wiper blades are already up," he said.

I thanked him and sat down, very grateful.

Later in the day, we get the email. "Due to deteriorating weather conditions, the office will close at 4." At 4, out we all trudge into the parking lot, ice skating to our cars, only to find them completely incased in ice. So we begin chizzling them out. When I was done with my own car I looked up and noticed that my wonderful coworkers, my brothers and sisters in Christ, had begun swarming one car at a time and were systematically working their way through each car in the parking lot. I joined in. In about 20 minutes, all the cars were ice free and ready to go.

Incidents like this always make me think of the passage in Acts 2, where Luke discribes the way the church functioned. This blitzing of the ice yesterday made me think of the line in the passage about the believers each giving to each other as there was need. There was a need to have ice scraped off cars - and the church met the need. That's how the church is supposed to work - and that's how my church does. Praise God!

'Enry 'Iggins...

...if you can believe it, I just saw My Fair Lady for the first time last Saturday. I was pretty appauled by the character of Henry Higgins - in a comedic sort of way, of course. Here was a guy who had impossible standards, insanely compressed time frames, and cryptic, unhelpful methods that were supposed to help Eliza reach his unattainable goals - and he administered all his 'help' without the slightest drop of sympathy or compassion.

In my sin, this was how I began to view God last night - just an old, discompassionate man with an unhelpful book of riddles that was supposed to help me attain an unattainable goal - obedience.

As I prayed, I screamed inwardly. I just want someone who will sympathize with my weakness!

(Now, be kind. We all forget important things sometimes.)

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in very respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." -Hebrews 4:14-16

The Clapping Club!

I have the privilege to work at my church.

Every Wednesday, all the pastors gather in a room on the opposite side of the wall behind my desk and pray together. This particular Wednesday, however, myself a a coworker kept hearing them explode into upproarious applause at regular intervals.

"What are they doing?" We asked one another.

One of the guys came out to grab water and we flagged him down to ask what was going on.

"We're doing scripture memory," he said over his shoulder as he hurried back into the room.

I turned to my coworker thoughtfully. "Oh!" she said, "They must be reciting it and they clap for each other whenever they get it right!"

"Oh!" I said. "What a great idea!"

"Yeah...hey...WE could do that too!"

"We could!" I cried. "Why don't we?"

So we invited all the girls who sit in our corner to participate. "We're going to choose passages of scripture, gather weekly (on Wednesday mornings, of course!) recite as much as we can - and regardless of how many times we mess up or how far we get, we're going to clap and scream for one another! Who's in?"

We got a quarem - and the Clapping Club was born. I'm making my way through Ephesians 2.

Anyone else in?

"If you will, you can."

"When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a
leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." --Matt 8:1-3

The Lord stuck this passage under my nose late last year. This leper is an amazing person. He is suffering from an awful disease (I'll let you reserach the finer descriptions of leprosy yourself). I suffer from things MUCH less abominable, and I don't respond with the faith he did. God wanted me to learn this approach to approaching him.

First, the Leper came and expressed his humility by kneeling before Christ. Then he makes an amazing statement: "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." He expresses both a submission to God's sovereignty when he says "Lord, if you will..." then faith in God's power by saying "...you can make me clean."

That is not often my heart when I come to the Lord with my requests. I can be squirming under his sovereign hand instead of submitting to it, or doubting his ability to help me.

This disease rules his life. But he still comes to Jesus and basicaly says "Lord, you rule over this disease, and all else, and if it be your sovereign will, you are able to heal me."

I'm trying to have this Leper's heart when I pray now - humbly saying "Lord, if you will, you can."

I realized lately...

... that I feel a big empty spot in my life when I'm not writing.

Looking back over past posts on this blog, I also remember how much practice I need.

So here we go - I'm reentering the Blogosphere. Hopefully I'll bone up a little and plug that empty hole.