3.29.2008

Matthew 6:34
Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Hello friends,

I hope that all is well with you and that you have been learning and growing in your walk with Christ every day. There have been many things going on in the past week which is why you may not have heard from me in a while. For the same reason I am combining my usual “Weekly Thing” with a prayer request that affects my ministry in Philadelphia.

Easter had been a weekend weighted with reminders of Christ’s suffering (Good Friday) and of course His resurrection. Though now I cannot remember the hymn that God seeded in my mind for several days, I do remember that the song’s intention was to focus on the wonder of the Cross – the place of such grave suffering and paradoxically the place of glorious redemption. This is a springboard of our faith, leading to joy and freedom and peace (as well as many other things). Today I’m particularly reminded of the fact that my stress and anxiety ought to be brought before the Cross; submitting things to Christ up and letting Him have control.

As you might know, I’d been set to get married on August 9, 2008. This has changed over the past week and a half, and I am now looking to be married on May 31, 2008. You’re more than welcome to ask why this is and I encourage you to email or call me to do so! But it is the wedding planning that I must put before Christ because let me tell you: moving such an important event 3 months earlier makes things a little crazy. Throw into the mix that the location will be on the other side of the country, and you can get a picture of how things are for me right now. Once certain things are settled again I know all shall be well. Until then, I do covet your prayers and encouragement in regards to balancing ministry and everything else because my attention is extremely divided right now. Perhaps the most important thing to pray right now is for ALL things to be done to the glory of God; that in the midst of my scatter-brained state the Lord would still use me and that I would constantly remember Him in all of my dealings.

I’ve come to gradually realize that dealing with many things at once – or if it seems like I am – causes me a great deal of anxiety. Matthew 6:25-34 is like a cooling balm or a glass of cold water on a hot day to me. Please pray that I remember to seek God’s Kingdom in knowing that our Provider is going to take care of all the things that get me so worked up!

Thank you for your love and prayers, always;
In love and in Him,

Yvonne

“I can’t comprehend; I can’t take it all in; never understand such perfect Love come for the broke and beat, for the wounded and weak. Come fall at His feet; He’s the remedy.
He is the One who has saved us. He is the One who forgave. He is the One who has come and is coming again. He is the Remedy.”
- David Crowder Band, “Remedy”

3.16.2008

Psalm 51:7b, 10-12, 17
… wash me and I will be made whiter than snow.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Hello friends-

I hope that this finds you well, and learning from our Lord. Many of you are going through seasons of breaking from classes and if you happen to be one of those people I hope that you’ve been able to rest! (in any case, I hope you’ve been able to rest)

To lay it out there, recently I’ve been finding it somewhat difficult to focus on Christ. There are many things going on in my life that vie for my attention and other things that should have attention but do not properly have it. There are obligations to be fulfilled and quite frankly I’m tired and feel like the joy is getting squeezed right out of me. I’m left to complaining and upon that realization I know I’ve been ungrateful.
As I continue to plod through the Chronicles of Narnia, I find more snippets here and there that resonate with my Christian experience. In one of the books, there is a character that ends up getting turned into a dragon quite unexpectedly. None of the others know what to do with him, and he stays in this condition for quite some time – miserable all the while but trying to make the best of it – before he encounters the Lion and is brought to a pool of sorts. Before he can enter the pool Aslan asks the dragon to undress. (What a silly thing to do, to ask a dragon to undress!) Like the skin of a snake is shed, the character peeled off his scaly skin. Stepping out of the skin completely, the character is dismayed to find that he is still a dragon. Thus he tries again, and again, and after the third time the Lion speaks up. Here is how this part of the story goes:

“… ’You will have to let me undress you.’ I was afraid of his claws…but I was nearly desperate now. … The first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt. … he peeled the beastly stuff right off—just as I thought I’d done myself the other three times, only they hadn’t hurt.”

It’s this painful undressing that I think I need. I’ve gotten some rough edges coming back that need a good sanding down, a persona that’s getting built up that hasn’t really got the attitude of a child of God. It’s frightening when God takes away these rough patches because we’re fleshy and tender and most of all vulnerable once that toughness is peeled away – like a peeling sunburn, or after picking off a scab. But that’s the only way God can bring in His healing, when we’re the most vulnerable. Where does God need to come into your own life, to cut you deep to the heart and peel away the tough exterior?

As we move towards Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, I pray that we open ourselves to God and rejoice in His Son – what He did as Lord of all creation and humble servant to the sinner. I pray that our tough exteriors would be worn down, that we would come before the Throne and have our false personas peeled away.

In love and in Him,
Your sister
Yvonne

03.06.2008

Hello!

How are you? I hope that things are well and that the Lord is teaching you many things. It would seem that I am perpetually busy, and in being so busy there are always many things that I just want to write about.

Since I’ve never read the books before I’ve recently been going through the Chronicles of Narnia and just finished up with Prince Caspian. It doesn’t take lot for someone to say that these stories are delightful, and it’s actually quite nice to take a break from all the other books I read. So far I think the most striking scene I’ve read has been out of ‘The Horse and His Boy,’ the third (second) book from the series.

The main character from this book is a boy named Shasta who has a chance meeting with a talking horse from Narnia named Bree (they aren’t in our world, but the Narnian world). Since he wants to get away before he’s sold as a servant and since the horse wants to escape back to Narnia, they set out on the adventure together. Late in the book after dangerous mishaps, Shasta finds himself riding a horse (not Bree) in a dense fog. He starts to pity himself because he’s lost and can’t see at all in the fog. Suddenly, he realizes that there is a Thing walking with him – although fearful at first, Shasta eventually comes in dialogue with It and shares his sorrows with It.
After a key revelation, Shasta asks, “Then it was you who wounded [my friend]?”
“It was I.”
“But what for?”
“Child,” said the Voice, “I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.”


The last line said by the Voice reminds me of the following passage:

John 21:17-18, 21-22
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
When Peter saw [the disciple whom Jesus loved], he asked, "Lord, what about him?"
Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."

How often do we compare ourselves with others or question what God might be doing because we want to know why He does the things He does? Why does one have lifelong sickness, and the other does not? Why do I have to go through this, and that person doesn’t? Why does she have, and I don’t?
I think a lot of the time it doesn’t make sense to us that God would allow certain suffering in a person’s life, and that might even cause us to question God’s intentions. But, what is it to us? We must follow Christ. The point Jesus makes to Peter is that he needed to follow Him and keep his eyes on Him. The Voice makes the point that we only have our story and we’re given no other; the path we’re on is different than that of someone else. God has different things set before us to teach us in different ways. What we can offer is not questioning or jealousy, but Christ-likeness: joy in our different paths, comfort in sorrow, prayers and worship of God throughout.

I pray that we can be people who appreciate the paths given to us, though sometimes difficult and confusing. But through those times I also pray for strength, so that we can turn and continue to praise our God. I also pray that the Holy Spirit can teach us to not compare ourselves with others which can lead to jealousy, but that we can be content with what God has given us. May we follow Christ and seek Him first, not looking aside to follow other things.

In love and in Him,
Your sister,
Yvonne