Touching on Isaiah, Vineyards and the Hope of Peace

*Photo by Wes Hagen, Vineyard Manager/Winemaker Clos Pepe Vineyards

 

I’ve been stuck in the book of Isaiah for a while now.  No matter how hard I try, I can’t blast through this book right now.  I’m thankful because I’ve been needing the scriptures to feed my soul so desperately, and through my time in Isaiah,  my God is not holding back the feast.

I want to be like Isaiah. Radical. The dude went around naked for three years to illustrate a prophecy about Egpyt and Ehtopia. That’s borderline crazy, and he’d surely get arrested today for indecent exposure - but even though this guy acted crazy, he was the most brilliantly intune prophet imaginable.  And his heart – tender but righteous . . . I’m thankful for Isaiah.

 

So this morning I got stuck in a few verses from chapter 27.  Here are a few of my thoughts….

Isaiah 27:2-5

In that day sing to her,    

“ A vineyard of red wine!

Ah – a fruitful vineyard is a delight to it’s keeper.  Such delight causes joyful songs to burst forth! Being compares to a beautiful grape vine makes me smile. Being sung over makes me blush.

I, the LORD, keep it,         

I water it every moment;       

Lest any hurt it,       

I keep it night and day.

I admit, I have to wrestle with disbeleif at the thought that My Keeper feels this much tenderness towards me. But He does. He guards me – night and day. He waters my soul. EVERY. MOMENT.  He does not want anyone to hurt me . . .  Shoot. That’s a lot for a girl to take in.  But its exactly what I needed to read today.

Fury is not in Me. 

This remids me that God is Love – and Love keeps no record of wrongs.  He wants peace and reconcilliation.  His default setting is Grace. 

Who would set briers and thorns       

Against Me in battle?       

I would go through them,       

I would burn them together. 

God is to be feared, respected. Who could even come close to threatening him? None. He has no fear.  But woah to any who dare threaten His fruitful vines; woah to the ones who seek a fight.

Or let him take hold of My strength,         

That he may make peace with Me;       

And he shall make peace with Me.” 

And this is where I sigh in complete admiration and contentment.  If the fighter changes his mind – decides to stop railing against the Lord and to instead join forces, and if he gives up his measley weapons in exchange for the Lord’s strength, the Lord  will allow the fighter to make peace with Him.  A beautiful portrait of God’s mercy.  There is hope. Always.

*

Throwing Out the Math Book!

This is the third day in a row of my 15 minutes of writing! It feels good, but I may start doing every other day so I don’t burn out.

Dontcha love my title?  Isn’t it something you dreamed of doing when you were younger? Well, I did. Don’t worry, I’m not going to stop teaching my kids math.

Here’s the explanation:

I consider myself a fairly flexible lady. I’m okay with changing plans and rolling with the punches.

It’s a good thing too. Otherwise, this homeschool adventure would be a heck of a lot harder than it is.

I planned so hard going in – which did come in very handy.  But after the research period was over, and it was time for the actual homeschool experiment to begin,  flexibility was instantly recognized as a necessary ingredient.  As was discernment. Maybe I’ll talk about the role of discernment in homeschooling another time.

We’re halfway through the school year and about to trash Blake’s math curriculum. It’s not what I hoped it would be. So we’re being flexible.  It turns our my kids are learning flexibility too; Blake didn’t even bat an eye when I said he was going to start a new math curriculum next month, that he was still likely a year behind in math (basically he has not progressed since September, and in September he was about a year behind.) He didn’t wince when I said that if he doubles up on math and works hard through the summer he can possibly be where he needs to be by October.   No fear.  He was all in. “Let’s do it, Mom.”  Turns out he has felt unimpressed with his math curriculum too.  ”I want to actually learn something in math!” he tells me.   So we’ll switch to the curriculum that Grace is doing – which I love. It’s challenging but smartly written and offers lots of online support.

I love all that my kids have learned this year (even if new math skills has not been one of those things yet.)   They have both matured quite a bit this year – and I wouldn’t trade this time I’ve had with them for the world. 

~Amy

Big Returns

Removing the dryer lint

Cleaning out the french press

Making my bed

Wiping down mirrors

Little things I do again and again.  Oddly, I’ve been taking pleasure in doing them lately.  Who can say why? Small tasks taken care of, set up for the next use.   I have yet to enjoy sweeping or matching socks – but perhaps that will come with time too.

At any rate, these comfortable habits are quick and easy, not requiring too much of me.  Yet they add much order and peace to my household.  Little actions, paying off big. It’s amazing how beds being made (or not) can affect one’s sense of sanity.

So as I scraped lint from the lint trap today, I got to thinking,

What else is relatively quick and easy but reaps big benefits?

Prayer and meditation. Okay, quality meditation is easy, but not necessarily quick.  Although 5 minutes of meditation are better than no minutes, it’s really only enough to whet my appetite.   Now prayer, that can be quick and super easy.  I don’t even always have to stop what I’m doing to pray, which means I can do it while removing that dryer lint.  I could go on for days about how prayer has benefited me. I won’t.

Hugs. They can be quick and easy.  Sometimes a prolonged hug is in order, but even prolonged hugs don’t last too terribly long. Hugs aren’t always easy either, I guess.  A hug after a disagreement takes some effort. A hug with someone who is dirty and smelly could be difficult. In general though, hugs are both quick and easy, and can leave both parties feeling refreshed and loved. There’s a payoff here for all.

Coffee! It’s drinkable comfort.  It’s liquid energy. It tastes like pure satisfaction.  And. It gives me headaches and breakouts. For this reason I want to drink less coffee (and by less, I mean none.)  But still it falls into this category.

Candles.  Talk about quick and easy.  Simply lighting the wick can change the entire atmosphere.  Candles make bad smells disappear, filling the room with warm exotic fragrance.  They make a dreary and gray day feel special and cozy. They also are the old faithful of mood lighting.  When husband and wife want to transform the bedroom into something special – hello candles!

I’m so rambling. But I got in my 15 minutes of practice writing today, so there.

What else falls into this category, friends?  Little effort – big payoff?

Help me out.

My Rock Eternal

The busyness of the last couple months pretty much zapped my time and creativity for writing. But once again I feel like I must write.  Only, I have no clue what to write about. Today, a wise woman challenged me to write every day for 15 minutes. Sometimes you just need to reminded.  Funny that I need to be urged to do something that once came to naturally to me.

Subject matter is pretty irrelevant. My voice, my heart comes through whether writing about folding socks or God’s mercy.  Or so I’ve been told.

Here goes.

I’m glad to know One who is bigger than my jumbled thoughts.

Today I am making time to remember my dependence on My Father.

I sit here, writing and re-writing lines about dependence. None of them capturing my heart right now. My back-space key is getting more use than all the others today. bah.

All I know is I want today to count.  I want to grab hold of something today, no matter how small (or even how large, Lord permitting.)

And after staring at this screen for twenty minutes, I realize my time is up. It has to be enough. Shall we try this writing thing again another time?

wait.

here’s something.

I can share my verse for the year.  Are you curious?

Isaiah 26:3-4 “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.”

My word for the year is peace. And right here before me is the exact instruction for achieving peace.

Oh that my mind will be ever set on You, my Rock Eternal.

 

When The Going Gets Tough. Or: Life Lessons From Gymnastics

(yeah, so titles aren’t my forte.)

 

I watched her flip and balance with ease last night. As she stretched the limits of her body with such grace, I was inspired. My now 8-year-old daughter has graduated up to the next level in gymnastics.  She is ready.  I am probably biased, but she seemed to be the best in her class.  She handled her movements so well.  Backwards roll? Easy. Cartwheels? No problem.  Arabesque? So beautifully executed with her chest out and her head high.  She excels at gymnastics. She was built for it.  

She didn’t like her teacher this session – too strict and no fun, she said.  And so, naturally, she wanted to quit.

Not a chance. No way am I letting you quit because of one grumpy teacher.

Push yourself, child.  

She is afraid of moving to the next level – almost exclusive balance-beam work – because she fears it will be too hard.  She likes gymnastics when the teacher is nice and the movements are easy.  The thought of not being the best in the class scares her, so she’d rather quit while she is ahead.  

Now’s not the time to quit, now’s the time to push.   Bravely accept the challenge.

Oh Lord, help me not to squander my talents.  Help me not to give up at the first hint of difficulty. Help me to push myself to the next level.

Watching him, however, was a different experience.  I was so proud of my son yesterday too, but the reason was so very different. He pushed himself.   Over and over I watched him fall, lose his balance, fail to complete movements. I would see frustration come over his face, but then he would jump up and seemingly brush it off.  With energy and strength, he tried again.  And again.  And again. Oh!  When he finally flipped up into a handstand against the wall and STAYED THERE (even thought it required a little help from the coach) I was so proud. He had worked hard for that moment of victory. His diligence inspires me! I won’t make him do gymnastics anymore.  He and I  both know it’s not his strength.  But he gave it a fair try (four months) and he saw it through to the end.  And I couldn’t be more proud.

Father, there will be times when I will find myself in an area that is outside of my gifting. When I find myself there, please help me to make it to the end with a good attitude, not one of defeat.  And help me to recognize when I am striving in vain for something you have not designed me for, and not be afraid to call it a day.

Wait For It

With a prayer in my heart, I flung open the Bible as I do from time to time – venturing away from my normal study for a moment. I opened to Habakkuk and my eyes landed on Chapter 2, verse 2 . . .  an answer to that prayer in my heart:

The LORD’s Answer

² Then the LORD replied:

“Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that he may run with it who reads it.
³ For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come
and will not delay.

 

Amen. So be it.

 

 

Of Hope and Faith

“Talk unbelief, and you will have unbelief; but talk faith, and you will have faith. According to the seed sown will be the harvest.”
– Ellen G White

Yep, I’m happy.

Remember that thing I was telling you about, TheCall Detroit? It was awesome. I’ve meant to write you about it, but this week has been crazy full and I’m just catching my breath for a second before the crazy full weekend starts.  So no details for you. For now. Just know that there is no place on Earth I would have rather been on 11.11.11. than at Ford Field.

I pray that I would not forget, not let go of the things I have heard, the songs my heart has sung, the dreams I’ve dared to entertain.

Writing them down in my journal is a start.

Reading the words over and over is a step forward.

Soaking it all in prayer will be it’s only hope for life.

~Amy

 

“My theory has always been, that if we are to dream, the flatteries of hope are as cheap, and pleasanter, than the gloom of despair.” -Thomas Jefferson

In Gethsemane

What to do with an extra hour in a day? Revamp my blog’s appearance of course.  ;)  It’s such fun! 

The last thing I wanted to do with that extra hour was picking up the thousands of acorns that cover my back yard.  Seriously. 

 

 

And now I’ll leave you with a book excerpt that has been challenging me this week: 

“The Christian is not a homo-religiosus, but simply a man as Jesus (in distinction from John the Baptist) was a man . . . When a man really gives up trying to make something out of himself — a saint, or a converted sinner, or a churchman (a so-called clerical somebody), a righteous or unrighteous man, . . . when in fullness of tasks, questions, success or ill-hap, experiences and perplexities, a man throws himself into the arms of God . . . then he wakes with Christ in Gethsemane. That is faith, that is metanoia, and it is thus that he becomes a man and a Christian. How can a man wax arrogant if in a this-sided life he shares the suffering of God.”   

by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Das Zeugnis eines Boten 

I know. It’s so stinkin good. 

Go ahead and read it a few more times, till it starts to sting a little – and then one more time until it feels like sweet relief. 

I’ve just started reading The Cost of Discipleship and this lil goodie was in the Memoir before Chapter one. 

Oh! To daily wake with Christ in Gethsemane!

 

~ ps. metanoia = repentance. I had to look it up. 

 

 

 

 

A Love So Wild

Image by EvaMcDermott




Your voice, barely a whisper,

Reaching my chest, becomes strong as thunder.

Your beauty shown in every turning leaf, every wrinkled face, every babies’ tear.

That all of this is only a shadow of the wonder to come is simply unfathomable.

 

Dare I say it?

I’m wild about you, my Lord.

Madly, passionately, even fanatically

In Love.

 

Who would have guessed

You could turn such mourning into such dancing.

I expect none can understand how I feel about you,

My most precious Love.

 

You stretch out from your throne

Just to touch my trembling soul.

You paint the clouds in orange

Just to reassure my hope in your goodness.

 

In the storm of you I am carried away from nonsensical cares

Pushing me into the face of mercy

You compel me with fierce strength

To let you call me your own

To leave all else behind

To dare to give in

To a Love so wild.

 

And now, grant me this,

My Lord, my Love:

That my earthly loves would all come to share in this passion

This Love

So powerful and unyielding

So truly divine

So

perfectly

Wild.