"Cheerful Holiness"

Holy gladness and holy boldness will make you a good preacher,

and all the world will be a pulpit for you to preach in.

Cheerful holiness is the most forcible of sermons,

but the Lord must give it to you.

Seek it this morning before you go into the world.

When it is the Lord's work in which we rejoice,

we need not be afraid of being too glad.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, August 14 Morning

Satisfy us in the morning with Your faithful love,

so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days.

Psalm 90:14, HCSB

~God's love and work are enough cause for joy and gladness

~there have been a couple of difficult days, but overall physical therapy is really helping and seems to be boosting my energy level rather than depleting it
~Dave could see definite progress Wednesday in my performance of the exercises
~harder, longer variations as a reward
~legs noodly from hard work
~church friend's service and fellowship driving to and from the therapist and beyond
~Mma Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi from the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency keeping me company while I do my therapy homework
~audiobooks, a.k.a. read-alouds for grown-ups
~library holds that come ready at just the right time
~satisfying customer service working out an order problem
~an hour's phone call from the friend who sang for our wedding
~mail carrier bringing the mail to the door along with a package to save me the walk to the box
~catching my Nonni on the phone as she was sitting down to write me a note
~celebrating my mom's birthday with the entire family together
~a girls' movie with mom and sisters for the first time in at least 7 years (The Help, as funny and moving as the book)
~able to take part in that and sit comfortably, thanks to my foot rest and lumbar pillow
~the 100-degree streak stopped at 40 days
~four, count 'em, four mornings below 80F
~waking up to the first rain since June 21
~Saturday's high temperature of 89F, which is where the low temperatures have been the last several weeks
~the sweet relief of even a day's break from hot and dry reminding us that summer is not forever
~my husband the grill master cooking excellent steaks
~sister-made pecan pie
~brave nephew climbing tall ladder and sliding fast into the pool
~silly nephew joking and giggling
~happy nephew with rainbow sherbet mustache
~making up a game with the three of them, hugs included
~meaty sermon on forgiveness
~colorful sunrises and sunsets
(from the gratitude journal #1263-1291)

Refiner's Fire

Missionary Amy Carmichael wrote in Gold Cord about what she learned on an outing with the Indian orphans in her care:

One day we took the children to see a goldsmith refine gold after the ancient manner of the East. He was sitting beside his little charcoal-fire. (He shall sit as a refiner: the gold or silversmith never leaves his crucible once it is on the fire.) In the red glow lay a common curved roof-tile; another tile covered it like a lid. This was the crucible. In it was the medicine made of salt, tamarind fruit and burnt brick-dust, and embedded in it was the gold. The medicine does its appointed work on the gold, "then the fire eats it," and the goldsmith lifts the gold out with a pair of tongs, lets it cool, rubs it between his fingers, and if not satisfied puts it back again in fresh medicine. This time he blows the fire hotter than it was before, and each time he puts the gold into the crucible the heat of the fire is increased: "It could not bear it so hot at first, but it can bear it now." "How do you know when the gold is purified?" we asked him, and he answered, "When I can see my face in it [the liquid gold in the crucible] then it is pure" (pp.69-70.)

For a variation on the theme from my poetry stash, try this on for size:

Sonnet from the Fire

How hot the flames burn round my alloyed soul!
My heart churns wildly—restless, tossed with fears,
Dross rising to the surface, bathed in tears.
I cry out, “Jesus, cleanse me; make me whole!”
The skilled Refiner’s hand still stokes the fire;
The flames I think unbearable climb higher.
Still more dross rises; will there be no end
To fiercer heat that purges hidden sin?
“Dost thou not know?” the Master Smith inquires.
“The kettle bears the fiercest heat, not thee.
Thou knowest no flame save that which scorches Me.
I know thy nature; thou wilt stand the fire.
Thou shalt not perish, but shall shine forth grace
When once I look on thee and see My face.”
crm, 7/1997

Beloved, if this finds you in the midst of the heat of affliction, may God grant you comfort in His presence in the furnace with you, in His wisdom to know exactly how much will refine and how much will destroy, and in His sure promise that eternity will reveal the brevity of these trials and the greater glory gained through them.  I don't know what you are walking through, but the Lord Jesus does, and He is near to all who call.

P.S. Physical therapy is hard work but going well. The therapist saw definite progress yesterday, and the pain is much less today than it has been in some time. I enjoyed the fellowship with S.S. from church who provided my transportation help for this week's appointments. Now it's just diligent daily homework until my next appointment Monday.Thanks for your kind prayers!

Happy Birthday to *You*

...Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday, dear Crumbles,

Happy birthday to you!

Today marks one year since the first post here at the crumbs blog. Won't you join me in celebrating God's faithfulness?

When this began last August, I had hoped blogging would be (1) a place to process what God was teaching me through the limitations of chronic illness and (2) a means of fellowship and Christian community while I was unable to attend a weekly Bible study or Sunday school class (or even worship services consistently).

I anticipated that the blog would reconnect me with friends whose paths I no longer cross regularly, people I already knew who had been encouraging me to write for others again. My prayer from the beginning, though, was that God would bring the people He chose and keep the rest away (borrowed from Edith Schaeffer, L'Abri).

While a few of those I expected have indeed read along, the connections and renewed connections God have generally been more surprising than predictable. (I like good surprises!)

The biggest surprise has been the half dozen or so regular readers who have never met me in person but in that mysterious alchemy of grace have felt connected to me through words here. They converse with me in the comments and pray for me (and tell me so). I have been on the reading end of this phenomenon before but never so much on the writing end of becoming friends through thoughts on screen or on page. It feels overwhelmingly like God's love, and His answers to your prayers really do strengthen and help.

My health has much improved from a year ago; I am more able than I was. When I mull over my "if/when I am well" list, though, there are plenty of things I want to do, but the one thing I know I'm meant to do right now is this: this writing, this knowing and being known, this loving and being loved. And I don't have to be well for that.

Thank you for your presence here, for reading and praying and supporting and loving. Thanks for the grace you pour out to me even when I'm whining and discouraged. You have brightened and sweetened my year.

Today I'm lifting up afresh the prayer in that first post:

I pray this would be a place of peace and comfort; a place of communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; a place where this season of illness and whatever follows will be redeemed for my growth in Christlikeness, others' good, and God's glory.  Amen.

Much love,
tinuviel

Still counting, thanking God for His many blessings...

~Word friends

~161 published posts...

~most of them too long...

~but y'all stick with me anyway!

~6 book reviews

~34 original poems (not all written this year)

~Visitors from 75 countries (which does a former missionary's heart good)

~two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree

~Learning geography through blog stats

~No increased pain from the first week of physical therapy (Monday and Wednesday mornings the rest of this month)

~Decreased back pain

~Adjusting to wearing corsets on my feet lace-up walking shoes in the house

~Learning to sit differently, all the way back in the chair with feet on something and not dangling, swinging, or wrapped around the chair legs

~Allen's help and faithfulness in applying traction to stretch my lower spine

~The sweet therapy assistant "Tacy" who reminds me of a young friend from the Bible study we used to teach

~A fellowship moment with the believing office manager at the therapy center when she commented on my cross ring

~Making a new friend, a deaconess from our church who graciously came out in record heat to provide transportation for me Wednesday. She is fascinating and easy to be with, and I hope to get to know her better.

~Her invitation to join the monthly fellowship gatherings of the women-over-50 group (as an acolyte, she said) when I'm up to going

~Another opportunity to speak of Christ and share the whole gospel with an international student working at the bakery where I bought the cupcakes pictured (stay tuned for more on that, Wednesday maybe)

~God preparing me for that with desire/prayer the last two weeks for just such an opportunity

~Courage to walk through that door when He clearly opened it, my cold feet notwithstanding

~His sovereign grace to keep working in her heart and cover my mistakes and omissions with the blood of Christ

~Cupcakes

~Sprinkles on frosting

~Lunch with Mom and my older younger sister Friday

~Opportunity to trust His plan, timing, and provision with another bothersome tooth (I'm waiting to hear from the dentist whether examination can wait until September's appointment.)
~"Catching" a hummingbird at breakfast

~Wits' End's cheery, newly red door

~Big things, little things, serious things, silly and superficial things... all of them matter to the Lord of sparrows and hair follicles!

(from the gratitude list, #1173-1200)

Linking up with the gratitude community at Ann's:

and with Laura at The Wellspring:

The Obedience of Love

Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10, HCSB).

This is the starting point: God loves. He loves us and has done from the beginning. He loved us by sending His son so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

That is the first step, but not the last.

God loves us

And calls us to love Him

By keeping His commandments

To love Him

By loving one another

As Christ loved us

By giving Himself for us.

As we love Him

By loving one another

As He loves,

The Triune God abides in us,

And we abide in His love,

And we find ourselves back at the beginning.

God, Christ, love, word, life, one another, commandments, keep, walk, love, Christ-- all change partners, change order, circle and intertwine in a dance.

To walk according to His commandments is to join the dance with Him and with each other, to dance in the obedience of love.

Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it (2 John 1:5-6, NASB).

Considering love again with the folks at Ann's:



Physical therapy brief: the first session went as well as we could wish. Dave says I have "a pretty good chance" of resolving the back/hip pain through therapy. Your prayers regarding pain have been answered for this first session. There was no significant lasting increase in lower body or chest pain from the session Monday. Round 2 is tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon. Thank you for loving God by praying for me!

Panoramic View

No fewer than four times this week this verse presented itself to me in different contexts by unrelated people and publications:

"For I know the plans I have for you"—

[this is] the LORD's declaration—

"plans for [your] welfare, not for disaster,

to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11, HCSB

When the same theme or verse pop up several places in a short period of time, I tend to take it as the Holy Spirit trying to get my attention. If that's what's going on here, what am I to make of the verse choice? Is it God telling me that I'm on the mend, that I'll have a new "new normal" soon? Is everything coming up roses from here on out?

{obligatory flower photo of the week}

Pulling the Bible study camera in close to look at only the one verse on the macro setting (as we did with Hebrews 13:15 a couple of weeks ago) would seem to give such an impression, wouldn't it? All good news and no bad?

Zooming out through the circles of context paints a different, richer picture, however:

The context of the paragraph places this verse in the midst of Israel's banishment or exile to Babylon. The fulfillment of hope for the original readers is future, after 70 years have elapsed in their foreign home, and the content of "welfare" (NASB, HCSB) or "to prosper you" (NIV) includes not only the return to the Promised Land but also restored relationship with Yahweh. Prayers would be answered and seeking hearts would be satisfied.

Zooming out again to the chapter of Jeremiah 29 informs us that verse 11 was part of a letter from Jeremiah to the religious leaders and other Israelites taken captive and deported by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The Lord, speaking through Jeremiah, tells the exiles to unpack their bags and settle down. Furthermore, they are to work and pray actively for the well-being of the place of their exile and resist the allure of false prophets saying otherwise. In other words, the verse appears in the middle of a message to make peace with this current trial, even while resting in God's promises that He has a plan and restoration will come.

Broadening our perspective once more, the whole of the book of Jeremiah provides further context for the exile and promise of restoration. Over and over God pleads with His people to repent of their idolatry and disobedience, "rising up early and sending prophets" to call them back. He warns them specifically of the consequences of their actions, yet they do not listen. Jeremiah provides an eyewitness account of the life in Jerusalem of the remnant left behind and documents God's generous, gracious promises of restoration and a day coming when He would establish a New Covenant with them which they would not break (Jer. 31).

Zooming out yet again, the historical books of Kings and Chronicles fill in the historical detail of Israel's blatant, prolonged disobedience, a steady descent through apostasy, relieved by only occasional spikes of revival.

The Mosaic Covenant in Exodus through Deuteronomy spells out which laws Israel was violating and the quite specific blessings and curses they could expect for obedience or disobedience (Lev. 26 and Deut. 28, 30). God fulfilled these promises in their exile to Babylon.

The promises to the patriarchs in Genesis, beginning with chapter 12, help us understand why God would still promise restoration in spite of such egregious wrongdoing. Before the Mosaic Covenant, God had established another, unbreakable covenant with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In faithfulness to this Abrahamic covenant, He forgives Israel's corporate sins and brings them back from exile to the land promised to the patriarchs.

Finally, the broadest panoramic perspective places Israel's exile and promise of restoration in the midst of the Triune Creator God's long-range agenda to restore and redeem not only sinful Israel but fallen humanity from every tribe and nation and to do so by means of the "seed of the woman," Jesus Christ. This Christ will someday reign over His redeemed people in a deathless, tearless new heavens and new earth.

How does all this zooming out through the circles of context help answer my original question?

It clarifies that the Jeremiah 29:11 promise is neither a fortune-cookie aphorism nor an amulet promising all pleasantness and no unhappiness. If it were, my faith might be in crisis by this time. Nor does it speak to the duration or end point of my particular health problems.

Instead, it reassures me that God has a plan in this and that even if my worst-case scenario comes to pass, the ultimate outcome is well-being and a hopeful future.

God is by nature a promise-keeper, and that includes His promises

• that all things work together for good to make me more like Christ,
• that nothing in heaven or earth can separate me from the love of Christ,
• that a new, incorruptible, undying body awaits believers at the last trumpet,
• and that a day is coming when there will be no more sorrow and suffering, no tears and no death.

No matter what the coming weeks hold, they can do no harm to the real, eternal inner part of me, which grows stronger even as the outer body breaks down.

The Lord does know the plans He has for you and me. They are for our welfare and not for disaster. In Christ our future and hope are secure. Those truths, in their whole Biblical context, are a firm foundation for whatever lies ahead.

Joining the chorus again, thanking God for all His gifts:
~His good plans
~His sovereign power and faithfulness to bring them about
~hopeful future because of Christ
~A. bringing roses as well as groceries home from Kroger
~rosy perfume filling half the house
~challenges to practice humility and extend patience and forgiveness this week
~the life and legacy of evangelical theologian John R.W. Stott (1921-2011)
~the arrival of the latest installment in The Hawk and the Dove series

~joy in cracking open the pages of a new book
~making A. laugh at the end of a hard day
~a cousin texting me just to see how I was doing
~Ebony bathing my feet with his slobbery canine kisses

~baked French toast with strawberries

~visiting long on the phone with my Nonni (grandmother)
~her safety so far in this hot summer (The streak of consecutive days over 100F continues; this is now the second-longest such on record for Dallas-Fort Worth, and the highest temperatures are still ahead.)
~better tolerance of the prescribed back exercises with less pain
~new pedometer arriving to replace my broken one (so I have some objective measure of activity level)
~UPS delivery people and all "brown" does for our household
~a dip in the mosquito population, one good thing from this drought
~the next stage of water rationing implemented
~even with that, we have enough clean water to drink and meet daily needs
~our bird neighbors back at the feeder after a slow couple of weeks (Where do birds go on holiday?)
~3 hummingbirds sighted at the feeder at various times
~no broken bones from a family member's bad fall
~restful week of no medical appointments (last appointment-free week expected until the end of September)
~Dave the physical therapist, with whom I work for the first time this afternoon
~A.'s company and support today
~Chick-Fil-A cooking supper tonight
~waking naturally, with no alarm, on a weekday
(from my gratitude journal, #1094-1121)