behold the wiggle worm

I thought that might get your attention! We'll get to the fabled "wiggle worm" in a bit. Right now I would like to share where the Lord led me to meditate one recent morning, bringing me to Psalm 46:10, a very well known verse to believers and unbelievers alike.

"Be still and know that I am God..."

So, just as I have done so many times before, I pulled up ye old trusty concordance on line and began breaking down this verse. Tap-tap-tap went my fingers, click, click, click went my mouse as I made my way to the site, all the time thinking, "I wonder what the Hebrew roots of these words really mean?" I was sure there was some sweet surprise, some undiscovered marrow, some Tootsie-pop chewy center for me to reveal. Ha. What I found left me, um...well, see for yourself; read on...

It means what it says: "Be...still."  Everything in the concordance and in various trusted translations only underscored and enhanced that thought...my favorite, I think, was "Cease striving" from the NASB, and "Let be and be still" from the Amplified conjured a Beatles' anthem in my ear when I read it. (I refrained from grabbing the nearest lighter.)

Here's the thing: all God's chillren (yes, i said 'chillren') got troubles, and if we ain't got 'em presently, we can expect that one day trouble will come (please re: John 16:33), but through every circumstance and situation God says, "Be still" ...be...still.


stop.


relax.


exhale.


let "it" drop.


be quiet.


be silent.



be still.


be.



That is so difficult for us, isn't it?

"Hold still; you're such a wiggle worm!" How many times did we hear that when we were little, usually when a parent was trying to fix a ponytail, straighten a tie, or maybe in church during the sermon; that's just the way kids are, right?

These days it's not clothing that needs adjusting or hair to be smoothed; no, even as children of God, we wiggle, we strive to 'do', to 'fix;' as our finances are in trouble, or a son or daughter is far away from the Lord, or tragedy has struck in one way or another. And when it comes to us as children of God, the Father in heaven, we continue to be little wiggle worms, don't we?  We are a bunch of "doers" and we're missing or ignoring what He is saying to us: "Be."

Especially me. I'm a fixer. I love to, um, "help."  But you know what? God doesn't need my help to fix anything in my life. The only thing He wants me to do is be still in my spirit and walk in faith in Him. Trust; that is what He's requiring of me.

like a paper sack flower

...that was the brain child inspired from a craft project I came across on the internet recently. I have been really excited to present at an upcoming Radiant event because it was a fun way to illustrate how we need each other as we are sent out in ministry for the Lord.

Unfortunately, I still need a little work and experience before groups with this kind of thing...I left out a few key points as I was sharing, so I decided to rectify that here, where I can take my time and think.

We begin here...

with the humble paper lunch sack. We need 8 for a big fluffy flower. 

step two, trim away parts of the sack, illustrated above. We used scissors, but the Lord often uses those who we "do life with" to mold and shape us, knocking off rough edges and trimming away with something beautiful in mind down the road.

Step three, each person wrote their name on the side of each bag (hidden in this pic), then exchanged with others, keeping one original bag with their name on it. In the end, each person had seven bags with friends' names and one with their own name. This will represent the people we do life with, or a ministry team, like Radiant, the missions team we just sent to Belize; your family--any group. 

Next, we added double stick tape as shown above. After that, use a hole punch to add a hole to each sack, as shown, and tie it with a string or yarn, but keep it loose. I left slack about equal to the end of my little finger to give room for what's next...

and that's the way we should walk with others in ministry, isn't it? Giving room for mistakes, growth, failure, forgiveness, etc.   It's bonds of love that hold together a ministry team, just like the double sided tape and string we added to each sack. Bonds of love in Christ and the fact that we each carry the fullness of His Spirit inside of us are the glue, or the knitting together (if you will allow me to mix my metaphors) of each of us who minister in the name of Christ.

Hey, now it's beginning to look like something! Bring the ends together, and secure with more tape. Be sure to bring the string up through the middle of the two pieces of tape so it can hang like this:

The finished product! I don't know how they got the center so perfect--mine still needs work, but we had a lot of fun crafting and laughing together.  You know, we could have cut the shape of a flower with our original single paper sack, but it would have been flat and one-dimensional. When we added seven to the one and shaped each to form the petals (believers, formed and shaped uniquely in the hand of God), then added the tape (bonds of love) and string, we could bring it all together and make something beautiful (a trophy of grace perhaps), something we could not have had with just a single paper sack. There is no mistaking this fact: we need each other.

So, who are your fellow paper sacks? God is using you in their lives, and them in yours to shape you into something beautiful in His hand. Believe it.

Aren't they lovely???

When You say, "Go"

 "The only thing in life that is constant is change." How many times have we all heard that statement? Perhaps it has been overused, but is still so true. I have a love-hate relationship with change. I love the excitement of dreaming about new places, experiences, etc., but when it comes right down to the doing, I can be overwhelmed and might even be guilty of digging in my heels in an attempt to slow it down or bring it to a halt altogether. Something in me likes routine, dependability,  sameness. Ahhhh...yes, even lingering on those words brings a certain sense of comfort.

Anyone else out there like me? Cozy in your comfort zone, talking a big talk, but never intending to seize opportunities for challenge and growth? Okay, maybe I have exaggerated. My point is this: if the disciples had all stayed in their comfort zones, would there have been a first century church? Well, I'm sure the answer is yes,  but those guys would have missed out on what God had planned for them. Imagine Paul not "getting it" after being struck blind; what if he ignored the call of the Lord and instead decided to remain a Pharisaical bully/enforcer...or if Peter and Andrew had not responded to Jesus' invitation to "Come follow Me and I will make you fishers of men"? What if Matthew, known also as Levi, would have clung to his familiar life as a tax collector, unpopular as he was, and remained in his booth after encounter with the Christ?

Honestly, the lightning fast reflex of the disciples, many of whom heard the words, "Come, follow Me," to just drop everything, leaving all they were working at when called, say nothing to friends or family, pack no bag, lock no door, make no attempt to delay or put off...oh, Lord, let my response to You be just as quick and complete!

Many changes are upon my family. An occupational change for my husband, location change, school change for our son, who will be transitioning from high school to college; and in the midst of all this we will be saying goodbye to friends and a church that have been like our family here in Georgia for the past 10 years. "How will we be able to do it?" I ask myself sometimes, but I know the answer. Jesus has called us and we must respond. He has said, "Go" and we will go.