The Way Things Appear

    I love the foot race at the beginning of John 20.  Peter and John racing like a couple of kids to the tomb, John hesitating at the entrance, Peter actually getting the first look.  In this day and age it would seem like the empty tomb would cause a little more excitement for them- after all, a body is missing- but they just go home. That's all.  The body is not here, let's go home. 
    Now, I don't know about you, but I generally think that people in the Bible are pretty much like me, so I imagine that they were disappointed with Jesus' performance.  He didn't set up the kingdom they were expecting, and now his body is even gone.  Ho hum, what a let down.  I think that I would be more like them than I would be like Mary.  Mary hangs around, but I would be ready to quit.  Ready to go home and do what comes naturally, ready to give up on God. 
    But God thinks "outside the box" (if I may use that overused expression).  The empty  tomb is hard to swallow, but it is only empty because God has something better going on.  He is Risen!  The disciples miss out on a life changing encounter with the risen Christ because they go home.  At this moment, their disappointment keeps them from seeing what God is really doing. 
    I pray that when this happens to me, that when I am disappointed because God isn't behaving the way I expect Him to behave, I will be like Mary and hang around to find out what is really going on.


 

The Princess of Princewick

About 16 years ago, in the dying coal town of Princewick, WV, a little girl was born.  She came into the world in the middle of the night, about 12:08 AM.  Her older siblings had gone to bed, but were awakened by her cries.  It was a momentous night in the Lowe household when Charis was born.
Our next youngest child was seven and a half years old, so it was like we were starting over.  Charis grew to be a determined child, teaching herself to tie her shoes at 3 and to read at 4 (using a computer).  That same determination has made her a top notch, prolific knitter and a self-taught pianist.
Twice the Lowe family has made major moves right before Charis' birthday.  The first time was when she turned two.  We moved from Beckley to Charleston to be with her Dad, who was spending most of his time in Charleston with his job at Union Mission Ministries.  Her little sister, Zoe, had been born in August, we  moved in mid- October and her birthday was Nov. 8.  We celebrated among the boxes as I was so tired we didn't get totally unpacked for six months.
We moved a couple of times between then and now, but the second major move was also in October, here to Hampton.  She celebrated early with her best friends in Charleston, and then again here, with friends and family.  Her new Hampton friends came in the afternoon of her birthday to take her out for a little while.  They brought balloons and a party hat, and I, forgetful Mom that I am, did not take pictures of them together.  (My new mantra is "get the camera".  I'm hoping if I say it enough, I will actually remember to use it when I should.) It was Alex and Mikayla and Emily who came, and I know they brightened Charis' day.
Our family tradition is that the birthday celebrant chooses the meal, so we had spinach lasagna and chocolate cheesecake in place of cake and ice cream.  Grampa and Gail got to come, a first for Charis, since we have always lived so far away from them.  Mark bought her her first dozen roses, another "Sweet Sixteen" tradition at our house.  Honestly, it had been so long since we had celebrated a 16th birthday, we almost forgot the roses.


 It is hard to believe that our "Joy Girl" is 16.  Charis, we love you, and we can't imagine life without you.

Breaking the Silence

It has been a long time since I felt the freedom to write for my blog.  Since my last post I have done a lot of old fashioned journaling, but haven't felt the freedom to do much publicly.  Let me just say that a lot has changed since my last entry.  We have started a whole new chapter of our lives.  October 14 we packed a 21 foot Penske van with what remained of our earthly belongings (which was quite a lot of stuff, actually,) and headed north with our two youngest daughters, the family dog and the porch swing tied to the top of our little red Vibe.











We were on our way to a new adventure, leaving West Virginia to start a new life in Hampton, New Hampshire, where Mark had been voted in as pastor of the small but mighty First Baptist Church of Hampton. 



It is an adventure in many ways.  Mark has never lived outside of West Virginia before, and neither have Charis and Zoe.  The church congregation is small, but made up of people who believe that God is not done with Hampton First Baptist.  They have a desire to see the church move forward and reach the next generation for the Lord.  We were moving, for the first time, into a parsonage, and the house we thought we might spend the rest of our lives in is for sale. 

We arrived on October 16, after a couple of days on the road, and found some of our new church family working on the house, getting it ready for our arrival.  The next morning, we were ready to unload the truck, and Mark did a wonderful job of parking it.  He took pictures because he said his brothers would never believe he did it himself.



We had a great crowd to help us unload- new friends from the church and some of my family drove down from Maine.  We even had a volunteer from a local high school, putting in her community service hours.   It was a good day, though I personally didn't know what to do with myself.  Thankfully, we had lots of  other good help.
I am including a few more random pictures of the day, though the one I didn't get would probably be the best- Mark and Joe Noyes could only get our couch into the house by putting it through the living room window.  It's a long story, but we are just glad they actually found a way to get it in. 

So, the silence is broken.  You will hear from me again much sooner this time.

Radical Living?

We have been having a sermon series on radical living, with ideas taken from a book called "Crazy Love", which was written by a Pastor named Francis Chan.  In the book he challenges Christians to truly radical living- because Christ lived a radical life.  We have had some great challenges from the sermon series, and the Lord has used it to make me think about my life and my lack of radical living. 

In our home group we have been reading another book by Francis Chan.  This one is called "Forgotten God:  Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit".   The combination of the two books and the sermon series has been a triple whammy in my life, causing me to think almost constantly about the meaning of my life and whether or not it really counts for Christ. It has made me think seriously about whether or not I hear the voice of Christ or know the leading of the Holy Spirit as God intended me to know it. 

In the book Forgotten God, Chan encourages Christians to think about the Holy Spirit and the role he is supposed to play in our lives.  He asks whether or not we really believe in the Holy Spirit, reminding us that there is much written about the Holy Spirit in Scripture that we tend to ignore or rationalize away. 

For example, there is the well known fact that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness and self control.  Yet we are not disturbed when we as believers live without these things.  We are no more loving than Joe down the street, no more at peace than Susie that we work with, and no more patient than the guy beside us on the rush hour freeway. 

How about this- first John tells us that if we do not love our brother, then we walk in darkness.  Yet we are not disturbed that we don't have any love in our hearts for the woman who sits across the aisle from us in church.  In fact, we think she's rather annoying.  We tell ourselves that we can love her without liking her.  According to first John, that means we walk in darkness.  Why are we not alarmed? 

I am as guilty as the next person.  I have not been alarmed myself, until these books caused me to ponder.  I find myself in a challenging situation right now, struggling to love people that I ought to love, struggling to forgive people that I want to forgive.  I earnestly desire to live a life pleasing to the Lord all the way through the struggles I go through right now, but I find myself floundering.  The Holy Spirit is supposed to be the answer for this.  Not only do I want to forgive people, I want to forget the offenses, real or perceived.  Can the Holy Spirit help with that?  He is supposed to bring peace that passes all understanding.  Why am I not scared when I don't have it?  Why am I willing to live without it? 

I have heard people suggest, and I have at times tried to follow the suggestion, that we imagine Christ is with us while we have our devotions- sitting across from us, waiting on us to meet with him.  Well, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is a better comforter than Christ, and that he lives in us.  Is that not better than even Christ sitting next to me on the couch while I read my Bible?  I think it should be.   

So, what are my plans for living radically?  Well, at the moment they consist of acknowledging that I have little or no power of my own to produce the fruit of the Spirit in my life and asking the Spirit to produce them in me.  I am asking Him to teach me to hear his voice so I will know when he wants me to do something and when I have grieved him.  I am asking him to give me the joy he promised and the peace that passes all understanding.  I am seeking to acknowledge my weakness, so that his strength can be made perfect. 

If you read this, and you know me, I'd like to ask you to pray for me, and not to judge me too harshly if I fail.  God willing, I am closing in on the end of this powerless life.