Archives

Once Upon a Time

Oct27

Last night, Morgan and I started watching the first season of the television show “Once Upon a Time.” The basic premise is that a black curse was cast upon all the inhabitants off a fairytale land wherein lived all the characters about which we grew up reading: Cinderella, Rumplestiltskin, Gepetto. Jiminy Cricket, etc. The main characters are Snow White and Prince Charming, who were the impetus for the curse from the evil queen in the first place. This curse threw everyone into this alternate, horrible world (ours), into a little town in Maine, where no one knows who they really are or remembers their past. If you ask them, it’s all kind of a blur.

There is one boy there, Henry, who knows that there is a curse, and he’s figured out who most everyone is. He was adopted as a newborn by the mayor of “Storybrooke,” who is actually the Evil Queen. It seems as though she knows who she is, but not entirely. In the fairytale world, Henry is the grandson of Snow White and Prince Charming, because their daughter–Henry’s birth mother, Emma–was saved from the curse by being hidden in an enchanted tree. But I don’t think his adoptive mother knows that. It was foretold by the evil Rumplestiltskin that Emma would be the only one to break the curse. She would, on her 28th birthday, come back and save them.

Which is what is happening in the series.

What struck me about this show is the spiritual parallels it draws. Whether these are intentional by the creators and writers of the show, I don’t know; but they are obvious to me.

We live in a world under a curse

We have no hope here; our only hope lies in the place we were meant to be

The evil one is constantly trying to thwart our efforts to break his stronghold

We don’t really know who we are until we find our identity in Christ

As followers of Jesus, our job is to help people discover their true identities–children of the King

Figuring out what is true and what is not can be difficult sometimes

We can change the world and lift the curse

Good always wins

We haven’t yet learned why the Evil Queen (Regina, in the town of Storybrooke) hated Snow White so much. She said she took something from her that was very important, but they haven’t yet–as of episode 5 of the first season–revealed what that something is. Unless I missed it, which is entirely possible.

Hope is very important. Henry, when asked by his psychologist (the Jiminy Cricket character, whom he sees because Regina wants this whole “town under a curse and she’s the evil queen” thing to be counseled out of his brain) why it’s so important that his theory about the curse is true, said “because this can’t be all there is.”

You’re right, Henry: This isn’t all there is.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going” (John 14:1-3, New International Version.)

Thankful today for:

624. a retreat for the men in my  household

625. girl time

626. just the outer bands of a hurricane affecting us

627. sleeping in

628. a day with no agenda

629. pumpkin puree

Never Give In

Oct11

Winston Churchill famously said, “Nevah give in, nevah, nevah, nevah. In nothing, great or small, large or petty. Nevah give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Nevah yield to force. Nevah yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

I’m a big baseball fan, (but then, you knew that already, didn’t you?). As an Oakland A’s fan, I’ve learned to never give up. During the regular season, the team had 14 walk-off wins. A walk-off is when the home team wins a game in their half of the 9th inning, or an extra inning, by way of a home run or hit that scores the winning run. The opposing pitcher then simply walks off the field, usually with head bowed, having given up the winning run. Last night, with their backs against the wall, the A’s did it again in the post season.

This team exemplifies the never-give-in attitude. Even with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning of a win-or-go-home game, facing purportedly one of the “best closers in the game,” one man got on. Then another. Then another. And finally the winning blow. We weren’t supposed to win. We were supposed to be swept in this series. We weren’t even supposed to make the playoffs, let alone win our division. But here we are, playing a decisive game 5 tonight against a Cy-Young-Award-winning pitcher who beat us in the first game.

Never give in.

Do we face opposition in daily life? When God has called us to be salt and light at work, do we face persecution?

The enemy is out there. His greatest desire is to wear us down and make us weary. It’s a long battle, but we must never give up.

The Apostle Paul said, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:9.10).

Serving others is tiring; every parent can agree with that statement. Every food service worker, every retail sales clerk, every teacher knows that doing things for others is exhausting, especially when you get no thanks in return.

Mother Teresa once said, “Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.” The trick is loving with God’s love, not out of our own strength. That will wear us down every time.

The A’s won last night on a team effort. One man couldn’t score three runs on his own: three guys had to get on before him.

We can’t win the battle against the enemy on our own–and I’m not talking about end-of-the-world battle. I’m talking about the victories we win every day when we allow God to rule in our hearts. To love like He loves, to serve like He serves. We must do it as a team. We need the encouragement of those who have gone before us, and of those battling with us now.

Let’s go, Oakland!

Let’s go, followers of Jesus!

Chris Tomlin has some encouragement on that subject. Enjoy. I Will Follow

Thankful today for:

609. fall colors in Colorado

610. music

611. walk-off wins

612. maid service

613. friends who share their breakfasts

 

What Did You Do Today?

Sep28

After going through some marriage counseling, my husband learned that he was never to ask me the question “What did you do today?” If I needed to rest, I was to be allowed to rest. If all I accomplished was getting out of bed and getting the kids off to school, then that was OK. If I just needed to sit and read a book, I was to be allowed that freedom.

As moms, I think we get caught up in the doing, and we forget about the being. I am not loved because of what I do; I am loved because of who I am. And who I am is not dependent on the jobs that I have or the title I might hold. Who I am is completely dependent on who God made me to be. My identity cannot be in what I do, or I will spend my whole life striving. The rest I long to find will never come.

In Psalm 46:10 says “Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

The New International Version translates it “Be still.” When we know that there is so much work to do, how hard is being still? This morning, one of the women from my office shared that God showed her that sometimes that means just sitting cross-legged in front of Jesus and letting Him look at you. That’s a great picture. Awkward, it might seem, but necessary. Am I letting Him see me? Am I letting Him tell me what HE wants me to do, rather than telling Him what I want to do?

This afternoon, my husband and I took our eldest son for a second job interview at a soon-to-be-opening restaurant in the area. Not two minutes after I prayed that God would do what He would do in that interview, my son came back to tell us that the hiring manager had told him that, whereas they really liked him, they were full up on 15-year-olds and to come back when he was 16 and he would have a job.

God is in control. He knew that “interview” would turn out the way it would without my efforts to make it any different. What could I do anyway?

What can I in my own strength do about anything?

So, what did I do today? Did I rest in Him? Did I cease my striving?

There’s a reason we’re not called “human doings.” We’re called human “BEings.” Makes a lot of sense to me.

Here’s a song that speaks to that. Enjoy. Restless

Thankful today for:

600. retreats

601. meals paid for by someone else

602. rest

603. newness

Hungry?

Sep15

Have you ever been out running errands or coming back from an appointment and been so hungry that every fast food place just beckons you like the sirens of myth. The smells of fried chicken wafting through the air vents is enough to cause the most staunch health enthusiasts to break their vows if they are ravenous enough. I usually manage to avoid the temptation because I’m so frugal with such things (but I’ll lay down $200 for an iPad if the chance comes my way–penny wise and pound foolish, I think they call it, but that’s another subject).

When I’m at home and have been so busy that I simply haven’t taken the time to eat, that feeling of desperate hunger causes me to plunder my pantry for whatever is available to fix it. Problem is, it’s only temporary. Without the proper nutrition attached, my “remedy” only lasts a short while, if it satisfies at all. If I would take the time to fix something proper and nutritious, I would be content.

I often try to fill my life with things that will only bring temporary satisfaction instead of long-term contentment. In the end, only God will satisfy. When our souls, like our stomachs, are empty, plundering the pantry of activities or relationships will not fill that void. Only dining at the feast God provides with His presence will give us the nourishment we need.

This song says it well. Enjoy.

Hungry

Thankful today for:
591. Saturday
592. New babies coming
593. A hint of coolness in the morning air
594. life

Unwashed Faces

Aug7

A friend shared a story about arriving home one day to his small daughter’s exuberant welcome. Problem was, she was covered in spaghetti sauce, having just been fed by her mom. Being still in his work clothes, my friend held off his daughter’s embrace so as not to soil his nice clothes. In his sharing of this story, as I remember it, my friend felt regret that he hadn’t just as joyfully embraced his dirty daughter as God so joyfully embraces us, His dirty children.

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Joyce Meyer points out the order in which those things happen: draw near to God, then cleanse your hands and purify your hearts.

We can’t become clean on our own. Nothing but the blood of Jesus can accomplish that. If we wait until we’re clean to draw near to God, instead of trusting in Him to do the cleansing, we will never come to Him.

I think about my friend’s story whenever I try to keep my kids’ dirty hands away from my clean clothes. Oh, that I would accept them, dirt and all, the way God accepts me.

Thankful today for:

519. puzzles

520. creative smoothies

521. partnership

522. laughter

523. praise music

524. cleanliness

525. acceptance

526. weekly trash pick up

527. thunderstorms

528. my kids still liking to be with me

529. my Macbook Pro

530. experts