Rainbows and Roses
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Little girls dream of the day their daddy walks them down the aisle and gives them away to the man of their dreams but life sometimes doesn’t unfold according to our dreams.
Last Saturday when my niece, Whitney, appeared as a beautiful bride about to walk down the aisle to her soon-to-be husband, the excitement of hopes and dreams was intermingled with the disappointment of loss and grief. Her daddy, and my twin brother, Mike, was not on her arm. We lost him to heaven 15 years ago.
For the most part, we stayed focused on the joys of the moment but it was impossible not to feel the pain of loss. Many of us, including my niece, were wiping our eyes of tears as we simultaneously experienced the grief over what should have been and the joy over what was.
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Are You Enough?
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And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed. Genesis 2:25
If you pause long enough to allow those words to penetrate your heart, you might just conclude that they are among some of the most powerful words in the Bible.
God’s original design.
God’s intention.
No shame.
Authenticity.
No hiding.
And yet, we’ve fallen far.
Not just in the area of marriage but in all our relationships.
When’s the last time you faced the monster called shame? My guess is that it was probably not that long ago.
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The Grace of the Cross
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On this weekend as we reflect on Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, my heart is gripped by the beauty of Christ’s sacrifice, the depths of his obedience, the riches of his gift, and the disconcerting path God chose for our redemption. And I am drawn to reflect on the grace of the cross.
Jesus, declaring the purposes of his earthly ministry, stood up in the synagogue (Luke 4:18) amidst the religious systems of his day and proclaimed that his heart was for the poor, the brokenhearted, those bound in sin, the ones blinded, and the oppressed. Foretastes of grace reverberated throughout the atmosphere; the rumbles began, as Jesus declared that the prophecy of Isaiah 61 was being fulfilled.
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I was only three feet inside the door of the grocery store when it happened. “Want to try our Key Lime Pie?” the woman asked. And there it was. Those little plastic cups with samples. Bait, really. And the psychology is fabulous. If you can only get the consumer to taste the product, if it’s good enough it will sell itself.
And so it did.
The absurd thing is that I don’t really even like Key Lime Pie.
I almost declined the offer, but I was ravished. The day had been busy. I’d just never gotten around to eating much and now here I was, in the grocery store, starving.
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One on One with God
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One of the perks of my job is that I get to spend one on one time with individuals. Time when my job demands that I listen, with both my ears and my heart. Time when I not only listen, but I watch. Watch for body language that speaks a myriad of truths ranging from fear, to grief, to anger, to joy. Time to say, “You matter,” I’m sorry for your pain,” “You are important,” and more.
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