The Beauty of Anticipation (Part 1)

Sunrise on the S. Carolina coast

ANTICIPATION...
     
          WAITING...
         
                 EXCITED EXPECTATION...







I love the feeling of anticipation! There's a special thrill in my chest when I unwrap a gift, not knowing what it will be. Each time I was pregnant, I savored not knowing if we were having a boy or a girl until the moment the doctor exclaimed, "It's a ....!" Around each mountain trail bend, I wait with bated breath for what scene will unfold. And why else would I get up while it's still dark, sit on a cold beach to watch a flaming ball of fire breach the horizon? Anticipation. The fresh anticipation of wondering, "what will it look like this time?" I truly love surprises and life's unexpected gifts in any shape.

Today, I was wondering if God loves anticipation, too. I think he does. Look at a sunrise. He could have designed morning to arrive like an abruptly flipped light switch in a dark room. Bam!! The morning is here. He could have created babies to develop like zucchini, magically appearing on a vine, plump and ready after a mere 24 hours of growth. (You fellow gardeners know exactly what I'm talking about, right?! Zucchini growth is unbelievable!) He could have chosen to usher in Spring blossoms every year on March 20th like the changing of a garment. And for that matter, why didn't he conceive of a harvest that arrived instantly after planting? I'm sure he could have for certainly the God who can speak the entire universe into existence in 6 days could produce anything instantly at his command! So why the slow arrivals? Why the wait? I would suggest it's at least in part because he's designed something to happen in our hearts, minds, and souls through the art of anticipation. I bet he loves to hear us whisper, "I wonder..."

I'm guessing that God takes delight in watching us wait, wonder and anticipate his plan and design. I bet he even smiles while painting each sunrise and sunset, orchestrating the beauty of all those golden hues while he says, "They'll love watching this sunset unfold before their eyes!" The Lord has designed us to anticipate more than just the changing skies and seasons though. He offers us gifts wrapped in grace and love every day. He even gives us hints of things that are yet to come. That excites me deeply! It's almost as if he has hidden parts of our future in wrapping paper like a gift. The anticipation of his plan causes me to fix my eyes on Him and lean in and say, "I wonder..."

What are you anticipating? Who are you waiting for? I can't wait to tell you what I'm anticipating.

But let's wait
     for just a little while
           and enjoy the anticipation.
               It's so good to be excited with expectancy!

Wait, What?!? I'm suppose to Homeschool now?

(Today's blog is for all the moms who've found themselves thrust into homeschooling unexpectedly.)

When our four kids were young, we decided to homeschool them for a couple of years. I had months to think about how I wanted it to go. I looked through catalogs for curriculum and gleaned ideas from other moms. I had something you do not... TIME TO PREPARE!

So today, I'm going to leave some ideas, some advice and hopefully some reassurance that both you and your children are going to be alright. It will be hard at times, but you may just discover that you have a new, stronger connection with your child when this is done.

WHAT IF YOU'RE THE MOM WHO SAID, "I COULD NEVER HOMESCHOOL BECAUSE WE'D KILL EACH OTHER!?"

First of all, breathe. Just breathe. You can do this. You went through 23 hours of labor to bring this child into the world! You have lived without sleep since 2012. You're tougher than you think. Give yourself a few days to think through how you're going to incorporate schoolwork into your survival routine next week or next month. This week, you are wearing the mom hat. Not the teacher hat. No child's math and reading is going to tank in the near future. And honestly, your child is learning something much more important than math as he watches you handle change and model where your security comes from. In fact, I think the golden lining in the cloud is that you've just been given a great opportunity to show your kids how to handle trials. I think back to a quote a seasoned grandma told me once, "Blessed are the flexible for they shall not break." Indeed!

Now, if you're feeling unsure about the upcoming possibility of playing the teacher role, be assured, you're not alone. Every teacher wonders at some point whether or not they've got what it takes to infuse the next generation with knowledge and skills. You do. But one of the things that will help as you leap into this new role at home is to be willing to wear different hats at different times. As moms, we already do this quite a bit, but I personally think that being intentional with this helps focus on what matters most at that moment.

Here's what I mean: If you try to wear the cook hat, the teacher hat, the mom hat, the referee hat, the hazmat hat, and the doctor hat all at once, you're going to be overwhelmed. Test what happens to your sanity level if you just wear one or two at a time. (Now, I do realize the referee hat will often end up getting pulled on if you have multiple kids, but that's alright. Gotta do what you gotta do.) But YOU decide which hats are worth wearing in a day. Not the school district, not your friends, not the grandparents, just you. What does your family need today? That's your decision.

How do you go between these two hats?

Mom hat: First things first! Feed and hug them in the morning. Don't even THINK about schooling yet. Just connect with them, reassuring them that "this is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!" That's a good way to start. Even if they're sick or grumpy or fighting, they will settle into your calm if it is part of your routine each day. If you're freaked out and stressed, they hear it in your voice and will mirror that too. Start your feet hitting the floor with a cry out to Jesus to help you love your kids well. Your most important role to your kids isn't as the educator, it's mom. While you wear this hat, don't harp on them about homework or if they've gotten everything done. Just be mom. They need you more than ever with all the sudden changes that have happened.

Mentally decide to change hats when you're ready to instruct.

Teacher hat: Take a moment. Think about that favorite teacher you had in school. What was it about him/her that made them memorable? Did they make learning fun? Did they seem to have a knack for telling good stories? Bring some of those styles into your teaching time. I know some parents are receiving loads of lesson plans and worksheets from schools and teachers. Don't make your time schooling all about getting the worksheets done! Yuck!!! Everyone and their dog would hate school if it was all about getting through "the stack" of to-do's. Too often, we think that if the worksheet is done, check, they've learned it. Busywork isn't important. Figure out what needs to get done and set the rest aside. Also, I know there's lots of fun ideas online but don't feel like you need to do them ALL and especially not ALL this week! Find out where they are in the main subjects. If they need help in it, take the time to sit with them, remembering you have your teacher hat on your head, and patiently help them through it. If they've got it figured out, then don't worry about the 8 other worksheets to prove they have it learned. The point is to learn, not to be busy.

I will go as far as to say "keeping up with all the school work" is not the point of your new teaching position at this stage in the game. If you're looking at the clock worried that you should be keeping them academically busy from 8:00-3:00 then you're going to focus on "staying busy." This older mom would say this: Your kids aren't on the clock. Unfortunately, we've heard that kids need to be in school "X" number of hours. That's not the point.  Being present doesn't equal getting an education. Use the time you have wisely and discover the joy of learning together, but don't focus on the clock. See that they are still learning. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing. Just do what you see fits your crew. Every family will be different, so don't worry. Comparing doesn't help them learn.

Two other things to consider as you wear the teacher hat:

1. I'd encourage you to consider just taking this time to teach simple life skills. Have them sort laundry and show them how to start the machine. Bake some cookies or spaghetti together. Those areas are as valuable as the three R's. Think about this, kitchen tasks lend themselves to talking about fractions (3/4 cup of flour, etc...) science (how things bake using chemistry) reading a recipe and understanding steps, taking turns stirring the flour (talk about where flour comes from and who grows it).

2. Teach a fun "unit" study. The beauty of this is that you can pick a subject, a place, a time in history and discover it together with all your kids no matter what their ages are. Ask them what they're interested in. You might find you have an engineer in the making.

* Let's say you want to teach about the pioneers coming west. You'd read aloud something like Little House on the Prairie, bake something from scratch, have the kids build a wagon under the kitchen table by throwing a blanket over it, have dinner by candlelight and talk about how great electricity is and what it might have been like for the pioneers who only had lanterns for light. Introduce the kids to the classic old Oregon Trail game. Didn't you guys grow up playing that one?

* Perhaps your older kids could learn about WW2 and the great generation who fought for the world's freedom. There are loads of great family-friendly documentaries. Read a book from that time like the diary of Anne Frank or Unbroken. Tell them the stories of their great grandparents' rolls during the war. Do you have family who served? Do your kids know about them? Pull out pictures.

* Pretend you're visiting a far off country for a day or week. Eat ethnic food from that place. Play music from that country. Draw a picture of what they think that place would be like then take a virtual tour on the computer.

* Let them tell a story using Stop Motion Movies. (There are some great apps for this!) The art of communication is beautiful. Let them be creative and silly.

*Play board games! Yes, this is educational. Think about how much mental math happens in a game? They are learning patience, strategy, and how to be a good sport whether they win or lose. Many life lessons are learned around a board game.

You'll find that you don't need huge lesson plans to succeed at learning, but start with an idea and your kids may very well help throw ideas into the ring. A great teacher mostly teaches the joy of learning.

WARNING: Be aware of the fact your life is going to feel really messy right now. Literally. When you homeschool, you quickly find out your house gets even messier than normal because you are living in it, eating in it, learning in it, all the time, every day. In our homeschool years, it was hard to keep up with dishes, laundry and house. Don't expect the house to stay organized and "perfect". It isn't going to be. Take that breath again. It's ok. You aren't going to be able to wear your housekeeping hat the way you'd like but wear it often enough to get by. Remember what the focus is--connection with your kids. Occasionally through the day, DO pull the cleaning hat on and set the timer for 10 minutes.  Tell the kids they have to run errands for you until the timer goes off. Crank up the crazy music and have everyone pick up with you as fast as they can. Clock out the teacher, the housekeeper and pull on that mom hat again. Relax. You just finished wearing your teacher's hat for the day. You did it!

My last word of advice is this: READ READ READ! If all you did as the educator of your kids' life these next weeks was read gobs of books, taking wild imaginary adventures in glass elevators or on pirate ships, then you've succeeded. Yay!!

You are building memories. Enjoy this crazy ride and don't let the new job freak you out too much. Remember they just want to feel your love and comfort more than anything. Even those feisty kids you swore you'd wring their necks if you ever had homeschool. Ask God to help you see your child's strengths and weaknesses during this time. Help them develop where they are weak. Don't just get upset. Help them. If they're slow readers, read to them and help them fall in love with good books. If they struggle in math, have them do some practice in the area that they are challenged in. But don't make them sit in a room alone going over and over the same stuff without helping them. That's torture for both of you. If they need help in writing, try writing a letter to a school friend they are missing. (Aw, mail. I could write a whole book on snail mail. It's magic!)

Don't weigh yourselves down too much. Put on the music and pull out those legos. Dust off the board games and find your copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. You won't get these days back. You're going to be ok.

We Have a NEED!!!

Dear World,

COVID-19 has arrived! Overwhelmed by the potential of how many people on this globe may contract this new virus, individuals are suddenly aware of "their needs." Grocery store shelves are virtually empty, toilet paper has become the golden commodity overnight, and droves of people are willing to stand in checkout lines for an hour to purchase what's left.

All of a sudden...
     We realize...
          WE HAVE A NEED!

Isn't it strange, we don't understand how much we need something until urgency strikes and it's all gone? I want to start by looking at toilet paper today. (Haha! Those are words I NEVER thought I'd type on this blog.) My guess is most households have had t.p. available for use whenever necessary since, well, since they got out of diapers. We use it every day. Yet, we haven't felt the need for it until now, when it's all but gone. We've assumed there would always be more toilet paper in aisle 14. Now, it's gone and we are hyperaware of our need for it.

This small, squishy roll is the perfect item to illuminate another much greater subject. Our lives, our need, and our hope.

Did you know that every single human has a need? Some people grow hyperaware of this need when they hear the words "cancer" spoken in a doctor's office. Others feel the need as their car spins out of control on an icy interstate. Still, others understand their need at church camp, while the speaker teaches that Jesus came to meet that need. What is it?

We need to be saved.

     Oh, why do we wait until our last days fighting cancer to even talk to God in prayer? Why do so many have a "come to Jesus moment" promising to try to live differently if He'll just get them through this car accident? Must we wait until we see the shelf of our lives are empty before we see we have a need?!?

If the craziness of this time brings anything of value, let it be this:

     WE NEED JESUS! UNTIL WE KNOW WE ARE LOST, WE HAVE NO REASON TO THINK WE NEED TO BE FOUND. John Newton understood this truth when he penned his famous words:
   
                       "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
                        I once was lost but now am found; was blind but now I see."

It is so easy for us to march through our lives doing the routine dailies: Eat, sleep, work, repeat. But the sunrise cries out every day that there is a God who loves us. The bees and flowers are evidence that a creative, wise Being designed this world to its tiniest detail. He's even written His story out for us to know him and wants us to understand, he longs to meet our need to be saved, through His Son, Jesus. But we ignore him and say, "I am doing just fine. I don't have a need." But we all do. Do you know it?  Can you feel your need? Do you want it met? Will you wait until you are in an urgent situation to cry out to Him?

Don't wait. He tells us "And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him." (Heb. 2:27-28)

Here's truth: Every single one of us has a body that will die. Yep. 10 out of 10 will die. Bad odds if you're just hoping to make it out alive. You also have a soul and it will live forever. Is yours dead or alive? Sin kills the soul. Jesus makes it alive! That may sound odd to some. But I bet a couple of days ago you would have thought it odd to be asked if you needed food and supplies because you didn't yet feel the need. But if I asked you today, do you need food and supplies, they're considered gracious, life-giving words. Our eyes are opened and hearts are much more willing to talk about needs when they are staring at us in the face.

So today, I ask you, do you need eternal life? Jesus said if we want eternal life with him in Heaven, he is eager to give it to anyone who asks. But it starts by knowing, we have a need. You can't save you. Only the payment on the cross is enough. No matter what your past, how great your sin, Jesus already paid it ALL if you accept his gift and make the exchange --His life for yours.

I hope you're aware of your need for a Savior today. Don't wait until your life is at "the end of the last roll"(excuse the bathroom humor but y'all know it's true) before you see your need because there will come a time, your last day will arrive. Be ready. Be at peace. Know the Prince of Peace.

                    "For God so loved the world that he gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal LIFE!" John 3:16

Grocery supplies are not endless. Toilet paper can run out. But much more importantly, our days are numbered. Be sure you have NOW what you'll need to make it into eternal life in Heaven. Jesus. 

I love you guys! I hope you do have t.p. but REALLY, I pray today, you see that you need Him!

Words Is Hard

     "Mrs. Haidle, that's not proper English." Unfortunately, I heard that from one of my grammar-policing students during an elementary choir class.
     "This is why I am your music teacher and not your English teacher. Let's sing." Inside, I secretly cringed, knowing that I easily fumbled over my sentences and even kids knew it. Don't misunderstand, I'm not at the redneck level by any means. I can speak well enough you shouldn't imagine I'm toothless and in overalls. But I can scramble my grammar and occasionally use the completely wrong word. I have even noticed now that I'm well into my 40's, that I frequently forget an entire word in the middle of my sentence. I have found that writing can ease this struggle allowing me the luxury of editing thoughts and retyping them until they flow smoother. Or is it, until they flow more smoothly? Anyway...
     Grammarly, the app, was made for people like me. And for Moses. You know, Moses from the Bible. I'm quite certain he could have benefited from it as well. Remember how God wanted to send him back to Egypt to lead the Hebrews out of capitivity and to the promised land? Even while standing in the presence of God, talking with the Creator of the universe, he had a problem. In that moment the issue holding him back from leading God's people to freedom was his speech problem. "O Lord, I'm not very good with words. I never have been, and I'm not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled." (Exodus 4:10 NLT)

     Today, I am pondering Moses's quandary. Why? Because I dream of embarking into the world of writers and am wrestling with the fear that my words could be dubbed as "not proper English" and therefore, unusable. I'm not used to feeling uneasy. Partly because I have just finished two marathon chapters of my life, nearly 30 years in the making, both of which I felt talented and fully capable. The past 3 decades, I have lived at my piano, working as an accompanist. I am completely at ease on a concert stage in front of a thousand people. I thrive on being the invisible person on stage during a choir concert, knowing I have the best seat in the house. Also, more importantly, I have spent the last 25 years raising my family but I do not have little kids anymore. My husband, Daryl and I, have four wonderful, dynamic, grown adults who bring us such satisfying joy. They don't need me to mother them, do their laundry, or wipe their noses. Yahoo! I get to enjoy my children as friends now. These rewarding chapters are closing. A new chapter is waiting.
     If I could script this next chapter, I'd love for it to be titled "Candi Writes On Meaningful Matters" but to begin with, I'd be content with a chapter titled "Candi Writes And It Doesn't Completely Stink." Between raising kids, going to school events, teaching piano lessons, and accompanying for school choirs, I've been stashing my writing ideas and story outlines in notebooks and on scratch paper, onto computers and audio recordings, hoping to one day bring my ideas to life and share them with others.
     My love for writing started young. I discovered my hankering for words through school writing projects and the devotion I felt for my notorious junior high journal (which I still have but told my children they can have only after I die.) As a teenager, journaling was a favorite time-killer, perhaps because it gave me a place to spout my inner thoughts and write about my secret, ever changing crush. I think my brother especially appreciated that I began writing in my journal since he got tired of listening to me talk about my newest infatuations, whom he claimed always had the name, Brian. (Hey, there were a lot of Brians in school in those days!) Over the years, stacks of journals captured my prayers and hopes, frustrating days and special memories I didn't want to forget. Eventually, typing at a comptuer screen to an unknown, virtual world introduced me to my first awkward blog called CandiandCoffee. I began to realized how much I loved telling people about what God was doing in my life, and thus, I eventually started this blog, Free at Last. It's been my stopping spot when anything of great consequence has happened in my life, which is why I type today.
     I've dreamt of going beyond scratching ideas on paper in the middle of conversations. I've imagined what it'd be like to write with others in mind instead of writing mostly to myself. Time after time, I've shared my favorite writing quote by C. Day Lewis. He said, "We do not write in order to be understood; We write in order to understand." I believe this to be true. My life has made more sense as I've poured my thoughts onto paper. But now I've come, hoping to go a step beyond journaling and blogging. I am hoping to write stories for children and materials for mothers to use in  parenting. I have some school curriculum ideas to explore. And just maybe someday I can write a Christmas program. I can easily give myself a million reasons why I am inadequate to accomplish any of these tasks. For me, sometimes "words is hard". But I love words. I love stories! I know if I have anything worth sharing, I only need to remember it was God who created me with all these ideas and dreams for a reason. So with God, grammarly, spell-check, gallons of coffee and those few supersmart grammar-police individuals who can't help but speak up, this tongue-tied musician might have a fighting chance at becoming a writer!

My Life in Pencil

"I've decided I'm going to start putting my life in pencil." 

A friend said these words to me over the phone today. As we talked about juggling commitments, work, time with friends and family, church ministries and having enough quiet to hear the voice of the Lord, I was reminded (again!) how difficult it is to have sufficient margin in life to not schedule every bloomin' second of each month. But my friend was speaking about more than just being overly busy. She was talking about being flexible, specifically to the Holy Spirit, in our lives. "Am I willing to put my life in pencil, to erase and change my plans?" I began wondering after I'd hung up.

Hmmm...
      Write in pencil.
            One with an eraser. 

I like making plans for life: scheduling how things should fit, having fun things to look forward to, deciding what makes the calendar of my life. But schedules aren't concrete and life tends to grow organically, when allowed.  We call that change. But the kind of change I'm facing these days is more than just a schedule change. It has more to do with a new season. So this idea of not being able to write out my plans for this next chapter in permanent ink with vividly illustrated expectations, is a bit foreign. I have some inklings of things to come but they feel more like vague sketches and outlines.

Change. I think that's what I'm penciling in as the title of this next chapter. I am coming to the close of a couple marathon chapters of my life. The big one - raising my family. I have no more little children. Over the past quarter century, I have played the roll of the mom raising her family. One of thee best chapters God saw fit to put in the pages of my life! Second, I am getting ready to step back from playing piano as a school accompanist. I started playing for choirs over 30 years ago. It's been the dream job and I've loved my coworkers! 

So, my pages feel blank, not because my schedule isn't going to continue to be filled with activities, commitments, people and life, but because I honestly don't know what it's going to look like. I'm excited. Actually, I'm beyond excited! But I want to approach this season of my life with a pencil in hand, ready to fill these pages with longings and dreams that are yet to be explored, asking God to show me what His plans hold. I hope to write, create and grow to tell meaningful stories. Whether this next chapter is going to be easy, difficult, short, long, exciting or overwhelming, I don't know. But I like the word picture my friend shared - A life written in pencil so that it can be flexible, erased, modified, and free to traverse into the unknown. 

I Ain't No Sweet Orange Tree Apart from Him

Orange trees bear oranges. Banana trees produce bananas. Raspberry bushes grow raspberries. Though I realize I'm only stating the obvious, I must say it: A TREE BEARS FRUIT, REVEALING THE TYPE OF TREE IT IS. Scientifically proven, it's a law of nature. With certainty, I can know the grapevine in my back yard will never burst forth with apple blossoms!

Let's look at a different kind of "tree". Our lives. I will love because I am loving. I will be joyful because I am joyous. I will have peace because I am peaceful, kind because I am kind, patient because I'm patient, self-controlled because I know God is in control. This is the Fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)

But what if I produce anger, jealousy, drunkenness, or immorality? What if the thing that hangs from my "tree" is bitter and thorny? The answer is just as obvious as the orange tree that bears oranges - it's just more uncomfortable to look at because, well, it's painful. Like anything in life, we can't fix it if we don't acknowledge it's broken. We may be shouting to everyone around us, "I'm a sweet orange tree! The only reason I'm like this is because YOU make me get like this!" That's a lie, but it's an easy one to believe. Unfortunately, it's obvious to everyone else except us: We ain't no sweet orange tree!

Blame. It's the oldest mind game in all of human history! Beginning in the Garden of Eden, the first episode of The Blame Game played out when God asked a very direct question: "Have you eaten of the tree that I command you not to eat?" Adam pointed at Eve and told God, "This woman YOU gave me, SHE handed it to me and then I ate it." As if on cue, Eve answers, "The Serpent deceived me and then I ate," or more plainly, "The devil made me do it!" I know some of you mamas out there are sighing as this is the story of your everyday life when you ask one of your kids a simple question. The finger pointing starts and the blaming flows like a river. Oh,  if only we could get a straight, honest answer!!! It's not just the kids though, right?

I lived blaming others for too long. It was yucky. Thorns and bitterness, anger and judgement grew out of blame. Through tears, I'd tell Daryl after a fight, "I don't know why I am so angry. I just am. I only do two emotions well, so you either get Happy or Angry." When things were good, it was easy to be happy, but if things got tough, I'd blow a fuse. Truth is, when the heat of life turns up, what we're made of gets revealed.

In John 15, we read familiar words spoken by Jesus: "I am the vine. You are the branches. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." Outside of Him, I can't do it! Let me lay it out on the table; my bursts of anger we not Jesus'. They were mine. Flesh of Candi. It was not a pretty sight. Just call it verbal vomit. No one wants that spewed on them! I didn't know how things would ever change because in those days, I was still playing the blame game. I would think, "It's 'your' fault I'm mad." Here's a secret: If all those who make us mad would change, behave perfectly, or move out of our lives, we'd still be mad. THEY are not the problem. The problem resides in us. What do we do though? I'd just vow to myself, "I will try harder next time not to get so angry." I'd fail. Sometimes I still  do!

Let's go all the way back to the Garden again. We see that everything God offered gave us Life. He WAS Life! He still is. The Lie the Devil pitched lead to Death. What was the Lie?

     "Did God REALLY say..."

Knowing and listening to God's truth is where we must start. God is the truth teller. God is the truth revealer. God is Truth! And His truth produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. But when I walk in the flesh, I've turned my ear away from the Life-giver and taken a bite of the same lie the Enemy has been whispering since mankind walked the earth... "Candi, did God really say love is patient? He didn't mean all the time. Nobody is perfect. You have every right to be sharp-tongued sometimes! That wasn't fair. Who could be expected to be gentle under those circumstances? You were just being honest!" Whew! It makes me sweat just to type those words. Have you ever eaten that one? Boy, I have! It was a bitter, rotten piece of something! 

Just as Adam and Eve pulled their Life-line from God back in the Garden, I do the same thing if I pull my vine from His branch and expect to do anything apart from him. This makes me want to do a whole study on what it looks like to Abide in Christ. Let's finish on a sweet, a truly sweet bite. A bite we can sink our teeth into, whole-heartedly. God will never lie to us. He will always tell us the truth. Don't you love that?

Do you remember in Math class, the word IS and equals were interchangeable? For example, 4 + 4 = 8. Or we'd say 4 plus 4 IS 8. It would only work to insert the equals sign when the equation had the same amount on both sides of it, making it TRUE. Look at a few verses through that same lens.

God is Love. Jesus is Truth. He is Life.
                      OR
God = Love. Jesus = Truth. He = Life.

Yep. It is what it is. Or better yet, He just says, I AM. Period.

Why should we look anywhere outside of the one who IS the truth we seek? If something is missing in your life, much like a mathematical equation, you need to look for the answer to missing the variable that will make your life-equation equal the truth. Stuffing anything (and everything) into the equation won't make it add up to truth. It only IS, when the equation is True. 
                            "His name is Faithful and True." (Revelation 19:11)

More, if you want it:
     Galatians 5
     John 15
     Romans 6-8

Irreversible Transformation

     I can't un-learn to play the piano. I could concentrate on being ignorant to my skills but it's impossible. I could try to convince myself "I don't know what to do" but my brain still understands it. I can never go back to not understanding the keys of my piano.

     You can't un-learn to ride a bike***, therefore the expression, "It's just like riding a bike." There are things that we all "just do" because it's impossible to turn off the know-how once we've got it.

     Yesterday, I told a little story about experiencing truth. Today, let's focus on the miracle of the transformation that takes place when understanding and believing truth changes us. Much like the bike, transforming truth is something that once you learn it, you can never go back and un-learn it. The change is complete. Permanent. Actually, when the Bible speaks of being transformed, it's the same word as metamorphosis - A change from one form into a completely different form! Caterpillar to butterfly. A heart of stone to heart of flesh. From dead to alive.

Just as a wooden match, once struck, becomes carbon, it can't go back to being wood. The transformation is complete. Permanent. It's changed from one substance into an entirely different one with new qualities. It is what it is.

So, what about our lives? Why don't we see change? Why do we go back to our defaults? Could it be, perhaps, we haven't fully understood where that transformation comes from? Transformation is supernatural. The biology of the butterfly is miraculous! The
                                                                                   chemistry of the burning match is marvelous!

The metamorphosis of a sinner to saint is God's work. Transformation doesn't come from trying harder. Trying to change is as real as a caterpillar wearing a butterfly costume. Trusting to change is the real deal - from the inside out. Look at this evidence:
     "...it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Philippians 2:13
     "I am convinced of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6
     "After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you." 1 Peter 5:10

     Just like salvation, this handiwork isn't a partnership of God and I toiling together. He does the work. I do the trusting. It's the kind of believing (experiential understanding) that I can never un-learn. It completely transforms me. There's no going back. It's the kind of trust that can tell my mind to not worry because "I KNOW whom I have believed in, and am persuaded that He is able." The kind of belief that can put my heart at peace  though I've heard the C-word, cancer. The assurance that I can hope in a God who hears and loves me.

     If you feel stuck in the same rut, striving to change, vowing to never-do-that-again, maybe there's some area of your life that is like that wooden match, just waiting to be struck and ignited, ready to morph into the new. There's no going back once the transformation is real. But it's entirely God's work in you. Remember, the Fruit of the Spirit is NOT a to-do list in our lives. You possess them already if you belong to God. They flow from you but are not produced by you, but by the Spirit. Ask God to help you trust Him in that area of life you're struggling - to trust with your whole heart. He is able!

     "I have been crucified with Christ; and it no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Galatians 5:20

Images from thebutterflysite.com

***Just for fun, I'm leaving a link to a cool video about a guy who DID try to unlearn to ride a bike.

Backwards Brain Bicycle