I the Lord do not change. Malachi 3:6

I must preface this by saying I’m not typically a blind date kind-of-gal. In fact, I’m really not the dating-kind-of-gal, but a situation came up lately where I trusted the set-up personnel and figured anyone could stand as interesting for a couple hours. So I spoke to the guy beforehand and we planned to meet at a local coffee shop. We narrowed our means of recognition to a physical description, me being 5’5 with red hair and him being six feet and brunette. I arrived on-time and was relieved to find this description waiting outside, so surprisingly confident, stuck out my hand and said,

“You must be Jon.”

He smiled broadly and with a somehow encouraging tone of spilled pity replied,

“Ummm, no, I’m actually not. I guess you’re on a blind date?”

Clearly embarrassed, I nodded and sheepishly explained the situation. We laughed about it and I ended up stepping inside to find another six foot, brunette guy, who happened to be my real blind date. It made for a natural icebreaker, I guess, and we ended up enjoying a fine evening together. The point I’m going for here, however, has far less to do with my blind date, and more to do with our blind faith as Christians. This date experience for me entailed putting my faith in a lot of things, one of which was a physical description. I was banking on the imaged expectation of a six foot, brown haired guy. The problem was, this image was highly relative and clearly susceptible to change.

Bottom line—we put faith in a lot of things. Sometimes they’re obvious, and maybe even necessary outlets, such as money, jobs, or people, while other times they’re more vaguely placed in images, dreams and even expectations. And granted, I was speaking above of a blind date, verses a blind faith, or placing of my hope in something unseen, but I still can’t get around the similarities. I still can’t get around the majority of my life being blindly placed, or trusting in relative and changing means.

Everything on this earth is up for change. Therefore, everything I trust has the potential to alter, fade, or even fail. I trust my car—it can die. I trust my friends—they will fail me. I trust myself—I often times fail me. The lesson doesn’t seem to be one of ceasing to trust altogether, but does lend itself toward an awareness of what we’re trusting. And just as important, what we’re not trusting. When all is said and done, I want my trust to fall on something that lasts—on someone who is unchanging. As I journey through the blind dates of life, I’m increasingly convinced that this lasting find is Jesus Christ. Alone.

In case you're perusing the radio this weekend, here are two live interviews:

*KFUO ( St Louis): Living Jubilee
Friday, Sept 1st
11:30am CT
25 min

*WGRC: The Matter at Hand
Tuesday, Sept 5th
11:00am ET
30 min

Have a safe and fun Labor Day!

Sorry for the hiatus in writing! I was out-of-town for much of the last week, spending a glorious weekend traveling to Newport, RI and then driving with my sister to the mountains of PA to surprise my mom for her b-day. Good times. LOTS of travel time for little "people time," but every moment was worth it. My mom's dad (i.e., my grandfather) was in PA already, and when my "from PA" grandparents found out about the surprise, they decided to spontaniously make the two-hour trek. Very, very special. Sitting on the porch with all three living grandparents, my mom, sister and a handful of relatives, was quite breathtaking...and will likely never again offer an encore.

Smith family tales aside though, I'm getting excited for you and me, both, as we head into these next few weeks. New season and new semester, each of which impregnates loads of new beginnings. (I've just left a short-film titled: "Most." It's a work out of Poland that represents God in more of His fantastic brilliance than I've experienced in long time...though it's done in subtitles and makes no mention of His name. Imagine that. The pursuit of excellence (in art, or whatever), marks phenomenal and clear representations of the Gospel. Without help. Without WWJD bracelets hanging from the tag. I love that about Him.) Anyway, I'm at that point when the actual 'start' of classes will be a refreshing change from all the talk...you know what I mean?

Anxious to hear of your move-in tales. Keep your head-up and write when you can. I always love hearing from you.

abbie

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

Have you looked Jesus in the eye today? Have you sought something beyond the natural, or above the normal? Has the Spirit of God found any space in your schedule, or the discipline of faith any means of necessity? Has grace found you on you knees?

There was an hour of this day that owned you. When was it?
There was a conversation that stole your true identity? Why?

Consider, confess, and turn from it, freeing your heart to claim forgivenness as far as the east is from the west!

I'm realizing more and more that I can battle "being" for the rest of my life, or I can submit to "not being," and trust that if God is really who He says, He will. "I am" only takes me so far in being strong, capable, smart, disciplined, wise, even Godly enough, before I come face to face with the reality that I am not...nor will I ever be.

Only God can BE all that I am not.

May you come to the Lord today, and allow His words to give you rest.
"But God, what if..." Daughter, I AM.
"But God, she said..." Beloved, I AM.
"Father, He did..." Child, I AM.
"Lord, they didn't..." Chosen, I AM.
"God, I need..." Blessed one, I AM.
"When it..." I AM.
"Why can't...?" I AM.
"They don't..." I AM.
"But I'm not..." Shhhh, child, be still. I AM.

Be His today, unashamedly His.

Amen.

(This site isn't set-up for it, but if it were, you'd read that title and then click to its clincher, link follow-up reading:

"while driving in the car").

Since we can't provide such a suspenseful read, click, link process however, we'll just lay it out in one hunker: "DON'T EAT PEAS WHILE DRIVING IN THE CAR."

I'm serious. One should never eat dried peas, maybe period, but definitely while driving. I spilled a large quantity of green, popcorn'esque kernels ALL over my front seat. If it were Christmas, I'd get a bag of cranberries and act like I was excessively seasonal, but it's not...and I'm not. It's just a regular Tuesday afternoon and I have a massive tint of green highlighting the interiors of my vehicle.

On a less clumsy note, I'm reading two books that I would highly recommend:
Celebrations of Discipline, by Richard Foster and Velvet Elvis, by Rob Bell.

That's all for now. I need to go clean out my car.

abbie

Have you ever thought about your future spouse? Or should I say, when you think about your future spouse, do you ever wonder about their personality, style, or favorite hobby—what their job, dream-job, or family will entail?

Pop-Christianity has been preaching a "negotiable/non-negotiable" idea for quite some time now, exhorting us to “list” the absolutes and maybes of our spouses. In other words, what are the characteristics you simply can't compromise on, and what are those that are “up for grabs?” Well, I wouldn’t call myself a groupie here, at all, but I do think the topic holds some ground. Thinking beforehand about who we’ll be hand-in-hand with...forever...is clearly important. Irrevocably important, in fact. My hold-up, though, is prioritizing this “list” over the Lord's. I'm convinced that no matter what we subscribe to, He's always willing and wanting to outdo it—otherwise, the mystery of marriage (and life) would be within man’s reach. Let me give you an example.

Yesterday was a slow Saturday morning, where sleeping-in and daydreaming to the pillow was at its best. Thoughts of “the husband” couldn’t help but amuse me—less in a lonely appeal (at least this day) and more in a, "Wow, someday times like this will be sweet to share with my best friend. I wonder what it'll be like? I wonder what he'll be like? Will he serenade me out of bed, or let us lay for awhile and then request a hearty breakfast and hiking at a nearby mountain?” I mention these two (singing and athleticism) because they highlight a large part of my "negotiable list" lately. Selfishly, I want my husband to be athletic and it'd be really fun if he was a musician, too (what is it about those worship leaders?...).

I eventually let my Spiritual side catch-up to my daydreams. He, of course, wanted to pry a few steps deeper.

"These negotiables are fine, Abbie, and I'm pretty psyched to show you how they flesh out. For a few minutes though, can I challenge your standards?”

I had nowhere to be, so agreed, somewhat reluctantly.

“Hypothetically (/hint, hint), let's say I'm your perfect Lover. Out of curiosity, would I make your cut? Would I survive your negotiables framework? Clearly, I'd score well on your non-negotiables...in fact, I think I'd quite characterize their fullness (Godliness, purity, integrity, faith, desire, love, commitment and respect for you...), but my greater concern is making the cut for those up-in-the-air, “non-negotiables.”

Surmise what you want, but if I’m honest, none of my athletic feats were Olympic caliber—or even close. Between you and me, I was a pretty good fisherman, but as for being supremely “athletic,” the jury's still out. And this worship leader bit...I understand it’s appealing and that folks leading songs (especially to me) are quite striking. But that's an extraction of their ‘actual’ self—a fringe element (musical gifting) of their real garment. Being musical may be cool and really darn attractive, but it’s not required. Again, I can strike a darn good tune in the shower, but stick me affront a crowd and the fat lady sung—a long time ago.

Let me put it this way, and then you can get back to daydreaming, but think about how many of my athletic, or musical talents, were recorded? None. Nada. Zippo. Apparently, nothing about my profile—looks, talents, salary, hobbies—was worth writing down. My Facebook would’ve been pretty darn boring…and shoot, eharmony, I wouldn't stand a chance! Here's the bottom line: Your best list still doesn’t come close to mine. What’s favorable to the world isn’t necessarily so to me. You are stunning in my sight and as long as you choose that as your sole non-negotiable, I promise to deliver the rest. Keep looking at me, before searching for "him" and keep daydreaming about my list, before struggling to create his. I love you, Jesus.”

I rolled out of bed, content and somehow encouraged about the day and days ahead—regardless of whose hand they’d hold.

I found this excerpt quite amazing and "summarizing," if such a word can be coupled with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It pulls from "Searching for Truth," by Joe Boot.

***
"A story is told about a renowned preacher who lost his young wife. In grief, his little daughter came to him and asked a question that completely silenced him. She wanted to know why her mommy had to die if Jesus had already died for her. Her father asked if he could have some time to think of an answer that would help her. On the day of the funeral, they were driving to the cemetery when a large tractor trailer drove beside them casting a massive shadow on the sidewalk. The father looked at his daughter and asked, "Honey, if you had to be run over today, would you rather be run over by that truck or its shadow?" She responded thoughtfully, "The shadow would be better because it wouldn't hurt as much." He paused and answered her gently, "That is what Jesus did for us when he died on the Cross. The truck of God's judgment went over Him. Only the shadow of death goes over us now."

The forgiveness of God is free but is not cheap. It cost Jesus everything, and yet he freely offered his life to purchase our salvation. He took our place on the Cross and bridged the chasm between God and humanity. Faith in him means not only believing the truth of his message, his death, and resurrection, but also putting our whole trust in him--throwing ourselves upon his unshakable sacrifice. Faith means putting all our confidence in Christ himself and recognizing that when we trust him he can bear all our weight--for indeed, he bore the weight of death. Jesus never shrank back from disgrace or humiliation for you and for me. He bore the heavy burden of our sin and death so that we did not have to. As Peter put it, "For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18).

The good news about the Cross of Christ was designed by God to impact us and draw us back to Him. Jesus promised that his death would draw people to himself. The moral power of the Cross is overwhelming when truly understood--that the amazing kindness of God toward undeserving people would lead us to repentance, the love of God would move and humble us, the unspeakable sacrifice of Christ would lead us to obey him, and we would find joy and peace beyond imagination in relationship to God. Because Christ came as our substitute, we can be liberated from the fear of death or judgment and can experience life in every way that God intended (John 10:10).

God's love, generosity, and mercy are the basis of his atonement because mercy has always been the great principle of his government. Blaise Pascal puts it beautifully: "Jesus is a God we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair." When we have humbled ourselves before him, the inner transformation that Christ wants to work in our lives can begin. True spiritual hope is now available.

Jesus points us to our true need, bringing us to see the great gulf between God and ourselves, leading us to an awareness of the problem and the devastating cost of sin. And then he leads us to the Cross and shows us he has done what we cannot. As it is written, "[H]e became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him" (Hebrews 5:9).

The only question that remains is: Will we throw down our arms? After all Christ has done for us through his agony on the cross, will we accept the peace terms? Our substitute wants to be our liberator!"

For those wondering if I’m still stuck between Vegas and Angeles, fear not—I have made it to LA! For the time being, I’m staying with the Rulec’s, an INCREDIBLE family who lives in Arcadia. And call it “pie in the sky’ish,” but I can honestly say the week has unfolded quite seamlessly. Having lived abroad a few times, the fact that everything is in English and everyone has been so gracious, makes the degree of change quite undramatic. So much so, in fact, that I can already see how a God-less life is do-able and certainly the norm here, making continual petitions for recognized heart voidancies a must!

****

Anyway, more updates to come, but for now, I’ll leave you with this quote from the NY Times this morning. It struck me as quite profound, especially in light of Paul’s words to Philppi read just minutes before.

“The body’s a downer, especially for boomers. If the body doesn’t have to be there, it frees us up to do what we want.” Mark Duffey, who offers a funeral concierge service, on the trend toward cremation.

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.” Philippians 1:21-26