Art for Learning, Art for Worship

I would never introduce myself as "artistic," but I think I've learned that it's good for me to try to express creativity in some way. It provides a release and refreshment. When I was processing through a lot of hard stuff just over a year ago, my mentor gave me art assignments. I thought they were weird, but I loved working on them. They were good to process truths, express my feelings, and to worship.

A few days ago, I was reading when I felt an overflow of emotion to create... something... as an act of worship. Because the act of creating expresses those emotions better than anything else. (I don't know how to do anything well, so I usually revert to writing mediocre "liturgies," which would be called songs if I had any musical talent. But it's still my creativity expressed!)

Now I would love to tangent into why I believe the act of creating is so important for us, but that might make this post too long. To make it short, creating is one of the elements of being the image of God. God created. He made and did it with such joy! Over and over again He called it good. In many ways we are God's image, doing what He does. God creates and recreates in the process of salvation constantly. We create mirroring Him and acting as His image bearers. So it makes sense that it gives us so much joy as well. And think of all the art and skill used in worshipping God in the Bible! That's a whole other tangent... OK, back to where I was going.->

Over the years in leading bible studies and being in discipleship relationships, I have also found that when we made art together or as an assignment at home it changed the way we looked at the truth learned. The projects ground the truth deeper into me at least, and perhaps all of us.

I've talked to a few women the last few weeks who have really needed refreshment and wanted to express their worship to the Lord. I've suggested some art, but I didn't have a lot of instruction other than a brief assignment to get started. So how do we do this well? Express creativity for worship or for expressing the Biblical truths that move our hearts? How do we as a community who walks with Jesus share it with each other?

drawings

paintings

poetry

sculptures

writing

photography

creations...

I've seen people paint and draw on stage during a teaching/preaching time. They try to represent the main point in a visual form. I think this could be helpful at times. I still remember the painting from that sermon years ago, but it can also be distracting. What else can we do?

I saw this video today from Desiring God. While I think the conference sounds like it will have some good content, I was entranced at the drawings done to illustrate what Piper was saying. Can we do this to express truths? Is it beneficial? I loved seeing it. What do you think?

(In case it doesn't embed, go here.)

Guatemala Mission Trip

I leave a week from tomorrow. That is scary to verbalize as there is a lot to get done before then!

Many of you don't know, but God has opened the door for me to go as a chaplain with a team of surgeons and nurses for the first week of May. We will be in a hospital in Antigua, Guatemala.

My role will be to lead the team in devotionals each morning and pray with each patient before they enter surgery. I have never been to Guatemala, but I do speak Spanish from my time spent in Spain, Mexico and Venezuela. It will be long days at the hospital, and I'm looking forward to what God will do.

God is the Great Healer. He is all about healing spiritual and physically. I'm praying that we will see Him do that overtly this week.

I hope many of you read this and are willing to be part of praying for me as I'm down there. Please send me a note or leave a comment if you would like to receive the emails. I'd love the prayer support. Because of the sensitivity of my role, I will probably post very little on facebook while I am down there, so the emails would be the best way to receive the news.

Things Learned as a Newlywed

There are many things that I've learned about myself, since I've been married. (It's not even 5 months yet.) Many involve my sin issues, impatience, inflexibility... oh but I'm not going to expand on those. I knew my sin was going to be more visible in marriage. Instead here are a few other tendencies were unexpected in this new part of life.

1. I can worry about very implausible things.

Ok, so maybe this fits into the sin issues part, but I never really worried like this before. My imagination runs wild. If Matt is 20 minutes late, I'm imagining car wrecks, terrorists, a hostage situation, a heart attack or a natural disaster. That last one actually makes sense because of his job in disaster relief... if it is a disaster anywhere in the world. The rest... are pretty unlikely. Wow, I never dreamed up disasters before. In reality, Matt usually is late because he chatted with his boss or stopped to buy me flowers. One would think I would learn.

2. I buy "light" food now.

NEVER thought I would do that. I was the "if you're going to buy fattening food, go all out!" type. I had never really thought about losing weight; then I got married. We have both gained more weight than we ever have. (We don't own a scale, so numbers aren't available.) So "light" and "low fat" have become part of my vocabulary!

3. I really can be so upset or excited that I cannot sleep.

I used to think that whole "I'm so upset I can't sleep" thing was just out of movies and for overly emotional romantics. I'm the type of gal who can sleep anywhere anytime. (And who has slept in many random places) Well, I must have joined that romantics club, because if I'm excited to see Matt or am upset over something Matt and I have argued about, I can't sleep--all night. Bizzare. I didn't think that was real. (Ok, I know newlyweds aren't supposed to have "arguments." Well, that's bunk.)

4. I plan meals. I cook. I freeze vegetables for later use.

I'm that gal who can make about 6 things. Now I'm planning out meals for the week. Never thought that would happen either. Oh, and freezing fresh veggies for stew later on? Who does that? The only time I talked about "frozen" anything it was "Has anyone see my frozen Amy's burrito in the freezer?" or "Is my Ben and Jerry's still frozen?" Now there is frozen celery in my freezer. Who would have thought.

Longing for Things Made Right

Last week I had a bad day. I came home to my husband angry. Angry at this world and what happens in it. Angry that I cannot stop it.

In that day, I spoke with three friends, lovely friends for whom I'm grateful. And I'm so grateful for all the work God has done in their lives recently. Yet, hearing and being reminded of their stories broke my heart once again. Each one has lost a parent in a horribly painful way. The first to genocide. The second to religious persecution. The third to suicide.

The stories of each are deep, painful, yet redeemed and beautiful. They are not stories I can tell on this blog. In the midst of the redemption, my heart still cries out, "When will this be over, God? When will You make things right again?" I hate that these things happened. The pain is horrendous.

Come, Lord Jesus. Make it right again.

Obey your desire

"What do you want your life to look like?" "You can have anything you want!" "Do whatever makes you happy!"

We hear so often from this society that we can have whatever you want. Our lives can be whatever we desire. It's mesmerizing. It almost brainwashes us in the way we make decisions. We're around it so much that it numbs our senses.

But life isn't about picking out what we want. We stand here seeing what God is doing in the world, and we join Him. We see where we fit into His work and His plan with what He's given us. We serve. We sacrifice. We submit. And we love it.

Guard your world-view.

Preaching at myself again.

An Unsolicited Reminder

"Keep Jesus foremost. Love Him supremely."

That was the sign off from an email I got a little while ago from someone I didn't know. I get emails from strangers often. Usually telling me about a new ministry move, asking me for money for their mission, or inviting me to join their organization. This was one of the latter.

What surprised me was how the sign off line really stuck with me all day... and multiple days afterwards. Normally, I ignore sign offs and tend to see them as cheesy and anything but heart felt. But this one was struck me differently. Keep Jesus foremost. Love Him supremely. Yes, that is what my heart is to be devoted to. Yes, that is what life is for.

So, Mr. Stranger: No, I will not join your organization or attend your seminar. But thank you. Thank you for the reminder. And Yes, I will keep Jesus foremost and love Him supremely. I pray you do likewise.

Disaster Relief in Haiti

I’m grateful that my husband works in disaster relief. Even today when he will probably work late into the evening until he falls asleep. Like he did last night. Right now, I want there to be people like him working to get doctors and medical supplies into Haiti and the news of what is happening in Haiti back to people like us. Even if I feel like I cannot do much, I’m glad there are people like him who can.

I’ve learned some things about disaster relief since Matt has been working there. One thing that I didn’t know was how much weight the news industry carried. If there are large disasters, but the local news stations don’t cover them well or tell people where to give, people don’t know. If people don’t know, they don’t give. If they don’t give, then organizations like Medical Teams International, which works year round in countries in need and is strategically trained and positioned to go into disasters like this one, don’t have the funding to do what they do so well.

I might not have a large blog readership, but I encourage you to look into it. You can read about it on CNN and look at more photos here. And you can give here. MTI’s first of several disaster response teams leaves today. Pray that they can get into Haiti.

I’m praying for the people of Haiti and the workers at MTI who are doing what they do well.

Things talked about in our house

What do my husband I talk about at night? Well, last night we spent quite a bit of time talking about water filter efficiency and researching different brands. This was necessary as we need one, but the extended research was a bit of fun. Doulton has some wicked filters.

But what he also showed me was Seth Godin's Blog. I realize that I'm probably way behind the times, but it seems that this guy is the tip top marketing writer now-a-days. My old marketing undergrad roots shot up as Matt began reading it to me and watching videos. So much fun! He's a stellar writer. Well, of course. He markets himself. This one was great about how the large rich customers are the ones you have to watch. It's official. People have abandoned the bookstores, and Amazon and the kindle will win.

Taylor's Day Off (And the Jesus Storybook Bible)

So I'm taking the day off today. Many others I know are taking time off this week too, so I thought, "Perfect timing for me as well!" So here I am. What do I do when I have a free alone day with nothing planned? I read. I dream. I blog. I wander. Ok, well, honestly, those are the things that I want to do. But often free days are taken up with napping, running errands, and getting those little needed things done.

But since my wonderful husband has helped me get a lot of those little needed things done and I did plenty of wandering on Sunday (Powells= one of the best wandering places when it's cold), today is a reading and blogging day. Four years and one month ago I started this blog. It was a pretty lousy post, but it began a report on my new post-college life in Eastern Europe. The blog quickly turned into my reflection spot and eventually my place for theological processing as I went through seminary. Now it's place is still to be determined, but most likely it will be my preaching and processing outlet. That way my dear husband doesn't have to hear all my muddled thoughts, ardent spiritual reform ideas, and preaching topics in every evening.

Well, my reading list is long. The stack is high. (Matt has refused to buy me another book until I work it down.) But, I will prevail. I started "The Jesus Storybook Bible" last night and finished it this morning. I have given it out to friends but still haven't read it. I'm trying to stop that practice...

So that our parents don't get too excited, I want to clarify that I am not reading

a children's bible because we want children anytime soon. (Patience, Claudia.) Rather, a couple of my professors talked about the great biblical theology Sally Lloyd-Jones weaves through her stories, and the unity she produces pointing to Christ. Man, I'm interested in ways of telling the story of the Bible in understandable ways, showing the themes and the connections. I have tried twice to write the story, both times directed at friends who did not know Christ or have much Bible literacy. If we could do this better, if we could understand the whole story, if we could express it well, I think it would move our hearts to love the whole plan of God. It would draw us to our Bibles even more. And it would allow those who don't know Him to see clearly what He has been doing.

Well, a lot of what you see in this book is from Tim Keller's teaching, which isn't surprising as I believe Sally attends his church. I wasn't sure what to expect from the themes she would choose to develop. Most sharply I see her pulling out our need to know that God loves us. That is probably her most consistent theme throughout the whole book, beginning in her story of Adam and Eve, weaving it into how that caused them to not trust God and sin, in the stories of the Old Testament heroes knowing that God loved them, in David's 23rd psalm, in the prophets' messages, in the message that Christ tells the disciples to spread-- God loves them so much to die for them, and finally in the end when God will be with them. The way she does it has a very Kelleresque ring to it. We need to be the people God made us to be by knowing we are loved more than we ever imagined. I appreciate the theme, but admit that it is probably not the way I would have expressed it. I would have perhaps focused on His love that does all of these things, but not as much on the importance and transformation needed in knowing His love.

I loved the way she brought each story to an end pointing to Christ. I couldn't help but smile and sigh as I got to the end of each chapter, often tearing up a bit. Yes, the Better One, the Fulfillment was coming. There were a couple times that I wanted to jump in and add a small hermeneutics lesson saying that you could say that Jesus would some day be the Forgiving Servant and the Message, but that story of Naaman's servant girl and Jonah in the Bible was probably not written with that in mind. They were to teach other things about God... but I agree that when we teach, we do need to end with Christ. And she is writing to children with little space. So she takes them there. Using types perhaps more than I would... but probably classically Tim Keller.

I do love her use of "never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love." I need to hear that. It makes me think of חסד, God's faithful, covenantal love. I love the way she pushes her theme of God's making all things right. As classic Keller, she weaves sin and brokeness and sickness and sadness all together into what God did on the cross and what He was going to fix. At first I was wanting more emphasis on sin and justice and substitution (I know, classic Western Christianity thinking), but she did hit it well in the garden and at the cross.

I was moved to think about the faith steps that so many of the OT heroes took. They trusted God and obeyed over and over. They risked their lives, reputations, and families. She told the stories well, so that I wanted to trust God like them. Yet in each story, it was God who was the hero, as it should be. Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Daniel might have trusted God, but it was God who saved the day. His love and power never ended.

Overall, I'm so grateful for her book. Next children's book: The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos... if I can find one. The literal next book... I have to pick from the stack.

What if Jesus Never Came

Sometime in the beginning of December, someone posed the question, "What if Jesus never came?"

My first reaction was "Poppycock! That wouldn't have happened, since we believe that God planned His plan before the foundation of the world. His glory, fame, love, sovereignty, faithfulness, and compassion would never let that happen. What a silly thing to say."

Then I tried to get over my theological pomposity to actually ponder it. So many results flooded my mind it was a little overwhelming at first. I tried to not dissect it soteriologically, but rather as a human who experiences grace in every minute because of it.

If Jesus never came,

• My prayers would be desperate attempts to prove myself and barter with God
• My relationships would be without security of forgiveness or commitment
• My community would be nothing more than people trying to gain alliances and happiness
• As a woman, my rights could still be minimalized
• My life would be about survival and finding happiness... wherever I could
• The year would not be 2009
• My country would be very different
• The hospital that saved my life would not exist
• I would not know what true love was