Category: Religion

Peel away the tinsel and take a fresh look at Christmas

December 18, 2013
Right this minute there are big issues issues at stake in our Nation.

If you've read this blog for awhile you know I haven't waded in the murky waters of politics. I do so only because vital issues are getting lost in all the blather.

One involves both our faith as Christians and our rights as citizens under The Constitution of the United States. George Washington said, " . . . its only keepers, the people."

That's you and me, my friend. We are the keepers of our Constitution.

Are we paying attention?

One major issue relates to the often-referenced First Amendment

Amendment I was ratified December 15, 1791. Here's what it says:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise therof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

From the beginning word spread all over the world about America's Constitution and the rights it guarantees. That's why America shone like a beacon of freedom to my great-grandparents who wanted to worship God according to their understanding of what the Bible teaches and without government interference. In America they could live by faith without fear.

That's always been true. Until now.

Enter the new health care law, which mandates what employers must cover

Take Tyndale House Publishers and Hobby Lobby as examples. Since a Christian couple founded Tyndale House 50 years ago this firm has only published Bibles and Christian books. Their son, Mark D. Taylor, is the current president. Tyndale's 260 employees currently are covered by their employee health plan. Taylor, a Protestant, has no moral objection to contraceptives per se. However, as a Christian he believes it's against what the Bible teaches to provide Plan B (the morning-after pill), Ella (the week-after pill) and intrauterine devices to covered employees.

Our Government says he must. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has ruled that health insurance plans must provide such contraceptives free of charge. Tyndale House is a for-profit entity. Therefore, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says this Company does not qualify as a "religious organization" and therefore, is not eligible for an exemption.

(Tayor notes that even exemptions granted to nonprofit entities such as the Roman Catholic Church will expire after one year.)

Fines for failure to comply will cost Tyndale as much as $100 per day, per employee. That equals $26,000 per day. $780,000 per month. $9.36 million per year.

Tyndale management's only "crime" is wanting to freely exercise their faith without Government interference. They believe the federal government is telling them they must either violate their own conscience or pay fines that will put them out of business.

It doesn't stop there

Hobby Lobby was founded 40 years ago by a family working out of their garage on a $600 bank loan. The children, now adults, are involved in the business, which now has stores in more than 500 locations in 41 states. They believe it is by God's grace that Hobby Lobby has endured and aim to honor God and to treat their employees well with above-average pay and many benefits. They provide an employee health plan, but consider Plan B, Ella and intrauterine devices to be abortifacients.

Hobby Lobby gives half its pre-tax earnings directly to a portfolio of evangelical ministries. It has given away and distributed over 1.4 billion copies of Gospel literature mostly in Asia and Africa. It sponsors the YouVersion Bible app for mobile phones, which has been downloaded more than 50 million times. Yet this is a secular, for-profit company.

These business owners, too, believe requirements of Obamacare go against the Biblical principles on which their company was founded. Hobby Lobby's non-compliance fines could total $1.3 million per day.

So Hobby Lobby reluctantly sued the Government in Oklahoma City Federal courts. Their lawyer cited their "deeply held religious beliefs" as individuals and business owners who seek an injunction to block enforcement of the new health care law.

In a piece dated October 24, 2012, The Washington Post, reported the U.S. government was urging the federal judge hearing the case to deny the request to block enforcement of the new health care law.

The dilemma for employers is obvious. They either go against their faith and keep employee health plans in place or follow their conscience and go out of business.

They either obey their understanding of what God says or what the Government says.

Look behind the smoke screen and the endless blather on TV

Numerous interviews and articles trumpet the same endless discussions about "women's reproductive rights," "contraceptive freedom," "bigots who want to ban birth control," etc.

This is not the issue.

For the record, I am not against contraception. Opinions vary about the morning-after (up to three days after) pill and the week-after pill, which induce a woman's uterus to slough off an implanted fertilized egg. Those of us who believe life begins at the moment of conception view these meds as abortifacients. Intrauterine devices are devices placed in the uterus by a physician that in various ways interfere with a fertilized egg being implanted on the wall of the uterus.

It seems to me there are three questions:

In cases such as Tyndale House and Hobby Lobby, is our Government "prohibiting the free exercise" of the owners' religion as they understand it?

As individuals of faith, what do we hold to be true?

If provisions of this tax-supported new health care plan violate our personal religious views, will we vote for candidates who back it?

Will we speak well of business owners who abide by faith? Will we support them with our words and give them our business?

Some words to think about

"The LORD gave me this message: 'I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb.'" –Jeremiah 1: 4 (NLT)

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, and I know that full well.   –Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV)

But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.   –Joshua 24:15b (NIV)

My reader friends, let's be sure to thoughtfully, prayerfully exercise our rights as American citizens and VOTE!

Praying along with you,

Lenore
When living by faith becomes a crime, what are we to do?

October 25, 2012
I resisted being drawn into the hoopla around THE wedding. I've never been much of a royal-watcher.

Until today.

Today I gave in and watched the lovely pageantry of the day, the ceremony in magnificent Westminster Abbey, with its soaring ceiling and choirboys with angelic voices.

The Bishop with his heavy robes, the chanting, all of it seemed appropriate on this day. Wedding guests sang hymns and spoke prayers, including the Lord's Prayer.

An estimated two billion people were said to be watching this wedding around the world.

Then it hit me. Two billion people, most of them non-Christians, were hanging on every word as the Bishop proclaimed the Word of God and delivered a Christ-centered sermon, as well.

Many who were glued to their telly live in cultures where wives are looked upon as mere property, second-class, easily disposable. In Westernized countries like ours, more and more people now consider matrimony a needless outdated custom, irrelevent in today's society. Too many consider faithfulness and monogamy rather quaint.

No matter where viewers live, each one heard Prince William and Kate Middleton pledge to be wed as husband and wife and to live together according to God's holy estate of matrimony. Each promised to love and comfort, honour and keep each other, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. Each vowed to forsake all others and to keep themselves only for each other so long as both shall live.

What will these two people make of their marriage? That's up to them. They know their family history and the challenges they face even better than we. But I choose not to be cynical and to wish them God's blessing. I am glad for their choice to be married in a Christian church and to promise before God and the world to be married–and faithful–for life.

I'm thankful that the Church of England bishop preached a faith-centered, meaningful wedding sermons. Most of all, I am thankful that Christ was proclaimed. For once, the world was listening.

Who knows how God will use this?

Lovingly,

Lenore

Three cheers for this royal couple and may their example catch on

April 29, 2011
"My kids have been waiting for this to start ever since last summer!" said the smiling young mother as she wiped perspiration off her forehead. She swayed from side to side, keeping her toddler quiet. "I brought our three oldest, plus two neighbor kids. Where do I sign in?"

She and her kids were part of the impatient throng that crowded into our church for the first night of Vacation Bible School this week. "I love those hot dogs and watermelon!" her preschooler announced. "Are we gonna have 'em tomorrow night, too?"

I shook my head and answered, "I don't know what the kitchen crew is planning for tomorrow night. It's a surprise!"

Once their laughing, jumping group was through I turned to the next. For 20 minutes or so parents and kids kept a dozen of us busy. Most moms and dads delivered their youngsters to their appropriate age groups, then hung around, waiting to see how it went. They needn't have bothered. Their excited kids were having too much fun to miss them. Once the parents were sure of that they walked back past our table to the door. Their faces telegraphed their feelings: Yeah! Two and a half hours of free time!

As of last night we were up to 230 kids attending, ages three through middle school. So far both kids and volunteers wear joyful expressions. Volunteers number at least 75, with the youngest age 13. The oldest is 92, loved by every kid. He's a feisty fellow who cleans up, empties trash cans and never frowns. Young to old, we work side by side, whether it's food prep, leading, crafts, putting away outside equipment or mopping floors.

Are we volunteers having fun? Yes. Would we do it again? Absolutely. Otherwise, why would we come back every year?

Cynics might wonder whether any of the work or the expense is worth it. None of us knows…but God does.

What we know is that children arrive and learn about Jesus. They learn that God loves them and watches over them, so they need not fear. Kids take turns on the playground and wait their turns for snacks. They memorize songs about Jesus and friendship and being kind to others, then sing them while waving goodbye and skipping their way out of the building. Before, during and after this week, those children and their parents have been prayed for.

I know several adults who first heard about Jesus at VBS, maybe only once or twice in their childhood. Yet they heard the Good News and seeds were planted.

So we rejoice. These parents know our VBS costs them nothing except gas money. Members of our church give this as a gift of love. We think all of it is more than worth it, if only for the fellowship we have and the joy it brings us.

Believe me, we're not naive. We know for some parents all it means is a freebie, with child care as a bonus. That's okay. When a parent says, "This is our fourth/fifth/sixth year at your VBS. Our kids love it!" we all beam from ear to ear.

They're here. We plant the seeds. The rest is up to God and his Spirit.

Blessings,

Lenore

Question for you:What are your VBS memories? Why not share them with the rest of us?

Fun in the summertime–with VBS

July 15, 2009
    Today is Christmas Eve, and just the words trigger so many memories for me. You see, my father was a pastor, so naturally our family life centered around our church. My earliest Christmas memories center around the small country church across the road and down just a bit from the parsonage in which we lived. We knew every family living within miles, and they knew us.

     Most Sundays my mom played the organ, since, as everyone said, she could "make that  old organ talk!" Often my dad would not only preach a sermon, but also sing a solo, since he possessed a glorious tenor voice. For Christmas he'd sing, "The Birthday of a King," or "Oh, Holy Night," always to a hushed congregation. None of this seemed remarkable to me. These were my parents, doing what they did.

    Christmas Eve centered around the children's program. We would practice for weeks, memorizing our "pieces," and the words to the Christmas songs we sang as a group. Anxiety would grip our little group–and our parents. Would we remember to go forward when it was our turn? Would we freeze when we looked out on that huge congregation of perhaps seventy-five people? Older kids got to recite the Old Testament prophecies, the ones with the big words. We sang "Away in a Manger," "Silent Night" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and of course, "Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful," and so many more.

   Did we have a white Christmas? Well, of course. It was Minnesota, after all. In that simpler time, shepherds of small flocks often also got to be shovelers of snow on church steps and walks. I'd tag along, stepping on the just-cleared spaces. I remember walking from our home to the church across that country road, our footsteps crunching and squeaking in the snow.

    With frost etching the windows, Bethlehem seemed very far away. To think of shepherds out on green hills, watching over their flocks of sheep seemed impossible to me, since to me, Christmas and snow went hand-in-hand.

    Yet we spoke and we sang of times and places far away … and somehow, we knew the truth of the familiar words of Luke 2:1-20. I could picture the scene. That lowly stable, filled with smelly cows and sheep and donkeys, and in the midst of it all, Mary and Joseph with the newborn baby Jesus, wrapped in cloths and lying in the manger full of hay.

     Every year since I can remember, I've treasured the thought of the glory of the Lord shining around those shepherds and an angel appearing to them, announcing:

      Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign unto you; You will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

    Suddenly the sky was filled with angels, all praising the Lord. Only the lowly shepherds heard their glorious music, not the rulers, not the "important" people of the town.

    That still speaks to me. No matter who we are, or how many times we've messed up, or what's going on in our lives, the same Good News of Christmas applies. The Savior is born–to us! His love waits for us. He waits for us … and all he wants is for us to open our hearts to Him.

    It's Christmas Eve. Time for new beginnings. Time for you and me to come to that tiny Child in the manger and kneel in wonder, as the shepherds did. That's all it takes, and the same peace and joy they felt can be ours, not just for a season but for always.

    Christmas Eve memories live on. So does the timeless Christmas story.

   I wish you a Merry, Merry Christmas, and may your spirit be bright!

    Lenore

    Your comments welcomed!



Remembering Christmas Eves past …

December 24, 2008
    I'm keeping a count of how many times I'm asked, "Well, are you ready for Christmas?"

    Evidently every checker in the United States is trained to ask this question. I still smile whenever I remember the time I answered, "No, I'm not. I really don't know how it can be time for Christmas already!

    My answer attracted the attention of a little woman in the aisle next to me. She looked to be about eight-five or so years of spunk. This rosy-cheeked lady fixed her sparkling blue eyes on me and took on the air of an old-timey school-marm. She left me no wiggle room at all. "But my dear!" she said, "All year long you've known it was coming!"

   Who could argue with that logic? Guess I'm a slow learner, for here I am, once again playing catch-up. Let's just say life intervened with my well-laid plans.

    Getting ready for Christmas could leave a person feeling depleted. Too much to do, too many places to go, trees to trim, cards to write, packages to mail. So it could seem natural to feel depleted … if not for the fullness of Christmas.

    I feel that fullness every time we open a Christmas card and touch hearts with ones we love! Reading their notes and letters, we laugh, and at times we cry with them. Memories spring up out of nowhere, ready to be relived and flood the heart with joy all over again. Every year I scramble to write notes on the (copied) letters we send, and each one we receive feels like a gift from the heart.

    And have you noticed? People smile more in December. Perhaps that's because we focus on what we can give and what we can do for other people, rather than on what others could–or should, we think–do for us. We smile as we gather toys for toy drives and food for community food pantries and bake cookies for (it seems) the whole world.

    That fits, because Christmas is the season for giving.Think about the name: "Christ-mas."

    This is the time to remember again the wonder of it all, the birth of the Christ child, Jesus. GOD come to earth in human form. The Gift beyond description.It seems inconsequential to dither over whether December 25th actually marks the date of his birth, because it falls at just the right time. In this season of dark mornings that hang on too long and cold, dark evenings that come too soon, we especially need the Light!

    So if you, too, still have cards to write and packages to wrap and mail, let's breathe deep right now and rejoice. It's Christ-mas! True, bad news dominates the news and we still don't have peace on earth. Yet we can experience peace in our hearts, even in the midst of our rushing and scurrying.

    That peace will carry us through Christmas Day, through all our days … and beyond.

    Happy rushing around! Here's wishing you peace, deep-down and lasting, and joy that makes your heart sing!

    Lenore

    What's your favorite part of Christmas? Your comments welcomed!



What do you do with that question everyone asks at Christmas?

December 18, 2008
    Most of us do. We read the news–or we look around–and fear for our daughters and sons. We know how making wrong choices could change their lives. But it's easy to suppose we're too uninformed, so maybe it's best to "leave it to the experts."

    "Besides," one parent says to another, "today's teenagers are so much smarter than we were! I mean, they have all those sex education classes in school … And they're all so much more open than we were. They talk about everything–with all their friends. What can I possibly tell them that they don't already know? "

    True, schools offer (or require) that students attend age-appropriate sex education classes, starting before the teen years. In a typical class students will be instructed in how the body works, along with accurate terminology. They'll learn how a male and female have sex–in a variety of possible ways, sometimes along with analogies to "other animals" who mate. Straight and gay will be presented as equally normal and equally desirable.

    Youngsters will hear statistics on teen pregnancy, how it can be riskier and have a negative impact on both teen parents for life. They'll be instructed in the various means of abortion available. Using "protection" of one kind or another will be emphasized, plus risks and benefits of each. Symptoms and prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV/Aids will be presented, along with the need to always wear a condom. Self-gratification will be covered. The overall tone will be that whatever they're feeling is normal and natural, whether straight or gay, and that acting on urges is okay as long as you're "responsible" and "use protection."

    You may be thinking, That just about covers it! But did you notice what's missing?

    Most teachers are dedicated and caring, but here's the thing often overlooked. Unless your daughter or son attends a Christian school, the instructor almost certainly is required to offer facts, but just as certainly is not allowed to impose any moral teaching along with it. (Perhaps something like, "use things, not people" may be said, but don't count on more.)

    That's up to each mom and dad. Although that may seem senseless, probably it's for the best. As the parent, it's your privilege to help your kids understand what to do with who they are and what they know. You can offer insights and talk with them about how this fits into the framework of your own family's faith and standards–or does not. Who better than you, fellow struggler, to teach your children about how to live?

    Obviously, "sex education" alone is not enough. Take a look around next time you're in your local shopping center. If it's like the ones I shop in, you'll see a lot of very young moms, often in pairs, pushing baby strollers. Some look happy, some don't. Once in awhile they're accompanied by a young male. Don't misunderstand, I am thankful these babies were allowed to be born! Yet these young women seem to me to provide walking evidence that "being informed" isn't enough to keep teenagersfrom short-circuiting their course through life.

    So what's a parent to do? Talk with your children, even though you feel awkward and fear they may laugh or groan. Talk, talk, talk. Seize the moment when your're watching a TV show and something makes you cringe. When you're chauffeuring your kids around. When you're cooking or cleaning up together. Pay attention to what's in their world (music lyrics, MTV, Internet sites, etc.) First, you need to be aware what your kids are exposed to. Second, you can't communicate with them if you lack a smidgen of insight into what's rattling around in their heads. Even good kids get sucked into media that would appall their parents. Those who market this stuff know how to make it appealing to young people.

    When should one start? Now! Once you have your antennae up, you'll find opportunities more often than you think. For example, suppose you spot one of those single teenage moms we mentioned before. Avoid criticism of individuals, but do ask how your child thinks this will impact the young mother and father. Talk casually about how glad you are that your children will want to be through with school and married before they start having babies. Let your daughter or son think it through and tell you how this would help an individual be more ready to be a parent. Would it be better for the child? If so, why? (Don't forget to search out examples of young people you admire, too.)

   Little everyday conversations, one upon the other, help your youngster gradually form a solid personal foundation. Your goal is that this beloved child comes to share your older-and-wiser view beforehand. That provides a basis upon which an adolescent can think through these urgent, complicated issues. Otherwise, hormones take charge.

    Can you impose this view? Nope. Are there guarantees? Never. Will you pray? Always!

    Yet all the research and polling of teenagers point to one truth: More than any teacher, more than the best pastor or youth pastor, the parent influences the child. Kids learn when parents talk with them. But they probably learn more from watching and listening as their moms and dads talk with and interact with their friends and neighbors. Young people assume that's when their parents reveal what they really believe vs. their "parent speak." (How's that for a shocker?)

    I literally wrote the book–at least, one book–on talking to one's children about sex. It's part of the Learning about Sex series published by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis.

    Because I'm a mom who learned a lot along the way, this book features language any parent can understand. Rest assured, everything in it is based on solid medical information and Christian principles, and was checked by professionals in relevant fields. The emphasis throughout is on what Scripture teaches, that we are indeed, "fearfully and wonderfully made," and that our sexuality is God's gift, too precious to be squandered casually.

    You'll find many books available now, a number of them Christian-based. I know these Series books best, of course. They're quality books, used in many Christian schools and praised by professionals. This Fifth Edition of the Series, newly illustrated and formatted, came out in July, 2008. As with each new edition before it, I revised and updated the text in my book. I always recheck the medical information and statistics, too, to ensure that everything is current, both in the text and in the extensive Glossary. I'm thankful this book fills a need and proud of the work I've done on it. Believe me when I say that I prayed more earnestly while working on this book than on anything else I've ever written. (To order, go to www.cph.org )

    You see, like every other set of dads and moms since Adam and Eve, my husband and I did our best with what we knew at the moment. That's all any of us can do. In most places parents were expected to educate their own children about sex. We tried … and did not excel. We stumbled and stammered, too, feeling inept. We gave our children some of the available books–and we did a lot of learning ourselves.

    Believe it or not, bookstores didn't feature yard-upon-yard of parenting books, especially related to sexuality. At the time we thought ourselves more enlightened and open than our parents–and we were. That's no excuse, just a statement of fact. You may look back and think your parents didn't prepare you for adolescence. Give them a break; like you, they were only human. (Trust me, someday you'll want your oh-so-with-it children to cut you some slack, as well.)

    Here's the bottom line. Bathe your parenting with prayer. When it comes to talking about sex with your children, pray God will give you the words. Then breathe deep and jump in. Trust God to "translate" your halting speech into truth in your child's heart. Soon you'll find yourself feeling more comfortable talking to your kids about sexuality. That's a good thing, because either you help your children form a life view of sexuality and what's right and wrong, or someone else will. Always, it's your choice.

    Remember, you're not in this alone, because God loves your child even more than you. He loves it that you care–and so do I!

    Lenore

    Your comments welcomed!









Feeling tongue-tied when you speak to your kids about sexuality?

December 9, 2008
    Today is the anniversary of 9/11, that unbelievable day in our Nation's history. On this day television newscasts and talk shows replay the images and sounds of our national anguish. We're drawn to them, as we were on September 11, 2001, and through the sorrowful days that followed.

    What good does it do to remember? After all, no one has the power to rewrite one second of that day. But I for one, can't help feeling as if had dodged a bullet.

    That's a bit over-dramatic, of course. But only a few weeks earlier a friend and I sat on the top floor of one of those Twin Towers, in the glass-walled Observation Tower. It was my first time in Manhattan. Our choral group (Bravo! Vancouver) had traveled from Washington state across the country to give a couple of concerts. New York City was our second stop.

    The first was Washington, D.C., where we sang for a large conference. Toward sunset we sat on the Capitol steps, in the balmy breezes of early evening, poised to watch the Fourth of July fireworks. No barriers. No fenced-off areas. If there were armed guards they were so unobtrusive we never noticed. There we were, thousands of us, prowling the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building. Adults of all ages and economic levels, infants and children, and teens. Our complexions came in every hue, with accents to match. We mingled peaceably, smiling. By the time the serious fireworks were underway the predicted rains had begun. In minutes we were drenched, but we stayed, laughing, loving every minute of what we had viewed so often on TV.

    Next day we were off to New York, where we were to give another performance. My friend had been to New York many times because her son worked in New York. Nevertheless, during our free time she insisted we go to the Twin Towers, because "everyone needs to go up on top and just look out at least once."

   There we sat, knees pressed against the glass walls of the Observation floor at the very top of one of the Towers. A couple of smiling security guards quietly observed us. I walked around the roomy space, looking out in awe at the beauty of land and sea and sky. That impressed me far more than all the gleaming skyscrapers that crowded New York City's skyline. I flew home brimming over with thanks that I had the opportunity to be part of that trip.

    Who could have guessed we were nearing the end of life as we knew it? For days, weeks, months after 9/11, we Americans were watchful, fearful, as if waiting for "next time" to drop. Yet today is the seventh anniversary and nothing has. Think about that.

    How have we come safely through these past seven years? We may credit the Administration, or the learn-as-you-go Department of Homeland Security and all that came with it. We may reel off a long list of agencies and personnel and give credit where it's due. Yet every expert in every field tells us the best efforts by the best people remain insufficient. No agency, no amount of armed guards, can guarantee the safety of this Nation … nor of us as individuals.

    Experts remain confounded. For me, there's only one explanation. It is "'Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit,"says the LORD of hosts."    (Zechariah 4:6)

    We could not be in better hands. Let's breathe a sigh of thanks.

    Here's to remembering what it means that we're Americans!

    Lenore

    Your comments welcomed!

Living in the aftermath of 9/11

September 11, 2008
    These past weeks I've been brain-weary, trying to put together this blog.It's been one trial-and-error after another, which seems to be my style. Of course, I made it more complicated by choosing to personalize the look of it rather than just use one of the excellent pre-designed banner templates. One of my husband's photos would be just the thing, I thought, which turned out (for this rookie) to take awhile. But finally, finally, here we are.

      The photo you see across the top gives you a sense of what we see from our back deck. We delight in watching this ever-changing panorama of sky, as well as looking over a bit of open space. My favorite trees, the huge, gnarled old oaks that drag the ground, stand sentinal, as they have for a century or more. Picture a walking trail winding through this. Occasionally small flocks of wild turkeys gobble their way across, sometimes invading backyards and strutting down the sidewalks of our little community. In the cool of the morning and at dusk our resident trio of deer may stroll the open space, enjoying nibbles of the now-dry grass. Morning to night we hear birdsong, everything from Mockingbirds to Mourning Doves.

      As we look beyond our "wildlife preserve" we see hundreds of roofs and treetops. The busy street running through guarantees background traffic noise, but we ignore that and look to the grassy hills beyond, where more ancient oaks punctuate the terrain. Off in the distance–on a clear day–we glimpse the Sutter Buttes, known as the world's smallest mountain range. If you've been to northern California, you know the look of our area.

     Each day ends with a sunset. Some sunsets, like the one you see at the top of this page, make us gasp with awe. We stand transfixed and silently watch the incredible kaleidescope shimmering before us, often forgetting to grab the camera. Always, one verse comes to mind, the only one that fits: <blockquote

"Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)

    Do we know we're blessed to live here, and are we thankful? Yes. But do we always stop to drink it in? Sadly, no.

    I think that's how most of us are with life, too. We're often as blind to the wonder of our lives as to the magnificence of another sunset … or another dawn.

   Each sunrise officially signals the new day. Maybe yesterday we messed up royally, but today the slate is clean and we get a fresh, new beginning. Once more we can choose how we'll live the unsullied twenty-four hours before us.

    Some days our hearts brim with joy, while others leave us weeping. Most days we label, "just routine." Truth is, no day is routine. Like every sunrise and every sunset, each day is one-of-a-kind, with no instant replays to be had.

    That's true with the people in our lives, too. We so easily take them for granted, especially the ones we know we can count on. We forget to say, "thank you," and sometimes we forget that love takes care and feeding, like a delicate plant that can wither and die.

    As for mothering–or any kind of working with kids, well, you know how it goes. We get caught up in all the "doing" and forget to just pause and marvel at the mystery unfolding before us. Each child is a unique creation, an individual, like no other human being on earth. Yet somehow God trusts us with this child's care and shaping and guiding, day after challenging–and rewarding–day. We're allowed to be on the scene for the miracle.

   Whatever age we are, it's worth remembering that tomorrow may never arrive. That sets the true value on today: precious. Irreplaceable. A time to savor and cherish. Something to live, not just get through.

    For me, at least, mastering this skill looks to be the work of a lifetime. But I am learning, and I'm praying for eyes to see the beauty of each day and each person in my life. I don't want to miss any part of it.

    So here's to 20/20 vision of the heart!

    Lenore Buth

Looking out on the world

August 13, 2008