a few housekeeping items ...

Bonjour, Readers!

1.  I'm looking for new questions for my Saturday column "a little bird told me." So here's my shpeal:

 Do you have a question, Dear Heart? Don't be shy! Don't hesitate to ask - about life, the Bible, faith, God ... anything really. (Okay that last one was scary - but since I'm trusting Him to help me, I'll leave it.) Just post your question in the comments below, or email them to me at robynleelangdon@gmail.com . I'll keep you anonymous, and you can sign your letter however you like (i.e. Curious-About-Jesus or Needing-Some-Guidance-in-Revelation).  Just put "a little bird told me" in the subject line. Won't you be brave enough to ask, too? I'll bet you're not the only one wondering! 

2. I'll be posting more about this on Tuesday, but this entire week, we have an opportunity to take our resources and use them to fight injustice. I got this from the Exodus Road this week:

We have a story and a project for you today. Our team in SE Asia recently met with the local police responsible for cases of trafficking in a particular city where sexual slavery is rampant. These are trusted officials who are overwhelmed with the flourishing sex trade in their area. So overwhelmed, in fact, that they handed our investigative team over 40 live cases of pedophilia and the underage sex industry and asked for their help.

Check out the sidebar for information about how to give via your smartphone or via the link. It's easy-peasy, and they're doing all the hard parts. So why wouldn't we help?

3. I would delight to hear what you're learning from God and His Word. I always get to share lots of that here with you, but I want you to tell me what you've learned recently too.  Please leave me a comment - today or any time. I love to hear from my readers!

That's all for today, since I'm here in NC enjoying my sweet niece, relatives, and my wonderful Guy of 13 years on Monday. I'm so thankful for him, and all these gifts!

In His Hand [always],

Robyn

 

Freewrite Fridays {Failure}

I'm feeling a bit blue today. It's been off and on all week. Just a general sense of sadness or weight that I can't seem to shake. Some days are like that. Not just for me. I know the devil might like to say I'm the only one, to shame me, but I know I'm not.

Photo Credit: Songbirdgarden.com

I'm going to be writing about it in a bit, but I thought that a couple of you (or several maybe) might be able to relate and write with me.

“Writing is not just jotting down ideas. Often we say: ‘I don’t know what to write. I have no thoughts worth writing down.’ But much good writing emerges from the process of writing itself. As we simply sit down in front of a sheet of paper and start to express in words what is on our minds or in our hearts, new ideas emerge, ideas that can surprise us and lead us to inner places we hardly knew were there." -Henri Nouwen   [emphasis mine]

Freewrite for 15 minutes or more about - The shame of failure.

If you like, share it here as a comment or a link to your blog in the comments section below.

"Where could I go in my shame?" - 2 Samuel 13:13


I'm praying today. Turning to Him. Just because I'm not giving you the answer, doesn't mean He doesn't have one. Keep writing, Keep seeking, Keep bending, Dear Ones.

just a bit of stillness

Praying quietly here in the nest for victims of the tornadoes' wakes, as well as for victims of trafficking and injustice all around this twisting globe. I hope you'll be praying with me too.

Longing for Home in the stillness of His Hand,

R

Gratitude Lessons from Oswald, Jimmy, and Edward

Looking at just me, there's not much to see.
If I'm on the stage - trouble. Complaining. Discontent.
But when He shines through, no spotlight will contain this glory.
I see Jesus, and all His gifts.
And I'm thankful.

No sin is worse than the sin of self-pity, because it removes God from the throne of our lives, replacing Him with our own self-interests. It causes us to open our mouths only to complain, and we simply become spiritual sponges - always absorbing, never giving, and never being satisfied. -Oswald Chambers

May my selfish mouth close long enough to ponder His love before I reopen it in thanks instead.



If He's the only One on my stage, my focus will be directed rightly. My hands will open in applause instead of clutching for control or attention.

Edward Mckendree (E.M.) Bounds reflects on a person lacking in dedicated prayer:

He has not in himself the mighty life-creating forces. There may be no discount on his orthodoxy, honesty, cleanness, or earnestness; but somehow the man, the inner man, in its secret places has never broken down and surrendered to God, his inner life is not a great highway for the transmission of God's message, God's power. Somehow self and not God rules in the holy of holiest. [emphasis mine]

If self rules ... He's no longer my God - I am.  And let me tell you firsthand - I make a horrible savior. I'm no good at being sovereign. I fail every time I'm in a position to be the one to change hearts. Oh no. Only One can do those things. Give those gifts.

And it will never be me. But I'm so incontestably, overwhelmingly, undetractingly thankful to know my One True God who reigns and gives and forgives every day.  Here are a few of the grace-gifts He's given me lately. Thank you, Dear One, for the privilege of sharing them with you on Thursdays.  

- fun laughing and relaxing with a friend and catching up on each other's lives together over a soda

- sunshine to open the blooms and draw out the sprouts of seeds

- my mom, and the way she encourages me and believes in me

- the shocking privilege and joy of being mom to my two sweet nestlings

- Mother's Day lunch at a Mexican restaurant, a delicious burrito, and the privilege of giving to another mom

- silly laughter with our friends and our kids

- for the strength and love you put in my heart so I can love like You love

- a red cardinal perched out on the window

- my Life Group, and vulnerable tears with other women

- three laps around the block - time, energy, and motivation to exercise

- a long, groggy, sweet hug from J, and that he finds me first thing in the morning, seeking my arms and nearness to my heart

- the feeling of satisfaction I get when I can be helpful to teachers while I'm working

- for waking up to You and Your grace again

- the privilege of sharing Your Word with my Guy

- throwing the baseball in the yard with all four of us as the sun goes down

Lord, You should be the only One on my stage, the only God I worship, the only Being of my focus. Would You help me to take myself and my self-pity off of that glory-podium? I know I matter to You, and I don't have to make You prove that any more.  I'm so thankful for all these gifts of grace, and so many more I haven't even had the time to write yet. You alone are worthy. You alone are good. You alone deserve my life as a willing bond-slave to Your purposes. May I live to serve You and not myself. In this moment, and every one hereafter.

Simple Obedience

What if we just did what we already know?

Most of my obedience issues, my surrender problems, my control grasping - they come from a lack of follow-through as opposed to a lack of knowledge. Too much analyzing, too many questions, too little of (if I may borrow from Nike) just do it.

Don't get me wrong - I need a constant inflow of knowledge, analysis, and even my questions aren't wrong. But if I'm honest, most of the time I already know what to do, and I often need to stop asking why and what it means and what will happen ... and just Simply obey.

Your testimonies are very sure; holiness [apparent in separation from sin, with simple trust and hearty obedience] is becoming to Your house, O Lord, forever. -Psalm 93:5 (Amp)

photo credit: Sijanto Sijanto 

I love that. Robyn's version of it might say, "You tell the truth, Jesus. So I can trust and obey you, which will beautify Your dwelling indefinitely, and make You feel at home here in me, Your Temple."

Yeah. Today I just want to simply do what I already know, and do it well, knowing I'll put a smile on His face.

Even better - I don't even have to do it alone - He'll give me the unction and know-how too. Look - 

"By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life." - 2 Peter 1:3a

Not just some of what I need. Not even most of what I need. EVERYTHING I NEED TO SIMPLY OBEY, THROUGH HIS POWER ALONE.

Oh yes - I can do this, even when the devil says I can't. He never tells anything but lies and I'm sick of falling for them anyway.

Guess what, Dear One - you can simply obey too!

Here's a challenge for this week:

1. look up your favorite translation of these two verses - Psalm 93:5 and 2 Peter 1:3, and write them out where you'll see them often.
2. pray about what you already know you should be doing and then ask God to give you the power to just do it.
3. leave me a comment below so that I can pray for you and (gently) hold you accountable. 
4. make an effort to share with someone you know and trust what your simple obedience is going to be, and then make a note to proclaim God's goodness in you when His power through you allows you to succeed. (Because I trust in Him that you will)

Lord - thank You for the gift of knowing how to glorify and please You with a godly life, and thank You also for the power to follow through and do it. It's like you've made it easy on us, though to our flesh and to the world obedience seems complicated. You are so worthy of our obedience, and we long to bring a smile to Your face.

does she really matter? {and a bit about my daughter}

My husband said this at the dinner table last night to my daughter - "You're special because you care about the outsider and the underdog." 

Every night at dinner we take turns saying what's special about one another. It's a tradition we started when the kids were in kindergarten (ish). A good one too. Because everyone should be affirmed in who God made them. Who we are IN Him. Because our identity as defined by our Maker is more true than what anyone else would define. So we look for the God in each other, how He's shining His life in each of us uniquely, and we declare that encouragement aloud when we come together. 

I'm not boasting here, though it may sound like it. Some nights it feels like just another "thing" to do. I don't have the perfect family, far from it. After this lovely moment at the table my Guy and I were so passionate in our "discussion" that I subsequently could feel the blood pulsing in my head and neck. It's not a moment I would repeat. Believe me - we make mistakes and we bleed red blood and we have our fair share of apologies in the Langdon home. But there are some things we do well. Encouragement is one of them. When he said that to her - I knew with every cell of me that it is so very true. It's Him shining through her. 

We always carry around in our bodies the reality of the brutal death and suffering of Jesus. As a result, His resurrection life rises and reveals its wondrous power in our bodies as well. -2 Corinthians 4:10 (VOICE) [emphasis added]

And here you are thinking, "It's Tuesday, Robyn - what does this have to do with justice or human trafficking anyway?"

I'm getting there, Precious Reader.

My daughter's only eleven years old, and she holds this special gift of love for the unloved. You can see it in the way she befriends the awkward girls in her class, and makes them feel special. At a school performance one of the gals hid behind my daughter while she gently encouraged her to keep singing and stand up. I was so proud of my girl, even in the middle of that strained display.  

One characteristic that distinguishes followers of Christ is should be the Father's unconditional value on all human life. I'm so thankful my daughter has this trait. But when he said that it makes her special and I resonated that it is indeed rare, I also simultaneously thought, But shouldn't that be as common as Christianity? After all, didn't Christ say,

“When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” -Luke 14:12-14 (NLT)

And then I ask myself the same thing. Do I value every life on earth as just as precious as my own, or as my daughter's? Jesus help me.

In human trafficking, as in every justice issues, I believe this is the bottom line. Are human souls precious to God, each one? If yes, are they precious to us also? Even the un-attractive, dirty, messy, dysfunctional, addicted, abused, poor? Is any soul less worthy of the grace I have received?

I'm reading Girls Like Us by Rachel Lloyd.  I hope to have a review for you soon. It's a gripping story of a woman "Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale, an Activist Finds her Calling and Heals Herself" [subtitle]. In it I found this halting passage:

While there are clear systemic and social issues that leave children vulnerable, the recognition of this reality presents a constant challenge in advocating for exploited girls. In describing in the poverty and the abuse that girls experience prior to their commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking, the response too often is that these girls inevitably aren't really going to have great lives anyway. I remember arguing fiercely one day with a lawyer who was representing a thirteen-year-old who'd been charged with a serious crime that her thirty-five-year-old "boyfriend" had committed. I wanted him to fight for her to be charged as a juvenile so that her record would eventually be sealed. Snorting with laughter, he said, "It's not as if she's going to be a brain surgeon, so does it really matter?" It appears that if you're already considered damaged goods, or doomed to a life of poverty, then being further victimized is not quite as bad.

Damaged goods. Doomed. Further victimized. Not quite as bad.

Can you hear the slither and the forked tongue? In case you didn't know - that is the devil's voice, in direct contradiction and contempt of God's heart.  Because His heart loves each one the same. And if we believed it, felt it, cried it, bled it, lived it ... what could it change?

One link for today - please do what God places on your heart for the "one who could not repay you." God's reward awaits, and it is better than any attention or fame or riches this world offers.

As we close for today - open your prayer closet with me, would you, Dear Heart?

Lord, please show us Your heart. Open our eyes to the way you see each person, each child, each underdog. None are less precious to You than I. None less precious than my dear sweet girl who sits next to me at my table, who slips her arm around me in the hallway with her friends, whose eyes hold Your glory.  Show me God, how to love them too. Show me what it looks like to invite those people to my table too. What would I want with repayment from another person when my reward will always be in You?  Show us all what justice looks like, Father. What it means to love those You love.

Book Review Monday {The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis}

What is love? How do people define it, and How does God reveal it?

C.S. Lewis tackles these big questions in this philosophical nonfiction. I highly recommend it, but you'll have to set aside a chunk of time - it's no afternoon-on-the-beach read. Best digested in small portions, this classic work from the great theologian and diversified word-smith will challenge your long-held notions about friendship, romance, and God from the first page to the last. You may find his style of writing in The Four Loves, as well as all of his theological works, formal and scholarly, but his familiar addressing of the reader breaks that down a bit, as if you were having coffee with the professor while turning the pages.

photo credit: Orange Donkey

In his introduction, Lewis argues for the distinction between Gift-Love and Need-Love, with both as necessary and playing different roles in different relationships - which is where the four loves, Affection, Friendship, Romance (or Eros), and Charity come in.  Gift-Love, he claims, is similar to when a parent is loving a child by meeting his needs, or a husband works to provide for his family. Compared to when God loves us - He give to us, and when we love Him, it is very often the Need that draws us to His grace, peace, provision, and hope. And we are not to be shamed for filling any of these giving or needing types of loves. Both are necessary, and one is not greater than the other in us, as demonstrated in this quote:

It would be a bold and silly creature that came before its Creator with the boast "I'm no beggar. I love you disinterestedly." Those who come nearest to a Gift-love for God will next moment, even at the very same moment, be beating their breasts with the publican and laying their indigence before the only real Giver. And God will have it so. He addresses our Need-love: "Come unto me all ye that travail and are heavy-laden," or, in the Old Testament, "Open your mouth wide and I will fill it."

Another distinguishing paradox Lewis noted is that while God is Love, we must not be deceived into making Love our god, in which case, it would then become a demonic idol. He quoted M. Denis de Rourgemont more succinctly as saying, "love ceases to be a demon only when he ceases to be a god."

The first category of love addressed is Affection, or the most common, basic, humble satisfaction that comes from being together with another. It can be mixed among the other loves, but doesn't need to be. I like his explanation and can relate to this:

But Affection has its own criteria. Its objects have to be familiar. We can sometimes point to the very day and hour when we fell in love or began a new friendship. I doubt if we ever catch Affection beginning. To become aware of it is to become aware that it has already been going on for some time.

The second love, Friendship, Lewis claims, is the rarest form because it is least necessary for survival. And, also, perhaps because it is the form that comes with several dangers, namely inadvertent elitism (or the appearance thereof to outsiders), and misunderstandings of homosexuality (since our present post-modern society does not condone forms of previously accepted, same-gender affection such as kissing or embracing, as they had in the ancient world). But Friendship, he argues, is the least jealous of the four Loves (as long as all who are involved are kindred souls), and also the least biological (though not altogether un-biologically useful). To me the most striking element of Friendship Lewis points out would be:

In a circle of Friends, each man is simply what he is: stands for nothing but himself ... It is an affair of disentangled, or stripped minds. Eros will have naked bodies; Friendship naked personalities.

And also:

 It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.

As much as I adored and agreed with those points there, I abhorred and disagreed with his claim that men and women (particularly among groups) cannot be Friends. In an uncharacteristically sexist rant, Lewis claims that women only converse in "endless prattling 'Jolly' [which] replaces the intercourse of minds," and quotes one women, therefore stereotyping all women as having her equally manipulative agenda, as saying, "Never let two men sit together or they'll get talking about some subject and then there'll be no fun."

Do you ever have those moments when you wish you could go back in time and apply duct tape to someone's (or your own) mouth so she wouldn't just go ahead and ruin it all for everyone? Yea - that's me with this gal. Ugh. That Lewis draws his conclusions about women and mixed friendships from her infuriates me, so it's a good thing I like pretty much all of the rest of the book and his other writings, preventing me from dismissing him altogether on this one.

Lewis redeemed himself (or shall I say, Christ redeems him) in the Eros chapter, and especially this distinction between it and mere sexual desire, which he calls Venus:

Sexual desire [Venus], without Eros wants it, the thing in itself; Eros wants the Beloved.

He also offers this particular distinction of Venus, which points to our current societal problem of human trafficking and prostitution from the perspective of demand:

...we say, of a lustful man prowling the streets, that he 'wants a woman'. Strictly speaking, a woman is just what he does not want. He wants a pleasure for which a woman happens to be the necessary piece of apparatus. [emphasis mine]

The author makes a convincing argument that just as Eros is not all about sex, so it is neither all about happiness:

For it is the very mark of Eros that when he is in us we had rather share unhappiness with the Beloved than be happy on other terms.

Finally, Lewis addresses Charity as the final, and crucial element of all Love.  This love from God, through God, by God and in God alone is truly what makes the other loves viable in the human heart. We must permit God to love us first, and also put Him first among our Beloveds, lest [oh gosh - I really have been reading quite a few classics lately] we make Love our god rather than Jesus Christ Himself.   Nonetheless, the risk of loving another and getting hurt is still worth the Charity in us God intends. We were made to love God and other people, regardless of the peril we face in doing so.

The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell. ... If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as the way in which they should break, so be it.

This post has been full of quotes, so I'll offer only one more about Charity - as initiated by God through the Cross, and as demonstrated as our model of loving Him back, as well as extending love to others who may or may not be deemed "worthy" of any of our love:

God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them. He creates the universe, already foreseeing...the buzzing cloud of flies about the cross, the flayed back pressed against  the uneven stake, the nails driven through the mesial nerves, the repeated incipient suffocation as the body droops, the repeated torture of back and arms as it is time after time, for breath's sake, hitched up. If I may dare the biological image, God is a "host" who deliberately creates His own parasites; causes us to be that we may exploit and "take advantage of" Him. Herein is love. This is the diagram of Love Himself, the inventor of all loves. [emphasis mine]

Shew! Is it worth the read after all that? Oh yes! I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of deep-thinking analysis on this element which makes us above all human, as described and eloquently detailed in The Four Loves. I highly recommend it to anyone curious about feelings, actions, words, and theories about love and God. You won't regret the hours it takes to sort through this short book and its delightfully profound insights. If your soul has muscles, this book is a weight machine for your soul. When you finish, you will feel the vitality of strength pulsing through you. Even if you don't agree with all of his arguments, Lewis does what only few writers can: he takes the truth which has only been in the recesses of your thoughts, makes it his too, and then displays it on the page with woven words and paragraphs.

Happy Reading, Friends!  I LOVE you. *wink*