Extreme Makeover: Jesus Style

Yes, the closet cleaning frenzy continued in these parts. After successfully installing new closet organizers in my own closet, I turned my efforts (and my cordless drill) to my husband’s closet. He was out of town for a week and at the suggestion of my friend Sue J., I thought I’d surprise him with a brand new “clothes management system.” Even though Dan said he was perfectly content with his closet as it was, I knew how much better it could be. *grin*

Some wives “manage” their husband’s clothes, washing, ironing, putting them away and even packing for trips. I, however, am not that kind of wife so it felt a little odd to sort through Dan's closet. (I hoped he wouldn't be mad at the "invasion.") I proceeded with love and for several days painted, installed shelves and racks, bagged discarded clothes and re-organized/re-hung the closet’s contents. With everything back in place, I admired a job well done. Thankfully when Dan returned home, he agreed. Whew!

My daughter felt inspired by all this and asked me to help her redo her closet. We stripped her closet bare, paired down its contents, re-purposed available storage bins and in a few hours finished her closet transformation!

I can’t tell you how liberating it is to have such neat, functional and orderly closets. Each of us can easily find what we’re looking for. We’re wearing clothes we’d thought we lost in the chaos. And just looking into my closet makes me feel ten pounds lighter!

All this emptying, purging and reorganizing got me thinking about Jesus.

Doesn’t He want us to do the same in our own lives? Jesus said, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." (John 14:23)

I look at the “closets” in my life and see I’m hesitant to submit to such a massive undoing. Sure I might seek His help to:

• Discard a bag of habits.
• Organize a shelf of quiet time.
• Purge a basket of brokenness.
• Rearrange a nook of busyness.
• Clear out a corner of bitterness.
  

But in the end, I let go and hold tightly as I choose. Offering some but not all. What holds me back? My need for control? Fear? Disbelief? Self-sufficiency?

And unlike my taking over Dan’s closet, Jesus is a gentleman. He doesn’t force His way in. He waits for the invitation.

In My Heart – Christ’s Home, Robert Boyd Munger writes an allegorical tale about a man who slowly invites Jesus into the respectable rooms of His home. But when Jesus shows up at the door one day and asks to see a locked upstairs closet because it reeks, the man feels Jesus has gone too far. He wants to keep those rotten remnants of his old life. He's angry and wonders why Jesus can't be satisfied with the access He already has. To confront the closet with Jesus is more than he can bear. But as Jesus turns to leave, the man reluctantly gives in.

“I'll give You the key,” I said sadly, “but You will have to open the closet and clean it out. I haven’t the strength to do it.”

“Just give me the key,” He said. “Authorize me to take care of that closet and I will.”

With trembling fingers I passed the key to Him. He took it, walked over to the door, opened it, entered, took out all the putrefying stuff and threw it away. Then He cleaned the closet and painted it. It was done in a moment’s time. Oh, what victory and release!

“Lord, is there any chance that You would take over the management of the whole house and operate it for me as You did that closet?”

His face lit up as He replied, “That is what I want to do. You cannot be a victorious Christian in your own strength. Let me do it through you and for you. But,” He added slowly, “I have no authority to proceed, since the property is not mine.”

Dropping to my knees, I said, “Lord, You have been a guest and I have been the host. From now on I am going to be the servant. You are going to be the owner and Master.”

Lord, I'm tired of trying to organize my life on my own. I give you the key. I want an extreme makeover: Jesus style. Empty me. Fill me. With You. Amen.

Empty Me by Jeremy Camp

A Breath of Life from a Dead Prophet

The Old Testament is a tough read. Some of you avoid it at all costs. Others have read it in full— more than once. For years I stuck to the New Testament and avoided the Old altogether because it seemed so irrelevant and well, old. Besides, what could I learn from fantastical stories about arks and giants and big fish?

Turns out a lot.

My fourth grade knowledge of the Bible's most ancient text did a grave disservice to its complexity and depth of insight. I've found the more I venture into the Old Testament, the more I learn about God. The more I learn, the more awestruck I am of His Word—all of it.

Last week when I wrote about Jeremiah 29:11, I did some research on Jeremiah. In doing so I became intrigued and figured it was about time I tackled this book, the longest in the Bible.

However, since I recently struggled through reading Isaiah, I wasn't real anxious to read another prophet (there’s only so much wrath and destruction one can take.) But where Isaiah starts right off with divine anger, Jeremiah begins with tenderness.

I was unprepared to encounter God so gentle. So intimate. So patient. So loving.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

“Ah, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”

But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.

Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” (1:5-10)

I’m tangled in those words. Lost in His tender affirmation. Conscious of the still small voice that whispers to my soul:

“Kelli, long before you came to be, I knew you. I formed you and set you apart. You may not understand it, but I have a plan for your life. But, I need you to follow me.”

“But Lord, I don’t have what it takes. I’m too inexperienced. I’m filled with such doubt. Don’t you see all those more qualified?”

God replied, “Hush child, don’t forget that I see you not as you are, but as you will become. I didn’t create you to live in fear; I created you to fulfill my plans for your life. You must do as I say and go where I lead you. But remember you won’t be alone, I’m with you every step of the way. I made you, how can you doubt me?”

“Lord, I want to believe. Help my unbelief.”

God gently touched my lips, “Shh. I am giving you the words to say, the thoughts to write, the heart to love. As you follow my lead, you’ll go to many places and meet many people. Sometimes the message you carry will be easy, other times it will be difficult. Through it all, take heart because I’m with you and I’ll take care of you. Now let's get started.”


Word of God speak
Would You pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your majesty
To be still and know
That You're in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your holiness
Word of God speak
Lyrics by Mercy Me

A Look at "A Slow Burn"

I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of A Slow Burn, Mary DeMuth's sequel to Daisy Chain and the second installment of her Defiance Texas Trilogy. Here's a sneak peek:

"She touched Daisy’s shoulder. So cold. So hard. So unlike Daisy.

Yet so much like herself it made Emory shudder.

Burying her grief, Emory Chance is determined to find her daughter Daisy’s murderer-a man she saw in a flicker of a vision. But when the investigation hits every dead end, her despair escalates. As questions surrounding Daisy’s death continue to mount, Emory’s safety is shattered by the pursuit of a stranger, and she can’t shake the sickening fear that her own choices contributed to Daisy’s disappearance. Will she ever experience the peace her heart longs for?

This suspenseful novel is about courageous love, the burden of regret, and bonds that never break. It is about the beauty and the pain of telling the truth. Most of all, it is about the power of forgiveness and what remains when shame no longer holds us captive."

_________________________________________________

Mary, how do you find time to write?
I make time to write. I give myself word count goals every day. While my children are at school, I work full time. Lately I’ve been writing and promoting like a crazy woman, pulling 10-12 hour shifts. Even so, it’s a priority for me to have a sit-down dinner with my family every night. It helps that I love to cook.

What do you enjoy most about the writing process?
I love the initial flurry of words on the page where I’m uninhibited. I love fleshing out a story as it comes to me. I see my novels on the movie screen of my mind, which may account for the visual nature of my narratives.

Where did you get the idea for the book?
I wrote the series of stories based on hearing friends of mine talk about their Christian homes that appeared great on the outside, only to hide abuse on the inside. This really bothered me. Daisy became the inciting incident to explore three people’s stories relating to authenticity and hiding. In book one, Daisy Chain, I explore a teenage boy’s perspective to a family in crisis. In book two, A Slow Burn, I examine what would it be like to have deep, deep mommy regrets enough to want to be free from them. In book three, Life in Defiance, I tell the conclusion of the story through a battered wife’s perspective.

I am not a teenage boy. Nor am I a neglectful mother. And I’m not a battered wife. But I’ve interacted with folks who are. It’s for them that I wrote these stories.

What kind of research did you have to do for the book?
I had to figure out how a drug addict acted and thought. I had to research what drugs do to a person, particularly the lure and the trips they take folks on. I had to get into the mind of a drug addict, which wasn’t easy for me, someone who is terrified of drugs. I created Defiance from my head and my two-year stint in East Texas.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
That God is bigger than our sin, our regret, our hopelessness. He takes delight in intersecting the darkest of circumstances. He is there, available.


To learn more about Mary DeMuth, you can visit her website at www.marydemuth.com.

Extreme Makeover: Closet Edition

When it comes to home improvement projects I'm frustratingly charmingly impulsive.

When Dan and I were first married we moved into a small split level that boasted a tacky vintage 70s flair. That house was the giving tree of projects. Literally every surface cried out for updating. I’d get a wild hair and the next thing you know I’d start tearing apart a room, pulling out paint cans, ripping up flooring or rearranging furniture. Without much pre-planning or fore thought I’d dive in and go.

My “cut-once-measure-twice… things-are-fine-the-way-they-are” husband would freak out gently question my motives and do what he could to slow me down or redirect my efforts. Since I had momentum and motivation on my side, I’d usually win

I look back and chuckle, but these DIY (do-it-yourself) projects—that inevitably required Dan to get involved—created heaps of conflict in the early years of our marriage. My impulsivity trod over his need to plan and prepare. The end results usually turned out OK, but our clashing work styles needed a makeover!

We're in a new house now that doesn't cry out for updating, but once a DIYer, always as DIYer, and we've done plenty of projects here too, thankfully with less conflict and more pre-planning. But there are still times I’ll wake up with a wild hair, needing to tackle a project RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT.

Monday morning was such a day.

Eleven years ago when we moved into our house, one of the most exciting features were not just one, but two walk-in closets. His and hers. After years of tiny closets, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. This feeling of bliss lasted for about five years. Somewhere in the last six years, though, it began to dawn on me that the closet organizers didn’t provide much in the way of organizing—as evidenced by the chaos of clothes and "stuff."

I thought a closet redo would cost a small fortune so I lived with the clutter.

I guess eleven years was my limit for living with it because I woke up on Monday and HAD to install a new closet system. Right then.

I headed to Home Depot with a handy plan I’d done on the internet and searched for the supplies on my list. Guess what? They didn’t cost a fortune. The total was about $170.

Once home and ready to get to work I hit a snag. In all the excitement I hadn’t considered I had to remove everything in my closet first. Let me tell you, after a decade that was A LOT of stuff! Besides way too many clothes, I found an old bridesmaid dress, my first business suit, my high school varsity jacket, boxes of mementos, old purses and a Christmas present I bought years ago and “lost” in my closet.

If you look closely, you’ll see a dog amid the piles

To help me tread through the pandemonium, I called in the one person I know who could help—my daughter. After hours of watching TLC and HGTV she’s a style/makeover expert.

(Note to self: Be careful what you wish for.) As she picked through piece after piece I had to endure a constant stream of fashion condemnation as the “no” pile grew from a hill to a mountain.

“Mom! Are you kidding me? I never want to see you wear that again!”

“Those are hideous! Did you really wear pants at your waist?”

“You seriously paid money this?”

“Mom, this is why they have stores, so you can buy NEW clothes!”

I pleaded for some sentimental favorites, but reluctantly relinquished most of the items voted out of the closet. *sniff*

Then I hit the second snag. At 5:00 p.m., with only one shelf installed, I realized if I didn't finish the project enough to start hanging things Dan and I would have no where to sleep since our bed was covered in mountains of clothes.

Well, if I do one thing well, it's persevering through a project. I worked diligently all evening and by about 12:30 a.m. declared it a success. Not only was shelving installed, I'd cleared off our bed and made s a path to walk though the room.

Today I finished up with my favorite part—giving everything a home in its new abode. Of course, this included a trip to Lowe’s for some storage baskets. (Is it just me, or do you get excited walking through the home organizing department?)

So, there you have it. It was an intense project, but I’m thrilled with the results…and except for two things that needed cutting, I did it all by myself!

If you’re handy with a power screwdriver and laser level there’s no telling what you can accomplish. Sometimes you just have to dive in and do it.

Before ... I’d already removed the hanging clothes ...just look at the top shelf. Ugh!

After... aaah!... there's even empty space on the shelves

"You Lie!"

Happy Monday! I'm posting at Exemplify Online today. You can read the rest of my devotion there.

It was the shout heard ‘round the world—or at least around the country. Three weeks ago, during President Obama’s speech to Congress on health care. Rep. Joe Wilson so vehemently disagreed that he interrupted the speech and shouted, “You lie!”

His outburst stunned members of both parties. But given the acrimony displayed at recent town hall meetings, Rep. Wilson’s uncontained emotion wasn’t surprising. That he actually expressed it out loud was.
I wonder how many of those in attendance thought the same thing. Out of respect for the office of the President they kept their mouths shut, but inside their thoughts boiled, I don’t believe you!

As Christians we look to Scripture to hear God speak. And perhaps no verse provides more hope and comfort than Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” It’s so beloved that when someone in a Bible study starts to quote it, others join in to finish. Inevitably heads nod in agreement.

However, when I look at my slice of the world I seem to see plenty of “harm.” I see lives wrecked by abuse and addiction. Poverty and pain. Infidelity and unemployment. And I see sickness and disease and cancer—so much cancer.

When I examine Jeremiah 29:11 and compare it to the reality in front of me, the words ring false. I want to question God, “You said you have a plan. That you’d prosper and not harm? Where is the protection? The prosperity? The future?”


And while I may not utter the words out loud, deep inside the thought simmers, Did God lie?

I’d guess Jeremiah thought the same thing.


Jeremiah was called to announce the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and proclaim the end of an era. During his tenure as prophet, God’s judgment was so extreme the Lord came close to inflicting the ultimate covenant curse; undoing everything He had promised the Jewish people. Living in the midst of this, Jeremiah had nagging doubts about his calling and God’s faithfulness. He accused the Lord of being undependable, “Will you be to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails.” (15:18)
Lord, are you who you say you are…or did you lie?

Isn’t that the question that pricks our souls?

Saints throughout history have wrestled with this very question when confronted with circumstances that didn’t line up with God’s apparent promises. Moses died never entering the Promised Land. Sarah waited dozens of years for the promised baby. And Abraham saw little evidence of the covenant promise God made with him. In fact, all the ancients commended in Hebrews 11 died without receiving what God had promised.

Yet, they chose to believe God despite their circumstances, through their doubts and against logic. This is the epitome of faith, for faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Faith is never easy. Much of the time, it makes little sense to our human minds. While we may not experience God in the way we want, when we want, when we look closely we find evidence of God’s goodness. And our souls spark with recognition of the Almighty.

In the past few months I've experienced God’s glory as I stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon, dug foundation holes for a new church in the Dominican Republic, worshipped with prisoners, laid with my son on the grass and watched for shooting stars, hugged my teenage daughter after a huge fight, received a note from a friend encouraging me in my writing … and whenever I read the Bible.
How about you?

When it comes to the issues our earthly minds can’t reconcile, we have a choice to make, don’t we?  We can grasp hold of what we do know and choose to press on through our uncertainty and disappointments. Or, we can choose to walk away from God in disbelief and seek our prosperity and future on our own, using society’s promises to deliver them.

Does God lie? Certainly not. But perhaps we can see His truth more clearly when we shift our focus—as the ancients did—from an immediate to an eternal one.

The world fills our ears with rhetoric, misinformation and doublespeak that masquerade as truth. If we can’t trust God at His word, who can we believe?

And the Winner is…

Thank you for your well wishes and for sharing my joy in being published in Chicken Soup. As my friend Denise told me, "Don't forget to bask in your 'puddle of sunshine.'" Well said, Denise.
I am so thankful for all of you—friends, family and especially fellow writers (both published and aspiring)—who encourage me on this journey.

Now, on to the big news. Drawn randomly by my husband, the winner of "my" book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Lessons I Learned from the Cat is…

Carmen

Congratulations, Carmen! Send me your address and I'll send it off to you.

Have a restful, renewing and joy-filled Saturday!

The Original Invasive Species

Years ago a hidden corner in the back of our house had become a gathering spot for outdoor toys, unused hoses and other junk we were too lazy to put in the garage. It was one of those areas we just kept overlooking. Then, a landscaping project around our newly-built deck exposed this corner for what it was—and what it could be.

A handful of perennials, a few grasses, a scattering of annuals and a small pond turned this eyesore into a small oasis. Today it’s one of my favorite areas of the yard. And the sound of trickling water from the fountain lulls us throughout the warm weather.

I've learned about perennials "on-the-job." Some plants have been good choices, others not so much—especially the one that mentioned “invasive” in the fine print of the planting tag. I wasn’t even sure what the term meant. Our little garden had lots of bare patches, so I figured maybe a nice invasive plant would be perfect to fill up the space. Plus I rationalized that if the garden center offered the plant, it must be OK.

Well, five years later I am fully aware of what “invasive” means! Unfortunately, by the time I decided I didn’t like the plant, it was too late. I’d yank it out here and it would crop up over there. For years I’ve tried to eradicate it and each year it reemerges in more places than before. From one little plant, “plantlets” appear throughout the entire garden entrenching their roots in the hardest-to-reach locations—between rocks, under stepping stones, along the house foundation and even hiding among “good” plants. They're even making headway in the grass! As I've since learned, if left unchecked, root-spreading plants like this one can kill out less vigorous species and take over most of the bed.

This week I reached my invasive-plant limit! Forget about plucking the errant flora. With shovel in hand I dug it up. For hours I sorted through piles of soil, extracting the tenacious and intricate network of roots that extended far beneath the surface. I set aside any obstacles and dug, dug, dug. Still I’m certain I didn’t get every deeply embedded root and fear next spring those dreaded leaflets will reappear, taunting me all the more!

You know, sin is like this.

We may get into something that seems controllable, innocent or fun. “It’s no big deal.” “I can handle it.” “They wouldn’t offer it if it could hurt me.” The world may even give it a stamp of approval. Consider:

• The innocent flirtation
  
  
• The little lie
  
  
• The fudged numbers
  
  
• The “I deserve it” purchase
  
  
• The careless gossip
  
  
• The puff, the drink, the snort
  
  
• The rationalization

Once we enter into sin, its invasive roots extend into our souls and entangle themselves in areas we never imagined. The enemy knows our weakness and where to trip us up—and he never lets us see the end result of our actions. Yet even when we decide to pluck this sin from our lives, it eludes our efforts and crops up elsewhere, sprouting new life. The hard truth is we CANNOT fully control sin or our sinful nature.

The apostle Paul grieves about such a struggle, “I know that my selfish desires won’t let me do anything that is good. Even when I want to do right, I cannot. Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong…With my whole heart I agree with the Law of God. But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do. What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die?” (Romans 7:18-99, 22-24 CEV)

Thankfully there is someone.

“With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2The Message)

Jesus is the ultimate sin-killer. By entering into the tangled mess of struggling humanity, He overcame sin once and for all. Tending to our planting of faith may require hard work on our part, but when we abide in Christ we can be confident the victory (garden) is ours.

This spring, before the invasive plant sprouted.

As for my current gardening dilemma, I guess I’ll just keep digging up those unwanted invaders. I’ll also read labels a little more closely next time around. It's not like I wasn't warned. . .