The 7th Year- wks 8&9: Monastery or Mission Control

I met a new mom last week at the playground. She has great kids, is married and is seemingly normal. In this society, she’s a rare gem. I was excited to tell my husband about her later that evening. His response poked a hole in my party balloons. 

“Is she a Christian?”

“Yep.”

“That’s cool. But we need to make friends with people that don’t know Jesus yet.”

He and I have talked about this a number of times. We say that it’s a core value of ours. I have written about it and claim/aim/try to live out our ideas of not being a monastery mommy who raises bunker babies. 

Monastery mommies raise their kids in a petri dish or a greenhouse. The perfect environment, watering at the proper time, feeding and nourishing in ideal conditions. Not a weed or other bacteria in site. Safety.

Bunker babies have lived behind a concrete wall of protection, playing and interacting only with others previously approved to also live in the bunker. The only things that leave the bunker are attacks launched toward anyone not in the bunker. Safety. 

Our efforts in living in the monastery or bunker are exhausting and exclusive. Out of the world and nowhere near it. In the end, we end up being a people that have nothing in common with the world....so much so, that we can’t even hold a conversation with anyone outside our walls. We don't even make sense to each other. 

Sounds like Satan’s perfect plan. 

“If Satan cannon succeed in his Plan A of taking your soul to hell with him, Plan B is to ensure that you do not take anyone else’s soul to heaven with you.”- Chole, The 7th Year.

The Enemy loves our monasteries and bunkers just as much as we do. He’s pleased when we keep ourselves so busy gathering with others just like us that we have no more time to meet people who aren’t like us. We have willingly relinquished the weapon we have- relationships. He laughs when we make the rules and spend time enforcing them. 

“Steal them or sterilize them”, Chole says, “might be the kingdom of darkness’ brutally efficient mission statement.”

Yep, we are going to heaven. But we aren’t taking anyone else with us. Ouch. 

Don’t get me wrong. I am total support of having like-minded friends and a support network around your family. We need to brush up against other believers for encouragement, growth, sharpening. I want my kids influenced by great role models and I desperately desire mentors and Christian friends for my family. We need to be in a community of believers and worship together. Going rogue isn’t wise. 

But, there is a difference between making your home (or life) a monastery or making it mission control. 

Mission control preps and de-briefs before and after intentional interactions. 

Mission control sends out. 

Mission control trains. 

Mission control monitors and sends support when extra help is needed. 

Mission control is visited often for resupply, rest, re-evaluation and recalibration of the original mission. 

Mission control is pro-active. 

Are we living to make it through unscathed? 

Are we living to multiple ourselves?

Are we avoiding the thorns because we are afraid of a few scratches and hard work, therefore letting them grow effortlessly?

Are we fighting them back with everything we’ve got so we can see the real life-giver do his thing?

I am glad I made a new friend last week. It’s nice to have people in our lives that we can relax with. But I am also glad my husband frequently reminds me that we are be strategic in who we spend time with. He is a result of a trained agent leaving mission control for a purpose. 

Satan won’t steal us or sterilize us. 

I know it sounds scary. It's terrifying, actually. But that's ok. Mission control has prepped us.

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This is my reflection of the readings from weeks 8 and 9 in The 7th Year, an intentional e-journey of discipleship. You can find out more about it at www.the7thyear.com 

Have a great friday! 

The 7th Year- Week 7: God math

"As I consider years past, I see your hand clearly in some spaces.
In other spaces, I acknowledge the presence of your hand by faith, not by sight."- Chole


We began a new section in the 7th Year e-journey. Moving from our own personal life scrolls (seeing God in the past) to a task in preparing to see the current and upcoming movements between God and myself. Prior to starting the task, Chole asked us to spend a few moments in prayer. The quote at the top of this post was part of her guided prayer. This line....."I acknowledge the presence of your hand by faith, not by sight".... stuck with me. 


How many times have we heard (or spoken) stories of knowing God was near because we saw signs and wonders happen? Those times are valid and wonderful, but what happens when we don't see or feel God moving nearby? It might be easy to think that God left us or backed away somehow. But deep faith is evident when we know God is near without the evidences seen by the eye. 


Looking back through my own life scroll, I can see times that I trusted, by faith, that God was near because I couldn't see with me eyes (or brain or skin or heart) that he was around. I depended upon the past history of him being with me and logically connected God's past history with his current activity. 


He was there when I ________ + he was also there when ________ + I trust his word = He was and is there when I can't feel him. 

Thorns

We’ve started cutting through the strong overgrowth in the yard. Ten years without attention welcomes 4, 5, 6 inch thick vines to grow and develop the ability to take down trees. 

The brown and peely is the base of the vine, not a tree.

I was knee deep in chopped up thorny brush, Adison was waist deep in it. Her pants became snagged in the thorns and instantly she was worried. I pulled her out quickly and set her down in a place free of thorns. Then I remembered something. 

They put a crown of thorns on his head. 

A crown of thorns on his head. 

Thorns on his head. 

Thorns poking into my finger and scratching my arms hurt. I can’t imagine them pushed into my head. 

The potential for biblical imagery from this experience is tremendous. But since this is the week before Easter, I have been thinking about the pain Jesus suffered as he went to the cross for us. Surrounding myself in thorns and vines has been a reminder of why Jesus did what he did. 

 Please forgive us, Jesus. 

Tree covered in vines, we question
if it's alive or not. 

All that remains of this tree is the trunk,
everything else you see is vines...
not branches.

My husband snuck in some shots.

7th Year- Week 6: Hemmed In

You hem me in- before and behind. 

You know me. 

You laid your hand upon me. 

You are there. 

Your eyes saw me. 

You are familiar with my ways. 

You know what I do. 

You are aware. 

(Phrases from Psalm 139)

This week for the 7th year, I added the last layer to my life scroll. I added my questions, revelations, commentaries and overall summary of all the previous 6 layers. I found common themes running throughout my scroll; both in God’s movements and my responses to His movements and other circumstances. I ask(ed) the same questions, or variations of the same questions repeatedly. Yet, through it all, God remained the same. 

He is my:

(ever) present

sustainer

energy

hand-holder

provider

protection

filler

pursuer (as in caller, wooer, chaser)

These God-descriptors all were all woven numerous times throughout my scroll, reoccurring frequently. I know some of the descriptions don’t make sense to others and that’s ok. They don’t have to. At times, this doesn’t entirely make sense to me. But, I know they are true. 

A good hem is turned into itself twice and stitched in a way that is invisible from the outside of the garment. A hem encompasses the fringe of the fabric and ensures future unraveling. A hem surrounds, borders, edges, encircles, encloses, encompasses, corrals. 

Sounds a lot like my cinched-in feeling I wrote about earlier in this process. You can read about that here. 

Jesus hemmed in my fringe- whether caused by myself or other people- and protected against further unraveling. Jesus hemmed me into himself- before me and behind me- so that his presence was always there. At times, the hem felt invisible- as if one was looking at it from the outside- but it (he) remained present. 

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I remain thankful for this 7th Year journey and invite you all to begin participating at any time. You can find details on how to participate through visiting the site, www.the7thyear.com 

The 7th Year- Week 5: Space

This week’s layer makes my life scroll stand 6 layers high. I found security while working through this layer as it asked me to describe God during different times in my life. It was comfortable, but my mental list of adjectives is suffering. I wish my word-smith skills were stronger. 

In addition to my life scroll layer, I have been thinking more about space. Just this morning Gil read our Lent devotion to me- Psalm 31. 

I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; 

You have made know the distress of my soul, and you have not delivered me into the hands of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place. (vs. 7 & 8)

One of the phrases jumped out to both of us...you have set my feet in a broad place. We clicked on “broad place” and learned that it is synonymous with spacious place, wilderness, and openness. It’s found a handful of times, a few of the places being scriptures I have already written down; 

I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter the wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you... Live openly and expansively. 2 Corinthians 6:11-13 (MSG)

He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. Psalm 18:19

He brought me out into a spacious place. 2 Samuel 22:20

Here is my brainstorm list:

A spacious place is peaceful. 

A spacious place is free. 

A spacious place is wide. 

A spacious place is living. 

A spacious place is life-sustaining. 

A spacious place is filtering. 

A spacious place is welcoming. 

A spacious place is calming. 

A spacious place is roomy. 

A spacious place is healing. 

A spacious place is teeming with life. 

A spacious place is beckoning.

A spacious place is stable.

When you think of a spacious place, what do you think of? 

But this seems to be a linear, a flat-lined, horizontal view of space. 

What if spaciousness is thought of in a 3-D view, a broad and X-Y-Z axis type of picture?

It would be impossible to list all the ways God is spacious in a 3-D view, a broad and X-Y-Z axis type formation, but here are a few I can think of; 

• God is spacious in his grace and love for us- it is large and unending. 
• God is spacious in his movement with us- he allows us to move at our pace while inviting us to move at his pace. 
• God is spacious in his healing- he lavishly provides the space in time and growth for true healing. 
• God is spacious in his presence- he offers contentment and peace amidst our cluttered world. 

What are some other ways God is spacious in his personhood?

So, if space is so wildly wonderful, why do we- and why did the Old Testament believers- not abandon everything to find it? 

To enjoy space, you have to look up, glance around and soak up the surroundings. You have to look up from the plow, so to speak. You have to stop what you’re doing and take it in. I forget to stop, raise my head and appreciate the space. I get too busy trying to do it myself- checking off the to-do list, finding my satisfaction in accomplishments. 

The 7th Year- Week 4: Clenched fists, open hands

My life scroll, from The 7th Year.

She spoke of clenched fists and open hands this week. Clench fists provide a delusion of ownership, while open hands require trust and stewardship. 

I can see parallels between this truth statement and my life scroll I’ve been creating along with The 7th Year project, but I struggle to verbalize them. 

I’m adding a picture of my life scroll with the hopes that it’s blurred enough that it can’t be read by the entire world wide web. I decided to use paper I had at home rather than Alicia’s suggestion of tracing paper, and since I homeschool, I had HUGE paper with seven lines already drawn! (I hope it turns out ok in the end....we still have a few weeks of layers to add.) 

This week, we were asked to add another layer to our life scroll....a layer of thinking about what I thought about myself throughout my life’s ages and stages. What a task this turned out to be! I had to step away from the project for a day to gain perspective on  my adjectives and observations. 

Looking through this list of descriptors causes enough different feelings to fill a box of crayolas. Times of triumph, hard work are followed by deep pain; an ebb and flow of internal reactions to external actions. Interestingly enough, it seems that as I have grown up, the peaks and valleys have become less extreme. The joys are awesome, but my response is less elevated and the hurtful moments are still present, but my perspective of myself is less low. 

As I work on my life scroll and all the layers Alicia adds, I am thankful for her reminder that God is and has always been present. During the second week, I even wrote “I knew God knew” as part of my spiritual movement. I know this probably doesn’t make sense to those not participating in The 7th Year, but I wanted to document it. 

So, what is my ultimate reaction to this week’s addition to the life scroll? I am sad that one, two or a few individuals (depending on the time in my life) can have such a strong impact of how I perceive what’s happening around me. People can hurt others. People have hurt me. But God knew and he was there despite their hurt and he hurt too. BUT, I am thankful that people can also help heal. Other people have been a part of my growth and healing. And God knew that too. 

The Voice New Testament

The Voice New Testament

Gil received a paper copy of The Voice New Testament when he went to Catalyst last fall. The Voice is a New Testament translation which reads like a screenplay. As you read, you are told where someone goes/is and what he/she has said. This makes the text very easy to follow and allows the reader to focus on the point of the scripture rather than trying to figure out points that are sometimes harder to gather.

We used his copy of The Voice for our Advent readings last Christmas and it seemed to help our daughters understand more of what was happening. Also, Gil sometimes reads this version to me at night. I love that.

I was given a digital copy to review for the publisher, so I downloaded it to my iPad. I already have another popular Bible app on my iPad, but since this was a different translation than the ones available on the app, I thought it would be nice to have access to it there as well.

Lately, I have been processing a statement I heard about the original design of the scriptures being shared orally. For generations, the scriptures were handed down orally with painstaking detail to stick to the original. when I think of the scriptures being read aloud, these words come to mind: soothing, soaking, blanketing... The publishers of The Voice say, "This translation promotes the public reading of longer sections of Scripture—followed by thoughtful engagement with the biblical narrative in its richness and fullness and dramatic flow." I love that. Hearing the scriptures read aloud brings an element of the old traditions into our modern day- a community gathering (whether large or small gathering) to hear God's word together, to process what was said/done/created/redeemed for us as a group. 

My only complaint is that when it's downloaded to my iPad, it is then stored in my iBooks apps. I would rather it have it's own app so I don't have to click through iBooks to find it. There might be a way to make this happen, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Grab yourself a copy of the The Voice New Testament- either paper or digital or both.

Booksneeze gave me a free digital copy of The Voice New Testament in exchange for an honest review of the book.