Fused Together

Fused Together

by | Nov 12, 2023 | Sunday Scripture

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 

Isaiah 43:2 NIV

 

I have been wanting to get down to my workshop and play around with my kiln again- have I mentioned that I have a glass kiln? Yes it’s different from a pottery kiln and also different from the lampworking I do which I talked about in my post, The Refining Fire. 

 

With kiln formed glass you cut pieces of glass, and arrange them accordingly and then start the kiln. Perhaps you have two sheets of glass that you are fusing together to become one thicker sheet of glass, or you could use a technique called slumping, where you take a piece of glass and melt it just enough that it melts just enough it seems like it is “slumping” down, into the shape of the mold. If you have a straight piece of glass and you want it to have a rounded shape like a dish, then slumping is what you do to get that shape! 

 

Often glass artists use multiple of these techniques to make one item. You might fuse several different pieces together to make an abstract pattern, then in a different firing you could slump that glass into a dish, coaster or tray.

 

Crafted Coasters

But you can’t just put your glass in the kiln, set it to a certain temperature and let it go- it’s a little more complex than that. You see if you set the temperature for a high temperature and let it go up and back quickly you might end up with just a large indistinguishable lump of glass at the end. If you cook the glass too low and too slowly then you might end up with a rough edged version of what you started with- the glass is stuck (fused) together and won’t come apart but that’s about it. It’s otherwise unchanged. For each desired outcome there is a specific series of temperatures, and holds (how long the glass sits at a certain temperature) that affects the desired outcome. How like our walk of faith does this process sound? 

 

During our time in this fallen world we are destined to go through hard seasons. Some will be the results of past actions of ours and some of them will be the results of past actions of others. Some will have no discernible reason as to why we are going through them at all. 

 

When we go through these seasons, or at least when I go through these seasons, my first thought is to try and fight it. To work harder, demand more of myself, and just like the two pieces of glass fused together at a slow temperature, I try to deny the process is happening. I don’t want change- I want things to stay the same.

Glass Crafted Coasters

How much better is it though, when things really get hot, to instead lean into our Heavenly Father. How much better be molded into His likeness, into the shape He would have us be. Then when circumstances become less intense we emerge on the other side, smooth, beautiful- a new creation altogether! I don’t want to just be fused together- I want to be melded into Him! 

 

Things are heating up in our world. Tensions between countries seem to be bubbling towards an all time high. Things could dissipate- or not. We don’t know what lies ahead for us in the days ahead but this much we do know; God is still in control. 

 

Now is the perfect time to ask yourself- how do you want to respond when the going gets tough? Are you ready to lean into your Heavenly Father like never before or will you sit in denial and try to pretend that things are different from what they really are? 

 

Remember we serve a God of hope and peace! How much better our lives will be if, instead of resisting Him in the hard season we lean totally and completely, into Him and His will for our lives.

Disclosure 

Please remember that this post contains affiliate links; that means if you click on the link, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a way to support my blog! I will only ever share an affiliate link if I love the product and think that you just might love it too!

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Slowing Down- What Matters Most in Life

Slowing Down- What Matters Most in Life

by | Nov 5, 2023 | Sunday Scripture

And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. 
1 John 2:17 NLT
 
Every day this week before work, I got up while the house was still dark and quiet, I pulled on my warm robe, and tiptoed out and lit a candle before curling under a big thick blanket to have some quiet reading time before the craziness of the day started. No, not really. 
 
This week actually looked more like flying out of bed already rushing because I had hit the snooze button just “one” more time than I should have and managing my minutes carefully to make sure everyone (including me!) was up and out the door off to where they needed to be, when they needed to be. But the thoughts of quiet in the morning with a candle burning and being curled under a cozy blanket? Well that’s an image I aspire to, and one that I was reminded of by author Sally Clarkson, in her book, “Own Your Life.” 
 
I don’t get up and light candles and enjoy quiet time in the morning. Why not? Well, because I don’t prioritize it, I suppose. I usually start my day by getting up and “getting going” whether that means writing, laundry, or rushing around getting ready to leave the house. I often value productivity over quiet and rest. I know I’m not the only one. 
 
So often we tell ourselves that we simply cannot do something when in actuality we absolutely could-if we were willing to make the tradeoffs of other things that aren’t as important to us. 
 
Starting at a very young age, my generation and the kids of this current generation, get involved in activities, good activities—from piano lessons, to hockey, to baseball, debate society—we get on a hamster wheel of business that many times we don’t even realize it. And this hamster wheel doesn’t stop just when the kids are finished with high school. 
 
In this day and age, there are so many opportunities available to us. The online space has made many opportunities readily accessible to everyone that weren’t around even 15 or 20 years ago. Just as with all the extracurricular activities now available to our kids, it seems a shame not to try to take advantage of all this opportunity but…what if all this opportunity is robbing us from what we really want? 
 
When we are so busy it is easy to neglect slowing down and really contemplating the life we are living. How many of us pile more and more on our plate, not because we find fulfillment in these activities, but to avoid having the space to think about why we feel unfulfilled in our already very full lives. After all, a full life is a life well lived, right? 
 
Is your life full of the right things? When was the last time after a busy day, while it may have left you exhausted, also left you feeling fulfilled? Are your days full of the things that truly mean the most to you? Are you spending your time the way you really want to? Or do you keep thinking, “When things slow down then I’ll…” 
 
Things are not going to slow down. If anything, things will continue to speed up. The devil knows that if he keeps us busy, distracted, racing from thing to thing—even if they are good things—that he will win. 
 
Is this one and only life you’ve been given the one you really want to be living? Are the things you are pursuing a vain pursuit of more or are they life-giving to you and your family?
If you want memories filled with family game nights then you have to have enough down time to have family game nights. If you want to be a well-read person, then you have to make time to read. If you want to have a hobby, then you cannot be so busy that a hobby sounds like a drag. 
 
Then there are our kids—what are we modeling for them when we skip church for a soccer game? When we cut out youth group for one more lesson. Do you want your kids to have a  relationship with the Lord that they prioritize or do you want them to be really good at a sport that they will play through high school, possibly college, and then be done? 
 
What tradeoffs are we making with our time without even realizing it? 
 
This fall season I hope you slow down and reflect on your life this past year, not from a place of shame and guilt but from a place of empowerment. If you don’t like how your life is looking you are allowed to change it! What areas need an overhaul? 
 
A new year is coming soon, and what I don’t want for you is to look back at the end of it and wish that it had been different. I hope you choose with intentionality tasks that make up your days, for it is every single day that makes up our lives. 
Disclosure 

Please remember that this post contains affiliate links; that means if you click on the link, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a way to support my blog! I will only ever share an affiliate link if I love the product and think that you just might love it too!

A Biblical Look at Ghosts

A Biblical Look at Ghosts

by | Oct 29, 2023 | Sunday Scripture

“Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

Luke 24:39

It is the day after Halloween, you thought you were done hearing about ghosts and all manner of spookiness until next year didn’t you? Well not quite. Halloween in our current culture has become a rather macabre, month long celebration of all things evil- ghosts, demons, zombies, and witches, etc… I’m not against the dressing up and trick or treating for kids, but I think as Christians we tend to pay little attention to how we participate in a day that is dedicated to demonic activity. November first used to be All Saints Day, a day to remember and honor the saints. It was believed that on  the night before this day, the lines between the living and dead became blurred and the dead and ghosts could roam about, so people would dress up in costumes to trick anything they may be looking for them. Halloween started thus and has continued to gradually gravitate toward the occult over the years. 

Regardless of where you stand on Halloween, or how much thought you give, or don’t give to the rather evil roots of the day there is another spooky subject that I would like to pose for food for thought- what about the ghosts and demons? 

I have been in church all my life and have never heard a sermon that took a deep look into the demonic world and how it does, or doesn’t interact with our lives. We read in the Bible that there were many instances of demonic activity, of demons interacting with and causing interference on earth but as a church today we tend to brush off any thoughts of a dark spiritual world interacting with our day to day lives, beyond the point of the devil planting seeds of doubt in our minds. 

And then there are ghosts. I should make the distinction that when I speak of demons I mean fallen angels and beings that are their own, and who currently reside in Hell, unless of course they are allowed to wander the earth and interact with us more than we realize. When I speak of Ghosts I mean people who have died, reappearing here on earth. Let me be clear- I believe absent from the body present with the Lord; but what about unbelievers? Yes they go to hell, but are they there now? Or will it be after the resurrection? Or are they allowed out, on special assignment as it were? 

We know in the Old Testament Saul visited a medium and called Samuel down from heaven to give him a prophetic word. Samuel was not happy to have been disturbed. Also in the New Testament Jesus appears to the disciples and they are scared thinking he was a ghost. And what does Jesus say? Does he say silly disciples, ghosts aren’t real? No, He doesn’t. He says, touch me, feel me; ghosts don’t have flesh and bones. 

In our science based world where things are only believed if they can be tested and reproduced on demand we don’t allow much room for the spiritual realm. The Bible clearly does. We like to think of Angels so why don’t we allow for demons? I bet we all have at least one acquaintance that could tell us a “weird” story that can’t be explained away, something whether good or bad that seems to go against our tidy scientific resolutions. What if instead of ignoring this side of reality we used it as a way to strengthen our belief that while there are many forces at play in both the seen and unseen world, our God is still supreme, and greater than all the rest combined?

 

 

Disclosure 

Please remember that this post contains affiliate links; that means if you click on the link, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a way to support my blog! I will only ever share an affiliate link if I love the product and think that you just might love it too!

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Slowing Down – Remembering the Sabbath

Slowing Down – Remembering the Sabbath

by | Oct 16, 2023 | Sunday Scripture

And He said to them, ”Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” 

Mark 6:31

 

In the church I grew up in you did, bought, and unless your work was absolutely essential, you didn’t work on Sunday. Sunday was a day of rest. You didn’t go out to eat after church, because that causes other people to have to work. You didn’t go shopping because there’s 6 other days in the week to shop. Also underlying all this was also the thought- can we not just take one day off and dedicate it to the Lord?

 

Some, like the church I grew up in, say we should do nothing besides the absolute essentials. Some like my family say we should make an effort to do less. Some say if you work with your hands, Sabbath with your hands, and if you work with your mind, sabbath with your mind. (I heard this first from Annie F Downs, but I think she heard it first from a guest she interviewed on her podcast, That Sounds Fun). Some say go to church and then proceed as normal. And others say, well if I have to skip because of my children’s activities then we will try to make it up some other time- but what kind of example are we setting?

 

I am not here to say how much of a sabbath it is biblical to take each week; far more scholarly and biblically educated minds than mine have been debating this for a while, but this much I do know: we are still commanded to rest. We are still commanded to gather together with other believers on a regular basis. We are still commanded to set time aside to spend some quiet time with God. 

 

During His time here on earth, Jesus spent many times going away and getting quiet. In Mark 6:31, we see Jesus urging the disciples to take time out to refresh themselves after they had been out ministering and preaching to people. The mount of transfiguration was when Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him up a Mountain where they could be alone. Jesus spent 40 days fasting and praying in the desert. Jesus took time out to pray and spend time alone with His Father.  Even Jesus needed dedicated time to spend alone with His heavenly father; so why would we think we need any less? 

 

We spend so much of our time on the go, rushing from activity to activity, and many of these activities are God honoring- but even God honoring activities can be a misuse of time if we are doing them at the expense of furthering our actual relationship with God. 

 

Some activities are life-giving, others are draining, and other activities that were once life-giving turn into a drain on our lives because our lives are too full of “all the things”. How are you spending your time? Are you spending even just a few minutes alone with your Savoir? 

 

I have talked at length about creating a home that feels cozy for fall- no matter your budget. This autumn I invite you to set time aside to use that cozy space, and spend time in the Word, and honoring God with your time. I think you may just be amazed at how, when you honor Him first with your time, everything else will start to fall into place. Activities that had lost their joy will start to be fun again, and you will start to find yourself refreshed.

 

 

Disclosure 

Please remember that this post contains affiliate links; that means if you click on the link, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a way to support my blog! I will only ever share an affiliate link if I love the product and think that you just might love it too!

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Slowing Down- Savoring Life

Slowing Down- Savoring Life

by | Oct 11, 2023 | Sunday Scripture

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.

Acts 2:46

Fall is always a time of year when I feel the desire to slow down, make my home as cozy as I can, and rest. Of course that’s not to say that this is what occurs every fall- but in my mind I picture this as fall. 

I do this with my life too; picturing the daily practices and rhythms that I wish was part of my everyday life, but that never come to fruition. 

Years ago, before covid, before the talk of all of the corruption of all of the officials, and before war gained a national stage between Ukraine and Russia my husband and I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Ukraine with our church. 

Preparing to leave for our trip I braced myself for what I might encounter there. This was my first mission’s trip and I had so many people tell me about how it was going to change my life, turn my world upside down, and that I would encounter a way of life so different from my own, that I would be a totally changed person when I came back- 10 days later. 

Well the trip was an experience that I am so grateful I got to do! The people were warm and welcoming, the children wormed their way into our hearts, and I got to experience the world outside of my normal sphere. But no, my world wasn’t turned upside down. I didn’t come back and feel the call to go into mission work full time. But I noticed a few things about their way of life. 

Someone asked me upon my return what stood out to me most about the differences in our cultures- they were probably expecting an answer about poverty, lack of healthcare, or how their schools are still using computers I haven’t seen since kindergarten. Those weren’t what stood out to me though. What impacted me most about their culture? 

They didn’t rush all the time. 

We would have big meals, under a tent in the parsonage’s front yard. The first day us Americans rushed though our meals, and everyone else, (who were Ukrainian) kinda looked at us side-eyed and asked what our rush was- VBS didn’t start for another hour…

We spent a day in Kiev, walking around and touring the city. Part way through the day we needed food. Once again us Americans were busy rushing through our meal while the Ukrainian members of our group were laughing and enjoying the meal. 

They were savoring the experience while we all rushed right through our meal. 

I began to realize that this wasn’t just a mealtime thing. The way they approached life was far more graceful than the frenetic pace at which we usually attack life. In fact how many times have you heard that phrase “plan of attack for the day” or “how are we going to tackle today”? Why do we feel that days are something that needs tackling or attacking? Probably because we shoe horn so much into our days that only by running at it in attack mode do we think we could possibly accomplish everything that we think we need to in a given day. So therefore we don’t rest, we don’t relax, and we fail to savor this one life that we have been given. 

How about you? How do you approach your days? Are you mealtimes something to be rushed through before you run out of the house again or do you savor good food with people you love? 

This fall I hope you make a little time to slow down, and share a simple, slow meal with people you are about. I hope you get a few moments to slow down and do the things that seem like fall to you. I hope you take the opportunity to slow down and savor not just this season, but also this life.

 

 

Disclosure 

Please remember that this post contains affiliate links; that means if you click on the link, I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a way to support my blog! I will only ever share an affiliate link if I love the product and think that you just might love it too!

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When We Use Our Gifts

When We Use Our Gifts

by | Sep 27, 2023 | Sunday Scripture

I have been told I am a creative person, and I have come to think of myself as such. This doesn’t mean I can paint or draw (I can’t!), it doesn’t mean if you come over to my house you will see a giant bohemian mismash of decor. But it does mean that I enjoy the act of creating. I enjoy decorating, sewing, crafts, jewelry making, and yes, trying to paint or draw- although they never turn out! 

When I was trying to make a living from making glass beads and jewelry, (see my post The Refining Fire) people would ask me all the time- so where do you get your ideas? They ask me the same thing now too, with this blog, where do you get your ideas from? And the thing is- I don’t know! 

Oh I love creativity and the creative process and I’ve read books on enhancing and developing creativity so yes, technically I know techniques that I can employ to help generate  new ideas, for example: I love pinterest and books stores, and know what settings can help spark that creativity in me- but one can do these things and sometimes an idea will still not result. That’s why you hear stories of writers getting writer’s block.

Creativity is something that God only gave to us humans, the rest of the animal kingdom doesn’t have this gift. But where does it come from? How can we make it show up when we need it to? Sometimes I’m not sure that we can…

People ask me “Where do you get your creativity from?”  and I always start to panic a little, because I don’t know!  What if nothing else shows up for us?  What if I have used up my last creative idea and I’m just done? This feeling makes me want to hoard any creative ideas, to store them away so I have at least one idea left! 

This has kind of been a self fulfilling prophecy in my life. During the times when I don’t feel like I am overflowing with ideas, I get a little stuck and I start to panic and then all the ideas dry up. But. I lean into the ideas that I have and usually they expand. I get more ideas from these ideas and before I know it I have a list of ideas to expand on and the fear of running out of future ideas is momentarily suspended.

I felt a little convicted of this desire to “idea hoard,” when I was reading my bible and came across the parable of the three servants. A rich man is going on a long trip so he calls 3 of his servants and gives the first one 5 bags of silver, 2 bags of silver to the second servant, and one bag of silver to the third servant- amounts determined by their abilities. 

The servant with 5 bags of silver invests his money and ends up doubling his money. The second servant with 2 bags also doubled his income, but that last servant, knowing his master to be a hard man, hid his money in a field. 

When the rich man comes home they all gather together to give him an accounting. The master is pleased that the first two had doubled their money, but to the servant who hid his money the rich man is very displeased. He takes that bag, (the servant could have at least put money in a bank where it could have earned interest!) and gives it to the servant who was originally given the 5 bags. “For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.” Matthew 25:29 NIV

Why am I trying to hoard the creative ideas that have been given to me? We are given gifts to use them, and when we do they expand! 

Are you using your gifts to their fullest potential? What story have you been telling yourself about the gifts you’ve been given? Is there something that you are afraid to lean into for fear of it evaporating? 

Are afraid that God has only blessed you with so much, and you will not have any more if you try to use that gift? Are you afraid to tithe because you don’t want your budget to end up short that month? Do you neglect to have people over to your home because it’s small, or not as nice as you want it to be? 

God blessed us with these things so that we could use them! God didn’t give us these gifts for them to evaporate as soon as we utilize them, He wants us to use what we have to bless others. 

The next time you feel a prompting to do something, use a gift or ability that God has given you, or have a prompting to help someone who is truly in need, I hope you don’t silence that inner voice. I hope you invest yourself into that blessing and I bet you will be amazed at how God compounds your efforts. 

 

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