Lent continues - with a birthday celebration

Wednesday, May 26, 2025

After a walk that includes little Casey, we tackle calls, meetings, and emails. (He goes home tonight.) I write the Lenten posts each day.

Mid-morning, I bake an oatmeal loaf, the first attempt in a new breadmaker. W found the appliance on clearance at ACE for $23, due to missing parts, when he took our heavily-used breadmaker in for repairs. He had already ordered replacement parts for the old one but those didn't fix it. When it got to the shop, they said it needs a new motor. The repairman will install the motor for $5, incl parts = should be like new.

Turns out that the new appliance is a Cuisinart. The dough paddle and hook that were missing? Those are the replacements W ordered for the other machine and they fit perfectly. The first loaf is a little flat so we'll tweak the recipe next time.

The lunch centerpiece is the third of four American steaks gifted by W's friend. We froze the meat in Seattle; thawed it here, and W put it in his sous vide. We refroze it immediately. When we want a special meal, we thaw a steak to room temperature before it's hot-seared on a cast-iron griddle. I fry green beans, warm up sweet potatoes, and add Monday's leftovers: cheesy spaghetti to round out the meal.

"My birthday lunch for myself," I say to W. "Who in this whole country is eating steak from a Seattle butcher?" (No one.) When I find a taste I'm hungry for, the meal practically assembles itself. Ingredients show up to match the palate (just as paint shows up to match the canvas.) Meal prep for the feast takes 15 minutes.

The afternoon indulgence is a few squares of peppermint chocolate from Lisa ... we shall miss this couple when they leave Bandung.

And not just because of good New Zealand-brand chocolate!

In rainy season, the plants grow madly. Because snakes, rodents, and other wildlife inhabit overgrown areas, yard maintenance is a priority.

The yardman clips the lawn, which is knee-high in places after 4 weeks. He tried to trim it 2 weeks ago when the good "Weed-wacker" was being repaired. The cheap local string trimmer overheated within minutes so he gave up. Today he makes good progress with decent tools.

Meanwhile Anton the poodle is recovering from being neutered yesterday. He seems happy enough. His dog-walker sends a photo of him ambling around the neighborhood, wearing his post-surgery "cone of shame" so he doesn't open his stitches. He'll arrive in a few weeks, all healed up.

Thursday

It's hiking day, a short one of less than 5 km. Bailey got jumped by a big dog last week and doesn't want to go. We leave him under the Porch table to relax with the house occupants. He's happy to see us when we get home and PakG fluffs him up with a bath anyway.

The main thoroughfares to the mountains are narrow. Often a neighbor will earn extra cash by standing at one end of a one-and-a-half lane street, waving one lane of traffic through at a time.

This busy street is wider but complicated by someone balancing on a ladder. The tukang trims a long hedge with a string trimmer - about a foot under the city's electrical wires. Everyone drives around his ladder. I waited until traffic had passed to snap a photo of this main road.

The trek is through forest, tea fields, and recently planted coffee bushes.

Apparently coffee beans taste sweet when they ripen. I haven't tried one.

Some old tea fields are being torn up and replaced by coffee plants. These old tea roots hang below the shrubs, visible where roads have been cut into the 10' (3 meter) bank of soil.

There are wildflowers.

There are waterfalls.

And there are benches to sit in the shade if you decide not to go down to the waterfalls.

This little bamboo shed keeps rain off a woodpile. 

Lunch with Eva is at Mandarin: delicious. We have a few leftovers but we eat enough that only a good nap can reduce the stupor. The dogs snooze in the car and sprawl on the Porch when we get home.

The helpers are baking ginger cookies. I assemble Ramadan food packets, to be taken home today or tomorrow (depending on their last day before a week's holiday.) The staff got their THR last week, an extra month's pay mandated by the government. An employee must be paid the equivalent of a month's wages to prepare for their religious month: Muslims before Leberan (the final week of Ramadan); Christians before Christmas (though that is less enforced); and the other religions at their primary holidays. We save in advance. The added financial burden can be ruinous for businesses who are barely making payroll.

Indonesia officially recognizes 6 religious groups: Christian (Protestant), Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and animism. With official holidays for each group, salaried employees take a lot of days off - in 2025 it's 17 days (plus 10 collective leave days)! = 27 days. Those on daily wages work through holidays of other religions - they can't afford a month without pay.

My evening meeting is cancelled but I'm wide awake after a late nap. Since I can't sleep right away, it's time to evaluate the year. It's taken almost two years (August '23-March '25) to complete the Morning Pages Journal. Yesterday I finished and put it away. I bought a dozen or so journals a few years back; today the first pages are written in a new one.

Friday

It's my birthday. I start with a walk and Ibu Siti's massage at the house. Maddie and Beba drop in to pick up kefir seeds. Our visit is short but sweet.

Martin, Sayaka, and Harun come for lunch. At Christmas, we offered each team member a meal at our place. The offer is good until the end of May. It's fun when they claim the gift.

Sayaka has made salmon sushi and brings a birthday cake.

We make one last trip with PakG to Toko Setiabudi grocer. While locals are running from one relative to another ("the art of Ramadan"), we will visit with friends and howdy with neighbors.

I reset the kefir and ginger bug - the next sparkling juices are mango and coconut water. Birthday wishes come from all sides, warming my heart. A package from IbuD and Aska contains a beautiful batik blouse in my favorite colors.

A photo pops up from 16 year ago, in another thinner lifetime. My tan sweater is the base color of the batik. In the tropics, you wear more colors than you did in Seattle.

Saturday

I'm awake at 2 AM. I enjoy the silence by setting up a new notebook and listening through the book of Romans. How amazing are the God's gifts of grace, righteousness, and inner peace!

"No one is saved by keeping the law," Paul explains. "You'd have to keep every part of the law precisely, which is humanly impossible. Missing even one point incurs judgment." Yet he writes that Jesus has come and fulfilled the law. Jesus offers us his perfection and righteousness. It's mind-bogging. And an occasion for worship and gratitude this morning.

This weekend starts with Nyepi, a Hindu festival of silence. For most of Muslim Bandung, it's just another national day off. However, in Hindu Bali, most media, phones, commerce, and transportation will be shut down.

Eid al-Fitr will be Sunday or Monday, with a week off after to travel. The 30-day Ramadan fast ends with feasting and gifting. Crime is high because whoever can will return to their villages or visit family homes, hopefully with a gift to offer the family. (We lost our smartphones twice the first year. Thankfully they were recovered by friends who negotiated their ransom.)

Traffic is a snarl. Trains, buses, and taxis are full. Motorcycles clog the roads. Shops will close for the week. Restaurants may or may not have enough staff to stay open. Owners will drive their cars if their drivers leave, which can be dangerous: many only drive during this annual holiday week.

Our dogs don't mind. They patrol the yard and get fewer walks. There's more play since we're around. It's quiet until fireworks mark end of the season. There is no regulation of fireworks. It's a free-for-all that goes on during the all-night chanting at Eid - plus a few days before and after.

Our first visit to Bandung was 12 Ramadans ago. It was a magical evening, thanks to Stefano and Livia Bramono and their daughter Kristi. In that July 2014 rainstorm, we stumbled upon an art gallery and restaurant. We ate together, overlooking valleys and mountains of the city below as darkness fell. Fireworks erupted and celebrated our arrival with us.

Read more:

*To the humble the Lord shows favor. Proverbs 3:34

*The Lord said, “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” Joel 2:28 NIV

*A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But Jesus said to them, “The kings of the gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather, the greatest among you must become like the youngest and the leader like one who serves.” Luke 22:24-26

*Peter said, “Jesus, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you see and hear.” Acts 2:33

Moravian Prayer: Spirit of the living God, thank you for your holy presence. It is so easy to fill our lives with matters of this world. Grant us wisdom and discernment and fill our hearts and minds with renewed vision, so we can more clearly see the life to which you have called us. 

Almighty God, forgive us when we have not humbled ourselves before you and before our neighbor. Quiet our minds so we can be still and hear your voice. Inspire us to serve as we model the compassionate love of Jesus, and may our words and actions be pleasing to you. In your holy name, we pray. Amen.

Lent begins

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Lent is a very special season for me. I didn't grow up with it. In fact, I didn't pay attention to the word until I was working on my masters degree.

That season was difficult: our daughter was in full flair with rheumatoid arthritis. Our kids were in their teens and moving into adulthood. I taught music and volunteered to train small group leaders while leading a study group myself. W was away at work most of the time. So it was busy. And hard.

The days seemed to crawl but the years were flying by. I was exhausted, with no prayers of my own, So I sought refuge in the traditional prayers of the Church. I spent a semester praying the Catholic liturgy, then another with the Orthodox prayer book. Many days I knelt down and prayed Puritan prayers of petition and confession.

I discovered Lent, a pause in the Christian calendar. Lent meant 40 days of meditation on the life, suffering, and death of Jesus. With my heart broken and my spirit hanging on by a thread, I plunged into contemplation.

Yet I've never been religious about my practice of Lent.

By that, I mean it's not an obligation. I don't consider it appeasement or an appeal to God's mercy. It's not a righteous duty carried out to balance my sins. Jesus has already paid the price in full, so I live in his forgiveness and his righteousness.

Each year, I find my relationship with God has deepened. I feel his love and care pervading every part of my being. And I love him more. I want to please him.

So this year at Lent, I'm picking at my keyboard again, challenging myself to new understandings of who God is and why he wants a relationship with us. I want to be open to his goodness, his justice, and his unlimited imagination in saving the world.

Lenten Blog, Day 1: God beyond our Imagination 

Paul the apostle admits: The message of the cross seems foolish to those who are lost and dying. But it is God's power to us who are being saved. It is written [in Isaiah 29:14]: "I will destroy the wisdom of those who are wise. I will do away with the cleverness of those who think they are so smart."

Smart people scoff at the cross. They find it folly and an offense to human reason. Why would God come among us? And why grow up in an obscure village in the middle of the Roman Empire? Why would he allow with religious leaders to question and defame him. Why would he be killed in a brutal way, with his followers abandoning him in his time of need?

I don't know. What I do know is that God understands all the parts of human life because of it. 

God's plans are enough for me - and for you as we live in that mystery. I don't have to understand what He's doing or how he lays out the future. He doesn't answer to me.

So Lent begins. I start the annual journey of blogging about my faith and confidence in God's provision. I don't understand it. Don't grasp it fully. But I believe what God says is true and that my faith shapes how I live as a follower of Jesus. (unknown source for images)

Still Wednesday. After 4 meetings, the morning is almost gone. I pray, write, and wonder what to cook for lunch. Turns out that leftover tacos are a perfect choice. W goes to an afternoon men's group. Titik's flowers continue to open as I work from home.

Thursday

There's no hike scheduled so we loop around the neighborhood for 3.5 miles (5 km). I step into the uneven side of the road to exercise ankles, knees, and hips the way a hike does. Nah, it's not the same.

W captures a beetle on the street in exquisite detail.

How wonderfully the world has been made.

Even the smallest things are crafted so meticulously that Jesus said, "King Solomon in his splendid robes wasn't dressed as well as the grass of the field that is here today and gone tomorrow."

In contrast, the manmade flower boards don't seem to be fading. I take a closer look: ah, the florets are made of sponge foam and will be part of the garbage dump soon.

Many continue to "bloom" in front of the residence of the new assistant governor.

We haven't been to #NaraPark for over a month. It's well-maintained, with a young man "sweeping" every leaf from the lawn as we eat breakfast. I'm craving their spicy noodles.

What are the little green heads on the plants along the terrace?

A closer look reveals tiny flowers, almost invisible until you stop to see.

Building has resumed on the community center used for preschool medical care. The upstairs wall has been framed atop the old first floor. Every few months, an influx of energy (or money?) brings progress to the project, which has been going for over a year.

I reply to texts and emails, make calls, and take notes from Blinkist book summaries. They have some recent additions on leadership and caring for others.

How about sauerkraut for lunch today? It's rather fun to cook "old-home" recipes that are on autopilot from another life. To a homemade base from Hela, we add potatoes, sausage, and seasonings. As the sauerkraut bakes, smells from the toaster oven remind us of a German household. Meanwhile, the helpers use the main ovens for cookies.

u

Reflecting on the beginning of John's gospel, I'm filled with wonder again.

Lenten Blog, Day 2: The startling appearance of God

Dinner is a new recipe: butter rice and mushroom saté, with an apple on the side. We watch a movie this month instead of reading a book for the book club. The movie is called The Life of a Gaucho. (Wrong movie, I discover at the Friday book group.)

Friday

Walk. The fig tree is starting to droop with fruit again.

I make crepes for breakfast. Then edits! What a privilege to read what others research, learning from their work. First up is a seminar on healthy relationships and building trust in the workplace. I pause occasionally to "visit" the room photo on my desktop and rest my eyes on the green garden.

I check the progress of a dissertation and write a Lenten post about John the Baptist.

Lenten Day 3: The surprising messenger

We eat lunch before W and I pick up basics at the grocer. Varieties of dates are on display: those are eaten at the end of the day to break the Muslim fast.

PakG loads the dogs in the car and takes them for a walk while the Bandung Book Group meets for a lively discussion of a Hallmark movie: Journey from 1995. The cafe staff won't open shop until 3:00 though the women just want to order coffee. By the time they are served, I have to leave - with my thermos of tea intact. (It would have been rude to drink while they were waiting.)

We have fresh-baked mayo biscuits for supper. So easy, so good! (Stir together 1 c milk, 2 c flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 4 tbsp mayonnaise; bake in greased cupcake tin @350o for 15 min.) While the biscuits bake, I sauté mushrooms with onions and spices. Yum.

By the time we clean up, it's night. The rain falls in force, with lightning flashing and thunder rumbling over the mountains for hours.

"This rainy season is lasting longer than usual," we said about the same time last year.

Read more:

*Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like me. Isaiah 46:9

*“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” said the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1:8

Moravian Prayer: Eternal God, as we mark the beginning of our global church, we know that our faith history is but a moment in your creation. Yet you give us each these moments to blossom and live abundant lives. Let it be so! Amen.

Lent Day 2: Is your glass full or empty?

A scene we'll miss: MT rivers

How life feels depends on our focus. Ditto for Lent.

Participants choose to dwell on what they're doing without (feeling deprived) or on what they're gaining (feeling full and satisfied in Christ).

This year is filled with change for W and me. We're transitioning from life-as-we-know-it to a completely new environment (moving from Seattle to Indonesia), tackling new work (from university faculty to language students), and experiencing a new culture (from American to Indonesian). We don't have much concrete information, but we assume:

1. There will be more unknowns than certainties in our future
2. We will experience many shocks in transitioning to a foreign land
3. We're moving into a vibrant and old culture, finding new friendships and participating in adventures we couldn't dream up "back home"
4. God has called us to this so we're excited to go
5. Every loss here prepares us to open our hands and hearts to new relationships and experiences there
6. Our glass is being emptied in order to be filled to the brim and overflowing

Beauty everywhere: we're leaving
our Seattle forest behind,
for the jungles of Indo

Aren't you grateful that God sent Jesus from the perfection of heaven to the messiness of earth? Until He experienced life and death among us, we could not be healed from what ails us.

So, does your glass feel empty or full? Are you focused on gratitude or worried about not having enough?

Here's a bonus for those of you interested in culture and how people live in other parts of the world? We'll be sending a weekly photo and cultural note from Bandung. If you'd like it emailed to you, send us your e-address: rosemee@hotmail.com with the subject line: Bandung.

Read more:

*They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock. Isaiah 48:21 ESV

*For this is what the high and exalted One says--he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15 NIV

*Jesus says, "Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." John 4:14 ESV

Moravian Prayer: Lord, the waters of your Spirit refresh our souls and sustain us through the desert times of our lives. May your name ever be praised. Amen.

CS Lewis, from The Weight of Glory: 

If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. 

I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self- denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. 

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Mardi Gras: deader than a doornail

Around the world, today will be marked with excesses of pleasures, eating, and crossing normal social boundaries. It's Mardi Gras. For many, that means a day of celebrating everything bad before they're supposed to be contrite and good (Lent).

This reading caught my eye this morning:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" Galatians 2:20-21 NIV

So, on this Mardi Gras:

1. I'm not pretending to being anyone. I don't have to live up to anyone's expections. It's not that I'm bad or good. I'm dead.
2. Dead is necessary for a fabulous new life. To live fully present, the person I used to be had to be fully surrendered to God. I've given over my old stuff to live an entirely different kind of life.
3. Deadness is not something I can accomplish. God's grace has done this. Grace means He's pronounces, "Girl, you're good!" Without His grace, I'm ... well, not only bad ... but nothing at all.
4. I'm God's beloved, ransomed from useless things and a meaningless life. He did what I couldn't imagine, so I can live and revel in His love.
5. Whoo hoo! So excited to be living this abundant life on Mardi Gras. I don't have to get drunk, dress weird or go naked, or prance around, shaming myself publicly to show off. I won't have a hangover tomorrow morning or feel sick to my stomach because I did something stupid. Nope. That's not me anymore. 

Jesus promised "life, and that more abundantly." (John 10:10) With all my junk and stuff still sloughing off the old me, I remind myself that a corpse is not tempted nor drawn into bad things. It's dead. But I'm not just dead - I've been raised to new life.

I'm jumping around with happiness and glee. Unmasked. Best Mardi Gras ever!

Read more:

*Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 ESV

*I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. Isaiah 43:11 ESV

*Now the word of the LORD came to [Jeremiah] saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." 

Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy." 

But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a boy'; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD." 

Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, "Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant." Jeremiah 1: 4-10 NRSV

*The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Ephesians 1:17 NIV

Moravian Prayer: Sovereign God, you are the one true God, our Savior. You sent your Son to earth, to live among us and to redeem us. Grant us the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge to know you more fully each day. Give us thankful hearts for your many blessings. Amen.

Did you know Lent starts Wednesday?

An Ash Cross

Lent is 40 days long = 6 1/2 weeks (minus Sundays, which the Church counts as feast- rather than fast-days). Catholics prepare tomorrow with the feast of Mardi Gras. The Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday. (Subscribe to my daily Lenten blog on the right or in a reader feed.)

Travel broadens the horizons, they say. One of the best spiritual surprises while living in England was how much I love Lent. It's a time of deprivation. Of reflective loss. Of putting aside.

But mostly, it's a communal season for joy and gratefulness during the countdown to the celebrations of Easter. Jesus left the wonders and perfection of heaven to live with us. In the Church calendar, we set aside 40 days for a deeper awareness of God's goodness. Protestants tend to get caught up in Christmas (the arrival of the heavenly babe) and Easter (Jesus death and resurrection). We sometimes forget to live out the model of God-among-us-in-Christ that falls between.

During Lent we consider how Jesus willingly suffered to repay our debts to God. How he bridged the gap between our heavenly Father and us by taking our sins from us. How His glorious resurrection demonstrates our hopeful future. (Ah... don't you love the anticipation of new life during Lent?)

Prayer is one of the focuses of the Lenten season. This year, I'm going to find the prayers of scripture and make them - one at a time - my meditation for a day.

What ways of praying have been meaningful or helpful to you? Please share them with us.

Read more:
*The ransomed of the Lord shall return, they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Isaiah 51:11 ESV

*Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. Isaiah 55:6-11 NLT

*In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 1 Peter 1:6 (NIV)

Moravian Prayer: Save us, O God, from the worldly distractions and petty obstacles that capture us daily. Release us from the bondage of grief and sorrow and self-pity, that we might ever enjoy the blessings you bring. Amen.

Lent Day 1: Word wrapped in flesh

It's the first day of Lent, time to pick up words as a spiritual discipline. Sign up via email or Reader feed to get this year's blogs.

This morning I met with a gifted group of writers. Our critique group allows a half hour of discussion on each person's work. The variety of interests, stories, and vantages on life amazed me.

• Leona publishes blogs on revitalizing "the rest of life" for Boomers (target group: aged 55-65). 
• Lydia writes regular tea columns, devotionals, and has a wonderful book on grandparenting. 
• Barbara's writing goes around the world in her Journeys in Prayer (available by subscription).
• Donna asks questions about life and theology. 
• I'm thinking about compiling some of these blogs into a devotional series.

Our backgrounds include vocational ministry, music, home economics, prayer leadership, and other jobs.

From diverse backgrounds, we each love Jesus, the Word made flesh (John 1). We cherish words. And we're grateful that God chose to invest his creativity in writers like us.

How is God wrapping his words in your flesh? Which words do you speak to God? To others?

Read more:
*The Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. 1 Samuel 1:27

*My enemies cannot speak a truthful word. Their deepest desire is to destroy others. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with flattery.

O God, declare them guilty. Let them be caught in their own traps. Drive them away because of their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy. For you bless the godly, O LORD; you surround them with your shield of love. Psalm 5:9–12 NLT

*But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water, that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV

*Jesus said, "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24

Moravian Prayer: On this holy Ash Wednesday, Christ Jesus, we pray that you will be with us as we enter this time of self-examination and repentance for all the ways in which we have failed to believe or act on our belief. Amen.

* 

Lent Day 29: Thankful for relatives

Jesus had parents, siblings, aunts - and lots of friends and acquaintances. We don't know exactly how big Nazareth was, but it's a fair guess that most people in town knew each other. They would have known family histories, silly games of childhood, and all the strengths and weaknesses of their neighbors.

With many people choosing not to endure the hard work of marriage or fleeing dangerous situations, we have a self-spawning culture of combinations and re-combinations called blended families.

I just heard that two of our acquaintances are splitting up as a couple. Nah, we don't know the whole story, but from what we've observed, a big part of it is a lack of maturity, forgiveness, and grace. They've had a rocky road off and on and one of them is fed up. Calling it quits. Unwilling to work any more at what has been a steep climb. Supposedly, they still "love each other." Whatever.

I look into another life window, where a friend's spouse is at death's door, the victim of cancer. They won't have the lifelong connections in common as one leaves the other behind. They had no choice and when they are parted, it will take time for the grieving partner to find a new normal.

One of the gifts of a long marriage, no matter how much work or stressful some years have been, is the mutual memory bank. W and I love each other more now than in the beginning (and than we did in parts of the middle!) We have many friends in common; he tells me about colleagues at work or church. I update him on FB friends and people who grew up with us in the church's youth group. You don't get those kind of memories or proven marriage benefits by running away to "find yourself" elsewhere.

I'm grateful for my folks. They've stayed married for nearly 60 years, through thick and thin: poverty and wealth; challenges with their parents and children; exciting adventures and boring chores. We've been married 34 years. Our kids have begun their marriages with a strong commitment to their spouses, too.

It's not easy to stay married without the social and religious pressure to keep a covenant in good and bad times. Among my first cousins, 6 of 24 have experienced divorce or abandonment. W and I also might not have made it through some very tough seasons without both of us honoring our covenant before God and buckling down to family expectations.

Today I'm thankful for all the aunts and uncles, the cousins, nieces and nephews, and other family members who have stuck it out. The extended web of friendships and trust remind us of God's faithfulness and the importance of self-discipline and perseverance. Life is not always easy, but it is worth doing with all our hearts and strength.

Loving others is second only to loving God, according to Jesus. And you do that by changing yourself (since you can't change others.)

The fact that my husband turned out to be my Prince Charming is an unexpected bonus.

Read more:

*Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars! For he commanded, and they were created. Psalm 148:3,5

*Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 NIV

*You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. Revelation 4:11

Moravian Prayer: We offer thanks to you, Creator God, for all good gifts - the seasons of the year and of the spirit, and the experiences of joy, pleasure and gladness. We offer thanks also for the sorrow and grief and solitudes of life and for the strength through which we are able to meet them. We pray for those who work hard to preserve relationships and we commit ourselves to work with them this day. Amen. 

Lent Day 4: Thankful to be forsaken

"I feel so alone."

"It feels like no one cares about me."

We've all said (and heard) those words. The cry of Jesus on the cross, "My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?" echoes our hurts and feelings of abandonment.

I am thankful today that God experienced all the pain of humanity and humiliation. Christ, God and man, knows the depths of our despair and the heights of our joys.

Jews, hearing Jesus call out, would have known the entire Psalm 22 - (read more below), in which his expressions of loneliness and his anguished tears balance with abandon to God's will and assurance of His triumph. Like our Savior, let us rest in God's goodness, which reveals itself as most abundant when we feel most helpless.

Read more:

*I rejoice in your salvation. 1 Samuel 2:1 (NASB)

*My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the LORD,” they say, “let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

But you, LORD, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.

The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise him— may your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it! Psalm 22

*When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. Mark 16:9,10

Moravian Prayer: Precious Lord, we rejoice with the angels and the disciples in the salvation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who died for our sins and was raised as King of kings. Amen.