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For the Israelites, the land signified God’s promise.  So much so that they regularly referred to it as the “Promised Land.”  The land, more than anything else, symbolized God with them and also his blessings.  

When God first made humans he placed them in a location, the garden of Eden.  When sin entered, they were sent out of the land and symbolically out of God’s presence.  When the people were released from slavery, it had not been God’s idea for them to wander in the desert for all those years.  His plan had been to deliver them from slavery to the land he had promised Abraham years before.  For people in the Ancient Near East, deities were connected with a location and the Israelites would have viewed Yahweh in the same way.  Much like the garden, when the Israelites were obeying, they remained in the land, but after continued disobedience, God allowed them to be exiled.

God used the concept of land to illustrate and teach many things to the Israelites.  He wanted them to fully trust in him.  He wanted them to know that he would fully provide for them. The people fully expected a land of abundance, flowing with date honey and milk.  God even allowed the people to struggle to claim the land so that their faith in him would be strengthened.

Even when Jesus came, the Jewish people still viewed God through a lens of place.  They were looking for a time when God would establish his reign on earth, centered at the temple in Jerusalem.  God has other plans, but these still involve his promises to us today and the ultimate renewal of all the earth, not just Israel.

Believers today still “dwell” with God.  The same promises that he gave his people are ours today.  He is still a God of abundance and blessing.  Even if we cannot understand the significance of physical land, we can take comfort that our dwelling place is with God and as Joshua 1:9 ends with, “the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful…so begins the Scout law.  This is a list of twelve qualities that Scouts strive to live up to, whether at a Scouting event or in everyday life.  Our family has been involved in Scouting for over fourteen years now.  During that time we have logged many, many hours at all kinds of activities ranging from weekly meetings, to camping trips, to fundraising events and much more in between!

Our kids have learned a lot from Scouting, much good, some difficult.  One aspect that we embraced as a family from the beginning was the practice of leaving things better than we found them.  Whenever we would finish up an event, all Scouts and leaders would systematically scour the area for trash or anything we might have left behind.  The kids would grumble a little of course, but they always did a good job.

As a parent or a leader of young people, you never know what is going to stick.  Much of the time it can feel like our words are bouncing off brick walls right back at us.  It may take years to find out what did get through, maybe until the kids we were talking to have kids of their own.  However, in this area I have seen the impact it made on my own kids.

Wherever they go, my kids are always cleaning things up and leaving it better than they found it.  Whether it is at the lake or eating at a restaurant, my family is picking up any trash left around.  My husband leads the charge in this, especially at restaurants.  When we are done eating, the table is cleaner than when we sat down!

This habit of ours is based on something that may not be readily apparent: respect.  By leaving something cleaner than when we arrived, we are showing respect for the next people that visit.  By gathering our dishes and cleaning the table at a restaurant, we are showing respect for the servers and bussers that are working.  When we pick up stray fish hooks, bottle caps, or broken glass that others have left at the lake, we are showing respect for little feet that may come after us. 

In our world of overwhelming problems, this little quirk of ours may not seem to count for much.  However, if more of us would take this idea of respect for others–even others that we are never going to meet and who will never know anything about us–into other areas of life, maybe together we will begin to change those problems.  

The Scriptures do not record Jesus and His disciples cleaning in this way, although they didn’t leave the scraps from their meal all over the mountain!  However, Jesus had a tendency to leave people better than He found them, if they were willing.  He still does this today.  He can come into our messy lives and clean them up if we will allow Him.  Just like the Scouts are supposed to be, He too is trustworthy.  

Snow does strange things.  I did not know this until I lived with it.  I had gone to play in the snow periodically in my life, enjoying sliding down hills on giant tubes.  I have had my share of misadventures with traveling in snow as well.  However, it wasn’t until I lived in it that I began to see all the different qualities and characteristics it contains.

The first thing I discovered is that snow is very, very messy.  I had not thought about what happens after the snowfall is over.  I just saw beautiful pictures of pristinely white landscapes.  In actuality, that part lasts for a very short time before the trees begin to rain melting snow and the snow gets dirty from a variety of sources.  I have also found that people seem to either love it or hate it, there don’t appear to be many in between.  

The most interesting thing about snow though, is that it acts as a great equalizer.  In the forests around where I live, the pine beetles are destroying the trees at a fast rate.  There are large swaths of brown trees among the green, but when the forest is blanketed with snow all the trees are beautiful.  There is no longer alive or dead, everything is white. 

 

Snow does the same thing to people.  No matter who you are or what your economic circumstances are, if the roads are closed because of a snowstorm you are not going anywhere.  We can strive, complain, or try to push, but when the snow is feet thick on the highway, no one is getting through.

This may sound like a stretch, but in some of these ways I see snow like Jesus.  He makes circumstances and people that look like they are dead beautiful, and He does it in the same way, by covering us with Himself.  He is also not a respecter of persons.  It does not matter how much money we have, or how little.  It does not matter how much we try to strive, work or push, none of us can make it through on our own.  Jesus is the only way and He is waiting for everyone to turn to Him. 

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” John 14:6

It’s that time of the semester for me, time to study like crazy and finish my classes well. Hopefully I have been learning what I need to know all along and this time won’t be one of filling my brain with new information but of simply making sure I can adequately regurgitate what I have already learned.

One of my favorite devotionals in my Women’s Bible has to do with this idea of last minute studying. I remember it was about a younger woman asking an elderly lady why she spent so much time reading her Bible. The elderly lady put it quite well, “I am cramming for finals!”

In reality, we all should be cramming for finals when it comes to studying our Bibles. Not to be macabre, but none of us knows when our last minute on Earth will be. We also do not know when Jesus is coming back. How much better to be caught working on our understanding of God and trying to become more like His Son than for Him to find us so wrapped up in our earthly concerns that our Bible is gathering dust.

I have to admit that the more I study God’s word, the more I find I need to study His word–and I am in seminary! In a way it is like science, the more in-depth you study and discover, the more there seems to be to find. The Bible has opened up in a way that I honestly never expected or imagined. Far from being a dusty, old book, it is filled with life as exciting as anything I have seen Hollywood dish up.

So I agree with that elderly lady, who I imagine by now has aced her final exam and has heard her Father say, “Well done good and faithful servant!” We do need to be reading as if this life and the one to come depends on it. There is power in God’s word to sustain us and guide us as we navigate our life and prepare for eternity.

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

It is that time of year again, pie time! Anyone who knows my family knows that we take our pie very seriously. This year will not be an exception. We are already gathering our ingredients and recipes. The thing I might love the most though, is that we are also gathering together. I hope that whatever your family’s traditions might be, that you have a wonderful time reconnecting and sharing this holiday together.

(I publish this post each year. Make sure to look for my pie crust recipe at the end!)

Every now and then we all have pie.  My family think it should go more like, all the time we have every pie.  Our family loves pie and that might be the understatement of the year.  We even have rules about pie.  On Thanksgiving there are to be no fewer than one pie per person.  This includes babies that can’t even eat pie yet.

Thanksgiving morning we start the day off right with pumpkin pie for breakfast.  The main pie rule of the house though, is if there is pie sitting on the counter it is fair game, no “saving” pie for later.

I am not humble about my pie baking abilities either.  I make really good pie.  My secret weapon is my great-great-grandmother’s pie crust recipe.  There is no delicate blending of ingredients, you can use this stuff like play-doh and it still comes out amazingly light and flaky.

I know how the pie crust feels.  In the Bible we are compared to clay that the potter uses to make jars and such, but I think this pie crust example works too.  God uses circumstances in our lives to squish us, mold us, and roll us into perfect shapes to hold all His delicious truths.  I don’t like the shaping part though, it can be uncomfortable and painful!  But when God fills me with His truth and grace it is all worth it.

The best part about pie is eating it of course, but pie always tastes better when we are sharing it with people we care about.  That is God’s goal in shaping and filling us with grace too, for us to share it with other people.  This Thanksgiving my prayer for you dear reader, is that you will allow God to form you into the shape He has designed for you to be, and that the grace He pours into you would overflow to those around you.

“Yet, O Lord, you are our Father.  We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”  Isaiah 64:8

And now for my great-great-grandmother’s pie crust recipe:

Pie crust
4 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cup vegetable shortening

1 Tbs. sugar

2 tsp. salt (I never add the salt, but you might like it with the salt better)

1 Tbs. vinegar

1 egg

1/2 cup water

With a fork, mix together flour, shortening, sugar and salt, (if using.)  In a separate bowl, beat the remaining ingredients.  Combine the two mixtures, stirring with fork, (or squishing with your hands!) until thoroughly combined.  Then mold into four balls.  Chill at least 15 minutes before rolling in desired shape.  Dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and left in refrigerator up to three days or can be frozen until ready to use.

My husband has worked in Christian camping long enough that the mere mention of these little beasties causes him to shudder. Real live bedbugs are a difficult nuisance to get rid of and anyone in the hospitality industry does their best to keep them away. Luckily, it was only a rare occasion in the distant past that they showed up and were dealt with quickly.

However, we do have some other bedbugs that have been a little more difficult to eradicate. These have been hanging around for about twenty-one years now. In spite of our best efforts, every now and then they sneak into our bed. These guys aren’t tiny either. They are rather large with pointy elbows and legs that kick. The funny thing is that they only get into our bed when we are in it.

I am a very active person and even though I enjoy my sleep, the only time I am in my bed during the day is if I am sick. As soon as I lay down though, no matter how sick I may be, here come the bedbugs! They snuggle right in, which, if I am being honest, does cheer me up. Even though I have had a steady parade of these for all these years, I do know it will someday come to an end. My little bedbugs are growing up quickly and one of these days will begin having little bedbugs of their own.

The days of parenting, as difficult as they have been and still are, are precious. We are building memories with our children that will last a lifetime. I remember when I was a little girl, I would spend the night with my grandparents occasionally. When it was time for bed, we had an ongoing competition with my Grandpa to see which one of us would say the time-honored phrase first, “Good night, sleep tight…don’t let the bedbugs bite!” He has been gone for years, but it is those types of fun memories that live on.

For now I need to be patient with my little bedbugs, even when I don’t feel well. The time passes quickly, but the memories last forever. I want those memories to be sweet and to carry into my children’s own families. And maybe someday I will have grand-bedbugs to tell, “Good night, sleep tight…don’t let the bedbugs bite!”