On Noah's Dedication

To Noah

     On Your Dedication
     From Your Parents

Noah,

Before God placed you in your mommy’s tummy, you were the desire of our heart and the prayer on our lips.  When we found out we were pregnant with you and saw your little beating heart at your 8 week check-up, we instantly fell in love with you.  Mommy cried with joy when she saw and heard your heart beat and then cried every time we saw you on the doctor’s screen until you were born.  It was amazing to see God knitting you together in your mother’s womb.  We were so excited to welcome you into this world.  Your birth was quite an adventure unlike anything we had ever experienced.  Finally after 9 months and one very long week of waiting for your arrival, you were here with us to hold and love.  You immediately became our greatest earthly treasure!

Quickly after you were born we started answering the question of who you look like more: your mommy or your daddy?  Most people think you look like your daddy.  But, Noah, you need to know that above looking like your daddy or mommy, you bear the image of God.  This gives you great worth and value.  It also gives you great responsibility to represent God well.  This is very hard to do without some help.

The good news is that you were very blessed to be born into a Christian family.  There are many families in this world who are far away from God, but, by His grace, He has drawn your mommy and daddy to Himself through his Son, Jesus Christ.  Our deepest desire is to raise you in such a way that you understand God and how to bear His image.  It comes through knowing Jesus.

 
     Today, Sunday March 17^th, 2013, you will be “dedicated.”  What this means is that we are making a commitment  to  God to use our lives to point you to Jesus Christ.  We pray that our lives – the way we love each other and love you – would be a reflection of Jesus.  It doesn’t mean that we have it all figured out.  Nor does it mean that we are perfect, because, as you will soon come to realize, we are a work in progress.  There will be times when we will not love you well and we will need to ask for your forgiveness.  But we pray that God would use our mistakes to show you forgiveness and grace.  We pray that our love for you will be a picture of God’s love for you.

This dedication is happening in front of several hundred people who are part of your church family.  You see, Noah, you have your birth family that consists of your mommy and daddy, your grandma and GG, and so on, but God has given you a massive faith family.  These are people who also believe in Jesus and have committed to share life together.  You are doubly blessed because both your birth family and faith family know Jesus.  Part of your dedication is to entrust you to your faith family so that they may be a part of your care and discipleship.  There are so many special people in this family that will feel very much like your aunts and uncles, your grandmas and grandpas.  This is a great gift God has given you.

Our prayer for you Noah is that you will come to know Jesus early in life.  We pray that you will be taught about God and what it means to walk with him.  We pray that you will understand that God created everything and know how life works best.  We pray that you will trust Him and live in obedience to Him.  We pray that you will have a hunger for God’s word and that it would bring you great wisdom.  We pray that you would have a deep love for serving others as you remember how Jesus served you by going to the cross.  We pray that you would understand that there is a world much bigger than what you can see with many different kinds of people who need to know Jesus.  We pray that your life would point many to Jesus.

 Look to Jesus, Noah, and follow His example!

We love you with all our heart,

Daddy and Mommy

XOXO

A Prayer of Consecration and Worship

Consecration and Worship

My God, I feel it is heaven to please Thee, and to be what Thou wouldst have me be. O that I were holy as Thou art holy, pure as Christ is pure, perfect as Thy Spirit is perfect! These, I feel, are the best commands in Thy Book, and shall I break them? must I break them? am I under such a necessity as long as I live here?
Woe, woe is me that I am a sinner, that I grieve this blessed God, who is infinite in goodness and grace! O if He would punish me for my sins, it would not would my heart so deep to offend Him; But though I sin continually, He continually repeats His kindness to me.
At times I feel I could bear any suffering, but how can I dishonour this glorious God? What shall I do to glorify and worship this best of beings? O that I could consecrate my soul and body to His service, without restraint, for ever! O that I could give myself up to Him, so as never more to attempt to be my own! or have any will or affections that are not perfectly conformed to His will and His love! But, alas, I cannot live and not sin.
O may angels glorify Him incessantly, and, if possible, prostrate themselves lower before the blessed King of heaven! I long to bear a part with them in ceaseless praise; but when I have done all I can to eternity I shall not be able to offer more than a small fraction of the homage that the glorious God deserves. Give me a heart full of divine, heavenly love.

A Prayer of Confession and Petition

Confession and Petition

Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find Thy mind in Thy Word, of neglect to seek Thee in my daily life. My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless Thee that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ. Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them. Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit into subjection, but do Thou rule over me in liberty and power.

I thank Thee that many of my prayers have been refused. I have asked amiss and do not have, I have prayed from lusts and been rejected, I have longed for Egypt and been given a wilderness. Go on with Thy patient work, answering 'no' to my wrongful prayers, and fitting me to accept it. Purge me from every false desire, every base aspiration, everything contrary to Thy rule. I thank Thee for Thy wisdom and Thy love, for all the acts of discipline to which I am subject, for sometimes putting me into the furnace to refine my gold and remove my dross.

No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin. If Thou shouldst give me choice to live in pleasure and keep my sins, or to have them burnt away with trial, give me sanctified affliction. Deliver me from every evil habit, every accretion of former sins, everything that dims the brightness of Thy grace in me, everything that prevents me taking delight in Thee. Then I shall bless Thee, God of jeshurun, for helping me to be upright.

Nourished by Prayers of Old

Welp, it's been a whopping 6 months and 21 days since I've blogged.  Can I even call myself a blogger anymore?  I'm embarrassed, but would like to get back on the blogging saddle, because I hope these next several blogs will encourage you as they've encouraged me.

Much has happened over the past six and a half months, most notably the conception of our first child, a boy, who is slated to join us mid November.  We are thrilled.  And sobered.  But also over the past several months I have been discouraged by my response to circumstances.  It's easy to rejoice when life is good, but the challenge is the response to the hardships of life.  We have been working through a sermon series at church on the book of James, which has been great.  We have talked about trials, temptations, faith and deeds, and the tongue among other topics.  Ironically I have felt like a big fat failure in most of these areas as we've been talking about them.  I thank God for pastors who remind us that in our failure Christ was perfect.

My failure - the fresh look at my own sin - has caused a deep hunger to look at Christ.  And so I turned to several sources for divine vision, one being an online version of the Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers.  I've been so nourished by the rich words of these prayers as they really get to the heart of so many fundamental issues of the Christian life.  As a result, I thought I'd share a prayer a day (or so) with you with the hope that you too will be encouraged wherever you find yourself in life.

The Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.

Beauty for Ashes

"For unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified."—Isaiah 61:3.

February 14th - 19th is the hardest time of the year for me.  My dad passed away on February 14th, 2009 and would have celebrated his 64th birthday on the 19th of that same month.  Today he would have been 67.  Happy Birthday Dad!

Each year for the past two years I have anticipated this time of year with great heaviness and grief.  Being that the anniversary of my dad's death falls on Valentine's Day each year, it's hard to muster up romance when I'm grief-stricken.  Usually what ends up happening is I sabotage any attempt Ron makes to be caring and romantic, because I'm an emotional wreck.  This is what I anticipated this year, but the reality turned out differently. 

The Sunday before Valentine's Day I felt the fog of grief descending.  It became thicker as we approached VDay, so I braced myself (and Ron) for a repeat.  It was all I could do to get Ron a card and write some sweet sentiments down.  I had the card ready for him when he left for work on Tuesday morning, but he didn't see where I left it (fumble on my part).  With his card still laying on the counter and nothing there for me, I went to work feeling pretty depressed.  I was in that "thin layer of tears lining the bottom lid and could burst into tears at any given moment" mood. 

Ron called mid-morning and asked if he could take me out to lunch.  Almost immediately my mood changed.  He let me choose the restaurant, so we met at Chilis and I was greeted with a beautiful bouquet of roses and tulips.  We had a great lunch that ended with Chili's Chocolate Molten cake and all of a sudden I knew that - in the midst of chocolaty bliss - life was going to be ok.  The flowers became a beautiful and fragrant addition on my desk.

The early evening of Valentine's Day was spent at MLKU, the tutoring program with which I help on Tuesday and Thursday evening.  Seeing the sweet faces of children that I love and receiving their Valentine's Day affection and candy warmed my heart.  I mean, how can you not love a face like this:

Thursday night Ron was honored as one of "40 Leaders Under 40" by the Triad Business Journal.  If you know Ron, you know he's not one to "toot his own horn."  With that being said, it leaves ample room for his wife, mom, mom-in-law, and 10 co-workers to toot it for him and celebrate this award with him.  The event gave us a reason to dress up, be with family and friends, network with some uber interesting "under forty folks" and enjoy great food.  Plus they gave us heart shaped clappers, which were too much fun (especially for Susan Milner)!

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that Ron's coworkers made badges with Ron's face plastered on it and decided to wear it to the event.  They gave my mom and his mom one too.  It was great and of course Ron really loved (READ: HATED) the badges.

The next day I was able to enjoy the morning with the best mom and mom-in-law a girl could ask for!  We went to Breakfast Of Course for a delectable brunch: breakfast burrito, french toast, organic yogurt, fruit and what I'm affectionately calling "Heaven's Dew."  For those of you who know me personally, you know that my tea of choice is 99.9% of the time ____________?  If you guessed Earl Grey (with milk and sugar), you guessed right.  I asked for the tea menu at BOC and was intrigued by the Lemon Mango Tea.  I ordered this tea and found heaven's dew!  After going to Piedmont Craftsmen Gallery and Baby's R Us (no, NOT for us), we drove right over to Angelina's Tea and purchased the dew of heaven.  Thanks Mom!

                                    

My all time, hands down, one hundred percent favorite play is Les Miserables.  There are few other stories that so clearly speak to the freeing power of grace and the crippling power of the law than this play (except of course THE story of redemption found in the Bible and which culminates in Christ.  THIS story is from where all other redemptive stories flow).  Ron had been looking for months to see when the play was touring in the U.S., and finally he discovered it was playing in Raleigh the week of Valentine's Day.  Could the heart shaped stars aligned more perfectly?  We got tickets for each other for Christmas and had eagerly anticipated this weekend for months.  In preparation I had been listening to "Les Miserables" Pandora at any opportunity possible.  We drove to Raleigh on Friday afternoon and after several nail-biting bouts with Friday traffic we made it to 518 West for a delicious dinner before the play.  We drove to the theater, found FREE parking (SCORE), and entered into the wonderland that is Les Mis.  I don't think I am exaggerating to say I was as giddy as a chubby kid in a candy shop.  Here's proof: when Ron was in the bathroom, this was what I did.

Mildly creepy?  Yes, I know.  There's a Les Mis anonymous out there somewhere, I'm sure.  The play was every ounce as wonderful as I anticipated and I was thrilled to experience it with Ron as it was his first time.  I left loving the gospel even more!  Grace frees and the law binds!

We stayed with dear friends, Justin and Sarah Leonard, in Holly Springs on Friday night.  On Saturday we enjoyed a long brunch with them catching up on the past several months.  They are special folks, and it was a treat to see them.  From Holly Springs, we went on to Greensboro to visit with some more great friends, Noah and Tina Forlines.  We hadn't really connected with them since our wedding, so it was great to spend a couple hours hearing about each other's life over an Earl Grey Tea.  After meeting with Noah and Tina we drove back to Winston-Salem, unpacked, took a power nap, and met up with some friends to bowl in preparation for "Bowl for Kids Sake" next weekend.  It was great fun! 

And today I was able to worship with my church family at Calvary hearing Will Toburen faithfully and passionately preach about God's design for the family as well as talk about "The Day of the Lord" with the college ministry.  After several errands, Ron and I ended up having an unexpected night indoors due to the raging snow storm (READ: light dusting that causes any Southerner to panic, stock pile food, and stay home at all costs).

God's grace!  By His grace, the dreary fog between February 14 - 19 turned out to be an incredible week.  I finished this week feeling more blessed than I possibly deserve.  Truly God turned my ashes into beauty, my mourning into gladness, and my spirit of heaviness into praise!

I know you thought this blog would never end, but let me close with one last thought.  I don't mean to imply through this blog that good circumstances equal beauty, gladness and praise.  It is the hope of the Christian faith that even in the midst of great adversity, that one can have deep comfort and peace.  More than rejoicing in good circumstances, I want to join Job in saying, "The Lord gives and takes away; blessed be His name." And with Paul who learned to be content in whatever the circumstances, whether in need or in plenty.  The beginning of the Isaiah passage with which I started this blog points to this unwavering hope: the Spirit of the Lord.  The great gift given to believers at the point of repentance and faith.  It is through the power of the Spirit of the Lord at work in the heart of Christians, that one can enjoy the good circumstances but hope in the bad too, because Christ has beaten death and one day ALL THINGS WILL BE NEW!  That is the hope of this little lady and the purpose of this blog.  So may I be like a tree firmly planted bringing great glory to the Lord!

"For unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified."—Isaiah 61:3.

The Morality of Eating Meat

My last post was about a tremendous ministry in Charlotte called the King's Kitchen.  Unexpectedly, the blog started a conversation between a friend and me about the morality of eating meat.  You can read the blog post here as well as her comment.

After some dialogue, Kat graciously sent me a DVD to watch called Farm to Fridge.  I watched the DVD, did personal research, study, and came to the following conclusion.  Below is my response to Kat.

When I posted my blog about The King’s Kitchen I certainly didn't imagine that it would spark a discussion about the morality of eating meat or cause me to deeply discern whether I wanted to continue eating meat.  I did watch the video that sent me (Farm to Fridge); it was horrible. 

There seem to be two issues at play.  First, is it morally wrong (Biblically speaking) to eat meat?  Second, should inhumane industry practices towards animals raised for slaughter deter the eating of meat?

As I’ve studied the first question, I cannot find a compelling Biblical reason to not eat meat.  In fact, it seems that the opposite is true.  Starting in the first chapters of Genesis, God creates a distinction between humans and animals, namely creating humans in His own image and giving them the responsibility to “rule” over the earth as God rules over all.  With that being said, animals are created beings and, like the environment, I think they should be stewarded with care and concern.  And yet there is a sense that creation is meant to be used (not abused) and cultivated for human flourishing and God’s glory.  There is a higher order for man compared to animals.

You are right that there is no explicit command to eat meat in Genesis 1 and 2, but on the other hand there is no explicit command to not eat meat.  It is not mentioned.  The only prohibition is to not eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Perhaps God’s ideal was for Adam and Eve to be vegetarians in the Garden of Eden, but there is ample Bible text post-fall that suggests that, while eating meat may not be ideal pre-fall, it is minimally permissible post fall. 

The fact that God’s first act of redemption or covering was to slaughter an animal and use it to cover the nakedness of disobedient Adam and Eve I think suggests that there is a permissibility in the functionality of animals even when it means their death.  This continues all throughout the Old Testament with hundreds of years of animal sacrifices that God ordained to cover the sins of the Israelites.  While these animal sacrifices could not suffice for the continued sin of God’s people, Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice, is called the Lamb of God, who had to die to take away the sins of the world.  There is a profound spiritual truth in this physical reality.

Biblical wisdom states that “everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial or constructive (I Cor. 10:23).  This passage is directly linked to a passage about eating meat.  The issue in this text was not the morality of eating meat itself, but eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols, which I think transitions nicely to the second issue of whether we should eat meat that has been produced under inhumane conditions.  This is really where I have wrestled.

The practices that are highlighted in the video you sent me are deplorable.  Certainly I think they should cause us to question the industry.  When I started to process the images I saw in the video, I was left with a lingering question.  How standard are these practices?  The reason for this question stems from a concern to know how normative these practices are in the meat industry.  Every endeavor of human hands is going to be tainted in some way by sin.  Every industry is going to have some stain of sin, sometimes large sometimes small.  Do we throw away the baby with the bathwater? Do we throw out the entire industry because of isolated malpractice?  For example, do I reject the public school system because there are perverted teachers and administrators who use their position to prey on students?  While I hate the practice, I can understand that there is still good in the industry at large.  I think the same can be said for the meat industry. 

The conclusion that Paul makes in I Corinthians 10 is telling:

1 Corinthians 10:23-32
²³ “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. ²⁴ Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. ²⁵ Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. ²⁶ For “the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.” ²⁷ If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. ²⁸ But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— ²⁹ I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? ³⁰ If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?  ^{31 32} Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God

Several conclusions from this passage:

-          The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.  He has given human’s authority over the earth as He has authority over us.  This is God’s premise for allowing man to eat meat.
-          Eating meat is an issue of conscious.  I would say it’s inappropriate to make a matter of personal conscious or a wisdom issue a matter of conviction for everyone.
-          Where it would be offensive to eat meat (or not eat meat), you should oblige out of care for others.
-          Whatever we do, whether eating meat or anything else, we should do it with a mindset of bringing great glory to God.

This is a Biblical defense of the morality of eating meat.  I understand that there could be other motivations to eat or not eat meat.  I simply wanted to lay out a Biblical motivation, because that is what motivates me personally.

So where do I land on this issue.  While I do think it is Biblically permissible to eat meat, I do question the treatment of animals that are raised to slaughter.  I’m still investigating the nature of mistreatment in terms of whether these are commonplace practices and standards or isolated instances of abuse.  While I do not have a problem eating meat, I have substantially limited my meat consumption unless it is served to me or I have purchased the meat from a humane butcher or local farmer. 

Christmas and the King's Kitchen

Christmas 2011 was very different for Ron and me.  I have a very small family.  My only brother and sister-in-law, James and Catharine, were with her family for Christmas, so that left me, Ron, and my mom.  Mom decided that since we had room at the table, we should invite some families from the Salvation Army Family Shelter who had no where else to go.  (I know, she is a lot like Jesus)  So here's a run down of how our Christmas panned out.

My mom, Ron, and I woke up early to share breakfast and open up gifts together.  We got ready and headed to the Salvation Army to pick up the families that were paired with our family.  Talk about a humbling experience, walking into a facility filled with people who have no where else to go on Christmas day when they had a free pass to leave and go wherever they wanted.  We were supposed to connect with three families; one of those families had been discharged so we connected with the two other families.  Our first guest a middle class woman who was left homeless when her husband left her and her son.  As a result she was not able to pay her mortgage and keep up with family expenses.  She ended up at the Salvation Army.  Our second guest left homeless after the parent's with whom she lived and for whom she cared passed away.  As a result her and her son ended up at the Salvation Army.  After exchanging introductory pleasantries, we headed to church.

Mom had told me that she went to a homeless church on Sunday mornings.  While I thought the concept was intriguing, I really had no frame of reference until I entered "Restoration Place Church."  Unlike most churches, this congregation meets in a restaurant, "The Kings Kitchen."  The Kings Kitchen is owned by Jim Noble of Nobles Restaurant in Winston-Salem and Charlotte (among other hugely successful restaurants).  Jim Noble, a Christian chef and restaurant owner, started a non-profit restaurant with the following vision and mission:

Vision:

“The King’s Kitchen” is a ministry operating as a not for profit restaurant to raise funds to feed the poor and to train and equip those previously unemployable in the restaurant trade.

Mission:

“The King’s Kitchen” will operate as a public restaurant, serving local, healthy, Southern cuisine and the profits and proceeds from “The King’s Kitchen” will go toward feeding the poor. In addition, The King’s Kitchen will also operate “The King’s Kitchen Restoration Program” as a four part training program to employ, train and minister the gospel of Jesus Christ to homeless, the poor, troubled youth, rehab graduates and other members of our community who are in need of employment. The King’s Kitchen will operate in the spirit of excellence by training and equipping the whole man (spirit, soul and body) thereby sending out developed leaders into our community. This will be done by working together with other local ministries, businesses, non-profits and people of faith.

Yes, I know.  Unbelievably beautiful.  And hugely captivating for this community development girl.

We walked into the restaurant-turned-church and were greeted by about two dozen of Charlotte's homeless community - many of whom had their life's belongings close to their side.  Regardless of their lot in life their hearts were full and their voices loud as they praised the Christ of Christmas that Sunday morning.  We found some seats and joined in the chorus.  And who do you think the pastor is of this beautiful congregation?  None other than Jim Noble himself.  Unfortunately his wife was sick, which meant the associate pastor opened God's Word and encouraged the congregation from the book of John.  After the message, we entered into a time of prayer and testimony.  The "have-nots" have a knack for knowing their need and recognizing God's provision; us "have it alls" are not quite as knowledgeable.  We have deep needs too and an equally gracious Provider; we just like to cover our needs and claim our own ability to provide.  Hmmm.  Regardless, I was moved by the humility of many who came forward for prayer and touched by the testimony of those who shared of God's power in their life, namely in salvation. 

Each Sunday after church, "The Kings Kitchen" provides boxed lunches of their own cuisine for those in the congregation who could use a meal.  That's the vast majority of folks.  Because it was Christmas, the pastor announced that everyone would not only receive a meal, but that they were encouraged to eat at the restaurant together enjoying added fellowship.  Another thing about "have it alls" is that we don't like to be on the receiving end.  When the pastor invited us to eat with the group, my initial thought was, I'm absolutely not eating food that could be served to those who don't have food to eat."  But as I thought about it, receiving the meal and being served by the congregation was a way to level to field and unite us as one.  So I received the delicious meal of beaf brisque, green beans, corn, and corn bread.  We pulled some tables together and sharing a wonderful time of fellowship.  I sat next to a handsome, middle aged man named Lee.  As we began to talk, Lee shared that he used to work the ports of Charleston loading and unloading cargo ships.  He moved to Charlotte to follow his fiance who soon became his wife.  After several years of marriage, his wife left him leaving him severely depressed.  His depression led to his homelessness.  He mentioned that he had tried to call his family earlier in the day to wish them a merry Chirstmas, but was unable to reach them.  I realized I had my phone, so I offered him the phone to call his family.  He called his mom and when she didn't answer, he left a message that began, "Merry Christmas Mom.  This is Lee.  I'm still alive..."  Wow!  Another humbling moment.

As we finished our meal and got ready to leave, Mom invited one of her friends from the church, Angel, to come to our home for Christmas dinner.  He agreed to come with us and our other guests and so we headed back to the house for the rest of the day.  But that's another post...

...until then pray for the Nobles and the ministry of "The Kings Kitchen."  And if you live in the Triad area, support Nobles Restaurant.