Real-Life Bible Lesson Reveals Real Treasure

I just experienced a couple real-life illustrations of Bible verses. Unfortunately.

Last night, I opened my jewelry box to grab my favorite bracelet. It wasn't there. I'm one of those compulsively organized people who has "a place for everything, and everything in its place," so I was puzzled the bracelet wasn't in its designated spot.

As I began searching for it, I gleefully thought, I'm like the woman in the parable of the lost coin. What a great, illustrative experience! I figured I'd quickly find the bracelet, rejoice that it had been recovered, and I'd call my friends to happily share how I'd lived out the parable. But after searching in all the logical places, and then some illogical ones, I became concerned. Alarmed. Upset. Two hours passed. Just before I went to bed, I sadly told my husband that I'd lost the bracelet he bought me.

He'd been elated when he purchased it. But I'd been upset after seeing the receipt. It had cost a pretty penny, and it didn't seem wise to spend so much on a silly little accessory. As he wrapped it around my wrist and fastened the clasp, all I could think about were the dollars that thing had drained from our checking account. Later, I complained about the expenditure to a single girlfriend. "Wow, it must be tough to have a husband who surprises you with expensive jewelry," she said with an obvious roll of her eyes. (That rightly made me feel like a jerk.)

So I started wearing the bracelet. Every time I put it on, I thought about how my husband valued me. Extravagantly. That made me feel good, and I gotta admit, the bracelet looked gorgeous on me. I began to love my special treasure. Still, I didn't wear it often, since I was terrified of scratching it or losing it.

Reality is setting in today: My bracelet is gone. I wish I'd worn it every day. I wished I'd expressed more gratitude when my husband gave it to me. I wish I could find it, if only to recognize its non-monetary value. I think about my husband, who never goes shopping and doesn't even buy his own clothes, selflessly walking into the mall. Joyfully picking out the piece he knew would look so perfectly delicate and elegant on my wrist. Gleefully presenting it to me on Christmas morning, with the box covered in crumpled, uneven gift wrap. ("I wrapped it myself," he'd proclaimed. That made me smile.)

Hubby squeezed me tight today, reminding me that his love hasn't gotten lost. And the words of Matthew 6:19-21 comforted me: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Admittedly, it drives me nuts to lose something so valuable. I hope this teaches me to take care of what I own. But more importantly, I hope I'll recognize my stuff isn't my real treasure.

To ponder:
1) Think about your stuff. Is there something that would make you sad if it was lost, broken, or stolen?

2) Think about how you take care of your stuff (i.e. detailing your car, keeping your clothes perfectly pressed, organizing your music collection). How much time do you spend caring for your stuff? In comparison, how much time do you spend caring for people?

3) Is there someone in your life who has done something valuable for you, and you haven't expressed gratitude?

4) Think about the gratitude you've expressed (or haven't expressed) recently to God. Are there things you need to say to him right now?

What's Your Favorite Easter Candy?

This blog is so serious all the time! The last person to comment made a joke about the Easter bunny, which got me thinking about candy. Thank you, Anonymous poster, for causing me to lighten up on this blog for a moment. So here's a question for H-n-T readers:

What's your favorite Easter candy?

I LOVE Peeps. Love them. I don't eat them year-round, though it seems they're available almost every season these days. Which is wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. They are solely my special Easter treat. And yes, I do eat all 15 by myself. My mom still makes Easter baskets for me and my husband, and I tend to eat my husband's Peeps, too. I. Love. Peeps.

There's a Peeps-making machine, which I'm somewhat tempted to buy, except that "homemade" Peeps surely can't compare to those store-bought, cellophane-wrapped delights. And the machine costs $14.99. I could buy a whole lotta Peeps for 15 bucks.

(If I have a kid, they are getting this costume. In fact, I think some of my friends' kids will be getting this from Auntie Holly ... )

Please don't give me Peeps. Or Peeps-making machines. After eating close to 30 every Easter, I fall down, roll around on the ground, and beg for death. If I had access to more than two packages of Peeps, I surely would keel over. Peeps probably aren't very good for me. That's why they will remain solely my Easter treat.

Your First (and Last) Chance for an Early Easter

From "You'll never live to see another Easter this early" by Bill Ellis of ASSIST News Service:

Easter cannot be any earlier than March 22 or any later than April 25. The last time Easter was as early as March 23 was in 1913. I have read that the next time it will be on March 23 will be 2160. Enjoy it this year because you will not live long enough to celebrate another Easter this early in the year.

The last time it was observed on March 22, the earliest possible date, was in 1818 and it will not happen again until 2285. Nobody is alive who was living the last time or will be alive when it happens again. The last time the latest possible Easter fell on April 25 was in 1943. It will happen again in 2038.

Holly Turns 34; Oh, Happy Day!

It’s my birthday, and my only plans were to work on a research paper. And write this blog.

This is most unusual—I usually make a huge deal out of my birthday. I typically spend six weeks planning my party. One month prior, I start a “countdown”: My friends receive an email that says, “Only 31 more shopping days until Holly’s birthday!” In the past, I’ve ordered custom t-shirts and themed party favors. (At my 80s party last year, guests received Rubik’s cubes and jelly bracelets in their goody bags.)

Additionally, I typically spend the entire week of my birthday engaging in “mini-celebrations”: I take myself out to my favorite restaurant, I give myself a day of beauty at the salon, I buy a new outfit. This is in addition to all the gifts and other parties I get from family and friends.

But this year, I didn’t remind anyone about my birthday. I didn’t plan a party. Instead, I spent the day doing homework. By choice. As much as I love my birthday (and I truly do!), I’m so enamored with school right now, nothing could be better than studying.

Honestly. I LOVE grad school! (I'm working on a master's in Christian Apologetics.) And I love my research paper. It’s on the holes in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution; specifically, I argue against his idea life arose through purely natural means. In other words, Darwin theorized there was no supernatural involvement. No creator, no design, no plan—we simply won the cosmic lottery, and we’re lucky to be here. Francis Crick, a Darwinist who received the Nobel Prize for being a co-discoverer of the molecular structure of DNA, wrote, “An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going." I wonder why Crick couldn't make the leap from thinking life seemed miraculous to believing it actually is.

I’ve been reflecting on my life—as we usually do when birthdays roll around—and I’m amazed at how truly miraculous and planned it is. Some folks would prefer to say I’m the recipient of good fortune. But in reviewing the evidence, I don’t think luck has much to do with it. Through a series of specific events, I find myself back in school at the perfect time. I wouldn’t have been ready for it a year ago, wouldn’t have considered it two years ago, and couldn’t have considered it five years ago. I started H-n-T two years ago as a way to stay in touch with a friend, and it turned into something amazing—something I never would have dreamed. Then, after reading H-n-T, the editors at Today’s Christian Woman asked me to blog for them. And thanks to my Today’s Christian Woman blog, traffic to H-n-T in the last eight months has grown from about 125 visitors a month to nearly 700.

Even bad circumstances have turned out to be good this year. In October 2006, I started having vision problems. I lost part of the sight in my left eye, and my doctor told me it was permanent and untreatable. For two months, it was a struggle to read—I briefly considered giving up writing because it seemed too hard. Then some friends started praying for me. I made up my mind that no matter how difficult it became, I was going to keep writing stories about my faith journey and God’s goodness. And I asked God to help me persevere.

As you may remember, my eyesight was restored without any treatment—other than lots of prayer from friends! It’s been just over a year since that happened. My vision was 20/200 in my left eye in December 2006; I couldn’t see the big “E” at the top of the eye chart. At my last eye exam, my doctor told me I was seeing 20/40 of out my left eye.

Since 2004, when I left Christianity Today International so hubby and I could move to California for his job, I wondered what God was going to do with my life. I was jobless, bored and miserable. And it seemed God was closing every door, which I couldn’t understand. I was making myself available! I was trying to tackle projects it seemed God was placing in front of me! But every time I got excited about some prospective work opportunity, it seemed to crash and burn. At times, I thought, Maybe God doesn’t have any plans for me. Or maybe I’m supposed to come up with my own plans. Or maybe I’m supposed to wait patiently … I just didn’t know what was going to happen.

I’m beginning to understand why I had to wait. Waiting is HARD. That’s why my birthday parties were so important in the past. They gave me something to look forward to. I’d celebrate that I’d gotten through another miserable year of waiting.

This year, I didn’t make any big plans for my birthday. I didn’t need to celebrate my survival or buy myself toys to feel better. This year I’m excited and expectant for stuff I see God lining up before me.

Guess I’m completely satisfied with the plans God is giving me. It’s been worth the wait, and then some.

To ponder:
1) Have you ever had to wait on God for something? How did this make you feel?

2) How did you deal (or how are you dealing) with the waiting time?

3) If you're presently waiting on God: Consider these words God had Jeremiah tell the Israelites: "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart'" (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

How do these words make you feel? (Some will find the passage encouraging, other will view it as discouraging, and some will feel a mix of the two.) Then, tell God how the passage made you feel.

4) If you had to wait in the past: In retrospect, could you see how God used the wait? What would you say to someone who feels like they’re in a holding pattern? If it seems difficult to come up with encouraging words, consider: What do you wish someone had said to you or done for you?

Christians Behaving Badly

Holly's latest blog entry on Today's Christian Woman magazine's website is now up:

Christians Behaving Badly
Who’s giving the church a bad reputation? Perhaps I am.

http://blog.todayschristianwoman.com/
walkwithme/2008/02/christians_behaving_badly.html

To ponder:
1) How do you respond when other Christians behave badly?

2) Is recognizing bad behaviors in yourself difficult?

3) What’s helped you recognize and change these thoughts or behaviors?

4) How do you respond when someone who isn't a Christian points out bad behavior by groups like the Phelps family? Do you respond differently when this bad behavior is from an esteemed Christian or group?

5) If someone said, "Christians aren't perfect, but they seem to think they are," how would you respond? Consider using your own mistakes to illustrate your response.

North Korea Named No. 1 Persecutor of Christians

According to Open Doors’ 2008 World Watch List, North Korea remains the No. 1 persecutor of Christians. The organization identifies the following 10 countries as having the greatest intensity of Christian persecution:

1) North Korea (2007 ranking: 1)
2) Saudi Arabia (2)
3) Iran (3)
4) Maldives (5)
5) Bhutan (7)
6) Yemen (6)
7) Afghanistan (10)
8) Laos (9)
9) Uzbekistan (11)
10) China (12)

To compile the list, Open Doors compares answers given by indigenous contacts, field workers, and persecuted believers on 50 questions covering various aspects of religious freedom.

Open Doors serves persecuted believers throughout the world through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry, and advocacy.

Find the Presidential Candidate of Your Dreams

My friend Brooke sent me a link to an interesting website. By answering a few questions on the site, you can find out which presidential candidate most closely lines up with your views.

Not surprisingly, the candidate I was already leaning toward was the closest match for me. And according to my results, the top two candidates who's views most closely align with mine are both from my political party. So perhaps I really am a dyed-in-the-wool.

Check it out:

Select a Candidate

http://cbs2.com/yourcandidate

Election 2008: More Than One Christian Candidate

Super Tuesday is a'comin'! Here's a little something I wrote in response to comments on my election blog on the Today's Christian Woman website:

I'd prefer our country’s leader believe in God. But if faith is all we're demanding in a president, we're demanding too little.

Whether or not a presidential candidate is likely to turn to God for wisdom is hugely important to me. I do want to know the candidate's faith, but that's all the information I need. I believe the American people do not benefit from a prove-your-faith contest—it is a waste of time that could be better utilized to discuss the issues affecting our country.

And I believe it does not edify the church for political candidates to rattle off a few Bible verses come election time. Consider the perception these candidates are creating when, having not been vocal about their beliefs in the past, they suddenly start discussing Scripture and hymns during an election. I have a feeling they won't be talking about these things in a year. Will this make faith look like something to be put on when it is useful? Will this make faith appear to be shallow or surface? Will it make Christianity look like a mere social affiliation? The overuse of faith as a political buzzword dilutes its real meaning.

We shouldn't be analyzing the perceived depth of faith of a candidate, then choosing based on whoever seems like the "best Christian." If my church were interviewing for a pastor, the candidate's depth of faith would be my primary concern. Conversely, in considering my vote for president, faith may be a must-have quality, but that quality still plays a tiny role in my decision.

Here's a simple illustration of what I mean. If I go out for lunch one day and see I have many choices, I might think to myself, "I want to eat something hot, not cold." I've decided my food must be hot. But beyond that, I have a lot more decision-making to do. I've really only ruled out a few choices.

In the current presidential race, almost all of the candidates profess Christian faith. So we've got a whole lot of choices to make.

MORE:
Misplaced Faith
Is faith the most important issue in the 2008 presidential race?