Jeremiah Was A Bailey...

Come with me, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, to the baby shower of Kelly Bailey and her soon-t0-be-born Jeremiah...

Best buddies, Kelly, and Wendy from over at Hope Springs, who gave birth to her baby boy Ethan on the same day our grandson was born! Don't they both look fantastic?

The Reese Clan...from left to right, front, you see Meredith, Kelly, and Laura, in back, left to right, you see mamma Reese, Megan, Amy, Jamie, Angel, and Lisa. I think you can tell that they are all Saints fans. Ahem.

Jeremiah's baby blanket...

One of his gifts from me...Saints baby booties. I made 'em. I have mad skillz.

Good grief. That is all I can say. It was an act of love for a Colts fan such as myself to watch...

Whatever.

Mmmmm-hmmmmmm. We'll see. Pastor Tim might attempt to zealously affect baby Jeremiah into the Colts Camp.

At least I was generously given a corner piece.

These people are out of control.

Please. If you are a Colts fan, come join us at Harvest. The Saints are repopulating like crazy, and we Colts need to outnumber them.

::smile::

How To Be a Blessing To Your Pastor

Obey those who are in authority over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. (Hebrews 13:17)

When our elders at Harvest Church were set in, two dear friends of ours, Neil Silverberg and Pete Beck were there to set them in with us. They both had weighty and wonderful things to say. One thing Neil said has lingered with me. He said, "You cannot disregard these leaders without doing damage to your own soul."

Obviously, that does not mean that Pastor Tim and our elders have a right to be authoritarian, and if you don't do exactly as they say, they will kick you to the curb. Men like that, insecure and law-oriented, are a dime a dozen, and shouldn't be made watchers-over-souls in the first place.

Neil meant that in the spirit, a pastor or elder has special authority.

There. I said it.

I know that is politically incorrect, but that is what the Bible says. I'll let you argue it out with God. You cannot act in a way that disregards authority, nor can you act in ways that bring grief or pain to the heart of those in authority, without sinning. And when you sin against a leader in these ways, you do damage to your soul.

You aren't punished for your sin...the punishment for sin was laid on Jesus Christ. You are, however, punished by your sin. Your sin will harden you, sear what soft places there may be left, and sit there accumulating and sowing to itself until it is dealt with. Gah. If that does not scare you, sin has already been hardening your heart. Your sinning against a leader does not affect your eternal destiny, but it sure will affect your days. And friend....days have a way of becoming years.

How do you bless a leader?

By not being a burden.

You thought I was going to say, "Make sure he is well taken care of." Yeah, the Bible does say that, especially those who labor in the Word, but that is a firm grasp of the obvious. You thought I might say, "Send him on a particularly wonderful vacation, all expenses paid." You thought I might say, "Take him out to dinner."

Nah. All you do to bless your pastor (or elders) is to not be a burden. Don't sin against your own soul by making his job more difficult. Rather, do everything in your power to make his job a joy. How can you do this?

Do your job. Do not do his job. Do not do the accountant's job. Do not do the elder's job. Do your job with excellence.

Stop whining. Stop questioning your pastor, coming and going. It does not validate your existence to do that. It will not create accountability between you and your pastor; rather it makes your pastor expect you to be the one to find fault. He'll overlook you for it, but is that really what you want?

Stop trying to make your hot button his hot button. His hot button has to be the gospel. Nothing but the gospel. Have I been clear enough? If your hot button is children's ministry, then get involved. If your hot button is prayer, then pray. If your hot button is missions, then give like crazy to your church's missionaries, and take a few trips yourself. If your hot button is the homeless, then go minister to them, and take a few church members with you.

Stop expecting a plug from the pulpit for your particular passion. If a pastor did that for every good thing, for every hot button, all he'd be doing is pushing buttons, regularly and randomly. That makes him the Great and Powerful Oz...but it will not make him an effective pastor. Let the man preach the gospel. Let him lead. You do whatever gift and passion and calling that blows your skirt up, without expecting the pastor to hold your hand.

I'll promise you, your pastor has a hot button. But if he is wise, he keeps it to himself, and refuses to create a "niche church" around his hot button. I know my Tim has several hot buttons, one of which is healthy marriages, home education, and yet more are hospitality and evangelism. He is strong in all those areas, and he has great passion for them, but he keeps himself to the gospel as it concerns leading Harvest Church. He sees his job as putting a foundation of grace under people, thus equipping the saints to pursue their hot buttons under the safety of oversight.

If your hot button is nursing home ministry, and you pursue that ministry with passion and purpose, then your church is a "nursing home ministry" church. If your hot button is missions, and you go on mission trips, and you support your church's missionaries, then your church is a "missions church". If your passion is worship, you can have a worship-oriented church even if you can't sing a lick. Make sure your worship leader has the best instrument he or she could use. Worship your butt off. Encourage the worship leader, and make your enjoyment of worship obvious. You'll have a "worshipping church" before you know it!

No one church can place an emphasis on everything. But you can emphasize what you are passionate about, with your life. I can't think of a more wonderful way to live.

One more thing...

Help take care of the building. Outdated fixtures and furnishings, overgrown grass, and general untidiness is one of the most off-putting things a visitor can encounter. They matter, more than most are willing to admit.

We don't think twice about making our own homes more welcoming. When our grass needs mowing, we either mow it ourselves or pay someone to do it. We don't think twice about tapping our home's equity to make improvements. We consider that a wise investment...yet we get queasy if the church sanctuary gets redecorated for the first time in ten years. We wonder where the money's coming from. Well, without good facilities, there soon won't be much money to worry about, frankly. That is just the reality of church in the 21st century. Get over it, and work with it.

Get on board with making your church building, its grounds, and its parking area to be the best, most useful it can be. Help with the grounds keeping, the care, the maintenance. Take as much pride in your church surroundings as you do your own home. It will be such a blessing to your pastor.

How to be a blessing? Just don't be a burden.

Grace - It's a Good Thing, Part II

Yes, in Galatians 4, Paul is basically saying, "What is good for the goose is good for the...other goose." Something like that. He says that the legalists "zealously affect you", but not for good. Not for a good reason, not with a right motive.

But, he says, it is good for the heart to be zealously affected in a good thing, always! Paul, a master of sarcasm, is doing a "back atcha, Pharisee". The more the pseudo law-lovers try to zealously affect God's people, the more Paul is going to zealously affect them.

It isn't a bad thing, at all, to be zealously affected. It isn't necessarily wrong for someone to try to zealously influence you. It depends on 1. What you are being affected for, or what you are being affected about, and 2. The motive of the person influencing you.

Paul's Great Goal was Grace. The legalists Great Goal was Performance.

And so it is today. The scary thing is, you do get to choose what you will be zealously affected by.

Reread Galatians, if you get the chance.

Grace...It's a Good Thing

Legalists "zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing..."

The gist of this passage out of Galatians 4 is that self righteous people are always zealous and sincere, and their top priority is to influence you away from the gospel-preachers, to separate you from a gospel-centered church. The Message puts it this way:

"Those heretical teachers go to great lengths to flatter you, but their motives are rotten. They want to shut you out of the free world of God’s grace so that you will always depend on them for approval and direction, making them feel important."

You will be wined and dined, you will be invited to the parties, you will get the friend requests on Facebook, you will be the friend of the Pharisee, so long as you allow yourself to be affected by them. Because their goal is to separate you from the teachers they disagree with. They will flatter you with their friendship, but the motive is to "exclude you", which in the Greek means to separate you out for themselves. If you are in the grace-camp, a Pharisee will target you to hang with them, to make them feel validated and important. A Pharisee craves admiration like a pig craves the mud. They have to have followers, and they will look you up years later (lucky you!), they will call you with an invitation when they never even really liked you, all because they are searching near and far for yet another person to join them. And because they don't want you hanging out with the likes of Paul...

It's lonely at the top. These high achievers don't have the means for emotional continuity in friendship, because all us low achieving little people have such glaring flaws. No wonder we talk so much about grace, we need it...take one look at us and our children, after all. We haven't achieved much, other than a middle class income and true friendships. We drive cars that aren't new, and our goals don't go much beyond loving God and loving people. We got nothing to show for all this grace-talk other than righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

A little law mighta' dun us good.

Ah, well. Legends in Their Own Minds always end up, in the words of Peter Pan to Captain Hook, "Old. Alone. Done for."

Give me the low place, any day. I will choose the least important seat. The one with all my rowdy friends close by. The seat with all those prodigal sons and daughters. I'll sit there, thankyouverymuch. Who knows? At the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, I just might be the one told, "Come up here and sit."

Wouldn't that be fine?

I agree with Paul - it is good to be zealously affected in a good thing. I do not plan on shutting up, not in this life, about the finished work of Christ. Gentle Reader, I am out to zealously affect you in a good thing...a very good thing. The Word of His Grace.

It will be good for you to be zealously affected. It will be health to your very bones.

Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. (II Timothy 1: 13, 14)

White Bean Soup Tutorial

Gather your ingredients: white beans (I used the "quick soak" method - which is to bring your beans to a boil, let them boil for two minutes, then turn off the heat, cover them, and forget about them for an hour or so...) 2 stalks of celery, some onion, some garlic (I'm out of fresh, so I used the jar), some diced tomatoes, some tahini, barley, red wine vinegar, chicken broth, and fresh spinach.


sweat out the celery and onion in about a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic after a minute or two, because you never. ever. want to burn the garlic. Amen.

Add the diced tomato...stir...enjoy the smells. Yum!

Add your white beans, broth, one tablespoon of tahini, a splash of red wine vinegar, two or three cups of water, and a half-cup of barley...cover and simmer on low heat for a couple of hours, while you play with this:

shameless grandbaby plug, I know.
(Actually, I didn't get to hold him hardly at all today.)

Just before serving, wilt as much spinach as you'd like. Season with coarse salt and fresh ground pepper.

Merry Midwinter - 5 Tips For Beating Doldrums

A dusting of snow around our little pond...

Doldrums: a period of stagnation or slump

It is a proven fact that this is the time of year people suffer most from mild to moderate depression. It can manifest as a few days of doldrums, or as a chronic malaise. But pretty much everyone experiences the "bleak midwinter blahs". We long for sun and spring.

I won't claim to have found a cure-all for midwinter malaise, but the tips you find here today are hard-won. They come from a knowledge that is first-hand and not book-read. I didn't google "midwinter malaise" - much like I didn't google "grace" or "George MacDonald" or "how to have a great marriage".

1. exercise - proven to be as effective as antidepressants.

2. produce - get something done. Pick one thing, and do it thoroughly and well. The sense of accomplishment will spill over into the next thing, and the next...and so on. Accomplishment begets accomplishment. A body in motion tends to remain in motion, a body at rest tends to remain at rest. Get something done.

3. coffee - this will seem unhealthy to some, but evidence suggests that it is actually healthy to have that cuppa Joe in the morning. It is full of antioxidants, and the caffeine does, in fact, make you sharper and more energetic. Just don't overdo it, and you'll be fine. Go on...have a cup of coffee when you feel the lethargy trying to set in on you. Mostly, simply enjoy your coffee. Preferably with a good book and the smallest bite of something sweet. My coffee breaks are akin to a proper southern woman's "tea time". It is my few minutes to breathe deeply, savor, look out the window and wonder at the world.

4. Get outside. Embrace the cold of winter. (Embrace the humid-heat of summer, too, but that is another post for another season....) I'm telling you, few things feel better than coming into a cozy warm house when you've been outside in the cold. Bundle up and get outside, get some sunshine on those retinas...15-30 minutes, studies show. My own experience leans closer to 30 minutes. It does not matter if it is a cloudy day. You still need to be outside, where the daylight is, however cloudy it might be, for at least 15 minutes. Adjust your perspective to be an Attitude of Gratitude for the seasons, the weather, the cold, the warm house you will go back to. This works!

5. Lastly, two tips straight from the Bible. (I know - I said "5 Tips". I have twin girls. I never could resist a two-for-one deal.)

Ointment and perfume delight the heart, And the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel. Proverbs 27:9

5a. essential oils. This isn't woo-woo, new age silliness. This is tried and true Biblical remedy. Orange oil works wonders for me in winter, as does peppermint. Simply put a drop or two in the palm of your hand, rub your hands together, put your hands near your face, and breathe deeply. Really. Breathe. I often huff lavender at night. And a couple drops of eucalyptus oil is fantastic in the floor of your shower, just before you turn on the hot water. One of the best purchases I made, was a couple of small vials of essential oil (it has to be the real deal) in a roll-on application. I carry these in my purse, and roll one into the palms of my hands when I'm sitting in traffic, and then I just breathe it in. Makes me happy. It rejoices my heart. It'll make you happy. Promise.


5b. Good girlfriends. The older I get, the more I value my girlfriends. Especially the ones that make me laugh. And give me little presents. The ones who need me, yet are not "needy". The ones who can handle a season of silence, yet will answer my email in a flash if they but glimpse that my heart might be aching. The ones I can count on to stick and stay, no matter how much I show my butt. If you have walked this earth and collected one True Girl Friend thus far, you are blessed and to be envied. Every woman proclaims her own goodness, but a faithful woman who can find? (Proverbs, tweaked to the female pronoun.)


Spend some time with a fun and funny girl. If she's a pretty girl, even better. I so love me a pretty girl - in the nicest sort of way. I got me some gorgeous home-girls. Some with blue eyes, some with brown...some who are plus-size, some who are size two - but they are all cute as can be, otherwise I wouldn't like 'em as much.

My daughters are pretty and witty. I have no idea where they got it.

(Big Barney Fife snifffffff)

We give each other space, and get all up in each other's business. They are my best girlfriends, too.


My home-girls rejoice my heart. They are just the thing on a frosty winter day...an email from one, a brief chat with another, catching a movie with yet another, its all good.

Grandbabies and Knitting...

What do you say we enjoy a little bit of pleasant randomness to start our weekend?

I went shopping at Pottery Barn over the holidays, and was so inspired by their hand-knit, plush yarn pillows...So. Instead of paying $60 - $75 for one, I made a pillow of my own for about $12. I worked on it while we waited around the house for labor to start. I worked on it in the hospital while Hannah was in labor, and worked on it here and there in those first days back home, when we all were up every few hours around the clock, and my hands needed something productive to do. Finally, tonight, I finished it.

I cast off the last, long side of this rectangular lumbar pillow, stitched three sides together with matching embroidery thread, turned the pillow out, stuffed it generously, and stitched the short end closed. Done and done! I love how it turned out...so soft and full of texture.


I happened to look over across the bed and saw Poppy and the Grandson chillaxin' together...that little hand just lightly touching Poppy's lips...breathing those sweet, deep belly breaths. Tim can feel baby's breathing belly on his breathing chest, and the affect is pure bliss.


Nighty-night Poppy and baby Timothy...rest well. Saturday is going to be a fun day! Mommy and Daddy have plans to get you out and about, and you will love it...I think Grandaddy is going to take me out to breakfast in the morning. So here's a kiss on that little nose, and I'll tell you "goodnight" now!

Have a grace-filled weekend, friends.

To Know Him in the Now

Now is the time.

All your sins, past and future, are forgiven through the cross of Christ. You are free. You are free from guilt over your yesterdays, and free from anxiety over your tomorrows. This is only possible because God always inhabits the Eternal Now. It is well said that He is the great I Am, not the great I Was, nor the great I Will Be.

"Now" is always the acceptable, and in fact the only available time to receive the grace of God. (The Bible says, "Behold now is the day of salvation", which means the very same thing...)

This applies to me, though I first came to know His salvation 38 years ago. "NOW" is still the only possible opportunity I have to work out my salvation - now is the time to fear and tremble, lest I be found trying to add to His gift of righteousness. Now is the only possible opportunity I have to labor to enter His rest. Now is the only possible opportunity I have to practice His presence, to savor His sweetness, to taste of His goodness, and boast in His ability.

The only real obedience is now obedience. Planned obedience doesn't count, and past obedience counts even less. Past obedience doesn't accrue in some imaginary balance scale, the weight of which absolves me from present devotion.

I either love my brother now, or it is as though I never have and never will. (You know...your brother...your sister...the ones with names and phone numbers and addresses and children and burdens and joys and hurts and fears and they offended you and you can't quite get over it and now is your only acceptable time to make it right, to live in love again.)

I either practice His presence now, or He is only real to me in my memory, not in this moment.

Grace is not reserved for those weeks and months after I first believed. Grace is more for the present moment, a throne to which I now run with my actual life, not with my version of the story. God only deals in reality, He doesn't deal with my spin on reality.

I either hunger for Him now, or I am not hungry at all, with no guarantee of an appetite tomorrow. My heart is either tender now, or it is hard. Past tenderheartedness is not insurance in the event of future callouses. Past fire doesn't make up for present lukewarmness.

Who you are now....is who you are. You are not who you used to be, and you are not who you intend to be.

Does your "now" find you falling short? If so, you have just become human, because it is our "now" that forever finds us out. When we stop living in the land of memory and good intention, we always find ourselves in a time of need. Oh, how we need the grace of God.

"I need Thee, Oh I need Thee! Every hour I need Thee!"

Whatever you need to do to change your mind, to make things right, to take joy, to be unjaded and uncritical, to fully obey, to fully love, to fully forgive, to draw those you love straight to your heart....do it.

Now.

Now is all there is.

Typical Tuesdays...

It's a classic-jazz sort of Tuesday...

and a give-the-baby-his-bath sort of Tuesday...

Got to have the blackmail pictures...

Have you ever seen a baby with his own spa-tub??

...and proud of it.

giving his Mimi "the look"...

...and it will be a get-in-the-Anatomy/Physiology-lessons, spaghetti dinner, clean-the-laundry-room sort of Tuesday. A watch the birds at the back feeders, sip on diet Coke, go to my son's basketball game tonight, reflect-on-my-blessings sort of Tuesday.

He's been smiling at me. Yeah. Babygrandson has been smiling at his Mimi.

Bliss.

Underlined Bits

The following is an excerpt from the book Spiritual Rhythm, Being With Jesus Every Season of Your Soul, by Mark Buchanan...a book recommended by Ann Voskamp, and after reading it, I'm on my second reading....I highly recommend this book. It put many of my own recent heart experiences into words for me - it resonated deeply, and gave form and substance to what before were only the thoughts in my mind...this is the gift all good writers give to the world!

"Often our pursuits are trivial. They might masquerade as great dreams, but it's by their fruit that you know them. We gain things that perish only to lose things meant to endure, things we were to guard with all our hearts:


we get a big house, but estranged children; we win the applause of strangers, but lose our friends; we acquire wealth and status, but grow cold toward God; we acquire much and spend much, but give little and - really - get little. The Bible tells us to seek the Lord. It tells us to seek peace and pursue it. It tells us to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness.


We can know all this, and even do it, but lose our way along the way and end up chasing things we'll never catch, or if we do, wish we hadn't."

Quick, Easy, Feeds a Crowd...

This is a go-to recipe, here at the cottage. I am sure it, or something like it, is out there somewhere, in some official form, as a recipe. But this one, I made up myself. It is a perennial Atchley favorite, and couldn't be easier.

First, gather your ingredients, and take a picture of them, because you are a goober-blogger-geek:

2 or 3 large green peppers (I used 3); some red onion; a whole box of penne pasta; a sliced kielbasa; olive oil; a cup, give or take 2 or 3 cups, of Parmesan cheese (in other words, as much or as little as you want); and don't forget a bit of coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper. No table salt, please, because I am a salt snob. And a pepper snob. And a purse snob, but that's another post for another day. I buy most all my purses at Goodwill, and the only rule is that they had to have retailed for over $200 at one time.

gotta have the real deal...it's all in the parm...oh no. I am a parmesan snob, too! (Not really. I use the already grated, in the bag stuff, when I absolutely have to.)

make sure your cutting board is at least ten years old, a gift from your oldest son, and that it shows lots of "love". Because I am a cutting board snob. If there is no patina, there is no dinner.



Put your penne pasta on to boil. Cook it up according to package directions. While that is cooking away, heat up some olive oil, in your cast iron skillet. Cast iron is best, big and heavy, because I am a skillet snob. Get the oil screamin' hot, but not smokin'...

(see the pasta boiling? I wish to the moon that was a copper stock pot you see there, because I am such a copper pot snob. All my pots except my big stock pot, are copper. Alas, 6 or 8 quart copper stock pots don't come easily, because they are not found at thrift stores)

Toss in your green peppers and onion, and stir around for a minute or two. Find your newest, turquoiseyest utensil, because I am a utensil snob.

...some fresh ground pepper...

Toss in the kielbasa, and stir some more...careful now! Cast iron gets hottttt...keep it movin', girls, keep it movin'...

Toss in your cooked penne, your Parmesan, add another splash of olive oil, and break out the plates. Your tongue is going to beat your face to death trying to get to this. It is that good.

Word for 2011

Finally, I've composed my thoughts. There's been a word rolling around in my spirit in the latter part of 2010, and I knew it would be my word for the following year. It would be the word that would characterize my hours and my days. I didn't choose it, I believe "it" chose me.

The word?

Sow.


Sow - [soh],verb

1. to scatter (seed) over land, earth, etc., for future growth; plant.
2. to plant seed for: to sow a crop.
3. to scatter seed over (land, earth, etc.) for the purpose of growth.
4. to implant, introduce, or promulgate; seek to propagate or extend; disseminate
5. to strew or sprinkle with anything.

–verb (used without object)
6. to sow seed, as for the production of a crop.

Legalism is the counterfeit to spiritual sowing. God cannot and will not bless the works of my flesh. He cannot be pleased with any works of righteousness I could ever do. But when I sow, believing in a righteousness outside myself, I will reap some 30, some 60, and some 100 fold. You see, grace provides seed for the sower. My seed is a gift. I didn't earn a single seed. The ability to sow is a gift.

But I have to sow.

I will sow, in 2011, with intention. I will sow in several specific areas, and into a few specific people. I will sow in faith in the finished work of Christ.

I heard it said recently that where I am today, good or bad, is a result of decisions I made 20 years ago; and where I will be 20 years from now will be because of the choices I make today. Sowing. Reaping.

That being the case, I am excited about my next 20 years, because the revelation of the grace of God is so very strong on my life right now, in a way it wasn't 20 years ago.

Right now, were I to sow with what I myself am able to accomplish ("sow to the flesh") I will reap corruption in 20 years. But if I sow to the Spirit ("Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord"), I reap life...pressed down, shaken together, and running over.

You reap what you sow, more than you sowed, later than you sowed it. All sowing is an investment into the future. It is never God's will that I build and someone else inhabit. It is never God's best that I plant, and someone else eat. I want to sow into relationships, into my health, into the Kingdom, and also be there when the seeds sprout, and then throw a party when one seed becomes a hundred pieces of fruit, and each one of those pieces of fruit contains yet a hundred more seeds!

Call me foolish, but I am absolutely convinced that I will reap a blessing that is all out of proportion to every single seed I sow in 2011. I shall not sow sparingly.

Our friend Joe Ewen said that adversity is a precursor to opportunity, and persecution is the herald of the hundred-fold return.

Thank you, persecutors! Seriously. I mean sur-russly. Thank you, thank you. Bless you! Come by my house anytime in the coming year, so that I can share the bounty with you - because it is by your hand and your mouth that I have been so unfairly advantaged! When the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you, life becomes enchanting and incredible.

Since that be the case, I best get to sowing, because every single thing I plant is going to produce a massive bumper-crop, to the glory of God.

My Boyfriend...

My man...a picture I snapped with my phone, while we were having dinner, after strolling the riverfront in Savannah.

Cute, or what?

This man can calm me down and fire me up. Rein me in and set me loose. He can make me happy as a clam and mad as hokey pokey, and it is all just a day at the office for him. I love...and I do mean love...his passion for the gospel, preached carefully, passionately, and properly.

And in a day and time that seems to be dominated by sissies...by men who hide behind sarcasm and live under the law (the law is for sissies...only real men live by grace through faith) untaught Christian men, yoking everyone they know under heavy burdens, not lifting a finger themselves to help bear them...

...amongst self aware, religious men, cold and dead, my man glows like a happy hearth-fire. His courage to preach a New Testament, Pauline gospel is the thing I love the most about him.

Well...and those eyes. And those hands. And the way he plays the guitar, and the way he plays the drums, and the way he can fix cars...

...and the way he can soothe crying grandbabies. Now that's hot - holla!

No, it isn't our anniversary. Or his birthday. Or anything in particular. I just think he's a home-girl's best thang. My boo.

And he will read this, and look at me very...very...quizzically.

Road Trip - Savannah

A bit of lunch...

An over 110-year-old building...and cute traveling companion, who lets me eat where-evertheheck I want...

Celebrating my roots (both Scottish and Presbyterian...)

Celebrating a good, good day in Savannah.

I love the perspective a road trip gives me. There is a certain lightness to facing life with only one very small suitcase and a GPS. We are letting serendipity rule, going where we want, when we want, the way we want.

This is how we roll. No agendas, no schedule to keep, no one to feel like we have to please...just me n' my boo.

Today, we strolled Forsythe Park, visited a Revolutionary war cemetary, saw the statue of John Wesley - my favorite Arminian, Godblesshim. We navigated the cobbled street on the river, where I ate some good ol' Low Country Shrimp N' Grits.

I have more pictures for you, but this lousy internet service at our suite doesn't have the "umph" to download any more pictures...I've tried for the whole first half of the Stanford/Virginia Tech game, to no avail. I'll try again tomorrow, when the destination is...

Charleston, South Carolina!

Sabbath Rest

Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day...(Jer. 17)

this sounds suspiciously like a passage in Hebrews:

For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest...(Heb. 4)

The Sabbath was spoken of as a perpetual covenant. How is it perpetual? Christ is the substance of the Sabbath shadow, and in Him we have a perpetual covenant of rest.

You cannot know rest without the grace and peace that comes to you through the gospel. Paul's words "Grace and Peace to you" were no mere greeting. He knew that grace and peace were prerequisites to rest. You will never have rest, so long as you are burdened by your own insufficiency...or the insufficiency of others.

Without grace and peace, you will always be burdened by someones insufficient ability, insufficient finances, insufficient education, insufficient experience, insufficient humility, insufficient wisdom, insufficient performance.

Isn't that the essence of all burdens? We grow anxious or angry or addled or agitated when we ourselves, or someone else, does not meet an expected standard. When we fall short, through ignorance, willfulness, or inadequacy, there is immediately created a sense of burden.

I can almost promise you that burden-bearing has become second nature to you. You have likely developed a sophisticated, even unconscious network of mechanisms to compensate, carry, and continue beneath a variety of burdens. You likely are living as though some form of burden bearing constitutes normal life.

I can definitely promise you that a burden free life is what God means to be second nature to you. We are commanded to bear no burdens whatsoever on the Sabbath...

...and Jesus is our Sabbath.

Without the "grace and peace" found in the gospel, we operate in a mode of either drawing confidence from ours and others' performance, or we operate in a mode of ever-so-slightly eroded confidence, based on the under-performance of ourselves or others. The more disciplined and accomplished we are, the more confidence we feel.

The more disciplined and accomplished someone else is, the more confidence we feel in them.

The only problem is that, like Paul said, everything we once thought of as asset, is now considered liability. The new sufficiency is Christ's all sufficiency. The new ability is Christ's ability. The new work is to rest.

And if you think resting in the finished work of Christ is easy, then tell me, if you will, why legalists can't do it? I'll tell you why - because it takes doing the real work of God, which is believing on Jesus, whom God hath sent. All other kinds of work comes easy as falling, and fall we always do.

The hard work is found in laying every. single. burden. down.

Every moment.

Every day.

Today.

Today is your Sabbath, friend. Today is the time to cease from your own efforts.

I defy you to obey God's Sabbath imperative without a deeper understanding of grace than what you now have. Living by the law is way easier. It is far-and-away easier to live life trying to please God. It is exponentially more difficult to lay burdens down, submit to the gift of righteousness, and put no confidence in the flesh.

We think bearing burdens justifies our own existence. The cooler the burden a man bears, the cooler the man. And some burdens are just plain cool...admit it. Who do you know, who complains about the burden of being in a higher tax bracket, the burden of a successful career, the burden of an estate, the burden of keeping his pool properly maintained?

In our culture, those burdens mean that you are a rock-star.

Well, it is equally cool to bear the burden of fasting, prayer, and early rising. In fact, we can't help but let it slip in "casual conversation", if we regularly bear those burdens. When we fall short in the area of Christian perfection, it feels so...so...so holy to angst about our imperfections, and go immediately to work on them. Cool packs on our back, they are. Tokens of our ability to out-perform.

In kingdom culture, success is measured by how little you bear, not how much. The Sabbath is a perpetual covenant, and we still have our part of it to remember and keep.

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."

Do. No. Work. Bear. No. Burdens.

The burden has already been borne. Sins and sorrows were carried by Christ to the cross. The work has already been done. Christ said, "It is finished." All that remains is rest.

There yet remains a rest for you. Work very hard to enter into it.

Funny - the holiest believers I know are the ones who don't work at being holy. So untorque yourself, friend. Rest may not be cool, but it is necessary to your sanctification.

Random Firing of Neurons on New Year's Eve

It's a good think I can rock the sweatpants, because Mr. Baby (grandson) makes me not wanna get actually dressed. It is way too fun to loll about in sweatpants all day, with him laying on his back in my lap, and me talking "wotsa wotsa wittle baby talk to my cutie patootie Mr. Baby."

(Actually, I only hold him a little bit each day, I promise. I let his momma do the holdin'. But I do loll about in my sweatpants and speak in strange tongues...)



Yeah. He's kind of a big deal, and the "current family favorite".


But far be it from this Armchair Philosopher to let a single New Year's Eve go by without some ponderings. 2010 has been, by miles, the best year of my life.




2010 has been, by miles, the worst year of my life.


When you put those two extremes in the balances, and sit back and watch the scales do their thing, here is the result:


2010 has been the BEST YEAR EVER, BABY!!!!! There just ain't no if's and's or but's.



I will not take delight in ("glory in") my stuff. I will not take delight in my health and strength - gifts of sheer grace. I will not take delight in my education (oh, the books - big 'uns - I've read this year! Oh, the Scripture my soul has absorbed. Oh, the things I have learned to do and the concepts I've begun to understand, that I never knew as much about before!)
Yet, it all pales in comparison to Jesus.
I truly have to take delight in understanding and knowing God, whose plan for humanity was the grace and truth that came through Jesus Christ, and this plan was in place before the foundation of the world. The gospel is an everlasting gospel, did you know that? The good news will still be good news when we see Jesus face to face. "T'will be my theme in glory!"
The grace of God, this lavish good news, this epic Plan God made, will be the boast and the glory of heaven, for all eternity. Read your Book of Revelation. And to think...I am only beginning to know and understand it! What unmitigated delight.
A dear prophet friend of ours from across the pond called us yesterday. He said that God had given him a word for us, for 2011. The text was out of First Chronicles, chapter 17 ~

"Then King David went in and sat before the LORD; and he said: "Who am I, O LORD God? And
what is my house, that You have brought me this far? "And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O God; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the rank of a man of high degree, O LORD God.
What more can David say to You for the honor of Your servant? For You know Your servant. O LORD, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things."

Our friend read that Scripture to Tim, and said, "The Lord says 2011 is The Year of Yet More."
"MORE."

This word brought tears to my eyes, because it witnesses, it coincides perfectly with what the Lord
said to me two weeks ago.

Two weeks ago, I was rejoicing before Him, for the Springtime of the Soul I find myself in. For lo, the winter is indeed past. Do you know what the Holy Spirit said to me? He said:
"All these things that are to you as Springtime, they are but your tulips on your kitchen windowsill in late February, compared to what is just around the corner. All this joy is the mere hint of what is to come, not the whole of it. There is yet more."

"MORE."

Friends, I thank God for the gifts of the Spirit. I say to you, find a church where these gifts are welcome. We are meant to find comfort and encouragement and direction by a "now word" from the Lord. Paul said that by the prophetic word, we are able to wage war.
Thank God that there are still prophetic gifts in the church, and prophets as part of the 5-fold Ascension Gifts. Our across-the-pond friend operates in the office of prophet - using his gift to edify pastors all over the world.

Lastly, (and if you have read this far, bless you!) I will soon be blogging from a sunny, undisclosed location by late tomorrow, or the next day. I say "undisclosed location" because I'm a rock star.
Fear me.

No, actually I say it that way because it's just fun to be cryptic. But we are taking a vacation, seeing some beautiful, historic towns and architecture, walking the beach, and I'll be rockin' the bermuda shorts instead of the sweat pants.

Thank you, thank you, from my heart's bottom, for becoming a follower of this blog this year, for sticking and for staying. I have made precious friends this year, who I have yet to meet - thinking particularly of Susan and Faith, among others...

I propose a toast, to 2011 - it will be OUR year of "MORE!"

Your New Year, In One Word

Words have such power. They literally define moments, days, and lives. I remember, not so long ago, when our oldest son was beginning his downward spiritual spiral, I reached a turning point. Let me explain.

We Atchleys are name callers...in our happy moments and in moments of angst, we name. It is how we celebrate and how we cope. Words are the tools of our trade, they are all we know. So we called our son "foolish" and a "player" and yes, even a "goober".

When I had reached one of my lowest points, and was muttering and name calling, the Holy Spirit said to me, "Rename him." Not "rename him" as in call him Bob instead of Josiah. But rename him as in calling things which be not as though they were.

I cannot begin to tell you how hard that was. You see, he had more than earned the names we'd called him. It had always been a relief and a release, of sorts, for me to call a Spade, a Spade. I am known for that. It feels honest and right and even courageous to tell it like it is.

Religious spirits are the hardest ones to discern in ourselves. Easy to discern in others, hard to see in ourselves. The God of all Grace has a ministry of renaming. Gideon was a "mighty man of valor". Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, Saul became Paul, and I too will be given a white stone with my new name on it, one day.

The God of all Grace leads us to tell it like it could be.

So, almost every time (I wish I could say "every time") when a name was on the tip of my tongue, when that son of mine tweaked me the hardest, between clenched teeth, I would sometimes literally groan out these words:

Wise! Pure in heart! Godly! My wise, Godly, pure in heart son.

The rest of my son's story is still waiting to be told, there may yet be some roller coaster rides before his story line levels out. Still - I can't wait to tell the rest of his story, because I am confident in the finished work of Christ. See, government rests on Immanuel's shoulders, not mine. I am free to be in happy relationship with my boy.

All because of grace. All because of saving, sanctifying, amazing naming grace.

I named the year 2010 "Create". And "create" I have. Big masterpieces, like the atmosphere and design of a wedding...and tiny works of art like baby booties, big projects like a kitchen remodel (Tim the Tool Man and I), and smaller projects like a dining room repaint. Last year was the first time that I prayerfully sought God, and then "named" a whole year. It was so effective and so incredible that I am certain I will do this the rest of my life.

Soon, I'll share with you my name for 2011. In the meantime, what will you name the coming year? How will you re-name the circumstances and people in your life that have hurt you, and deeply at that?

God is the God of the New Name.

To Mothers of Babies...

"Life is inherently wearying. Seasons are inherently unbalanced. The sooner we accept this, the less disappointed we'll be. We're better off to abandon the false hope that, with enough money or time, we'll arrive at some ideal state of existence, a place unscathed by burdens and pressures and disappointments and trials. That place is heaven, and no amount of
jerry-rigging the borders on this fallen earth will conjure it here.

The real order of business while earth-bound is to choose, in season and out, what to weary ourselves with, who to weary ourselves for. It's to decide what part of our lives will be lopsided. The direction of our tilt. If our lives are always skewed toward something, and out of kilter in some way, then let's make the most of it and skew them toward the light.

Like the season of raising young children...while Jesus' followers bicker over the credentials for kingdom greatness, Jesus has a little child stand among them. The Kingdom belongs to (them). They have ready access to the kingdom life. (They) live under the rule and reign of God, without hesitation, default, pretence, avoidance. Without even thinking about it.

Your primary job...is to receive the kingdom through (them), and to imitate them in living under God's rule and reign...

Such living calls for a glorious lopsidedness. It calls for choosing the right weariness."

(excerpt from the book Spiritual Rhythm: Being With Jesus in Every Season)

Now that I am finally a grandmommy, finally I am that "older woman", who through obedience to the seasons of my life, is qualified to teach younger women, I want to say something to the mommas...

Young mommy, you are wearying yourself on all the right things. As am I. I weary myself caring for people, too. And I remember when mine were babies. I promised myself I would never, ever forget, and I have kept that promise. Can I tell you? In Kingdom life, you will usually be weary, but if you are loving people (or babies) your weary tired will always be the good kind of tired.

Rest, beautiful mommy. Lay your head upon your pillow tonight, and gain strength to weary yourself again. God receives it as worship.

And if you know a young mommy of babies, please pass this link on to her. I pray it refreshes and encourages her spirit.

Was I Dreaming?

Was I dreaming yesterday afternoon...

...or did I really sit in a peaceful livingroom, just me by myself, rocking my grandson, on a White Christmas Day, watching snow fall, listening to Bing Crosby's "Adeste Fideles"?

...did I really wake up to this?




...and then this?


(little Timothy's "My First Christmas" hat and pj's, from yours truly...)


...did I actually hear that my oldest son has been promoted to Squad Leader?


...did my Main Squeeze really get me the one present I specifically asked for?

(A Fisher-Price Nativity Set) all my "babies" will play with this, every Christmas, at Mimi's house, forever and ever, Amen.


...and a necklace, with my grandson's birthstone, the back engraved with these words: "To The Most Beautiful Grandmother Ever"...was that me, or was I dreaming?


Did I really, really receive a big Jonathan Howe Original? Not a print...an original? Not a "little one"...a big one? Someone pinch me.







And did I really get all those emails and phone calls from friends, just to wish us "Merry Christmas"?
How many times on this blog have I said it? I am living a dream I do not deserve. After weathering the worst, vindication comes in the form of receiving His Best. He giveth more grace.

When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them."

The LORD has done great things for us, And we are glad.
(Psalm 126)

God Rest Ye Merry!

(my front door - come on in!)

I've always wanted to greet people I care about in this way at Christmas time: "God rest ye merry, my friend."

For many years, I never understood that old carol, "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen". It originates all the way back to the middle ages, and was written in old English. In those days, "merry" didn't mean "happy" as it does now. In those days, "merry" meant "mighty". A great and powerful king was a "merry" king, and a great and terrible army was a "merry" army.


"Rest" didn't mean to put your feet up, nor did it mean that you took a nap. "Rest" meant, in old English, "to keep in a continual state of".


"God keep you in a continual state of might and strength, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay. Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day, to save us all from satan's power when we had gone astray.

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy! Comfort and joy! Oh tidings of comfort and joy!"

This Christmas, I've been smitten over and over with the simple statement of a great heavenly host. There...filling the heavens...Jehovah Sabaoth, Lord of the Hosts, sent His great host to break centuries and centuries of silence between God and men. God could have commissioned them to say anything. These ministers of His, this great, innumerable host, are as flames of fire, carrying out His Word, down to the smallest detail. They've declared war before, down throughout human history - lots of times.

Would this be that sort of message?

God could have instructed His hosts to give only the facts: "Messiah is here."

He could have sent a message of judgement.

God dropped a bomb, to be sure. He dropped a bomb that would forever make that field in Bethlehem the greatest, most utterly meaningful, most famous "ground zero" of all time. But it was an explosion of joy.

The Grace Message was finally detonated.

A blast of mercy, engulfing the planet. Into the black of the night, into the darkness of our human spirit, came the bright light of Good News. It was tidings of comfort and joy. Jehovah Sabaoth utilized His great host, He sent the mightiest, "merriest" troops in the universe to tell us, "YEAY!" and to promptly throw a party amongst the stars, in full view of a few shepherds.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, Peace....Goodwill....to men."

Peace.

Goodwill.

Let it sink in. Let those two words be the good news they were meant to be. Your very own tidings of comfort and joy.

Merry Christmas, dear ones. God rest ye merry...

How 'Bout YOU Do It?

Interesting experience, I had today. Navigating the crowded parking lots of Knoxville, I pushed my brimming grocery cart to my car, unloaded its contents, and turned to push it all the way back to the area where carts are Supposed To Be. I was feeling a bit virtuous about it. Then, I happened to spy a lone cart. This cart had been left, in the middle of the parking lot, smack dab behind someone's car. For that car to get out of its parking space, the driver would have to move that grocery cart (left by some other rude stranger) out of the way.

I shook my head slightly, and I'm pretty sure I made one of those "tsk tsk" sounds. "People these days."

...and walked right by.

Immediately, I realized that I was just as guilty as the person who left their cart standing in a rude place. I went back, just three steps, and got that cart, put it together with mine, and pushed both to the store. I had almost violated the number one law of love...okay, maybe number two law of love, but it's way up there:

If you notice that a job needs doing, you are the one to do it.

To walk past it, shaking your head at the thought of the other person who was supposed to do that job, is to BE the other person who was supposed to do that job. You just became "them".

If you see it needs done...do it. Don't walk past it, and get irritated with the person who didn't do it, if you won't do it either. That would be hypocrisy at its most deceptive.

Later that day, in another store, for extra measure, just to buffet my body and just to please the Lord, I also picked up some stray trash in the women's bathrooms, and took a moment to straighten merchandise that was plundered. Nothing obsessive compulsive...just small actions to drive home to my own heart and mind the idea that the person who sees the job undone is the one in the best position to do the dang job already.

What Do You See?

"And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."
Mark 8:24

If you are still under the law, you see "men as trees walking". You've experienced the touch of Jesus, maybe even come to a saving knowlege, but you are not seeing clearly. Yet you might go years - alas, decades, thinking that you see just fine.

Then, one day, you hear the gospel preached by a pastor-teacher who is walking in a New Covenant understanding, and you realize that "seeing men as trees walking" isn't the same as seeing Jesus clearly and centrally. You have not been seeing the world as you could and should.

Does this offend you?

Let Jesus put His hands on you again, afresh. The moment you see the God of all grace, the moment your focus is on the finished work of Christ and not on your performance, you finally see everyone else clearly, and through the eyes of love. In fact, through the lens of the gospel of grace, as taught in all the New Testament, everything in all of Scripture becomes clear.