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The word “wholeheartedly” almost lifted off the pages as I studied Joshua 14.  Twice  in the chapter, Caleb reminded Joshua how he had followed God wholeheartedly while the rest of the explorers

“made the hearts of the people melt with fear.” Quite a word picture. I envisioned them shaking, dripping with sweat, as they lost courage and

focused on their circumstances instead of the power of God.  Hopelessness gripped their hearts as they let themselves drown in the deep sea of discouragement.

The third time, Joshua wrote how Caleb “had followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.”

While the other men called to examine the land cowered, Caleb stood up to answer the call.  He wore a medal of courage on his heart. Although he looked at the same set of circumstances, he knew that nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)

Forty-five years after he obeyed the call, the leader remained physically strong. He asked Joshua for the land God had promised him and his descendants.  Caleb received his prize, although radically delayed due to the group’s discouragement.

The next time you are called to do something difficult, will you trust in God’s power – the same power that created the mountains, flowers, and raised Jesus from the dead?

Or will you let your heart melt in fear?

“Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

(Note:  bold print is my own.)

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My friends call me a prayer warrior.  This may stem from my thinking of prayer as a way of life.  I do pray in my quiet time, and I also pray for needs of people when a situation makes my soul cry.  Often times, I pray while watching the news as different stories touch the raw places of my heart. I remember times when I’ve prayed in stores, while walking on my power walks, or while lap swimming.

So how did this praying way of life begin?  I remember teaching a Sunday school lesson to third graders about fifteen years ago.  The lesson highlighted the verse, “Pray without ceasing,” I Thess 5:17.   I found the verse captivating and life-changing.  The lesson plan suggested wearing a wrist band as a reminder.  Although it seemed corny back before the rubber wrist bands became popular, I decided to try it.

Wearing the wrist band changed my life.  I learned to pray arrow prayers all day.  In addition to my regular Bible study and prayer time, I began the lifelong voyage of praying as a way of life.  I prayed for parking spots at Costco, my friends, my relatives, finances, missionaries, for people to develop an addiction to God’s word, and for my health.  I prayed for needs of others that came up, and for the Lord to cleanse my heart.  The simplest way to say it is that I prayed for anything that came across my mind.

A few years later, I went to graduate school to get a better understanding of the Bible.  Later, I prayed to get into the counseling field because people have always trusted me with their problems.

To work my way through grad school, I cleaned houses.  While cleaning, I prayed according to the tasks I completed.  When I cleaned toilets, I asked the Lord to cleanse my heart.  I also asked him to cleanse us for our sins as a nation.  While vacuuming and noticing dirt and other debris, I asked God to reveal the parts of my life that needed change.  I also thanked the Lord for his grace, mercy, and for specific answers to prayer.  I sang worship songs.  I thanked God for his love, and I breathed out prayer.

Nowadays the Lord has blessed me with my own cleaning person and a private counseling practice.  I still pray as a way of life, and I am eternally grateful for how the Lord opened this window of prayer as a lifestyle.

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Wisdom.  While studying scripture, I’ve noticed wisdom plays a starring role.  People often pray for health, relationships, jobs and finances, but I doubt many people pray for the Lord to saturate their souls with wisdom.  I’m not talking about wisdom in particular circumstances, as in James 1:5.  “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”  I cling to this verse often and have let it sink under my skin.

I’m talking about asking for wisdom of  its own accord.  All by itself.  After all, receiving it is better than receiving gold.  What would happen if we truly believed this with every thread of our existence?

How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!  (Proverbs 16:16) If you had the choice, would you click the “add to cart” button for gold or wisdom?

For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with it. (Proverbs 8:11)

Amazing.  Nothing we desire can compare with it.  Somehow I’ve glossed over this verse and haven’t absorbed its power.  Wisdom is so valuable, we can barely grasp its level of importance.  May we wholeheartedly pray for wisdom as a main staple of life for the New Year of 2012 and beyond.  I can hear it calling our names.

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“Where is everybody going?” my 91 year old mother-in-law asked, her forehead furrowed.  “And why are they in such a hurry?”

What a profound question.  Where is everybody going, and why are we racing as if the world would crumble if we slowed down?  For a woman who dropped out of seventh grade to work on the farm and help raise her siblings, Dorothy had loads of wisdom.  But then again, wisdom and education don’t necessarily reside in the same person.  What would  happen if we slowed down and re-evaluated what is most important?

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her gnarled fingers and thought of the years Dorothy picked sugar beets to help feed the family.  Those same hands milked cows and clutched the reigns of horses as she drove the horse and buggy to town; hands with a rich, colorful history.

I was driving Dorothy to Top Foods for candy to turn her kitchen into a gingerbread house mini-factory.  The store showcases dozens of glass columns from floor to ceiling. Candy of every shape, size, and color fill the columns. Dorothy magically transformed it into roofs, windows, siding, chimneys, sidewalks, and fences for her little gingerbread masterpieces. Then she turned tiny toy babies into snow-suited kids riding sleds and ice skating outside the houses.  She certainly gave Christmas magazines a run for their money.  The end result melted peoples’ hearts as they slipped into the glorious winter wonderland created by the hands of Dorothy Michehl.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

I walked down the hall into Dorothy’s room at the lovely adult family home, where she now receives hospice care at age of 95.  I sat beside her as she slept, noticing her hands resting against her cheek and pillow.  The beautiful, swollen, arthritic hands that once created a lovely garden.  Bridges, a pond, a small waterfall, and a natural stream kept the hundreds of flowers and bushes company through the years outside her simple home.  The same hands had managed a private food bank for fifty people out of her home. Dorothy had received an award for Volunteer of the Year at the age of 85.  Such beautiful hands that loved well for close to a hundred years.

Outside her room, I heard people laughing, which reminded me of Dorothy’s hearty laugh.  I remembered when I was in graduate school and my sister-in-law, Joan, visited from Chicago.  She asked what subjects I was studying and I mentioned several, including Sexuality in Marriage.  After a few seconds, I apologized to Dorothy because I thought she might feel uncomfortable.  She said, “How do you think I ended up with four kids?!”

After reminiscing a while, I realized she would probably sleep most of the day and got up to leave. I quietly squeezed one of her beautiful hands.  I walked down the hall and said goodbye to the man and his mom, still sitting near the Christmas tree.  His sacrificial love reminded me of the sacrificial love of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.  He came to earth, wrapped in humanity and later died on a rugged cross to pay the price for our sins.  He is the reason for true peace and joy.

I pray that we all stop to reflect on Dorothy’s profound wisdom:  “Where is everybody going, and why are they in such a hurry?”  May you have the gift of sitting in silence, thinking about where you are going and if you’re moving too fast.

Check out my blog at www.cherriemac.wordpress.com (Reclaiming the Plunder of the Body Image Bandit).  Also check out my newer blog, Rhapsody en Route.  www.cherriesotherblog.wordpress.com, which contains more Christmas letters from the past and other pieces of my heart.ut of the adult family home, but always loves his mom exceptionally well.

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A few years ago, shortly after drying the  Thanksgiving dishes, I started to panic.  How would I get Christmas together?  My heart raced and my palms felt sweaty as I thought of everything I had to do before the big day – shop, decorate, bake, wrap gifts, clean, cook, and attend celebrations.  Wait a minute.  Isn’t this supposed to be fun?

Although I felt busier than Superwoman on a triple vente latte, at the last minute I attended Bible study.  Deep in my heart, I knew I couldn’t let that go.  I’m so glad I did, because the speaker performed a demonstration that helped me prioritize my Santa sack sized to-do list.  She placed a bowl of sand into a two liter jar. Next, she added a bowl of small rocks. Finally she tried to add a bowl of golf-ball sized rocks in the jar, but they wouldn’t fit.

“The sand and pebbles represent the busy things that eat up your time but don’t have eternal value,” she said.  “Think about activities and errands that take time but aren’t essential.  You’ll notice that all these rocks won’t fit into the jar.  That’s because I have chosen to make the non-essential, trivial things in my life the foundation.  Now I have little room for Jesus, the Rock.”

Then she dumped the contents of the jar onto a pan and separated the sand, pebbles, and rocks.  “Let’s see what happens when we fix our eyes on Jesus, our Rock and Savior, and make him the foundation of our lives. “  This time, she placed the large rocks on the bottom of the jar. “Now let’s see if I can add some of the lesser important activities.”  Next she added the pebbles, and later the sand.  “Now I have room to fit in other activities because I have made Jesus the foundation.”  All the rocks, pebbles, and sand fit into the jar.  “This is your life, and you have choices on how you spend your time.  Let’s ask God to help us prioritize so we give our time to what’s really important – especially during the Christmas season.”

Driving home, I decided not to give in to the hustle-bustle of Christmas.   I know many people who like to shop, bake, decorate, and prepare for Christmas.  But to me it began to feel like a Martha Stewart Christmas Comparison Contest.   Agony and stress pumped through my blood, and I felt overwhelmed.

That‘s when I decided to peel back the layers of Christmas.  I would do only what felt most important and that I enjoyed.  I cut down on shopping, decorating, baking, and celebrating.  I unwrapped Christmas down to the heart.  That year, we had a small tree and displayed our beautiful nativity to remind us daily of the heart of Christmas.  Since I love to write, and our friends and family expect to receive a Christmas story in the mail the first week of December, I made the story a priority. We enjoyed a beautiful, stripped-down Christmas.  Instead of worn out and waiting for the holidays to end, I felt energized, grateful, and focused on the Christ child and the gift of the cross – the true heart of Christmas.

I’m grateful I attended Bible study that hectic day in December because I gained the gift of prioritizing during the holidays.  Now I recall the jar demonstration every year, and focus on the beauty and glory of the season.  I’m much better at avoiding getting swept up into the insanity of trying to create the most spectacular Christmas ever.  I don’t have to worry about that because it was done on the very first Christmas when God came to earth as a baby.  That, I remind myself, is the heart of Christmas.

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Years ago, I began a tradition of writing a thank you letter to God.  Each November I sat with pen in hand, silently reflecting in solitude on the gracious gifts God bestowed on me. If you could have looked into the windows of my life at the time, I possessed few belongings.  I left my abusive husband and travelled 1,100 miles to live in my parent’s basement.

Although I possessed few belongings, my heart overflowed with gratitude.

Non-things.  Those topped the list.  Family, friends, and my precious relationship with Jesus adorned this thank you letter to the Lord.  Freedom – something often taken for granted - also hit the top ten.  The fact that I could walk and move easily found its way on the letter. I’d been an athlete since childhood, but at age 28 a weird disease called ankylosing spondylitis entered my life.  Many say it’s more painful than childbirth, and by the time I started writing these letters, my heart filled with tears of gratitude if I could walk, dress myself, drive, and use the restroom without excruciating pain.

Over the years, I wrote many such letters of thanks to God.  But somewhere along life’s voyage, I stopped writing them.  I don’t remember when or why, but before Thanksgiving, I once again will sit down with paper and pen to write my thankyou letter to God.

 

And this year, I invite you to do the same.  Your heart will overflow with gladness as life’s pitfalls and dreary days fade into the background and gratitude bursts through like daffodils in early Spring.  Pull up a chair, grab a pen, a cup of coffee, and let your heart sing a song of gratitude to God.

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You’re going a zillion miles an hour, checking items off your To Do list. You look like a human, but you feel like a robot fueled by caffeine and anxiety. Whether they’re tasks at work or at home, all seem important. Your heart desires to spend time in scripture and in prayer. That’s what makes your heart sing.

You understand that walking with Christ daily means listening to him through his Word. After all, good relationships involve two-way communication. That means not only talking to God, but listening to him through scripture. If you have a relationship where one person does all the talking and the other all the listening, it suffers. The connection is unhealthy and imbalanced. So why would you want such a lopsided relationship with the Lord?

But your To Do list calls you, your employer and kids and spouse need you, and the noise of living in a fast-paced society gnaws at your soul.

Last week I read the Martha and Mary passage seven or eight times (Luke 10-38-42). It spoke softly to my heart. I’m pretty good at spending time in scripture most mornings and evenings because I chose to make listening to Jesus a priority many years ago. But I struggle horribly with feeling like a human doing instead of a human being. I’m so driven sometimes that I feel like a whirlwind of activity as I busily check off things I felt compelled to do. Much like Martha. Yet I truly desire to be wholeheartedly devoted to worship like Mary.

Here are some questions that help me:

- Are you a human being or a human doing?  Our society is fast-paced and focused on the almighty dollar (meaning the worship of money and things, which are idols) but scripture encourages us to focus on Jesus.

- How important is it?

I ask myself this question about tasks or events that come up. I think I’ll start using a numbering system. I know that prioritizing works for some people, but I’m going to experiment with a numbering system, assigning a number from 1-10 to each activity.

At the top of each list, I’m going to put “Spending time with Jesus” and assign a 10 to it, meaning it is the most important thing I want to accomplish that day. Maybe with these strategies, I can remember that the most important thing in my life is to sit as Jesus’ feet, like Mary did.

Her sister was angry, controlling, resentful and codependent as she asked Jesus to set Mary straight. Gently yet firmly, he answered, “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,  but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Bold print my own.)

Lord, help us to seek your face and to sit at your feet. Help us to prioritize our lives, putting you as number one.

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Several years ago, I was reading through the Bible for the twelfth or thirteenth time.  A friend betrayed me , and I called out to God for wisdom and peace several times a day, but it was still a painful ordeal.   I kept reading, greatly enjoying learning about Job’s stellar character .

Many times in the book, Job is described as, “blameless and upright, he feared God and shunned evil.” As I read those words, I stopped to pray them over my own life.  I was completely awestruck by the fact that after he lost his family and all of his worldly possessions, he fell to the ground and worshiped God!

One day, toward the end of reading Job, I noticed how badly his friends treated him.  They blamed him on his suffering, when in fact Satan had asked the Lord if he could test Job.  Satan told the Lord that if his blessings were stripped away,  Job  would curse God to his face.  So God let Satan test Job.

God eventually told Job to pray for the friends who had betrayed him.  How difficult it must have been for Job to do so, knowing they had blamed him for his suffering!  Nevertheless, he was obedient and prayed  for the three friends who had violated him.  Soon after, Job was blessed with twice as much as he originally had.  I had never noticed this, and decided to pray for my own friend who had betrayed me.  I didn’t pray that God would show her the wrong she committed against me, but I prayed for her true needs.

The next day I went on a walk with another friend,Claudia.  Out of the blue, she said, “Hey, I noticed the other day that Job prayed for his friends that did him wrong, and later God blessed him.”  I stopped on the sidewalk, stunned.  Neither
of us had heard a message on the topic, but the Lord showed us separately this nugget of truth.  “I’m not saying if we pray for people who did us wrong, God will bless us materially.  I’m just saying we are called to pray for those who persecute us,” Claudia explained.  I told her I completely agreed with her.  Some people believe in a “name it and claim it” type of theology, which is not found in scripture, and is downright wrong.

I continued to pray for the friend who betrayed me, and eventually all my resentment toward her melted away.  My heart softened to the pain in her life, and understood more why she behaved as she did. We went our separate ways peacefully, but my heart filled to the brim with joy.  I thanked God for the valuable lesson he taught me through the book of Job, and make it a practice to pray for people who harm me.   Thankfully, it doesn’t happen often, but when it does, I try to remember Job and how he responded in prayer when people did him wrong.  This has been a gift that has offered me peace amidst pain.  As you go about the ebb and flow in life, I pray that you try this technique Job used in his time of unparalled pain.

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Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”  (Bold print my own.)

A few weeks ago I read this passage for a women’s Bible study, and the word “nothing” caught me by surprise.  It almost lifted off the page to stand alone. I’ve read the verse many times over the past several years, but never has the word “nothing” captured my heart like it did this time. 

American culture screams,” It’s all about me.”  Selfishness is the hallmark of today’s culture and the phrase, ”Do nothing out of selfish ambition…” is completely the opposite. The American Dream is much ado about self, getting it all and having it all so then we can be happy.  Yet the wealthy suburbs in America have the highest rates of depression and suicide, and the Amish have the lowest rates.  This isn’t really surprising because the more people have, the more they want and the more they tend to worry.  Yet the “Do nothing out of selfish ambition…” speaks of a greater cause, a greater calling – than self.  So contrary to today’s thought stream of, “Get out of my way because it’s all about me.” 

About four years ago I wrote a booklet saying that our economy would spiral down quickly because the majority of Americans have replaced the cross with the almighty dollar sign. (The booklet was never published and I only submitted it to one publisher before pursuing my body image book.)  We had become a nation which cares much more about self and hedonism than God.  In the Old Testament, every time that happened, the economy crumbled and so it seemed obvious to me that the same would happen soon, which it did. We were living in a way that is opposite to the scripture, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition.”  Self and fun were the names of the game.  Yet Jesus preached, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it,” Matthew 16: 25.  Jesus turned the tables on life’s rules, and he encourages us to be selfless and to give of our time and our resources because that is where true happiness resides.  What if we could tattoo on our hearts, “It’s all about giving of self,” instead of, “It’s all about me.”?

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“Where is everybody going?” my 91 year old mother-in-law asked, her forehead furrowed.  “And why are they in such a hurry?”

What a profound question.  Where is everybody going, and why are we racing as if the world would crumble if we slowed down?  For a woman who dropped out of seventh grade to work on the farm and help raise her siblings, Dorothy had loads of wisdom.  But then again, wisdom and education don’t necessarily reside in the same person.  What would  happen if we slowed down and re-evaluated what is most important? 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her gnarled fingers and thought of the years Dorothy picked sugar beets to help feed the family.  Those same hands milked cows and clutched the reigns of horses as she drove the horse and buggy to town; hands with a rich, colorful history.

I was driving Dorothy to Top Foods for candy to turn her kitchen into a gingerbread house mini-factory.  The store showcases dozens of glass columns from floor to ceiling. Candy of every shape, size, and color fill the columns. Dorothy magically transformed it into roofs, windows, siding, chimneys, sidewalks, and fences for her little gingerbread masterpieces. Then she turned tiny toy babies into snow-suited kids riding sleds and ice skating outside the houses.  She certainly gave Christmas magazines a run for their money.  The end result melted peoples’ hearts as they slipped into the glorious winter wonderland created by the hands of Dorothy Michehl. 

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

I walked down the hall into Dorothy’s room at the lovely adult family home, where she now receives hospice care at age of 95.  I sat beside her as she slept, noticing her hands resting against her cheek and pillow.  The beautiful, swollen, arthritic hands that once created a lovely garden.  Bridges, a pond, a small waterfall, and a natural stream kept the hundreds of flowers and bushes company through the years outside her simple home.  The same hands had managed a private food bank for fifty people out of her home. Dorothy had received an award for Volunteer of the Year at the age of 85.  Such beautiful hands that loved well for close to a hundred years. 

Outside her room, I heard people laughing, which reminded me of Dorothy’s hearty laugh.  I remembered when I was in graduate school and my sister-in-law, Joan, visited from Chicago.  She asked what subjects I was studying and I mentioned several, including Sexuality in Marriage.  After a few seconds, I apologized to Dorothy because I thought she might feel uncomfortable.  She said, “How do you think I ended up with four kids?!”   

After reminiscing a while, I realized she would probably sleep most of the day and got up to leave. I quietly squeezed one of her beautiful hands.  I walked down the hall and said goodbye to the man and his mom, still sitting near the Christmas tree.  His sacrificial love reminded me of the sacrificial love of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.  He came to earth, wrapped in humanity and later died on a rugged cross to pay the price for our sins.  He is the reason for true peace and joy.   

I pray that we all stop to reflect on Dorothy’s profound wisdom:  “Where is everybody going, and why are they in such a hurry?”  May you have the gift of sitting in silence, thinking about where you are going and if you’re moving too fast. 

Check out my blog at www.cherriemac.wordpress.com (Reclaiming the Plunder of the Body Image Bandit).  Also check out my newer blog, Rhapsody en Route.  www.cherriesotherblog.wordpress.com, which contains more Christmas letters from the past and other pieces of my heart.ut of the adult family home, but always loves his mom exceptionally well.