I ordered a “Turkey-Avocado wrap with spinach, tomatoes, and light ranch dressing” for $7.95. When I asked the waiter if fruit or chips came with the wrap he had to check. The answer? Two pieces of pineapple. Hmm? That should have sent up red flag warnings.

Twenty minutes later our food arrived. My wrap was huge! It was stuffed! With lots and lots of fresh spinach. There was one slice of extremely thin turkey breast and one slice of avocado about a quarter inch wide. This menu item needs to be renamed “Spinach wrap with a hint of turkey and avocado.”

Before I took the first bite I thought, “If I had wanted salad I would have ordered salad.” And when I finished the first half I muttered, “I’m going to have to eat dinner at 2:30.” Before I tackled the second half I snagged the waiter and asked for a little turkey and avocado to put on my Turkey-Avocado wrap. To be fair he quickly brought a small plate with a few slices of turkey and avocado. Much better.

Sometimes Christianity is like yesterday’s Turkey-Avocado wrap at the local hot spot. We decorate it with all the latest styles and fads to make it appealing to the masses. We fill the menu with great sounding fare. Then we serve up food that has little meat, no real substance. It’s just feel-good fluff.

I buy into it too. But what we need is real discipleship. Submission and obedience to Christ. Deep study on the truths of God’s Word. Commitment, accountability, and servanthood. But too often what we get is just what is easy and marketable. “Don’t ask too much.” “Don’t tell them it will be hard.” “Don’t let on there may be sacrifices.”

Is that really what we want? Deep down, don’t we want to be a part of something big? Something that has eternal purpose? Jesus certainly didn’t pull any punches.

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” Luke 9:23-25.

How would you describe your discipleship, your walk with Jesus? Is there real substance or is it mostly filler? For me, I pray for substance. But some days there’s a bit too much spinach.

We rolled up our sleeves and proceeded to sift through about four decades worth of Christmas decorations, artificial arrangements, warped candles, and a bunch of stuff that nobody knew what to do with but couldn’t bring themselves to throw away. A few things we thought someone might want went to a second hand shop and a lot went to the dumpster. The rest was cleaned, sorted, organized into plastic containers, and labeled for easy access.

Wow! I couldn’t get over what a difference it made. Before we started one person could barely get in the space at a time. But now it’s open enough to use as a small classroom if we needed to. I was so excited about the transformation, I wanted to conduct tours of our closet on Sunday morning.

Before our work day the space was a catch-all for every bit of unwanted junk. It simply gathered dust and trash. The wasted space was no good to anyone. But then we took stock, threw away, cleaned up, made a plan, and put everything in its place. Now the space is usable, serviceable, and valuable.

Just like closets full of junk our lives can become cluttered and dirty with stuff that shouldn’t be in there in the first place. God wants us to regularly “clean out and organize” our lives. Let’s ask God to search us and show us all the worldly junk we’ve allowed to creep into the closets of our hearts. Then let’s have a spiritual “work day.” What do you say?

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Ps 139:23-24

God has blessed me with many deep wonderful friendships in my life. Name after name popped into my mind and I began to write in my prayer journal. The first name I wrote was “Cindy.” My first best friend, we knew each other from the time we were babies. We went to school together all the way through college and were in each other’s weddings.

I wrote names from high school, college, and each of the places Wayne and I have lived. In every season of my life and in every place God has moved us, He has blessed me with at least one – and usually more than one – precious friendship. God used each of these women to support, encourage, and challenge me in life, in family, and in my faith. We’ve played together, prayed together, and cried together.

This morning I prayed over my list and lifted each name to God. One childhood friend is already with Jesus. The rest are scattered all over the United States and Canada. Some I’ve done a better job of staying in contact with than others.

Today, I’m overwhelmed with the goodness of God and how much He has blessed me by filling my life with so many incredible friends. Do you have a friend you need to pray for today? Do you have a friend you need to call today?

The entire coaching staff and more than a hundred high school football players filled one entire side of the church sanctuary yesterday. They were the first to be ushered outside when the service was over. When they left the building they lined both sides of the walkway leading from the door to the street. They stood in silent honor as the pallbearers carried the casket to the hearse. A fitting tribute to a life well-lived.

I have no doubt that when Don entered heaven last Friday he heard these words from Jesus, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” I want to hear that when God calls me home. How about you?

I really need to be grading papers. Like really, really, REALLY (ya, 3 reallys) need to be grading right at this moment. But I’ve had a thought running through my mind that I feel compelled to share, so I will spare 5 minutes.

My mind is very musical. This is both a blessing and a curse, because I don’t think I’m ever awake without a song in my head. The curse comes in when an absurd song like MC Hammer’s “You Can’t Touch This” rules my brain for DAYS. The blessing is when something like this happens.

My brain has been playing Ingrid Michaelson’s “Breakable” on repeat for a while. Excuse the graphic nature, but these are the lyrics tumbling around in my brain:

“Have you ever thought about
What protects our hearts?
Just a cage of rib bones
And other various parts.
So it’s fairly simple
To cut right through the mess,
And to stop the muscle
That makes us confess.

And we are so fragile
And our cracking bones make noise
And we are just
Breakable, breakable, breakable girls and boys…”

My mind to Psalm 103… “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.”

Funny thing is, I think about this more than I think is normal. I can’t help it, I study anatomy. It baffles me that anyone can study the intricacies of our bodies and doubt that there is not only a creative designer of it all, but One who actively continues to make us function!

They say you should never buy washing machines with the fancy computerized buttons, because they’re so complicated something is bound to go wrong soon, and it’ll cost a bundle to fix it. Instead you’re better off with grandma’s old crank-the-dial washer, because it’s simple and solid as a rock. Our bodies are more complex than millions of expensive, computerized washing machines put together. Why don’t things go wrong more often? Why don’t hearts stop beating more often when there’s so little to protect them? What keeps us from just falling apart at the seams?

This has been mulling in my mind…. breakable…breakable…breakable girls and boys….

I woke up this morning genuinely thankful that the Lord allowed me to keep breathing through the night. Today I’m keenly aware that the only reason my lungs still fill is because He continuously wills them too. My heart still beats because he breathes into it. And for a purpose. He breathes into me for Him. How do I miss this so often?

Tonight the house is quiet – Jeremy is working late and the dog is at my sister’s – yet I can hear a complex symphony in the silence. My heart beats rhythmically because it’s still in my chest. My lungs fill and empty because the air is still allowed in. My soul flutters and dances and sings a beautiful melody for my Creator and King, because I can’t leave out the rest of the verse:

“But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments.”

Breakable…breakable…breakable girls and boys…. Saved from perishing for a purpose.

Kelley Howard

http://www.jeremyandkelleyirwin.blogspot.com/

Two months ago when I returned from a mission trip to Canada, a small pile of camouflaged gear lay in one corner of our bedroom. It had begun.

“So,” I said to him casually, “is this here for the duration.”

He grinned. “Yep,” was his only response.

Every week the pile grew. Sleeping bag. Canteen. Socks. Spotting scope. Jackets. Well, you get the idea. As he got things washed, or purchased, or “sighted in” it was added to the mound. I just tried to ignore it.

But the pile was not the only way Wayne prepared for the big trip. About six months ago he stepped up his workout routine so he would be in good shape for all the hiking and climbing. He also had to break in the new hiking boots. Since there aren’t many hills out here in West Texas, he performed that task on the treadmill, while watching hunting shows on television. Then about the last month he also spent a little time several times a week shooting his bow. He had to be ready for the real thing.

Wayne was determined to make the most of his opportunity to be in the mountains. He disciplined himself and managed his time to meet that goal.

Many of us put similar energy into work and hobbies that we love and enjoy. But what about our spiritual training? The apostle Paul gave young Timothy this advice: “Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come (1 Timothy 4:7b-8).”

God works in us through spiritual discipline to shape and mold us into the people He wants us to be. It holds value for this life and the next. I continue to build on my “training schedule” to strengthen my spiritual muscles and stamina. I must admit, some days it’s lacking. I’ve even been through seasons where I let my training fall away and I had to recommit. How is your training going? Are you committed to a spiritual training program or is it haphazard at best?

She called the recipe mine but I freely admit I took it off the back of a can of Libby’s pumpkin. I don’t claim recipes as my own unless I created them. I won’t make that mistake anymore. Not since the peanut brittle incident.

I make peanut brittle every Christmas. I got the recipe about fifteen years ago from a dear friend, Kelly, when our family lived in Wyoming. Then we moved to Canada and Kelly moved to Houston. Over time and among new friends the recipe became “mine.” Everyone loved it and I often gave it as gifts to friends at Christmas.

Then about five years ago we moved from Canada to Houston where Kelly and I picked up our friendship. Well, when two Canadian friends came to visit me in my new home Kelly joined us for an evening out. Over dinner we began to talk about food. One of my Canadian friends, Glennie, asked Kelly if she had ever had “Kathy’s famous peanut brittle.” Before I could even speak Kelly quietly said, “I believe that would be my peanut brittle.”

I never claimed that the recipe was mine. I just never gave the credit to Kelly. I liked the praises I received when I made the candy. So even though I didn’t blatantly and intentionally lie, I never corrected the assumption. Then came that fateful day when my omission caught up with me.

I know this particular situation is silly and pretty harmless. But it did remind me that we always reap what we sow. All sin has consequence. Sometimes it just may take a little while to catch up with us.

Here’s Libby’s recipe for the Pumpkin-Cranberry Bread. Enjoy it!

2 slightly beaten eggs

2 cups sugar

½ cup oil

1 cup Libby’s Solid Pack Pumpkin

2 ¼ cups flour

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped cranberries

Combine eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin; mix well. Combine flour, pie spice, soda, and salt in another large bowl; make well in the center of the dry mixture. Pour pumpkin mixture into well; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in cranberries. Spoon batter into two greased and floured 8 x 3 ¾ x 2 ½ inch aluminum loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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]]> http://www.kathyhoward.org/2009/09/pumpkin-bread-peanut-brittle-and-lies/feed/ 1 http://www.kathyhoward.org/2009/08/horse-barns-and-holiness/ http://www.kathyhoward.org/2009/08/horse-barns-and-holiness/#comments Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:27:31 +0000 Kathy http://www.kathyhoward.org/?p=740 This morning I went to church in a big horse barn. Wait, let me clarify that. This morning I went to church in a big, building that used to be a horse barn.

I just returned from a three day visit with a long-time friend who lives in the Houston area. Her church recently purchased an equestrian center adjacent to their property. They desperately needed the space to accommodate all the people God has brought – and continues to bring – to join this body of believers. The large stables and riding arena filled the most pressing need – a larger worship center.

I’ve been in a fair number of horse stables. In fact, I’ve even mucked a few stalls. Stables smell like hay and tack and… well, let’s just say the horses also contribute to the smell. So when Kelley told me her church had converted the very large stables and riding arena to a worship center I was curious. Could believers worship God and experience His presence in a building that, not long ago, housed hundreds of horses?

In between the parking lot and the building was a courtyard filled with park benches and pots of trailing flower. I wanted to sit a while and enjoy the atmosphere, but the service was starting. The front of the building still had the feel of a stable – a very nice stable I admit, but still a stable. But once I stepped inside I forgot all about the building’s former purpose.

The music was just beginning so we quickly found two seats. The worship leader prayed at the end of the first song. “Lord, thank you for your presence in this place. We are here to worship you.”

We sang this morning about the grace God pours out on His children.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Amazing love, now flowing down.
From hands and feet that were nailed to the tree. As grace flows down and covers me.

The blood of Jesus was the price of my redemption. His blood redeemed my life from eternal separation from God. My life, once dead in sin, has been given new life through Christ. Now I live daily in the presence of God.

Not unlike that old horse barn where I worshipped this morning. Once a smelly place in need of serious cleaning Now a place where God dwells.

Hmm. After a brief pause to consider how I should respond, I pulled my car into the line behind at least six others. Two more pulled in behind me. I guess that proves it. Coffee really is that important.

I – and many others it seems – was willing to sacrifice precious time to wait for my morning latte. Even with tasks waiting for me at the office. I wanted it that much. Do I care that much about spending time with God? I’ll sit in a drive-thru for twenty minutes to pay four dollars for espresso and milk, but hesitate to give up half an hour of sleep to tarry longer in God’s presence.

Why is that? For starters I’m a product of my environment. I bought into our harried, must-have-it-now, self-indulgent culture. But an even bigger problem is that my desire for God is just not great enough. My priorities are out of order.

I’ve got some things in common with a friend of Jesus’ we read about in Luke 10:38-42. You know the story. Siblings, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, welcomed Jesus into their home. (Actually Scripture says Martha opened her home to Him.) While Martha scurried about cooking dinner and getting the guest room ready, her sister Mary sat at Jesus’ feet soaking up His every word. Martha complained. There was much to do, Mary should be helping. However, Jesus lovingly pointed out to Martha that she had her priorities out of order.

It’s not that Martha was busy with wrong, evil, or even unimportant things. After all, she was preparing food for Jesus. But, spending time with Jesus was more important – and better. Unfortunately, we often chose the pressing over the important and the better.

Poor Martha. We always hold her up as an example of what not to do. But let’s look at the rest of Martha’s story. Later, near the end of Jesus’ ministry, Martha had another encounter with Him we read about in John 11:17-27. Jesus arrived in Bethany four days after Martha’s brother Lazarus died. When Martha met Jesus on the road, He engaged her in a conversation about the resurrection. When Jesus asked Martha if she believed in Him she replied, “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world (John 11:27).”

Wow! Martha made an overwhelming profession of faith about Jesus. The only other one made before Jesus’ death and resurrection that even compares is Peter’s. Apparently Martha took Jesus’ earlier rebuke to heart. Martha must have spent some time getting to know Jesus. Her confession reveals some first-hand knowledge about Jesus.
Psalm 46:10 decorates the wall of my home office. Be still and know that I am God. Unfortunately, I’m usually moving too much to know Him as well as I should. Too many other things are more important than they should be. And I know just what Jesus would say. Kathy, Kathy, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed (Luke 10:41-

Jackson spent forty years in the world’s limelight. From singing with his brothers and a tremendously successful solo career to starring in movies and being an innovator in music videos, Michael Jackson seemed to have it all. In fact, his 1982 release “Thriller” is the best-selling album of all-time at 45 million in world-wide sales.

I’ve seen nothing else on the news today but stories about Jackson. The circumstances of his death. The mourners around the world. Speculations about who will raise his children. Will those holding concert tickets be reimbursed? I don’t remember there being this much hoopla when Elvis died. And yes, I’m old enough to remember.

What kind of legacy does this 50-year-old pop star leave behind? According to Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, CEO and President of Sony Corporation, Jackson was “a genius whose music reflected the passion and creativity of an era. His artistry and magnetism changed the music landscape forever.” Yes, all this is true. Michael Jackson was an incredible music talent. A once-in-a-generation kind of star. But what of eternal value did he leave behind?

Jackson’s death has prompted me to think about my own legacy. When I’m gone, what will my children remember about me? Will it be the cheesecake I make for special occasions or will it be the things I taught them about Jesus Christ? When they think about me, will they picture me sitting at my laptop or with my Bible?

What things of eternal value will I leave behind? Will there be lives forever changed because I shared Christ? Encouraged the discouraged? Comforted someone with the comfort only God can give? Or will my life only impact physical, temporal circumstances. I pray not. What about you? What kind of legacy will you leave behind?