Doxology

I used to love animals, when I was a kid. We had a houseful of kids and a revolving door of animals, revolving from this life to the next. We also lived in a huge house and lost a lots of animals- hamsters, gerbils, garter snakes, most of which we found; so when we lost the first hamster in our household of late, I hunted until they were found. Somehow three hamsters survived the move from Missouri to Nebraska, which I wasn't counting on, and the saga continued.

We were all devastated Christmas Eve after a Sutton family tradition of loading up in our pajamas and went out to look at Christmas lights, to find the oldest and sweetest of the three hours from his death. The poor thing- it was terrible. We sent the kids up to bed and in five minutes the girls were hysterically screaming. Micah delivered the news to me and all we could do was sit and stare and pray as the kids cried and the hamster died. It was terrible. A week later on New Years Eve, with no warning, we found the next one stiff in his food bowl and we cried.

It is fascinating to me how God teaches us to live and cope through daily real life occurrences, preparing us for trials. Kennedy cried every night for over a week, and even after that moved into Jasmine's room because the sound of the hamster rummaging through it's bedding was comforting- the remaining live hamster.

You can imagine the reaction when Chocolate Chip disappeared a week ago. No one got too worked up until three days passed and I announced that he had probably died. Presumably, he climbed into the vent and got lost in the maze, eventually being burned up by the heater. We never smelled him, but I couldn't imagine him surviving after three days. Jasmine's sadness was contagious; I found her by herself sobbing and could feel the inconsolable sadness. It broke my heart. My children have learned to grieve through this process, an invaluable, unteachable life lesson. Thank You, God.

And now a lesson on faith.

Sarah woke me at 6:30 yesterday morning to tell me she heard *rodent noises* in the ceiling panels. I scurried down the stairs and set a trap for the little guy, praying but not believing that it wasn't a mouse, and sat by the wall listening to his scratching and climbing and chewing for an hour. He retreated to sleep early (they're nocturnal) and I went about the laundry and prayed. Elation...? is what I feel right now. Sarah came upstairs this morning with two fuzzy pink socks on her hands holding our hamster, who has travelled from death, we thought, to life! He is safely in his cage napping now. I literally have butterflies in my stomach over bringing him back to Jasmine, who is still sleeping and totally unaware. Last night she prayed that we would find Chocolate Chip and that he wouldn't be dead.

God loves children so much that in this fallen world where there is war and hunger and domestic violence and every kind of evil, He answered our prayers for Chocolate Chip, and for that I will praise Him.

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost
Amen

Rocky Balboa

it's not how hard you can hit
it's how hard you can get hit and
keep gettin' up

This Was Good

Spoken universe out of the empty deep
creation pleading to be told to breathe
sea and sky night and day every star with a name
This was good.

Creatures of the land and sea and
every living breathing thing
flying birds taught to sing and
so it was and so became perfect beauty
perfect way and this was good.

This was good, this was God, and this was good.

Dust and mud the image of
God wrapped up in us, him and her and likeness
touched by hands of glory, hands of love
and this was good.

Rain to fall and wind to blow
fish to swim and beasts to roam and
the voice of God and it was so
its not good for man to be alone

This was good, this was God... and this was good.

Writer of the wings of wind
Your design and our sin
still has You in longing
All my head and voice became a world of disappointment
You're the One who is the same
the One who is still believing that this was good,
this was very good.

Living things both large and small
remember He who made you
Heaven and earth and all that is
recall the voice that saved you
This was good, this was God.

-rita springer

Divide and Conquer

We have anticipated this past weekend for months, knowing it was a long shot and that it may be the only visit we get to have with our close friends; our soul ties, for another year. So when it worked out for them to spend three days with us, and all the kids, we were elated. Dale asked Marty to teach Sunday morning and there was something he said that keeps coming back to me.

He said that when there is a battle in progress, one of the greatest strategies is to
*divide the enemy* because if you can split them up *they will be conquered.*

I can't get it out of my head...

Martin Luther was grieved because his work, the labors of his life and mission, birthed severe division in the church as never it had seen. He honestly believed that if he went with a right heart to the leaders, they would repent and rebuild.

This is dear to my heart especially now because when we talk about our church, the first thing people ask is, "What kind of church is it?" I want to say, "It's Jesus' church," but that's a foreign concept to unchurched people. It's even foreign to a lot of churched people. But it's true, if we truly are the body of Christ, all of us, then our name doesn't define us, our affiliation should be seen in our actions, not the location or title. We should be able to interchange with every other fellowship in our community and we are the same. We're Jesus' church. It's a little ideological, I know. But in my heart it's so right that I can't help but hope for the unification of the true church. How can I not?

Paul said in Ephesians, "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the UNITY OF THE SPIRIT in the bond of peace."

God knew that we would get on each others' nerves and that we would disagree. He knew we would hurt each other and that we would suffer difficulties in this life because of each other, but he instituted the church to function together in oneness so that when these things happen, we can cover each others hurts with love and continue in the race together.

It's work, it takes effort and consistency. As much as I have suffered the wounds of "Christians are the only people that shoot their wounded" I have also shot at wounded Christians countless times. It's a terrible cycle. But God has extended grace and forgiveness to me and I have to do the same in order to PRESERVE THE UNITY of the Spirit with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

This is what amazes me about the true church. When I am my brothers and sisters in oneness, I remember why we do what we do in this life. I am inspired to step up the measure of integrity that I live my life by. I want to be better in every way. Not that God isn't prevalent all the time, it just seems harder when there's no one beside me saying, "Press on! Fight the good fight!" And when I have it, I can do anything because my eyes are focused on Jesus. This life is temporal and eternity is real. It's where we belong, it's what we were redeemed for. And that's how we should be for each other. God knew we needed each other to go through hard things together, to sharpen one another and to push each other forward.

So run, Christian! Throw off the burdens that hold you back! It's only for a little while, we can make it together!