Out of This World

I'm currently immersed in a Bible study with an amazing group of women. Until a few short months ago, I didn't even know half of these fellow sisters in Christ. But God, in his undeniable wisdom, assembled this group of women from a variety of places. Hope College. Friends of mine. Friends of a coworker. Community members.

We just began studying, The Good and Beautiful Community, the third in a series of books by author, James Bryan Smith. It's a life changing study that has touched me beyond words. This week's study collided with an earlier visual from nature. As I've shared so many times, I smile when God orchestrates my encounters around a current theme. And so it was again this past week.

On Wednesday, as I left the Keppel House on the campus of Hope College, I passed this humongous group of hydrangea bushes. I've admired their showy flowers throughout the summer. They are nothing short of spectacular. But as the crisp days of fall are turning the world into God's eye candy, so too, these flowers are aging to a pink hue.

What caught my attention was one flower. One flower that stood out among the crowd.

It was if this bright, white flower hadn't received the message that the slow death of fall was all around. This branch was an alien in the world around it. This flower was peculiar.

Today, I started reading The Good and Beautiful Community. The first chapter is entitled, The Peculiar Community. In this chapter, the author reminds us how we, as Christians, are peculiar in the world. We stand out as odd. Weird even, to the world around us. And the way we stand out, or should stand out, is in a way that catches the attention of those around us. Not for us to boast, but in a spirit of humility, with actions that surprise the world with peculiarity.

Peter talks about this peculiarity in I Peter 2:11-12 (here from my old NIV text):

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they may accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Today, as I reflect on my life, I ask God to help me stand out as odd. Weird. Peculiar. May my white flower stand out among the dying blooms of the world, so that others may see, and know, that God lives in me.

Harvest

I'll admit it. While I'd like to be a country girl, I can't shake the city girl from me. When we first moved to our home twenty-some years ago, my city girl rationale thought that farmers planted sweet corn on the acres and acres of fields nearby. Oops. In my defense, the only corn I encountered as a girl was sweet corn. On the cob. That I ate. My husband still laughs at my lack of knowledge regarding field corn.

During all the years we've lived in this neck of the woods, I've enjoyed watching the growing season progress. Late spring finds the farmers hard at work, preparing the fields for planting. As summer settles in, the adage, "knee-high by the Fourth of July," is more like, "waist-high by the Fourth of July." By August, the corn on either side of Van Buren Street is so tall, it forms a wall of green, towering high above my car.

Come October, it's harvest time. The lush green stalks have turned a sandy hue and the towering wall is destined for the combine. Rows and rows of corn stand at attention. Waiting.

Jesus talks about a harvest in Matthew 9, where he tasks the disciples with praying for harvest workers:

35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

We are tasked to join the workers in the Lord's harvest field. The mission field is in my backyard; in your backyard. As I ponder the Scriptures, I realize that Jesus took every moment, every encounter, every situation to share the news of God's kingdom.

So my prayer in this time of harvest will be:

Today, Lord, help me share the news of your kingdom in the ordinary encounters of my life. Nudge me and raise my awareness to those in need around me. Help me make the small things matter. The fields are ripe. Help me spring into action for you.

Lunar Eclipse

I'm a bit ridiculous when it comes to sky events. I've been know to bundle up in a winter coat and blanket and lay in a lawn chair on my deck for the chance to watch a winter season meteor shower. I've set up a telescope in the corner of our living room to get a close up look at the moon's craters. I've gotten a stiff neck watching the twinkling brights on a clear night while standing in my back yard. So it's no surprise that this morning's lunar eclipse had me giddy with delight.

Our house sits in the woods, surrounded by towering sixty foot pines, so a clear view of the lower western sky is impossible. Because of this, my first view of this morning's phenomenon was in the rear view mirror of my car. Wow-ee! At each stop sign, I turned around to get a better look, and as I headed south on the highway, I hate to admit that my focus was not on the road. Rather, my neck craned to the right in an attempt to enjoy every minute of the changing moon. At one point, I actually pulled off into an industrial drive in an attempt to take photos with my phone.

Upon arriving at work,  I scoped the parking lot for the best possible photo opportunity. Unfortunately, a cell phone is not the ideal camera and my photos turned out poorly, with grainy, blurry shots. Even so, I found a fellow sky enthusiast already at work, and I grabbed her so we could enjoy the last part of the eclipse together.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes behind the Earth into its shadow. To visualize this, sit with your back to a lamp's bright light. Make a fist with your hand and move it from right to left in front of your body. As your fist (moon), body (Earth) and the lamp (Sun) are in perfect alignment, your fist will be in your body's shadow representing an eclipse. Pretty cool, huh?

The moon does not emit its own light; its hard, rocky surface reflects the sun's light. On its own, it has no light. Likewise, when the earth gets in the way of the sun, the moon cannot reflect the sun's light, hence, a lunar eclipse. Check out the photos below for a great visual of today's eclipse (photos courtesy of Louis Kraay):

As Christians, we're commissioned to reflect the light of Jesus. Just as the moon has no light of its own, we too, can only reflect the light of our "sun," Jesus, by standing in his light. When we are in right alignment with him, we shine his light brightly for all to see. But when we allow things to get in the way of Jesus, his light gets eclipsed.

People. Stuff. Money. Busyness. Distraction. All these "things" snuff out our Jesus light.

John 3:19-21 (The Message):
“This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”

Dear Lord, thank you for streaming your God-light into my ordinary life. Today, dear Lord, help my rocky surface reflect your light. Help me to shine brightly for you. Amen and amen.

Life.is.short.

It's been a long while since I've written. But this week was a week that screamed out,

"Life is short."

Which is God's way of telling me to pay attention.

Two tragedies this week brushed up against the ho-hum of my workday week.

My morning commute takes me southbound on US 31 into Holland. On Tuesday morning, before the 7:00 a.m. hour, the sea of red and blue police lights pierced the inky blackness in an alarm of fierce danger near the Riley Street intersection. As traffic slowed to a crawl, I silently wondered why all the police cars were present when there was no indication of an accident. No ambulance. No damaged vehicles.

Later in the day, I heard the report that a fifteen year old West Ottawa student had been struck and killed while crossing the highway.

"Life is short."

Wednesday afternoon, I received word from a friend that our former coworker had been crushed in an accident at his home. He died shortly afterward at the hospital. His wife posted a fun message on Facebook just hours earlier. And then, life changed.

"Life is short."

And just now, as I ponder a verse to attach to this blog post, Bible Gateway's verse of the day pops up:

"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring."
Proverbs 27:1 (NIV)

Thanks, God, for reminding me of your gift of life. Today, I vow to remember just how precious life is. I will enjoy every moment of today. I will celebrate my family and the love we share. And I will try my best to be a shining light for Jesus in my speech and in my actions.

Craft-O-Rama

Pinterest. Etsy. Facebook. All these sites have a plethora of ideas. Ideas for making. Ideas for baking. Ideas ripe for swiping.

I've done my share of saving various ideas to my board, my wall or my documents. I've done my share of tweaking things I've seen posted on these sites. But my ultimate favorite thing is coming up with my own ideas. I can spend hours in my craft room fussing, creating, wrecking and recreating.

Pure joy comes from creating something original. Something new. Something that's one-of-a-kind...like the pumpkin shown here.

Sunday we had the pleasure of visiting and worshiping at Pillar Church in Holland. Pastor Jon Brown's sermon was entitled All Things New: Anniversary Edition. From Genesis 1, he read the creation story. He shared how God spoke his creation into being and how he saw and delighted in how good it was.

Leaving church on Sunday reminded me how I'm God's creation. He created me as an original. I'm one-of-a-kind. And God delights in me. My love for creating connects me with my Creator. In some small way, it helps me understand how he brought the world to life.

So here, I'll share one of my written creations in the form of a children's story that I wrote many years ago. With eyes wide with wonder, imagine your Creator  

THE WORLD'S FIRST WEEK

by Teresa De Graaf

In the beginning, God was there

When darkness covered everywhere.

But God had a big plan you see,

He set forth forming all to be.

"Let there be light," was His command.

Bright golden light shone as He planned.

And there was dark, and there was light,

The world's first day passed by His sight.

And God stepped back and there He stood

And everything He saw was good.

Day number two God spoke and said,

"I'd like to see a space ahead."

The domed blue burst forth way up high

And water formed below the sky.

And God stepped back and there He stood

And everything He saw was good.

And when the third day rolled around

God formed the beaches, islands - GROUND!

He sprinkled water everywhere

To form the rivers, seas with care.

And God stepped back and there He stood

And everything He saw was good.

He placed the sun to shine so bright,

The stars and moon to light the night.

The sparkling, twinkling, glowing brights.

Day number four God made the lights.

And God stepped back and there He stood

And everything He saw was good.

A fish to splash about the sea,

A bird to glide into the tree.

And many more to join them too.

Day five saw creatures in the blue.

And God stepped back and there He stood

And everything He saw was good.

The sixth day dawned so bright and fair,

And God placed creatures everywhere.

The zebra, monkey, kangaroo,

The squirrel, raccoon and chipmunk too.

And God stepped back and there He stood

And everything He saw was good.

God paused, then said, "Well let me see,

I think it's time for company,

A special time has come to be  -

To form someone who's quite like me."

And so God took the dust of earth 

And breathed in man to give him birth.

God wanted man to have a wife.

He took man's rib to give her life.

God gave them both the earth to keep,

Gardens to roam and fruits to reap.

And God stepped back and there He stood

And everything was VERY good.

God rested on the seventh day,

A holy day He planned His way.

A day to give our work a rest,

To worship Him; give Him our best.

Ribbet...

Our pond is alive. Hundreds, if not thousands, of tadpoles have emerged from the black necklace-like strands of eggs. The water's surface ripples and swirls as their fish-like bodies gyrate in the motion of life.

Soon, stubby nubs will appear alongside their tails. In an evolution of body, these nubs will elongate into legs and their strange snubby nobs will develop into heads. In a span of a few weeks, the transformation will be complete. A new amphibian emerges. The frog.

One look at these strange creatures of today yields no clue as to their final bodies. It's as if a magician waved his wand and a strange transformation occurred.

Fast forward a few weeks to today. The tadpoles are no more. The bug-eyed, pulsating-throated frogs have emerged. The miracle of God's nature has come full circle:

Have you ever wondered about what transformation we have to look forward to as Christians? The Bible speaks of the promise of new bodies in Philippians 3:

13b But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus...20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

What a wonderful promise for our life to come.

Achoo!

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've sneezed in my lifetime. I believe I'd be a millionaire. Seriously. My sneezes typically come in threesomes, but occasionally I'll sneeze four or five times in a row. I've heard,  "God bless you!" a lot. Prior to having a tonsillectomy last year, I tallied twenty to thirty sneezes a day. 

Post tonsillectomy, I'm down to six or so a day. But recently, with pollen season at its peak, so is the sneezing.

The University of Rochester Medical Center's website explains a sneeze this way:

"Everybody sneezes. You can try to hold it back, but a sneeze usually just can't be stopped. And that's a good thing, because it's actually one of the body's natural defenses, designed to help get rid of foreign invaders that sneak into your nose and threaten your lungs and other body parts. The medical term for sneezing is sternutation, a rather complex process that includes your brain, nerves, and muscles all over your body.
Your nose is lined with tiny hairs called cilia that catch foreign invaders, such as dust, pollen, dander, and other allergens flying around in the air. When these particles start tickling your nose, your brain is sent a message to get them out. Your brain triggers the sneeze response, and the force of the sneeze helps expel the offenders from the nose.
A sneeze seems fairly straightforward, but it’s the result of an impressive chain of events. Your abdominal muscles, chest muscles, and even eyelid muscles (think about how your eyes automatically close when you sneeze) are all in play, in concert with your lungs, which initiate the forceful air that is sent up through your windpipe, throat, and nasal passages."

Sometimes, foreign invaders try to enter my life too. Anger, jealousy and gossip, to name a few. A multitude of unholy actions attempt to take over. I'm reminded of Paul's words in Colossians 3. He talks about what we need to do to these foreign invaders:

"...now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."

When foreign invaders attempt to enter my life, I have the ultimate protection available. I'm able to "sneeze" off those things with the help of an Almighty God who offers an impenetrable armor against those sneaky forces.

God bless you!