See Amid the Winter's Snow

From my home to yours: An illustrated 2016 'Vitamin' reflection for remembering God's faithfulness and goodness past, present, and future. The card begins with a "benediction" — a blessing for Christmas Day to you and those you love, and especially for all the days of your new year to come...

"The LORD bless and keep you — protect you, sustain you, and guard you. The LORD make His face shine upon you with favor and be gracious to you — surrounding you with lovingkindness. The LORD lift up His face upon you with Divine approval, and give you peace — a tranquil heart and life."

(Numbers 6:24-26, Amplified)

JANUARY

A benediction is a grown-up word that simply means "to speak well of." It begins with hearing and receiving what God speaks well of us — how much He loves us in spite of our prone to wanderness, and how much He wants us to savor a life that comes from sticking close to Him. (When the End is Just the Beginning, January 17, 2016)

Noone Falls, Peterborough

FEBRUARY

Sometimes, we feel pressured to do something to “help God out” and speed things along—anything but wait. Except waiting on God has little to do with being passive and everything about cultivating a relationship of holy friendship, of every-situation conversation, of trust, of believing even in the face of everything that wants logic and clear-cut answers...and especially of being faithful in the routine rhythms of life. (Living Large in the Routine, February 7, 2016)

                                                                                                                                                  

MARCH

"Reduced speed zones along the journey are My idea, not to tempt you to the sidelines but to recharge your batteries. You have been hand-crafted and hand-gifted by Me for one purpose: My glory and pleasure, for this time in history, in this place.” (Voice of the Image Maker, March 13, 2016)

An early spring flow meets winter's stubborn resistance near the junction of the Contoocook and Nubanusit rivers.

Moody Beach, ME

APRIL

What is this magnetic attraction to see the sun rise over the horizon—a sandy beach, a mountain top, a back yard? It might just be because God has implanted the magnetic attraction of His creation into everyone’s heart, to enjoy for sure, but even more in hopes that what we see around us every day might draw us to the loving heart of God Himself. (Magnetic Attraction, April 24, 2016)

"I have yet to encounter an unfriendly, grumpy hiker. I can't imagine why. — at Pack Monadnock Mountain."

MAY

The next time someone (including the accuser's voice in your own head) tells you to “get your head out of the clouds,” put it right back in. Because, as Jesus modeled, it is Above where perfect power, goodness, friendship, and life have their headquarters, and when we fix our hopes there and get our perspective from there rather than the tangled mess that's right in front of us, all things are possible. (Get Your Head in the Clouds, May 22, 2016)

JUNE

Contentment may be about being satisfied with having just enough of just about anything, but maybe more importantly, it is not about "stuff" but about being satisfied with place and purpose — where we are in actual location, career, relationships, or in station of life at any given time. Because that is where Jesus has us at the moment, and the greatest sense of contentment that I could ever know is that, no matter what, wherever I am, He is already there, and that is enough. (The Stuff that Matters, June 5, 2016)

"Prepare the way for him who rides through the desert on the clouds as on a chariot whose name is the Lord. Rejoice before him. God is in his holy abode. He is a father to orphans and he defends the widows . God gives the lonely a home. He leads prisoners out with joy..." #psalm 68 #alwayslookUp (Old Sharon Road, Peterborough)

JULY

Above all else, everywhere I look, in everything my eyes and senses take in,

I see just what I need to see most, one more time: Your faithfulness.

Even in the silence, it shouts:

‘If I AM faithful in the beauty of creation, know that I am even more faithful in working in and through every situation, and especially My beautiful creation of you.’

Help me never to take such jaw-dropping goodness for granted… (Above and Beyond the Noise, July 17, 2016) 

"Sundown storm clouds part at a strangely-wonderfully still Dublin Lake...except for the sound of dinner guests at a cottage singing the Doxology in harmony. Perfect."

"A great perspective (from a larger work) on what it means to "wait on God" when you generally hate the idea of waiting for just about anything...'Think of waiting for a train. When you wait you may be still, standing or sitting, but you are not passive. You are watching, listening. Your eyes follow the parallel lines of the tracks into the distance looking for the train to come chugging in. You listen for the roar of the engine, the clanking of the cars, and the tones of the train’s whistle. Even as your body rests on the platform your senses are alert and your mind active. This is what it should be like to wait on the Lord too. Sometimes it is stillness, but in the stillness there is alertness and heightened sensitivity.' (Barnabas Piper)

AUGUST

We think paths and highways to the goal line; God is more into steps, one at a time. (The Goal of ‘Now’, August 14, 2016)

SEPTEMBER

Sometimes, being in God's presence is a quiet sense of wonder, like gazing at creation and realizing you don't have to talk yourself out of the possibility that all of this maybe just exploded onto the scene one day eons ago and just so happened to sort itself out in unspeakably beautiful colors, landscapes, and innumerable unique flying, crawling, swimming creatures. (In His Grip, September 11, 2016)

"#happyplace"

OCTOBER

Let this new morning, the smell of the earth

Remind you to dig daily into the rich soil that is the Gospel 

Let your roots go down deep and feed on the nutrients

Of what Jesus said and did

And still says and does (Anthem for Resurrection Day, October 9, 2016)

"It's already a beautiful day. @cunningham03458"

NOVEMBER

It sure would be a lot easier, or so it would seem, if our conversations with God were always direct and to the point, like some sort of supernatural FAQ. But there wouldn't be much faith in that. And faith is strengthened not by microwaved answers to every dilemma but through trusting when the wind is blowing you backwards. (Letters from Heaven, November 13, 2016)

"My vote's with this guy on a beautiful day like today: keep on walking and soak it all in. ... — at Arm's Park Manchester, NH"

DECEMBER

"See, amid the winter's snow,

Born for us on Earth below,

See, the tender Lamb appears,

Promised from eternal years.

Hail, thou ever blessed morn,

Hail redemption's happy dawn,

Sing through all Jerusalem,

Christ is born in Bethlehem." (Edward Caswall)

Wait, Easter? Most people don't like to rush through one season to get to the next, unless it's a New England winter. Instead, here is the fantastic tension of the now of Bethlehem and the not yet of the glories to come. It's an explosive reminder that on a silent night also came the dramatic downbeat of full-on Redemption. It is the best good news ever given… (O Little Verse, December 11, 2016)

Merry Christmas to all, and may the "best good news ever" be yours in abundance in the New Year

Simply Priceless

“Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will instead give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will instead give him a snake? If you then, sinful by nature as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven—perfect as He is—give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him?”—Matthew 7:9-11, Amplified

When a child tells his parents what he really wants for Christmas, unless that thing is harmful in some way or would blow up your entire holiday shopping budget, you can’t help but want to come through. A parent’s beating heart for his children is unlike any other.

Except for One.

It is good to know that whenever the words “God, please give me ___________” cross our lips, He not only hears, He loves to bring that which is “good and advantageous” to our souls in our time of need. Patience. Hope. Wisdom. Guidance. Faith. Understanding. Discernment. Whatever is in your “top ten.”

Even better to remember that while God’s best gift-giving moment was sending His Son to be born for us, it was only the opening pages of the full Love Story yet to unfold. It’s a reminder that God’s gift-giving is not confined to a day in December, and that there are many gifts that He wants us to open over and over again in January, April August, and September, and all the days in between. Gifts that are good and advantageous 24/7 because they counter the adversary’s lies and accusations we may have begun to believe about ourselves.

And if there is one gift above all that we Christ-ones need to open every day, it is the gift of assurance—to receive and embrace our true identity as a child of God against a daily tide of accusation and doubt, loved unfailingly and locked in place forever, even with a prone-to-wander heart:

• “…But whoever did want Him, who believed He was also who He claimed and would do what He said, He made to be their true selves—their child-of-God selves.”—John 1:14, Message
• "Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us—He calls us children of God! It’s true; we are His beloved children….My loved ones, we have been adopted into God’s family; and we are officially His children now. The full picture of our destiny is not yet clear, but we know this much: when Jesus appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is.”—1 John 3:1-2, The Voice

Lord, thank You that Your simplest and best gifts are not just for a season but for a lifetime. Thank You for becoming flesh and blood and moving into our neighborhood to stay, and for Your parent’s beating heart for Your kids that is unlike any other. This is amazing grace! This is amazing love!

“God makes us happy as only children can be happy. God wants to always be with us, wherever we may be—even in our sin, in our suffering and death. We are no long alone; God is with us! We are no longer homeless—a bit of the Eternal Home itself has moved unto us!”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

O Little Verse

"...[He] gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness, and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager—energized—to do what is good."—Titus 2:14

This little verse probably won't show up in most Christmas pageants and candlelight services, but maybe it should. It's the Bethlehem story in all of its fullness: God with us, because He is for us, wants to dwell in us, so He can flow through us.

We need still-life creches and Nativity scenes as a reminder to slow down in the chaos of the season and ponder the wonder of something so miraculous and history-making. But at the same time, this little verse is a reminder that the story is so active and timeless, it almost shouts at everything but the Babe in your still-life creche or Nativity scene: “You have no idea how awfully-triumphantly wonderful this scene is going to play out for millions upon millions upon millions.”

Wait, Easter? Most people don't like to rush through one season to get to the next, unless it's a New England winter. But A Very Titus Christmas isn't trying to do that. Instead, here is the fantastic tension of the now of Bethlehem and the not yet of the glories to come. It's an explosive reminder that on a silent night also came the dramatic downbeat of full-on Redemption. It is the best good news ever given, and probably explains the volume of the multitude of angels as they hovered over shepherds in a field: God fully committed to regaining possession of His kids in a very troubled world, in exchange for the payment of His only Son’s life willingly given, clearing a debt none of us could possibly pay on our own.

But the Titus Christmas account is one more thing: a reminder that just as the Bible is full of good and powerful surprises in sometimes unlikely places, it's good whenever we can this season to find the gold that's in the third, fourth, and sometimes sixth verses of some of our favorite Christmas carols:

• "O come, Thou Wisdom from on high, and order all things, far and nigh; To us the path of knowledge show, and cause us in her ways to go." (O Come, O Come Emmanuel, verse 3)
• "No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found." (Joy to the World, verse 3)
• "Thou camest, O Lord, with the living Word that should set Thy people free; but with mocking scorn and with crown of thorn, they bore Thee to Calvary...O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for Thee!" (Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne, verse 4)
• "Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings. Mild, He lays His glory by; born that man no more may die; born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth." (Hark the Herald, verse 3)
• "Then let us all with one accord sing praises to our heavenly Lord that hath made heaven and earth of naught, and with His blood mankind hath bought." (The First Noel, verse 6)

And for many, perhaps this littlest of verses resounds the most right about now, and is worth singing like never before...

"And ye beneath life's crushing load, whose forms are bending low; who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow; Look now! For glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing: O rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing." (It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, verse 3)...

...That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly an angel appeared among them, and the landscape shone bright with the glory of the Lord. They were badly frightened, but the angel reassured them.“Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you the most joyful news ever announced, and it is for everyone! The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born tonight in Bethlehem! How will you recognize him? You will find a baby wrapped in a blanket, lying in a manger!” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God: “Glory to God in the highest heaven,” they sang, “and peace on earth for all those pleasing him.” (Luke 2: 8-14, Living)

"Don’t try to explain the Incarnation to me! It is further from being explainable than the furthest star in the furthest galaxy. It is love, God’s limitless love enfleshing that love into the form of a human being, Jesus, the Christ, fully human and fully divine. Was there a moment, known only to God, when all the stars held their breath, when the galaxies paused in their dance for a fraction of a second, and the Word, who had called it all into being, went with all His love into the womb of a young girl, and the universe started to breathe again, and the ancient harmonies resumed their song, and the angels clapped their hands for joy?"—Madeleine L'Engle

"Wait Up!"

“O kneel me down again here at Your feet; show me how much You love humility…” —Brenton Brown, “Humble King”

One of the many good things about Advent is that it helps slow you down when all around seems to be screaming forward at breakneck speed. Four Sundays when you put the chaos on pause even for a few moments to remind your heart all over again the true meaning of God with us—and not just in some storybook or historical sense. But, "with us" in a promise made to Isaiah some 700 years earlier, with us in Bethlehem just as God promised hundreds of years before it happened, and with us even now through the resounding words of God-with-us Himself: "I will never leave you or forsake you."

The faithfulness of God. The preciseness of God. The Love of God. All simple things too easily taken for granted (yes, it’s OK to admit that), which is why Advent can be so awesome. Advent is like the third base coach who waves the emphatic “wait up!” signal when we’re determinedly running full speed ahead with our head down. It gives us pause for what really matters. It clears misconceptions, doubts, and small-God ideas that have crept in unnoticed during the past 11 months. Things that try to discourage and make your attitude reek of “what-ever.”

And, sometimes, it does so with a shock treatment. Advent needs no black Friday hype to remind you, in the process of tilling the soil of your heart one more time so that it remembers what truly matters, that Jesus said and did some shocking things that were meant not to be just observed but duplicated. 

Things like living in humility.

In our culture, many think that being humble is being “soft.” But search the scriptures, and nowhere will you find anyone accusing Jesus of being a wimp about anything. Jesus is Savior, Jesus is shepherd, Jesus is Redeemer and King and comforter, and truth and life and hope and healing and so much more—but all of it was wrapped in a strong, loving cloak of humility. In the words of C.S, Lewis, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”

Lord, there are tons of things on our minds as we round the bases of our daily routine this season, some of which are not at all trivial and really, really matter. But as we do so, help us not to run by Your “wait up!” sign on something that was lived out by the One who came to us in a manger and who handed us the baton when He returned to Glory:

“Don’t let selfishness and prideful agendas take over. Embrace humility, and lift your heads to extend love to others. Get beyond yourselves and protecting your own interests; be sincere, and secure your neighbors’ interest first. In other words, adopt the mindset of Jesus. Live with His attitude in your hearts.”—Philippians 2:3-5, The Voice

[photo credit: San Francisco Giants]

Passing Hope Forward

"God is magnificent; He can never be praised enough. There are no boundaries to His greatness. Generation after generation stands in awe of Your work; each one tells stories of Your mighty acts."—Psalm 145:3-4, The Message

When it was time for mom to downsize a few years ago, the only piece of furniture I was really interested in was this small rocking chair—not quite child-sized but not quite at home on someone’s front porch either. But for years, it was just right for mom as she sat in the early morning sun with her coffee while clutching the leash to her dog who was "exploring" out on the deck.

And except for the dog, this chair is also how I remembered it being first used by her dad and my grandfather. A sturdy New England herdsman, Puppa Stevens has to get the credit for my early morning rising-ness. Every morning, regardless of weather, he was up by around 4 or so to tend to the Holstein herd in the barn; waiting to be fed, and not waiting so much to be milked in time for the early morning milk tanker from the dairy. (Proof positive: Puppa’s hands featured crooked fingertips from years of grumpy Holsteins and their hooves.)

After finishing round one of his chores, Puppa could often be found quietly rocking in that chair in the farmhouse's kitchen, sipping a cup of instant coffee—perhaps a place of refuge, of quiet prayer, and of processing what was ahead for the rest of his day. Just looking at that chair now helps center any restless part of me on Puppa’s early morning quiet rhythm of rocking, meditation, planning, and processing yet-to-be-solved problems…and then leaving it all in God’s hands even while putting one foot in front of the other.

The rocker also triggers memories of a lot of Puppa’s other wonderful traits, including the fact that though a relatively quiet but internally strong man, whenever “How Great Thou Art” would be sung in church, his voice seemed to rise above all others in enthusiasm. I loved this, long before I even knew what it meant to be a Christ-one. There was something incredibly appealing and infectious in Puppa’s simple sincerity.

And on this crossover Sunday where Thanksgiving meets Advent, that rocking chair serves as a reminder of what it means to have been incredibly blessed with a Godly heritage—from which came an enthusiastic love for singing, and God, and seeing Him every day in nature, and through the sole doorway of His Son (another one of Puppa’s favorite hymns was “Are Ye Able, Said the Master”)—that has helped to lay down a solid bedrock for this daily Journey. Helped, because Puppa’s beloved wife Kathleen also carried the same mantle of Love, and both passed it along with a quiet power to family and who knows how many other friends and acquaintances.

While having that kind of family heritage is a treasure, looking at Puppa's rocker helps remind me of something even more valuable: That no matter how any of us got to the point of becoming a Christ-one—even perhaps against all odds, with not much of a heritage at all—how we live, and move, and pray, and treat others, and sing right now really matters. It can be just the heritage that God uses some day down the road to help someone we love, work with, work out with, or may never meet in this lifetime find the Way the Truth and the Life for themselves.

It’s been said that Billy Graham once remarked, “The reason I like 'How Great Thou Art' is because it glorifies God. It turns Christians’ eyes toward God, rather than upon themselves.”

A perfect segue, from the season of thanks and gratitude attitude to the first Sunday in Advent—the Sunday of Hope, of looking Up rather than all around, and of hope lived out (as best we can) and shared. And, of seeking to reflect the Blessed Hope who is Jesus—the "hopes and fears of all the years" converging in the climactic Love act—the Light of the World being sent as Hope into darkness, Who walked with man and understood every one of our frailties, Who left the blueprint for following in His footsteps, Who willingly was born to willingly give His life and then overcome the grave so that all who believed could live fully and eternally…and Who even now still humbly comes knocking on the hearts of all in the world He created.

Wait… I think I can hear the heavenly response being cued up even now, and probably with Puppa leading the way, too:

“Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee: How great Thou art!”

“You are the Day Spring, You are the Morning Star; Creation's splendor speaks of who You are. You are Salvation, You are the Joy of the earth! Restoration comes—Hope of the broken world.”—Jennie Lee Riddle

Game Changer

"Let us sing...let us shout...let us come before His presence with thanksgiving...let us bow down in worship...let us kneel before the Lord...."--Psalm 95, various

"Let's..." is more than an invitation; it carries a sense of eagerness, delight, and anticipation. (Think: "Let's go to the ocean!" or "Let's do this!").

There is no Amplified translation. It simply means "let's."

The "let's" of worship is not charismatic, pentecostal, evangelical, or Reformed. It has nothing to do with expression for expression's sake, our mood, or our personality type, but everything to do with this: He is the Rock of our salvation, the great King above all gods, the Maker of heaven and earth and Giver of life and breath, and He is our God and we are forever under His care...

Lord, on a cold and rainy Sunday morning in New England, when it would be easy to get sucked in to the world's negativity, "Let" this be a game-changer for this day's attitude and reflection of You to others...and on the other six to follow.

"Nothing undercuts cynicism more than a spirit of thankfulness. You begin to realize that your whole life is a gift. Thankfulness isn't a matter of forcing yourself to see the happy side of life...thanking God restores the natural order of our dependence on God. It enables us to see life as it really is."--Paul Miller, "A Praying Life"

{ADAPTED FROM 11-10-2013]

Letters from Heaven

"My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace."--1 Peter 5:12, New Living Translation

Just about all of us have been there, maybe a gazillion times in the same day: "Lord, show me the way....Lord, what is going on?....Lord, where are You in this?....Lord, speak to me, please...." And what do we often think we hear in response?

Crickets. Nothing. Silence. No booming baritone Charlton Heston voice rattling from the heavens. What's with that? And "Where are You, God, when I need You?" And, "Wow, I must have a really wimpy faith because this isn't happening."

Except scan the pages of the Bible, both the Old and New Testament, and story after story of men and women and young people who were all-in (or at least as much as they could muster) for walking with God and walking it out in real life ran into the same thing. If you listen carefully, you can almost hear their voices echoing yours, which is comforting in a way, but you really weren't looking for a pity party.

Look into these stories further, though, and time after time, while God may seem to have gone mute on their cries for direction and help, He was often speaking through letters sent from heaven that may not have been audible but nevertheless spoke His heart to their (and our) particular situation through a promise remembered while in a moment of silence, by Him tapping your heart on its shoulder as you remember that what you thanked God for yesterday is the very "voice", the answer, to your cries for help, guidance, clarity. And, even through a random song you heard in passing a few days ago.

It sure would be a lot easier, or so it would seem, if our conversations with God were always direct and to the point, like some sort of supernatural FAQ. But there wouldn't be much faith in that. And faith, as Peter reminds us in this letter of Love to a group of early believers who had a whole lot of questions and doubts swirling in their heads, too, is strengthened not by microwaved answers to every dilemma but through trusting when the wind is blowing you backwards.

Several weeks ago, during one of those times I thought all my questions to God had hit a glass ceiling, I awoke at 4 a.m. to the lyrics of one of those seemingly random songs heard a few days earlier:

"I feel You in the stillness, I know that You are good...

My heart will stay steadfast, I know that You are good..."

And as I heard these lyrics, I also remembered that the day before, I had thanked God for cheering me--cheering us--on 24/7 in this wild and crazy Walk of ours. And together, that early morning Love letter from heaven seemed to speak louder than any audible voice ever could, and with words so perfect for the life and times we're all in:

"Stay steadfast in mind and heart, son. Steadfast is not perfection or an arrival but a process--it is not living on the mountaintop or choosing to sigh in a valley of fog, but of living in undeviating constancy and resolve in holding on tight to all that I have said and have always been. Be steadfast, son. It's a very good place to be because it means your heart, your feet, your emotions, though they will be all over the map at times, can always rest in the 'fixed-in-place' assurance of My love and presence and guidance and strength and wisdom...and so much more than you can even imagine. Because steadfast is who I Am. It is the essence of all My goodness, and more than that, My goodness and amazing grace specially toward you."

Maybe the best part of all about this kind of Love letter from heaven is this: It never has, and never will, have a period at the end....

"People with their minds set on You, You keep completely whole, steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don't quit. Depend on God and keep at it, because in the LORD, you have a sure thing!"--Isaiah 26:3-4, The Message