Lenten Sweet Sabbath

We've known Hannah Paris since she was single and attending lingustics school with us in Dallas. She recently authored "The Sacred Sacrifice: Cultivating Lenten Traditions with Bach's Great Passion", and her research and words coupled with Bach's music are shaping my Lent this year.

 

Good Friday

"O Lord, we want to skip ahead to Your resurrection, for it is painful to remember Your pain -- the torture, the death at the hands of people in power, the sacrifice of Your great love. We want to turn away. We want the storybook ending without any of the sorrows." 

~Kayla Craig, "To Light Their Way"

Good Friday was an odd combination of slow walks around the neighborhood to breathe in the newly blooming honeysuckle

and making hot cross buns as we have for so many years. Katherine played her cello for the Good Friday service at church, but Aaron and I were still reeling from our late night (early morning?), so we stayed home.

 

On my bookshelf for Lent

 "We think that idols are bad things, but that is almost never the case. The greater the good, the more likely we are to expect that it can satisfy our deepest needs and hopes. Anything can serve as a counterfeit god, especially the very best things in life." ~Tim Keller

In addition to my perennial favorite, "Journey to the Cross", I've added two other thoughtprovoking books during this Lenten season.

On my Kindle, I'm slowing chewing through Keller's "Counterfeit Gods". This book is shining a bright light on my heart.

I'm listening to "Undone" by Philip Yancey and John Donne. Written during COVID, Yancey's reflects on Donne's devotionals. Even though Donne lived hundreds of years ago, his experiences with personal sickness and with ministering to his congregation during the plague bring suffering under the microscope and are refreshingly practical today.

Sweet Lenten Sabbath

"Orr emotions are a window into what our hearts really love. The rise and fall of your feelings function as a barometer to what you truly value and want out of life. Your joy, sadness, fear, anger, happiness, despondency, contentment, discouragement, rejoicing, and inner grumbling can point you to what is ruling your heart at street level." ~Paul David Trip, "Journey to the Cross"

The above quote stopped me in my tracks as I pondered where I find my joy. Certainly, I love picking fresh bouquets from our yard and sharing them with people in my community. I find one of the best ways to determine where my idols are hiding is to look for the things that promote my "inner grumbling". Oh, there are so many. They are the things where I'm tempted to find comfort and security and peace instead of letting my Sovereign God handle the details.

 

Sweet Lenten Sabbath

"Idols never just disappoint us; they addict us as well.... What we tightly hold onto takes hold of us, now commanding of us what only God should ever command: our hearts. And what holds our hearts will dictate our words and behavior." ~Paul David Tripp, Journey to the Cross

I've been thinking a lot about idols lately. About what holds my heart. About what I expect to satisfy me. And I'm asking the Lord to gently pry my fingers off. Again.

April (1st half)

April was an incredibly busy month for our family, but we still tried to start each morning with some Lenten devotional thoughts.

Katherine finished her biology dissections for school.

We soaked and planted beans as soon as we were safe from frost.

The first weekend in April, some old friends, the Havenga family, came for a visit.

John is an extraordinary runner, and when he saw that the 20k trail race "Hoof it for Heifer", held at Petit Jean State Park, was the same weekend as their visit, he signed up.

The morning began very early, Aaron and John left to get John to the race in time,

and Lori and I came later with all the kids. After the race, we enjoyed exploring the Cedar Falls trail and waterfall.

The first weekend in April was also Palm Sunday, and the CBC string quartet played for a worship service in North Little Rock. These guys give so much of their time and energy to serve their community!

The second Sunday in April was Easter, and once again we enjoyed a house full of people.

Sarah came up from Dallas, and Olivia brought several of her friends to celebrate.

The dogwoods bloomed,

The firepit cheered.

And the kitchen hummed with life again as everyone pitched in to help.

We made our traditional Resurrection Cookies.

And even though Hannah and Benjamin needed to stay in Houston,

we enjoyed a sweet Easter celebration with lots of lovely young ladies.

And lots of extended family, too.

Quite different from our Easters in Marulaon Village.

Also different from our Easters in Honiara.

But always celebrating with coconut cake!

Lent in the rear view mirror

"Looking to creation to do what it was not meant to do will not only disappoint us, it will enslave us.  Idols never just disappoint us; they addict us as well.  Because the buzz of joy that creation gives is so short, we have to go back again and again, and soon we're convinced we cannot live without the next hit.  What we tightly hold onto takes hold of us, now commanding of us what only God should ever command: our hearts.  And what holds our hearts will dictate our words and behavior."

~Paul David Tripp, "Journey to the Cross"

I struggle with "looking to creation to do what is was not meant to do".  God has given us a plethora of good things to enjoy here!  And I easily morph each of them into idols.  During Lent, I soaked up Tripp's forty day devotional.  The book helped me keep Christ in my mind and heart.

  Because "what holds our hearts will dictate our words and behavior".  

April was full of beautiful gifts.  Our apple tree preparing to push out new leaves, Katherine discovering that she could make art from Jolly Ranchers.

Coffee and Calendar dates while Katherine attended youth orchestra rehearsal.  

Dogwoods blooming in all their glory.

Tulips popped up with colorful abandon.

We added Hertz the turtle to our family.

Speaking of family...I got to spend a wee bit of time with my sister, Rachel.  Mom took us to the Central Arkansas Library System used bookstore, the perfect place for avid readers like us.

And now that the evenings are lovely again, we're taking advantage of the opportunity to share meals outside with family while we enjoy watching God's lightshow.

 

Lent

 “So get rid of all uncleanness and all that remains of wickedness, and with a humble spirit receive the word [of God] which is implanted [actually rooted in your heart], which is able to save your souls. James 1:21 AMP

Pancake Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday...however you label it, it's a day for rejoicing at our house.  Katherine made and flipped pancakes to help us celebrate.

Throughout Lent, our family is reading "The Passion of the King of Glory" by Russ Ramsey to help us focus our hearts and minds on Christ and His sacrifice.

Sweet Sabbath

 Will we say no to all other kings, including self, because we trust in God alone and the King he’s set over us? Or will we concoct some mix of God and safe, tangible plan B? This is our fight on the daily: whether or not we’ll hedge our bets, whether or not we’ll cultivate wholeheartedness.

-Christine Hoover, “With All Your Heart”

Cultivating wholeheartedness challenges me every single day.  God gave me a sweet reminder in my daily Bible reading yesterday...remembering the miracles He has performed and celebrating His faithfulness fuels my trust and my wholeheartedness.

"But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands.  They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them." 

Nehemiah 9:16-17, NIV

Today, we find it easy to celebrate, because God has provided a vehicle for our time in America.  Using generous friends with the knack of finding vehicles for us and the willingness to drop everything and deliver a van to Dallas, we will have a vehicle waiting for us when we arrive next weekend.  We alternate between tears of gratitude and shouts of joy at this unexpected blessing.

 

The Lenten season is about the sin that was the reason for the suffering and sacrifice of the Savior. It is about taking time to reflect on why we all needed such a radical move of redemption, to confess the hold that sin still has on us, and to focus on opening our hands, in confession and submission, and letting go of sin once again. But as we do this, it is important to remember that the knowledge of sin is not a dark and nasty thing but a huge and wonderful blessing. If you are aware of your sin, you are aware of it only because you have been visited by amazing grace.

-P.D. Tripp, “Journey to the Cross”

I'm thankful for the rare treat of quiet house on this cloudy Sunday afternoon.  As much as I love the bustle of a houseful, I needed time to ponder Tripp's words and to remember that the knowledge of our sin can be a huge and wonderful blessing.

Shrove Tuesday

To celebrate Fat Tuesday, Olivia made Shrove Tuesday buns from the Great Scandinavian Baking Book.  You know it's a good cookbook when Amazon says you have purchased it three times!  The recipe made enough buns to share with our SITAG family at morning tea, and we used local ngali/havu nuts instead of almonds.

Since our weather hasn't been cooperating with an across-the-ocean motor boat ride, and America's punch of cold weather has created intermittent power outages as far south as Dallas, where our translation consultant lives, we've decided to delay the check of the Sermon on the Mount until next week.  Thanks for your continued prayers for the translation team as they prepare!

Scaffolding

During January, I watched the progress of this house from my rocking chair on the porch of our village home.  The bones of the house went up first, and then we cheered on the guys as they added the roof and the walling to fill in the gaps.

Lent begins this week.  We've bought plane tickets to return to America, so during the course of Lent, we will be living in three different places.  I need some scaffolding to thoughtfully observe this season.  We'll be reading through "Journey to the Cross" as a family during breakfast, and on my own I'll be working through "With All Your Heart: Living Joyfully Through Allegiance to King Jesus".  I hope to continue some of our favorite Lenten traditions like making pretzels and listening to some Penitential Psalms to help keep our minds and hearts undivided as we sort and pack and prepare for our long journey back to Arkansas.

Sweet and Simple

Over the years, our family has maintained some traditions despite calling three different locations home.  We've never had a lot of money to spend, and we have often been unable to locate fancy ingredients or decorations.  So, we've learned to keep it sweet and simple.

Somehow, that category fits us.  Sweet and simple.  Those kinds of traditions also mean that food is often the center of the celebration.  I'm okay with that!  On Good Friday, we made enough hot cross buns to share with our SITAG family.

Olivia began the coconut cake for tomorrow, thankfully without any mishaps or extra cake making! And tonight we made Resurrection Cookies.  This is the first time we've been missing both Sarah and Benjamin in our Easter preparations, and I have to admit this mama shed a few tears.  We are thankful for the JBU professors who are hosting our college kids right now.  We are thankful for technology to help us stay in touch.

We thought we would still be in the village to celebrate Easter and that Olivia would be decorating the church, singing and dancing with her peers.  She has shed a few tears over that, too.  In the midst of these simple preparations, our foundation remains the same.  Christ died.  Christ was buried.  Christ rose again.