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The Musings of a Stubborn Believer

Category: life (page 5 of 7)

Harmony

I have formulated a new definition for harmony…
It’s what happens when you mix life and love.

And the harmonies captured here today certainly consist of the love of more than 6 musicians…
Somebody’s been praying. 
And we’ll always be indebted…

We’re at 7 of 14. 
And we’re smiling.   

Thanks friends… 🙂

Reflections…


If I was not formerly convinced that I have no light to shine, no song to sing, and no love to give of my own, I am now. But that is just fine… Why would I want to love with my feeble little heart when I could learn to love with His? Or sing my tuneless human compositions when I could be singing the songs of Heaven?

No comparison.

Now, I’ve said for some time I wanted to be a reflector… But I’ve learned something of late…

Not all reflections are created equal. 

Some reflections are worthy

Some things are best absorbed…

Reflect light.
Reflect only light.

Pray for us this week… And stay tuned for samples while our next CD takes shape… 🙂

Lingering at Sunset…


Sunset. 

My favorite color.
(That’ll be on a quiz someday. :))

Few things stop me dead in my tracks more quickly or rivet my soul more completely than God’s fingerprints across the western sky.

I always, always linger…

And if I’m compelled to tear my gaze away before the color is gone, my heart lingers. My heart sings…

Sometimes there’s a twinge of loss too… After all, the day is gone.
But there’s so much to be thankful for.


Well, I watched a “sunset” today.
The last teenager in our house turned 20.

And my heart is lingering. 

Our day started early– or late yesterday, as the case may be. I got my first “Happy Birthday!” in way before you were awake this morning between blasts of my siren at herd after herd of obtuse elk on the highway.

But it’s been a happy day…

Happiest because of the joy we find in a God Who is faithful. . . and sister and daughter who is following where He leads.
And also happy because in the gather darkness that necessarily accompanies a sunset, we have begun to learn things we never could have learned in the light. 

The next dawn is still shrouded in mystery.

But we’re all-out excited.

Excited about the altars that await us…
And the promises that sustain us.
And the joy of Jesus being All Sufficient.


It seems I’m seeing more sunsets in life of late…
Saying more goodbyes to yesterday.
But that’s ok.

The stars are coming out now.

we kinda went “all out” this year, and planned a once-in-a-lifetime surprise party with beloved friends and neighbors…

Chantée’s brainchild, the product of several girls’ culinary art and creativity.



Thanks for loving Jesus, sweet girl…
All photos: © Joshua Nebblett


Privileged: Part 2

I’m reminded…

In death, there is life. 

 Though pain, and toil, and sacrifice are the lot of the soldier, 

And though it may appear that for this time he gets no pay,

Remember that God has not asked anyone to serve Him here
without promising him an inheritance hereafter

There has never been a night
that was not followed by the morning…


“With the sovereignty of God is bound up the well-being of man. The glory of God is the joy and the blessing of all created beings. When we seek to promote His glory we are seeking for ourselves the highest good which it is possible for us to receive. . . . God calls for the consecration to His service of every faculty, of every gift you have received from Him. He wants you to say, with David: ‘All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee.'” 

God’s Amazing Grace, Feb 22
Photo: Joshua Nebblett







Privileged: The Real Gospel

“The principle of the gospel is this: 
The gospel always brings life to the receiver,
and death to the giver.


If the gospel brought death to Jesus Christ, why would we think that in preaching the gospel it would be any less for us?…


So the mixture of our message is life and death,
And laughter and tears…


And this is voluntary.
This is not a sentence at all…
We’re not sentenced to death.
We’re just privileged to answer His call…”



–Jackie Pullinger
lifelong missionary to Hong Kong

Grace is Power…

Just four young adults and a veteran Toyota Corolla sporting new snow tires… 
That was us a few weeks ago. The trip was originally planned for 6, but God had other ideas. 

It was a trip like none other. We sorely missed having our parents along, but even in that I see the hand of Providence. He wanted this trip to be different. and different it was.

Our world is changing. I mean, the world of 4 young people from the edge of nowhere who love to work together, pray together, play together, serve together, sing together… And cry on each other’s shoulders. 


We hear the tread of armies. Constantly.


And we see the gleams of a golden morning…

All at once we are noting in the world around us things that we’ve never perceived before. 

Some things that not that long ago had little or no influence on our personal lives are fast becoming our reasons for living.


I have no way to explain it, other than the fact that we’ve been captivated by Grace.

In all my years I cannot remember another time when the four of us have jumped into the car after a day on the slopes with young friends, pulled off our helmets (hair to the four winds) and had nothing to talk about all the way down the mountain but Jesus… 


He is so irresistible. And every time I turned around, I was looking into the face of another long-time friend and seeing the same thing written there. (for the first time)



I can’t remember another time when one moment, I could be speeding down an icy road on a sled, surrounded by shouts of laughter and high spirits, and the next moment be on my back looking up at the blue sky saying “My Jesus, I love You…” (And the next moment be speeding down the icy hill again.)

I have never seen so much of Jesus in His children… Everywhere I turned, I caught another glimpse of His face. 

Our world is changing…
Or maybe not.
Maybe we’re just tasting more of His grace… And He’s changing the things we love, and the things we live for. Maybe that’s why we don’t pray for happiness, but for usefulness. Why we gladly exchange fun times for the pursuit of His glory…



I never imagined that broken pieces could be this happy… 


Grace is power. 
What it touches, changes. 


Eternal Weight of Glory, serving You is joy unspeakable!
Please keep us in Your hand…







Heaven’s Hands

You are called to be Heaven’s hands… and Heaven’s voice.
This is happiness…
___________________________
I was already in my pajamas. In fact I had just plopped down on the couch in the living room, Spiritual Leadership in one hand, and my iPad in the other, waiting for family time.
Then the dispatcher down at the county seat hit a button on her console… The button that gets us moving faster than any other button in the world. 
And the pager came alive. 
“An ambulance is requested at _____for a s__ty-___ year old female with difficulty breathing…”
So much for the PJs. 


Joshua, Natasha and I were out the door by the time she finished repeating the tone. 
And driving down the road towards town, I prayed the same prayer that is in our hearts every time we jump into our uniforms and grab our radios. 
“…and let us be Your hands to our patient this evening. In Jesus’ name…” 
She really was in trouble. Enough trouble that when we got her in the rig, she got three lines of oxygen instead of one. But God knew she needed more than just our medications and a ride to the nearest hospital. 
She needed a song. 
It was the farthest thing from our minds…  
But no matter. He has His ways… And before we were halfway to the hospital, the three of us found ourselves singing O Lord, You’re Beautiful… 
And she was leaning back on the cot still wheezing heavily, but with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. 
When we finished, the panic was gone. She said she could die in peace… because her angels had sung for her.
I just looked at her. 

I promise you, we’re not angels. For one thing, angels sing in tune. We could barely hear each other from the three corners of the back of the ambulance with all the road noise…
But I learned that sometimes all He needs is for us to be willing to lift the lid on protocol for just one second and move our lips so that He can sing… 

By the time our charting was done and we left the ER, every staff member there had heard the tale of her angels.
All I could do was shake my head.
And wonder at what we might have missed… 
We are called to be Heaven’s hands… and Heaven’s voice.
This is happiness. And an honor entirely undeserved.


An hour later I pulled back through the dark streets of our quiet little town, and up to the white metal building we affectionately call “the barn.” 
Thank You, Jesus. Thank You for riding this ambulance today.

“Catron S.O. this is 2*67 on Davenport”
“Catron S.O. on Davenport, Go ahead 2*67”

“Good evening ma’am, we’re back in service.”
“10-4. Thank you. Welcome home sir.” 




Australia

Home. 
A strange mix of happy and sad I’ve never felt before…
Try loving, and praying, and preaching, and crying for souls… 
And being loved by them, and then saying goodbye knowing there’s a good chance you will never meet again on this side of the gates of pearl. 
Oh, I know.
I’ve done it before too. But this time was different. 
A part of me is still in Australia. 
And that part of me will never come home.
Maybe it was relinquishing claims to those hearts and hands 
to trust them to the grip of One infinitely stronger and wiser…
Or maybe it was just realizing how small I am…
Or maybe it was something else
Whatever the case, it makes my heart burn for Heaven.
Oh, let’s be faithful dear friends…
I want to meet you on the other side.

Thinking of Thanking…

While we’re here still thinking of thanking…
You know what I’m most thankful for?

Lifetimes.

Times to share life… With those around my same breakfast table, and way, way beyond.

We’ll be on the road again tomorrow (here we come, mates!) but before we off, I thought I’d share a few smiles from the last few weeks… 


Utah: Rendezvous with old colleagues, and a good workout…



(…and smiles in the shade)



Michigan: Ministry, and beloved old stomping grounds



I grew up back here…



(And the old swing is still there, 12 years later.)



San Diego: Speaking at AMEN Conference



East Tennessee: Another friend’s wedding… 🙂



This time of life is unspeakably rich… 


We’re treasuring the moments.
And the promises. 🙂

_______
________________________
_______



Next stop: Australia…



A Light and a Song.

A friend’s blogpost just reminded me–
My life is to be “a praise and a glory.” (COL 288.2)
Or as I like to think of it, a light and a song.
I love that word picture… 
But this morning as I was devouring Ephesians, it got even more beautiful. 
1:12 tells me that we who trust in Christ are not to be just any praise and any glory… 
We exist to be the praise of His glory…

So make that: 
My broken little life–
His light. His song…
Now I really love that word picture.
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