reconnected
Somewhere in the past year I got disconnected from my church. I still went on Sundays, when I was in town. I still claimed them as my church (and thankfully, they claimed me as well), but I had lost something really valuable.
Community.
Some say you can have God without church. I believe that. God is vast and sovereign, but I also believe that being with others who love Him draw us closer to Him.
I made a Christmas resolution. New Year’s was too far away. I was going to intentionally move toward community again.
I’ve been dropping in on the teens on Sunday mornings–mainly just because I love them–but this Sunday I chose an adult discipleship group. When I walked in the teachers, Dennis and Sherri, announced to the group that I was going to be a grandma. Then they got to the business of Scripture.
Oh, friends, I needed that. I didn’t even know how much I needed it. Instead of giving out, I was taking in, and it was good. I was hearing Scripture from another person’s perspective, listening as we weighed it, discussed how to apply it.
Later that night we went to Sunday evening service. Now that we live in another city, traveling to church twice in one day means 3 hours and 180-miles round trip so we don’t do it as often. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do it.
So we did.
It was a prayer service and most of the evening was spent praying together.
Again, I needed it and didn’t even realize how much. Praying with two friends, watching God at work, sensing His overwhelming presence and power and grace…
Maybe we don’t need “church” to find God, but it was reminder to me that living my faith alone sometimes makes me feel disconnected, distant–not so much from my amazing Savior, but from the practice of living faith and discussing faith with others who have experienced that salvation.
My heart will always be outside of the pew — with people who are asking or seeking answers, but inside the pew is a place of refreshment and strength as I run after the heart of God in ministry.
Posted by Suzie @
10:16 am |
a little thing called a blizzard
We traveled to family Christmas events for six days in a row. That’s not unusual, but the blizzard we traveled through on Christmas Eve was. Oklahoma can be snowy, but it’s a dusting or a couple of inches. Just enough to play in.
We watched the TV on the 23rd, listening to the Winter Watch advisory, then a blizzard watch. We’re not equipped for blizzards. Our towns and cities don’t have the trucks and plows to deal with a blizzard.
I was concerned for a couple of reasons. Primarily, my children were traveling, working their way toward us. My niece and her husband were also on the road, traveling 12 hours through snow and ice to get to Oklahoma.
The blizzard seemed to pass us by, so we loaded up on Christmas Eve to drive 60 miles to my in-laws home, where everyone was gathering. The reports started flowing in. One nephew tried to leave and immediately slid into a ditch. He and his wife decided to stay home with their baby girl, rather than risk it.
Another nephew was dying to get there. Just wasn’t going to happen.
My niece, Kim and her husband, made it to my parents in Tulsa. Safe!
As we celebrated Christmas with Richard’s parents, brothers and their families, and his 94-year-old grandmother, the blizzard hit us. The real fun began when we drove home. 15 miles an hour. Keeping our eyes on the road, on other cars, driving past car after car after truck in ditches.
Leslie, Stephen, Josh, Melissa, and Richard and I finally arrived at our home. Our normal 45 minute to 1 hour drive took 2.5 hours, but our house was warm and snug.
Then my daughter-in-law called. She and Ryan had rounded a curve on an exit ramp to find 6 other cars stranded. They had nowhere to go but in the drift. Ryan didn’t have a coat. The car was stuck so deep that they couldn’t budge it. The tail pipe was in the snow, so they turned the car off. Ryan found a pair of socks and a T-shirt. He put the socks on his hands and the T-shirt around his head and braced for the blowing snow and trekked toward a plow he had seen somewhere at a distance.
As a momma, the last thing you want to hear is that your son is walking through a blizzard with a T-shirt wrapped around his head, no coat, and socks for gloves, or that your sweet daughter-in-law is alone at 1 in the morning in her car on an exit ramp.
We were 60 miles from them. No way we could get to them, so I hit my knees.
I asked God to protect them both.
Kristin called back. A security guard was stuck two cars behind her. He told her he would stay in his car and not leave, even if he was able to get his car unstuck, until Ryan returned.
One safe. I kept praying for Ryan.
At 2:30 a.m. Kristin called me again. Ryan had pulled back up with a man in a truck who was able to put a chain on Ry’s car and get them out of the snow.
They almost made it home. They were three blocks from their house when they slid into a curb. Ryan and Kristin simply climbed out, grabbed their things and trekked home.
Christmas was a little late the next day. The Eller Christmas (where all of the Eller family gets together, about 150+ people) was cancelled for the first time in 25 years, but we were able to celebrate with our small family and it was great fun.
In those times you realize what matters most. It’s not the day, or the event, or the presents.
It’s the gift of family.
Posted by Suzie @
2:29 pm |
A day of celebration, a lifetime of hope
When you’re poor, gifts are great but hope is even greater.
That’s what the children at Compassion’s Kalimpong Child Development Center in eastern India have come to understand, especially at Christmas. They’re giddy when they open their presents, but the hope they bring home every day from their sponsors’ encouragement and support helps lift their families from poverty’s despair.
Each Christmas, the children celebrate Christ’s birth with a program of song and dance. Hundreds in the community attend. Afterward, each child receives gifts made possible through Compassion sponsors and donors. Christmas gifts have special significance at this Himalayan center: Eighty-five percent of the kids come from homes where parents can’t afford even one gift.
“I can’t wait for Christmas,” says Gufran, a sixth-grader. “That is the only time I don’t have to depend on my father for a new pair of clothes or shoes.” As presents are distributed, he receives a jacket, a new pair of shoes and a T-shirt, and a blanket for his family.
Gufran’s father, Mukhatar, works as a tailor to provide for his wife and seven children. But there never seems to be enough. This Muslim family lives in an 8-foot-by-8-foot home made of wood and aluminum with no electricity or water.
Mukhatar is so thankful for his son’s sponsor. He didn’t believe his family could ever overcome poverty, but now he has hope for a brighter future.
Maybe you’ve been waiting to sponsor a child because it’s not financially feasible to take on a long-term commitment, but this is a very cool short-term way to help a child.
Learn more about Compassion’s Christmas Gift Program and Compassion’s work in India.
If you are hoping to sponsor a waiting child from one of 28 countries, check it out. I am a Compassion sponsor, my friends, and it’s life changing. Reading letters from Buli, learning about her family, praying for her, and being a very small part of nurturing her future is a blessing.
Posted by Suzie @
9:48 am |
memories, like the peanut brittle I used to love
Why is it that that Christmas evokes such strong memories wrapped around food? When I was a teen I went to a small church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At that time home was hard, and church truly was a sanctuary. I hung out with friends on Friday or Saturday night. I loved youth group and activities, doing silly things like toilet papering my friends’ yards, but also spent serious time in the altar talking to God.
Small things meant a lot. Spending time at a church member’s house and watching godly fathers and mothers interact. Playing games at their tables, eating popcorn.
But there was another tradition I fell in love with at that small church.
Every Christmas the ladies congregated in the small kitchen and poured out huge hot pans of caramel-colored liquid dotted with hundreds of raw peanuts. It was the most light peanut brittle I had ever eaten then–or since.
It literally crisped when you bit into it, and melted on your tongue.
They sold it in white square boxes and I treasured my box! I can still smell the slightly peanuty odor that came from the kitchen.
I’ve tried to find that recipe, but with no luck! I’m hoping that one of you have a great peanut brittle recipe I can try.
What about other favorite recipes? What one candy, entree, side dish evokes memories of Christmas for you? I’d love it if you would share it!
Posted by Suzie @
11:04 am |
What does it really mean to sacrifice?
October 22, 2009 | community
Many of you mailed blankets — some bought, some homemade — all beautiful. I’m packing them to take with me on Monday to Ecuador for the babies in the Infant Survival program. Some also sent clothing and baby food.
Thank you!
I know it was a sacrifice, and I’m grateful.
I’ve been thinking about sacrifices lately. I never stop to pray about buying a pizza, or a mango raspberry smoothie. I didn’t pray last month when I bought a pair of shoes. I weighed the decision, but it didn’t seem like a sacrifice, so God wasn’t invited into the process.
How many times have I seen a need and I prayed before responding. Lord, do you want me to sacrifice? Why is it that only the God things are considered a sacrifice? Why don’t I respond as naturally as I do to the fruit smoothie or shoes?
I’ll be visiting an Infant Survival program with Compassion International in Ecuador.
I’ve traveled on many mission trips, leaving overwhelmed by the need and what is yet to be done. But it’s powerful when you visit a country and you see what can be done, and what is being done, and will go on long after you have left.
The Infant Survival program gives children a chance to survive against AIDS, malaria, and malnutrition. It allows caring individuals like you to make a one-time $20 donation to help a baby stay healthy and whole. Isn’t that an awesome investment?
I am praying that many of you who are reading this today will respond and help a child. I’ll be sharing pictures from Ecuador all next week. I’ll show you the fruits of this dedicated organization that literally ministers to thousands of children all over the world.
I appreciate you–more than you know.
Posted by Suzie @
6:58 pm |
the beauty of friendship
We met David and Faith in Lamaze class.
She was blond, chatty, and beautiful. We were both 8 months pregnant with our first children. A friendship developed that has spanned since. Those babies, Leslie and Jarrod, will turn 28 in a couple of months.
We raised our kids together. We spent a lot of Friday nights playing cards, cooking, playing with our kids. But as time passed, our lives took separate paths. They lived in one city, we lived in another. Faith and David and their kids were into competitive horse shows and events. We were sitting on benches watching kids playing soccer and basketball.
We saw each other infrequently: weddings, special events, the hard times–when I found out I had cancer. If you were to ask either of us, we would say we were really great friends, but getting together just seemed hard.
I’ve been in a goal making process these past three months. As I sorted through what really matters, one goal surfaced: friendship.
Have you ever been so busy that friends fall to the side? You think about them. You love them. When you do connect, it’s good, but actual time with them is not really happening? Sometimes it seems my life is so full with ministry, family, writing, my home church, travel. I love my life, but I also love my friendships and somehow that aspect had been squeezed out.
So I’ve made a couple of goals in this area. They are not overly ambitious, but it does include making time for friend time with old friends and perhaps even developing new friendships.
This weekend was a reminder of what I have been missing.
I didn’ t mean to cram a couple month’s goals into one weekend, but it just seemed to work out that way.
Lissa is a writing friend. Three years ago she and her husband moved from Colorado Springs, CO to Siloam Springs, AR, just 45 minutes away. We’ve e-mailed back and forth and tried to make plans, and this weekend was free for all of us!
We spent Saturday hiking with Lissa and Rich. We hiked up Sparrow Hawk trails and chatted while we caught our breath and enjoyed the beautiful view from the bluff. Lissa and I talked nonstop about writing: the struggles, the fun, the challenges.
Goal accomplished! Amazing friend time.
By coincidence, another friend had asked us to come watch our beloved Sooners game with her and her husband this weekend, but we didn’t think it was possible. When Rich and Lissa left we realized that the game didn’t start for an hour, so we jumped in the car and drove an hour in the other direction. We ate, laughed, was grieved over the loss to Miami by one point, and played a few games of ping-pong (guess who won!).
After church on Sunday we spent time with family. As we were driving home we just happened to be in a familiar area.
“Let’s stop. Just for a minute,” Richard said.
How could we pass David and Faith’s home and not stop in?
That “minute” turned into three hours. Jarrod was there with his one-year-old son. He wanted to hear stories about when he was a little guy. He lit up when we told him that Jace reminded us of him.
David and Faith now have four grandchildren by their two oldest sons, and we marveled at how busy their home was as kids (and grandkids) stopped in an out to say hello.
We walked outside while their menagerie (I counted at least 8 dogs and four cats and lots more horses) followed us around.
It was as if time hadn’t passed. Though Faith is a young grandma, she’s still blond and striking. Going to her house was a treat when my children were small. We never knew what to expect. She always had new kittens in the barn, or a new colt in the pasture. She lives life filled with animals and people, and wouldn’t have it any other way.
As we drove home, I was tired. It was a FULL weekend. But filled with good things–laughter, talking, catching up, knowing that even though lots of years had passed that bond was still there, and creating new bonds with new friends.
We’ll try to space it out a little, but friendship is definitely a worthy goal–and one I won’t let slip away quite so easily this time.
Thank you, Lord, for reminding me of the beauty of friendship.
Posted by Suzie @
10:57 am |
