Five Minute Friday ~ The Greatest Surrender Ever

Thanksgiving is behind us.

Christmas is, literally, just days away - unless, of course, you are under the age of 12. Then it still seems like forever and a day away.

And I've had a song playing around in my head that I hadn't thought of for years.

Released way back in 1983 - like, when I was a sophomore in high school (over half of my kids have already achieved that milestone) - this song struck a chord.

Like the song in the wind - Lord you call me again:  surrender.

And I find myself drawn to your voice, as I lean toward the choice: surrender.

Like the echoing sound of the sea - Lord you echo in me: surrender.

Like a dancer I'll follow again, to the music within: surrender.

For the freedom I seek is the word that you speak, running deep as the song of my soul.

To be totally sure and totally yours and totally...surrendered.

Like the song of the rain, you repeat the refrain: surrender.

And I know that your music is mine, and I follow in time: surrender.

For the freedom I seek is the word that you speak, running deep as the song of my soul.

To be totally sure and totally yours and totally... surrendered.

Like the song in the wind - Lord you call me again: surrender.

And at last I can soar like a bird on the wings of the word: surrender.

Surrender is a hard word, for anyone... 

It is definitely counter-cultural and unpolitically correct. It was true way back when - as a competitive swimmer on an almost continuously undefeated high swim team, victory was THE goal. Surrender... giving up and just letting an opponent touch the wall before me... was unthinkable, no matter how bad my lungs and muscles hurt, no matter how hopeless a particular race "felt."

It remains true today - as I consider how hard it is to apologize to my husband or kids, to admit I was wrong and another was right. A cursory glance at social media proves I'm not the only to face this struggle.

Look through some of the common synonyms and idiomatic expressions for the word: abandon, capitulate, cede, concede, give in, hand over, quit, relinquish, renounce, succumb, yield, fall, knuckle, buckle under, cave in, cry uncle, eat crow, eat humble pie, play dead, put up the white flag, thrown in the towel, toss it in... None of these are typically considered favorably.

Once I began speaking and reading in French, the etymology of the word literally jumped off the page ~ literally, it means to give back over.

To return, or give back, to the one who had it originally. 

Thinking about this relative to the Christmas season rapidly descending upon us, I started wondering.  

What was Jesus' greatest act of surrender?

• His incarnation and birth: "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man..." (Phil 2, NIV)

• His submission to human authority: "Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 'He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.' When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." (2 Pet 2, NIV)

• His submission to death on the cross: "During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent surrender. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." (Heb 5, NIV)

I don't know the answer to that question - but I do know that the second two wouldn't have been possible without the first.

So... as Advent begins, as I look toward Christmas... This year, I'll be spending time meditating upon Jesus and the greatest surrender ever... and remembering that surrender isn't such a bad word.

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Five Minute Friday - set a timer for five minutes and write whatever the given prompt brings to mind. In the interest of transparency, I typically add any photos and links AFTER the five minutes are finished. This time, I also added the Bible verses included (although I did get the references down) as part of this post.

Want to write with us? Head over to Heading Home, Kate Motaung's blog.

Still Swimming in December

It's a perk of life on the backside of the desert...

(All video and many of the pictures were snapped by Anna or Victoria!)

Introducing Exodus Road

“You may choose to look the other way 

but you can never say again 

that you did not know.”

― William Wilberforce

It's been over 20 years since I accidentally wandered into

 a red light district while visiting SE Asia.

Some of what I saw and heard... those mental images and sounds are forever seared in my mind... and they just don't, won't fade... 

But for those trapped in this type of nightmare, be they individuals sold by their families, lured by prospects of love or adventure or prosperity, kidnapped or desperately striving to provide for someone they love? 

It is reality. 

Every. Single. Day.

It's much more than a memory still scorching their minds...

Today, it is estimated there are 27 million slaves worldwide[1]. 

...in SE Asia

...in Niger

...In the United States

It is a huge problem. 

Illegal worldwide[2], more men, women, boys and girls are trapped in slavery than at any other time in recorded history[3]. Mauritania, the final country to abolish it, did so in 1981[4]. That's more than 30 years ago... and the problem has only gotten worse!

I say I live my life following the Bible. Does it speak to this issue? I believe with all my heart that it does...

The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor; the wicked does not understand such concern. Proverbs 29.7

But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 1 John 3.17

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it. Ezekiel 16.49

If I know it exists, if I know that God wants me to serve others...

I, too, am guilty when I don't do what I can do to make it stop right now, for at least one. I can help be a voice for those who don't have one.

Therefore, I'd like to introduce you to Exodus Road, an organization committed to this fight, particularly targeting slavery issues in SE Asia, working closely with local law officials to do what they can to end this practice. 

Here's just one story:

"We met Sarah in a brothel in Cambodia....There was a line of prostitutes behind a glass wall, a fishbowl they call it. They were sitting on high bar stools, with heavy make-up and short skirts, numbers pinned to their shoulders, displayed for the customers on the other side of the glass. 

And then, they brought in Sarah. She was “fresh,” the pimp had told our lead investigator over the phone. Sarah was dressed in street clothes, head down, hands fiddling nervously with a napkin. She was 15 and had been sold by her mother in a neighboring country several days before to work off a debt which her mother owed. Sarah’s virginity had been sold three days prior for $600 USD. 

Sarah could not speak the local language, was kept under close watch daily, and had no access to a cell phone or any communication from the outside world. She had been slipped illegally across borders by a system of traffickers that has become a global highway of modern day slaves. 

With covert cameras, our investigators were able to record the sale of Sarah for the night, capturing valuable evidence that could be passed on to the trusted authorities in hopes of the pimp’s prosecution. Later, behind a closed door, our operative was able to call a social worker who spoke Sarah’s language. He explained that he was there to help her, not to hurt her, and that he could aid her escape if she wanted. Unfortunately, Sarah was too scared to run, too scared to trust a stranger, understandably. 

The following day, our investigator returned to visit Sarah in the brothel, just blocks away from a crowded local market. She scribbled a note, “Please Rescue Me,” on a bill and slipped it to him. 

She wanted out, but didn’t know the way. 

Immediately, our investigator gave his testimony and video evidence to the authorities and asked the government to conduct a raid on Sarah’s behalf. It was believed that 10 or more girls were also being held against their wills at the same brothel where we found Sarah. 

And so she waits. And suffers. 

But what Sarah doesn’t know is that rescue is coming." 

To read the rest of Sarah's story, spend some time browsing the Exodus Road web site, learn a bit about what they do... 

~ and as you do, ask yourself the following questions ~  

Do you believe this problem really exists?

What are you going to do to address it? 

How are you going to be God's hands, His feet, His voice...

for those who, otherwise, don't have one?

__________________________________________________________

[1] "UN Chronicle | Slavery in the Twenty-First Century". United Nations. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
[2] "Anti-Slavery Society". Anti-slaverysociety.addr.com. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
[3] By E. Benjamin Skinner Monday, 18 January 2010 (18 January 2010). "sex trafficking in South Africa: World Cup slavery fear". Time. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
[4] "Mauritanian MPs pass slavery law". BBC News. 9 August 2007. Retrieved 6 December 2012.

Five Minute Friday ~ Star

Gypsy Mama is taking a break from Five Minute Friday for the month of December; since I'll be taking my break from school in a few days, however, I've got more time to enjoy Five Minute Friday this month than many others...

So, I came up with a list of words that might be heard around Christmastime - and am randomly selecting one for each Friday in December.

This Friday's word is...

Star...

The Heaven's declare the glory of God

And the sky above proclaims His handiwork

Day after day pours out speech

And night after night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the end of the world...

Psalm 19:1-4

I'd never really considered those verses as "Christmas" verses. But the Heavens is a key player in the Christmas story. The angels announced the Savior's birth to shepherds from a celestial choir loft located in a dark, night sky - and they sang "Glory to God in the highest..."

Wise men persistently tracked an unfamiliar star for many, many days in search of its significance while convinced that it was, carrying gifts for whomever they'd find at the end of their quest. The found Jesus.

Why night time? Why angels heralding? 

Why a star?

Sometimes we'll sneak out of the city, head to the dunes or the plateau, maybe build a campfire, lay back and gaze up at the sky. I never knew there were so many stars. When the night is truly dark - any pinpoint of light is obvious. Jesus is the glorious Light in darkness.

Stars twinkle and wink and laugh with hope. Even when I can't see them, I know they still shine and the rays they emit travel infinitely farther than my mind can begin to measure. God promises His people a hope, a future and an expected end. Jesus is my hope, my future and my expected end.

Each time I see a star... be it be the real thing, far away in the night sky or a symbolic one high upon a Christmas tree, I want to bask in the light of that truth.

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: 

Who created all these? 

He who brings out the starry host one by one, 

and calls them each by name. 

Because of his great power and mighty strength, 

not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 40:26

Mullings and Musings ~ Christmas Eve Edition

• "Advent Reflection on Mary" (I used to dismiss Mary, never seeing the wealth of her godly example... until I started raising my own girls... Now she (and Ruth, of course) are to of my favorite people in the Bible to return to and to study, again and again.)

"...I hear echoes of the King James Version, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.' Be it unto me according to thy word! What a stirring response! This reminds me of the prayer Mary's son would utter one day in the Garden of Gethsemane, when faced with the choice to give up his life or not: 'Not my will, but yours, be done.'"

• "Emmanuel" (I love thinking about this truth: God with Us!) 

"If our planet is so tiny, what does that make each of us – mere specks on the surface of a speck? Our bodies, so substantial to us – our lives, so monumental to us – are truthfully smaller than dust; smaller than an atom; smaller than a neutrino. We are, in the broadest sense, 'infinitesimal,' a word that was coined to describe 'objects so small that there is no way to see them or to measure them.' A word that bears a dismaying resemblance to 'insignificant.'

And yet – there is another word, and it changes everything.

It changes everything about us, about our planet, about the universe, about all the millions of scientific wonders that we can goggle at with our most intelligently designed technology. It’s the most astonishing word in any language.

EMMANUEL.

God with us. Which is to say, God with me."

• "One Small Seed: When Wise Men Decide to Do Advent" (The key words? Decide... Do... Advent... It is always a choice... followed by an action... to point to Him, His past coming, His present tabernacling and His future return.)

"And this Gospel? It doesn’t come wrapped in twinkling lights and satin bows; it comes straight into our pitchest black. The Gospel of Christ, it’s a messy, bloody thing and this is how God was born, bloody and bruised, and that’s how God chose to die, bloody and beaten. And our God, He knows the comings and goings of our bloody battles, and this is exactly where He meets us. The Gospel is good news in the eye of the worst news.

Advent is the believing this, and this is how Christ comes: 

 “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him…” Isaiah 11: 1-2

Out of the truncated and amputated, out of the broken off and impossible, a shoot sprouts. God buds from the impossible. Our Savior comes as a sprout from a stump. Our salvation comes by way of the small, breaking through the dead ends. Who in the world lives slow enough, wise enough, mindful enough, not to miss the slender shoot? Who sees the sacred small ways of the infinite God?"

• "Simple Christmas" (Yep... Christmas is celebrated with greater simplicity in most parts of the world not consumed with consumerism, mauraded by materialism and as the author of this article so vividly pictures "scorched by commerialism"... Here, the emphasis is on that babe born in a manger  the the definition of family is anyone else who strives to follow that Holy Child.)

“For centuries Christmas was celebrated by feeding the hungry, providing clothes to the poor and giving special but simple gifts. Even in early America, if gifts were given, it usually was restricted to small children, pastors, missionaries and missionary converts. On the whole, the celebration remained simple in America until prosperity led to commercialism, and materialism began to take the upper hand. Gift indulgence seems to have displaced the centuries-old Christmas tradition of providing for the poor and needy.”

• "The Real War on Christmas... by Fox News" (Whether or not you agree with this guy and his political leanings... to me, the implied challenge is real and very convicting. There are ways each one of us finds to remove or minimize the focus on Christ during this Christmas season... and each time, whomever does it or however it is done, it declares war on God's priorities... It is sin.)'

"Fox News’ 'war' is designed to criticize the 'secularization' of our culture wrought by atheists, agnostics, liberals, leftists, progressives, and separation of church and state zealots— i.e. Democrats. This irreligious coalition force is allegedly waging a strategic offensive on Christmas, trying to banish the sacred symbols of the season, denying our religious heritage, and even undermining the spiritual rubrics upon which our great nation is built."

Wordless Wednesday: Christmas Eve Sunday School Program

Multitude Monday ~ 1000 Gifts ~ Celebrating Birthdays!

It's birthday season in our house - a fact I've shared before. In the space of about 6 weeks, we finish up a school sememster, celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, our anniversary, 5 extended family birthdays... and then there are the 4 birthdays that we remember here in our household. It always leaves me feeling exhausted and breathless... and this year it was compounded just a bit by several factors, including Tim's whirlwind trip back to the States because of his mom's deteriorating health. But now, school is out, the birthdays are mostly behind us and we are looking forward to the most important and best birthday of them all... remembering, with thankfulness, awe and wonder the birth our Christ, the Messiah, Emmanuel, our Savior.

Sometimes it is hard for us to feel like it really is Christmas in Niger, at least for the two big people in this family. When you've been accustomed to snow, cold weather, dark mornings and early nightfall, bright and colorful lights everywhere, the smell of pine, holiday music... carols... in the grocery store... somehow sand, 80-90, sometimes even 100 degrees, routines marked as always by the insistent melody of the call to prayer, orange dust and sand everywhere, the smell of burning trash and Celine Dion crooning in the grocery store - listening to the same music tape you've listened to every week as you've shopped for most of the last 6 years... it doesn't really "feel" like Christmas.

This year, for our first time, we actually have lights on our tree and we are making an effort to play Christmas music. We bought more pieces (to replace the broken) for our clay pot nativity and are working to get that set up... and if we can find another transformer, we'll even put lights up around it, too! Our French school kids have the whole week before Christmas off... instead of school right up to the 23rd. Mornings have been cool - dropping down into the low 60's prompting us to wear socks and sweatshirts... it almost feels snuggly cold, if we use our imaginations!

Some other firsts? We are planning to participate in most of the events going on at our church this Christmas. Nigerien believers celebrate Christmas as a church family - not a nuclear or extended family, because many of them may be the only believer in their familes. There are evangelistic outreaches the weeks leading up to Christmas, showings of the Jesus film in neighborhoods, campaigns to invite children to attend the very-late-into-the-night Christmas Eve Sunday School program and fête, a Christmas celebration service Christmas morning followed by a church wide meal/potluck and then, since the 26th is a Sunday, a regular church service, followed by another meal for good measure.

Our western ideas of a family Christmas... kids tiptoeing out Christmas morning to find presents under a tree, reading the story of Christ's birth by Christmas tree and candle lights, singing a few favorite carols as a family and then starting the Christmas CDs playing as snuggled - still in our pjs - under a fuzzy blanket on the couch, we delight in watching the kids open their gifts, a leisurely breakfast and then heading to the grandparents' homes for a meal together and football on the telly... none of those traditional images are realized here. It leads me to reflect on how I define and describe Christmas... frankly, missing home and our own loved traditions is hard... but dwelling on these differences, I believe, misses the point, totally!

The point of Christmas, regardless of how we remember and celebrate this time, is that Jesus humbled Himself, swaddled deity - its splendor, glory and un-humaness - in human flesh to become one of us, born as a baby in the meanest of circumstances. Christmas is the epitomy of genuine gentleness and amazing grace offered to an often hard-hearted, stubborn and unrepentant people. I've shared recently how my heart has been deeply challenged by earthly pictures (here and here) given in the Scriptures of this type of grace... and what it might look like in my life if I allowed God to manifest His grace, becoming a channel of His grace to others... continuing to count an infinity of reasons for unending gratitude...

#646 contemplating the incomprehensible ~ swaddled diety

#647 carols

#648 anticipating sand dunes away from city lights, under starlight

#649 sleeping in vacation mornings

#650 biscuits, gravy... and BACON

#651 photo shoots

#652 wrapping gifts bought with love for grandkids

#653 sadness because of hearts full with so much love

#654 learning to fall towards the ones I say I love instead of seeking retreat

#655 hearing news of those who've truly found that precious, holy babe for the first time... and welcomed Him into their hearts, making Him Lord of their lives

#656 paper garlands made by many little hands to decorate the church for Christmas festivities... even when they remind me more of Easter colors

#657 anticipation of homemade eggnog

#658 laughter at a white elephant gift exchange

#659 reading this, because I've often wondered about the claims of the United States being built on Biblical values (while agreeing that there are many values that coincided with Scriptural priorities, I don't see that it was an overriding goal by all, or even the majority, of the founding fathers). I do,on the other hand, believe that hospitality is a biblical mandate and I do see open doors and help offered to any who wanted to come as a general founding principle of our country much more so than I veiw and overall commitment to God's Word:

America in one sense was exactly as I expected it to be: a place of gripping public theatre at election times, and a place of great private virtue nearly all the time.

I found that private virtue on the night I arrived three years ago on a much-delayed New Year's Eve flight, which slipped and stumbled through the icy skies over the choppy darkness of the cold prairies.

I chatted sporadically to the grandmotherly woman beside me about home, and family, although I cannot in truth remember much of what was said.

But I do remember what happened once we landed.

There were no taxis and my fellow passenger insisted, without checking with him, that her husband would happily drive me to my hotel.

It was a round trip for him in the Arctic midnight of a public holiday of perhaps two or three hours.

I expected to detect at least a flicker of surprise on his face when this was first put to him, but there was none.

"This is America son," he told me, "We help each other out."

Nothing that happened in the three years that followed was to undermine that first impression of friendliness and hospitality. (Kevin Connelly)

#660 teaching my two big girls how to make biscuits on a lazy Monday morning while my big boy makes snickerdoodles

#661 returning to where I started this portion of my gratitude list... still contemplating the incomprehensible ~ swaddled diety

Last Saturday Morning: Donuts ...Iced by Elves

!! I love it when a plan works out !!

I was asked to make donuts for the American Woman's Club to sell at their Annual Christmas Bazaar last week...

I decided regular old glazed would be too boring...

...but that the Boston Creme from not too long before would be too much work.

~ So, I got up at 2:30 in the morning, and this is what I came up with ~

Whatcha think?

I was pleased with how they turned out.

I'm really liking this making-my-own-donuts-sort-of-thing, ya know?

After my quota was done... I turned the remainder of the project over to little hands who'd been awaken by some pretty yummy smells wafting through the house...  while I ran across town to pick up the two biggest elves who'd been making mischief at a lock-in ALL.NIGHT.LONG. and drop off the finished product at the Bazaar.



FWIW - she was concentrating and still waking up...
 not grumpy!
She was the one who asked to help ice the rest of the donuts.



Of course, I'm still finding green icing in surprising places... like M&M's hair yesterday morning - and I know it has been washed at least a few times since last Saturday.

~ Carols by Candlelight ~

One small Child in a land of a thousand.

One small dream of a Savior tonight.

One small hand reaching out to the starlight.

One small Savior of life.

See Him lying, a cradle beneath Him.

See Him smiling in the stall.

See His mother praising the Father.

See His tiny eyelids fall.

One king bringing his gold and riches.

One king ruling an army of might.

One king kneeling with incense and candlelight.

One King bringing us life.

See the shepherds kneeling before Him.

See the kings on bended knee.

See the mother praising the Father.

See the Blessed Infant sleep.

Rebekah and Ruby sang this song as a duet at the Carols by Candlelight service Sunday night.

One small Child in a land of a thousand.

One small dream of a Savior tonight.

One small hand reaching out to the starlight.

One small Savior of life.

(words by David Meece)

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All photos taken by our friends Beth and Shannon.

"Lost" Photos ~ TEN ~ Baking Adventures

One fun part of furlough (for me, at least) is experimenting with new recipes... new baking and cooking recipes and techniques. Here are a few of the things I tried this year ... this particular batch all happened around Christmas, which I'm sure you could tell right away!