In Remeberance

When I was growing up, I remember the song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon", do you know that song? "Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree, so you remember me....daa, da, daa.." I know the song had purpose but I can't remember what it was truly about, today we place yellow ribbons on cars, mailboxes, homes, trees, anywhere we can to remember that our military soldiers are away and fighting for freedom.

Or, have you ever tied a string around your finger to remember something important? I did that a couple times in my life, I can't say it ever worked but I did give it a good effort. But I would get through the day - at school, playing with my friends as a child, working a busy life as an adult - and all I would have is a string around my finger and no rememberance of why it was there. Have you ever had one of those days? My friends, by the way most of them much older than me, calls those moments "senior moments". Well if that's the case, I've been a senior all my life. My husband calls them "bright and flashy distractions". He believes that on some level I am distracted easily and can bounce, literally, from one subject to the next without a second thought as to the conversation at hand.

So why do we go through so much trouble trying to remember something so important? Where did this process come from? An old wives tale? A tradition from some far off land of imigrants? Where and why do we do this so often?

I'm studying anger management (here's one of those bright and flashy distractions) and in the book I am reading, the author refers to Cain and Abel. And that sparked my interest so I picked up my bible and began to read. I started in Genesis 3 after God "tossed" Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and stopped in mid Genesis 9 after Noah, his family, and the animals left the Ark. In these chapters, only twice was anger mentioned, 1st when Cain was angered by Abel and God's approval of Abel, and 2nd when God decided to flood the earth killing everything He had created. But what I found interesting in the end was that God created something to remind him of his covenant or promise with Noah, his sons, and the animals of the earth. He created a rainbow and placed it in the horizon and said "I will establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you,"(Gen. 9:9). Ok first, I would have loved to hear God's voice say those words, a covenant with you and your descendants after you. Can you even imagine hearing those words come from the body of God? And He didn't stop there, in Gen. 9:12&13 "God said "this is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set my rainbow in the clouds and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and earth." and in Gen 9:16 God says "Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures on earth." Wow! Even God created something amazing to remember a promise He made thousands of years ago with a man and his family and all the animals of the earth.

In the new testament, Christ did the same for us, He gave us something to remember Him by and His covenant with us for forgiveness (now please note it does not say that in the bible but I think that this set of rememberance tools is exactly that). In Luke 22: 19-20 Jesus and his disciples were celebrating passover, the last meal that Jesus would have with his friends. And during that meal, "Jesus took the bread, gave thanks and gave it to them saying 'this is my body, given for you, do this in remembrance of me.' then he took the cup in the same way and said ' this cup is my new covenant in blood, which is poured out for you.'..." We call this communion, the taking of bread and wine (or juice) in rememberance of what Jesus did for us, His covenant or promise of life by the sacrafice of His blood. And we do this often in rememberance of what our life is now and where our life was once, a way to remember the promise the God made with us through His son Jesus.

So where did those old wives tales and traditions come from? I don't know exactly where those two particular traditions came from, but I know that they were probably established by God with Noah after the great flood. I know that thousands of years later, Jesus made a covenant with us and gave us a way to remember that covenant. Maybe God could have put a ribbon around a tree (the olive tree at that time) and maybe Jesus could have taken a small string from his robe and tied it around each of the disciples fingers at the table. But would I have remembered that as clearly as I see a rainbow in the sky? Would a string being tied around my finger make an impression of Jesus sacrafice and God's love? I would guess probably not. So what do I do to remember God every day? Not much really. I get up every morning rouse the kids, feed the dogs and horses, kiss my husband good-bye and somewhere in the middle I try to say good-morning to God. But I know that everyday, when I wake up with a song in my mind of His love, that He put it there to remind me that He is still around, still part of my life. I'm not a good rememberer, but God is and everyday I have peace because He remembers all He has spoken. All I have to do.......? Well, I'm not to sure, maybe a string around my finger isn't a bad idea after all.

Rejected

Have you ever felt regetted? Turned down? Left out? If you are or ever were a teenage girl or not so cool young man, you know the feeling. I spent a very large part of my life feeling or thinking that I was being rejected, and to a great deal I was being rejected. That, in and of itself, is not the problem. People are rejected everyday. They are rejected from a crush, rejected from a college/school, rejected from friend, rejected from a job expectation. And, I believe that for the most part, we adjust to that part of our "human" life. What is not part of the regjection process is the carrying over of the feeling of being rejected. What happens to those feelings when we are rejected? Well I can't speak for others, but for me those feelings were buried deep into the core of my soul. The part that held onto the rejection and stewed over it, causing in the long run, the same reaction from me. When I was approached by others, my first intent was to reject or get them out of my life. Why? Well because most of my young life I had been on the receiving end of rejection. So the product of that part of my life was rejection; take and dish it out.

I even at one point in my life rejected fully Christ and God. Told people that i didnt' believe in Him and it was honestly the truth of my life. To me, Christ was no different than everyone else in my life that I didn't want to be part of my life (or - truly not knowing how to show anything but rejection). So for several years I detered people from believing, people that I know believe God placed in my life and path to get my attention. I walked willingly away from God in every aspect of my life. So what happened? God interjected!!! Literally He held and interjection of my life, and worked to get my attention in a way that I didn't expect, a total surprise. He had me blackmailed!!!! Well ok not exactly blackmailed, but that is what I call it, His counterpart calls it bribery. Either way, it worked.

In Ephesians 4:17-32 Paul talks about a "former life" to the Ephesians. How they were once hard hearted, calloused, and exculded formt eh life of God because of their ignorance (this is the first part of this section). The Paul goes onto say that "you be renewed in the spirit of yoru mind and put on a new self, with in the likenes of God has been created in righteousness and holin ess of the truth." WOW! These people were not the cream of the crop, as a matter of fact they were Gentiles, those who Christ told the disciples to tell the gospel to and those who were not part of the Jewish religion. They were part of the lowliest people in the sight of God. How did they come from that to those of a renewed spirit and life? What happened? ..... God intervened. I don't know how He does it but He has a plan for everyone and He certainly doesn't care what your plans are in the process.

Paul goes on to tell the Ephesians to set aside their anger and wrath and take on a new attitude. I believe this is what happened to me, I don't know for sure but I think it is. And even though I am far from being to the place where I can let my "new self" show completely through, I am getting there. God took all the rejection I felt in my life away, why I don't know. When, not to sure about that either. And He is replacing that rejection with a new attitude and life. Am I resistent, ABSOLUTELY! Remember, I am the one who rejected HIM not the other way around. So while I am in this growing process I am finding myself seek Him a little more some days and a little less others. I totally rejected the only person who could help me in my life and walked without Him for over 30 years. When He intervened in my life, He took what I was living with and began to tear down my walls. Now there is nothing to feel rejection through, so those who I feel would have normally rejected me are just a mission field now.

I don't know where I am going in this lack of rejection life that I am now living but I am more excited that I show to find out where it leads. What part of your life is being lived in rejection? I think that all of us have a part of "us" battered by rejection we just stuff it away instead of giving it away. I'm not sure how to end this except to say give it up to God and open your heart for a new life, a new spirit.

LifeSong

Have you been somewhere and here a song that reminds you of a time or place or thing that was happening? My husband says that some songs make him 'taste' whee he was at, I think that's kind of odd, but he says he can smell and taste summer from his childhood. The smell of cut grass that leaves an odd familiar taste in your mouth. I don't have that reaction but I do know what it is like to 'remince' when a song comes on, back to a place or time that I remember clearly in my life. Kind of makes me think that my life was a little like that song.

About a year ago, I heard the song "Life Song" by Casting Crowns, have you heard it? In times when I want my life to be a song I make one up, try to force one into my life, when I heard this song I heard a different life, I heard what I want my life to sound like. How my life should sing about the life that Christ gave me without any trading or purchase on my part. How I should let my life be a song to others. Cool huh?? So why is that so hard? Why is that part of my life so hard to 'sing'? Well I'm not sure and don't think that I can tell anyone how that will work especially since I haven't made it yet. I have heard friends tell me that they can see a difference in my life and my families life and I take that to heart that God is actually in my life. But I can't see it, I don't see it, and maybe that's the goal. Instead of striving to make it happen, God just stepped in and it happened!

My lifesong? Not sure yet still trying to get to where God is leading me but I want my lifesong to sing to Him. I want those things that He produces, cures, heals, and shows to others. I guess that's the first part of the song, I wonder what the chorus and second stanza will sound like? How the melody and harmony will come together at the very end to make the song complete? I wonder, don't you? So what's your lifesong?