Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Walls...



I hate walls...walls that keep me outside when I want to be in, walls that keep me in when I want to be out...I especially hate it when misunderstandings occur between my family or best friends and walls form in our relationships. We all try to pretend the walls aren't there, but I can tell they are like only a mile high. Ugh!! I've learned I can't keep a very close walk with God as long as I allow those walls to stay, so I'm usually doing everything in my power to tear them down... AND...that's what we're told in the Bible to do!

Not only are we to tear down the walls in our hearts, by forgiving...

"And when you stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any, that your Father also which is in Heaven may forgive your trespasses." Mark 11:25

But we are to seek to tear down the walls in others, if we know that they have not forgiven us!!

"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer the gift." Mark 5:23-24

But even if they refuse to forgive us...after we've tried to make amends...we are still to reach out in love!

"Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head." Rom 12:20

Pretty powerful, huh? God's law truly is of another kind...

But back to walls.

As I've discovered, I'm not the only one that hates walls! The last few days have been a real trial for me with Baron (the famiLEE dog) who does not like his walls...the walls we refer to as a gate and fence. Somehow he seemed to know that Lee's were gone and we'd been left alone at home, and he was determined he was not going to stay in his pen. So somehow he squeezed through his wall (the gate) and got loose. Boy was he happy to be free!! He was high as a kite and bouncing all over everything, and I was afraid he might break something, or me. Thankfully I got him calmed down and put a leash on him, and took him for a run.

However, a few hours after I'd put him back in his pen, he broke out again! This time the gate was wide open! "What? How could he have done that?"

"Ok, fine!" I told him. "I will just tie you up and leave the gate open. And you can roam, at least a few feet."

Well, the next morning he had tangled himself around his feeding trough and a few other things, and was on a very short rope whining as if his life had ended. "Crazy dog!" I thought. "If only you'd stay in your pen and not break out!"

So after untangling him, I went to work...and then, after 12 tiring hours at the hospital, I finally came home. I thought I had removed all possible obstacles or entanglements, but this time he'd gone around some nearby shrubbery and tangled himself up in the bushes. Who knows how many hours he'd been there. By the looks of it, it was awhile. And because of that, he was again on the short end of his rope, unable to reach water or food, or use the phone to call for help. "Baron!? What am I to do with you?" I asked. He didn't answer but just yelped excitedly to see me!

Later while I was working on watering the garden, I watched as he used his nose to unlatch the gate and open it. He had figured out the way to open it without just pushing his weight through. "Hmmmph! So that's what you are doing, huh boy? Well, we'll fix you..." So I went and got a huge 2-ton brick, and placed it in front of the gate. This time, although he unlatched the gate, he could not push it open! Wow - maybe the problem is solved, at least until my famiLee comes home and has new ideas.

However, as I was reflecting on my frustration with Baron...it made me think of the spiritual realm.

Every time Baron got out, his excitement was boundless. He was soooo happy to be free. However, my excitement did NOT equal his! Why? Because I don't want him to get lost or attacked by neighboring dogs, or run over by cars on the road. I want the Lee's to still have a dog when they come home! And I know there is dangers out, even for a big dog! Baron, of course doesn't know that...so, thinking he is doing the best thing, he keeps breaking out. A friend of mine's dog did the same thing...he got run over by the first car that came by! I've personally lost 3 of my pets to passing cars, and one was killed by another dog! (It was tragic!) Obviously we humans know there is danger out there, so we put up walls, fences, and gates to protect our pets, our children, and others that are vulnerable and naive.

But what about the walls God puts up to protect us? I was thinking about it the other day as I was reading the 10 commandments. Many in the world see these commands as mere legalities, mere restrictions, limiting us from true life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But actually, if we really think about it...they are walls given to protect us and to KEEP us ALIVE!! For just like when the dog got out and was killed, when we break outside the boundaries of God's law, only eternal death awaits. "There is a way that seem right unto a man, but the end thereof is death."Prov 14:12

I've been catching up on some of Eric's recent sermons on www.Ellerslie.com and one message really struck a deep cord in my heart the other day...in fact, the same day Baron broke out. It was talking about Nehemiah and rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Eric sums the theme of his message up like this:

"The Christian man or woman represents the greatest threat to Satan's agenda and thusly they are the brunt of his most cruel energies and most cunning stratagems. But we are not left without a defense. The book of Nehemiah showcases how this battle works. Those opposed to Nehemiah were determined to stop the building of the walls of Jerusalem, and in their opposition, they attempted to cajole Nehemiah with 9 distinct lies. These lies are the very same ones used against you and me today. First, we must recognize them as lies and then we must learn how to respond to each of them with the Word of God as our primary weapon.

What more can I say, except it was very convicting, and got me thinking about WALLS again in a positive light. So, if you are up against some walls in your life, or ready for a convicting and inspiring message, go hear Eric's full sermon for yourself at the following link: The Nine Lies

Baron is safe in his pen now. And it's time to go to bed. It's dark outside...I don't like the dark for there's all kinds of strange noises outside! (We'll save the spiritual ramifications of my "fear of the dark" for another blog post!) But let's just say that I'm glad there are walls between me and the great big unknown world that is out there right now. :-)

I guess after all, most of the time, walls are good to have!!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

A simple matter of Honor...when no Lee is looking!

When you live alone, you usually don't worry about what anyone else thinks. You can wash the dishes how you want, you can cook the way you want, you can leave the place a mess if you want. After all, it doesn't matter...because you live alone! You can live the way you want...

I've always prided myself on my healthful habits, organizational skills, my cleanliness, and my economy in relating to the environment in which I've lived. I've never seen myself as wasteful or as a splurging slob. (And I'm not!) But since I've come to live with the Lee's, I've realized I still have much room to grow and a lot to learn about healthful living and saving resources. This family isn't just thrifty, they are the King's of frugality! I have to admit that in the beginning I rebelled against this "frugality."

When I first came and began to wash the dishes, Abba (dad Lee) taught me to make sure I soap all the dishes first with the water off, or only a trickle of water so I'm not being wasteful. Then when I rinse them, I should keep them in a pile and finish the rinsing before I put them in the dish rack, so I don't let the water run un-attended as the dishes are being stacked!

As for water that we rinse the food in, if it's not soapy, DON'T pour it down the sink! That gets carried to a barrel outside and then put on the garden to water the plants. That saves excess usage from the well!

Umma (mom Lee) taught me that the parts of the Kale, Broccoli or Cucumbers that I usually cut off and throw away, can actually be saved and used in stew later. They also taught me how to peel things so I don't loose any more nutrients than necessary. She also showed me how to be careful with what sponges I use on the pots and pans so I don't make scratches. (Honestly, I've never worried about that before!) She showed me that rather than trashing perfectly good glass containers or jars, you can wash them and recycle them. There's always a use for something, so be careful what you throw away!

Kyung taught me not only how to make a perfectly good healthy meal out of almost nothing but fresh veggies and rice (I'm serious), but that if you go shopping, it's better to save a few cents and forgo the shopping bag, even if it means carrying everything out in your bare arms! (This one was a little hard for me to swallow at the time, especially as it was raining out, and I was afraid I was going to spill groceries and cans all over the street! But I managed. And after all, we did save $0.10 cents.)

Obba (big brother) taught me that if I need something I should ASK FIRST before I go and buy it, because he probably has it and can loan it to me. Who knows how much they've helped me save in this department. Course sometimes, I'd rather just go buy it...but still. It's good to share and save my money as well. He also taught me that instead of driving 15 minutes into town for just one errand or two, to wait and put all my errands together or go with others in one trip so I can save gas. Growing up in the country miles away from any town or shopping center, this use to be old hat to me...but now I have to admit, I've been in the city too long and have grown lax and lazy! So he is teaching me the right way again...

As for Sue, there are so many things she has taught me...to always be sure to turn off lights when I leave the room, to look carefully through the produce I'm buying to make sure there are no bad spots so we don't have to go home and throw food away, to look for the cheapest prices, to call home and get family to go online and find the cheapest gas station before I fill up, to save my extra napkins from chipotles and bring them home to use, not even to throw the kid's scraps of left-over food away, and to go to her closet if I need new clothes rather than going to the store to buy more! Wow - I could go on and on!

Many of these things I thought I knew...but the Lee's have taught me so much more!

Now I am on my own for a week...they aren't around to watch me. They aren't with me to make sure I conserve or do things just right. Yet, I find myself out of habit, washing the dishes the way Abba taught me to. I barely use a trickle of water! Not because he's looking over my shoulder (he wont even know), and not because I necessarily think it's the easiest way to do it...but most importantly because this is His house, and I want to honor him.

As I wash Umma's pots, I make sure I use the soft scratcher. She's not here to remind me, I do it because I want to honor her. I find myself trying to finish up every last scrap of food so it wont go to waste. Not because I want to eat it, but because as Umma once said, "Even this one grain of rice took a whole year to grow!" And as Christian's we shouldn't be wasteful. But also, this is her house and the famiLee's food, and I want to honor them...even if they aren't here looking!

When I ran to town to get some things for Sabbath, I tried to get all my errands done at once, so I wont have to go back later. Obba's not here to reprimand me for wasting gas, but his wisdom stays with me. When I buy things at the store, I remember Kyung as I look at prices. And as I check out, if possible, I say "No thanks" for the bag, and carry stuff out in my arms. Kinda funny, to find myself doing this without even being prompted. But why waste an extra bag if I can avoid it...and after all, I saved $0.10 cents!

Of course, there are still many things the Lee's have to teach me...and I don't always learn as quickly as I should. But while I might have felt burdened at first with the new conservation measures, and things that I wasn't use to, I'm so grateful for the things I have learned. And I carry on, partly because I know this is the BETTER WAY...but also because I'm so grateful to be part of their famiLEE and I want to honor them!

So tonight as I enjoyed some quiet time alone in the house, doing the dishes (ever so careful not to use too much water, because I know Abba likes it better when I'm mindful), I thought about all the other areas of our lives that "Honor" should play a part...

I've been given an even more valuable house to take care of...and no one's standing around telling me how I should take care of it, or how to make it last the longest. Oh, there's manuals, and I've received a good education in "house upkeep" but still, it's my choice. Usually no one is watching!

Yep, you guessed it! It's the house God has given me...my body AND my mind! Do I honor God by how I take care of it? What I eat, what I wear, what I think about, how disciplined I am in my Bible study habits...how I relate to others?? After all, He's not standing here in person telling me, "Melody! You really need to do this because if you don't your house is gonna break down sooner than it should, or you're gonna run out of resources." Actually the world encourages us, "Just relax! Just do what feels good! Do what you want?" I've even had my Christian friends say, "It doesn't matter if you splurge a little here or there, tell a little white lie now and then, or don't always follow all the rules exactly. After all...God knows your heart! He knows you mean well!" But I wonder...if He knows my heart, doesn't that mean that it hurts him more when I don't live up to what I know to be truth? The people around me, they may admire my house...but they don't truly know what's on the inside...only God! And the more I think about it, the more I believe that it's only when we honor God on the inside, where no one can see, that we are truly being honorable.

So now more and more I pray, "Create in me a clean heart Oh God, and renew a right spirit with me! When no one is looking, when no one is around to applaud my good behavior or pay me tribute, will you still give me strength to do right and honor YOU?"

I don't claim to have arrived, obviously I'm still growing...and God has definitely been putting me through the refiner's fire a lot lately, to help me grow more! But my prayer continues. This is what I long for...this is what I pray for. To not just "look pure" before fellow man, but to truly "be pure" in Heart before God.

So, as I have the honor of looking after Lee's house, as I wash the dishes, scrub the floors, and seek to utilize every last grain of rice, I'm reminded again how grateful I am for what this special Asian famiLee is teaching me....but even more, I'm grateful for what God is teaching me! Yes, I'll continue to seek to conserve the electricity, I'll continue to save the water...out of love and respect and honor. But more importantly because by honoring them, I am truly honoring God! And that's what matters most!!

"Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart." I Sam 16:7

Friday, May 14, 2010

Left Behind...

Fighting back a torrent of tears, I carefully pulled the big van away from the curb. My family had already disappeared inside the airport terminal and would soon be in the sky, headed for some tropical oasis. It wasn't practical for me to go along, and I had work to do, and things to take care of, so it was expected that I would be left alone at home. Besides they needed someone to keep the garden watered, and the animals taken care of...which I was more than happy to do. But still, those facts didn't make the "ache" of watching them all walk away any easier to bear. As I pulled onto the main highway and began to pick up speed, the airport, and departing planes, faded in the distance. But the tears only came more quickly! Ugh! "Why God, do I always cry when I say goodbye!? Why does it feel sooo horrible to be left behind?"

Then God spoke gently to my heart...and my mind took into view a larger picture. "How horrible would it be Mel, if when I come back to take you and your family home that I found you unready...too many loose ends still trying to take care of, projects undone, work that you needed to do, a heart still seeking for it's own way and unsurrendered to me. What if that happened and I had to leave YOU behind?" I bounced along in the drivers seat as the world whirled past contemplating the horrendous thought! Wow!!! I mean, I don't even think about such prospects because I know He's going to take me home! I intend to be ready. But will I truly be ready?? Is there any thing that may be keeping me unready now??

For many, when He comes...they wont be ready. Imagine how heart-breaking that would be?

Being left behind when your family goes to the Bahamas', Cancun, Hawaii, or Jamaica is one thing...after all, they are only gone for a few days, and you know you will be reunited again soon! But being left behind when God takes his children away to their Heavenly paradise for all eternity, and you know there is NO more chance: No more flights you can get on, no more ships that will go...that is a completely different story!! How utterly tragic would that be?? To be forever left behind by my Heavenly love and King...

Not only has God commanded us to WATCH and BE READY...."Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." (Mt 25:13) But He's also commanded us to wake up others to their need to WATCH! "And this gospel - of Jesus death, life and resurrection and soon coming - shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall Jesus come!" (My paraphrase of Matt 24:14)

I heard a sobering sermon awhile back. I don't remember if I've alluded to this in previous posts. But basically this preacher was sharing how when Jesus comes back, it will be just like in the days of Noah. Initially we tend to think about all the vanity, sin, and perversion that was in the world at that time. And true, as it was then, it will be in the end of time as well. But God's caution to his people is not regarding living in the sins of the world. Interestingly enough, the things that the Bible mentions in these passages aren't things out of the ordinary.

Reading from Matt 24:37-39

"But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking (what's abnormal or sinful with that?), marrying and giving in marriage (nothing sinful in that) until the day that Noah entered into the ark. And they knew not until the flood came and took them all away."

Then in Luke 14 it talks about the rich man that hosted a "great supper" - representing "a banquet with our Lord." The invitation was sent to many! But they all had excuses...One said, "I cannot come! I just purchased a piece of property and need to go tend to it. Please excuse me!" Another said, "I have just purchased 5 yoke of oxen, and need to go prove them. Please excuse me!" Another said, "I have just married a wife and need to stay with her, so I cannot come." None of these things they were doing were wrong! But they allowed these things to take the focus of their lives at the exclusion of that which was most important...sitting at their Lord's table. What a profound lesson for us today...

I can't begin to share it in the deep way that this speaker shared it. (So please go listen to his sermon if you can.) But the point made was just this: We as Christians in today's world, may think that we are ready for Jesus return, but in reality we have allowed the normal routine every day things of life (keeping food on the table, paying the bills, housekeeping, marriage, family, our pets or hobbies) to take priority in our hearts over Jesus Christ. We have the illusion that hell will only be filled with rapist and murders and thieves etc. But the reality is, that while there will be many true criminals there, the majority will probably be good people that did good things, but allowed the good normal every day things to get ahead of their relationship with Jesus Christ! An "idol" is anything that comes between me and Jesus Christ! Just think about it...it's true! Isn't that what most of the world is doing...holding on to good idols, things that are robbing them of the best? Scary!!!!

Again, there's nothing wrong with doing the mundane things, with eating, with drinking, with work and marriage. The point is, where is our focus and our priority? We must not allow these things to so consume our lives at the expense of our own souls!

So as I drove on home alone, instead of crying more for myself and for the vacation I was not able now to enjoy with my family, my heart ached with a longing for my heavenly home and with the determination that when that day comes, I am going to my Heavenly HOME!!!!!! I will NOT be left behind...

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Cell Phone vs. the Bible


What would happen if we treated our Bible

like we treat our cellphone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to think about. Where is my Bible?

Where are my priorities??

Unlike our cell phone,
we don't have to worry about our Bible being
disconnected

because Jesus already paid the bill...

And NO DROPPED CALLS!

*Found this on a church website, but author is unknown!

Friday, May 07, 2010

Sunshiny days...

Just wanted to log on and write a little note. I actually have like at least a half-dozen things I'd like to blog about...and probably will yet! But between work, loving on my little "Korean kiddos" that I live with, and helping out with famiLEE life, or working on ministry projects, I have been soooooo busy, I haven't had time to write much lately. Right now my big push is getting ready for year two of ARME BIBLE CAMP!! We had so many amazing miracles and blessings last year, I can't wait to see what God has in store for us this year.

Still loving Oregon to the fullest. Spring here is beautiful!! It rains, it snows, it hails (Yep, just last week - it hailed so hard it covered the ground and looked like SNOW!) And still the sun shines!! You never know exactly what kind of day it will be...and it could change any second. It's definitely an adventure like I've never had before. But it's an adventure I am loving to the fullest.

I still don't know exactly what all God has in store for me up here in the Northwest, but He is growing me and stretching me in ways that are building my life and character, and I'm thankful for what I've been learning. New lessons every day!! And His mercies are new every morning...

Have some exciting plans for the summer...but for now, we'll keep you "wondering" what those are! Stay tuned for more updates & Melodious inspirations to come soooooooon!!!

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

"ARMe BIBLE CAMP" - Arming People with the Word of God!


This is the promo for our upcoming ARMe Bible Camps we are hosting this summer! One will be here in Oregon and the other in Central California. We are a almost a month away, and already have a large group registered. Can't wait to see what God is going to do THIS TIME!!!

NOTE: Before you play this YouTube, scroll to the very bottom of this blog page and push "PAUSE" on my music playlist. Otherwise, you wont hear the audio on this YouTube properly! :-)