One day I visited a very dear woman, named Louella Thompson, the same lady who told me that God spoke to her. I was struggling with some relational things in my life and I shared them with Louella. Secretly I wanted her to agree with my point of view, but instead, she offered me this advice, “Lori say Psalm 23, five times a day – in bed before you get up, at breakfast, at lunch, at dinner and again when you go to bed. It works for me.”

I had a 40 minute drive back to the office and I was kinda ticked. I wanted real solutions to my problem. Instead I got some type of magical formula. How is saying Psalm 23, 5 times a day going to help me? Well God, being God “kicked my butt” and said you asked for her advice and just because it wasn’t what you wanted to hear, you’re going to just ignore it? So just to prove to myself that it was silly advice, I decided to try it.

I had memorized Psalm 23 as kid, but could only remember the open phrase, so I got out my Bible and refreshed my memory. I reluctantly said the psalm in the morning, then at noon, etc. Then I began to recite the psalm when I was feeling stressed, which was happening frequently. I began to notice that over the course of a day, my thoughts were pulled back to Psalm 23 much more frequently than the prescribed 5 times. Several weeks into this experiment I noticed that my heart and attitudes were changing as I focused on God’s truth rather than my own circumstances.

Once again the woman of God, Louella was right. God bless her! Saying Psalm 23 isn’t a magical solution, but the principle of focusing our thoughts towards God is life changing. Find what works for you, and allow yourself to be drawn into God’s arms.

Years later I fell in love with The Message’s translation of Psalm 23.

Psalm 23: A David Psalm
1-3 God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.

True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.

4 Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I'm not afraid
when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd's crook
makes me feel secure.

5 You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.

6 Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I'm back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.

Eucharist - I am the Bread of Life

With a small satellite group at Westwinds we've been exploring the different ways the Eucharist is expressed and experienced by individuals. In some ways I'm kinda envious about how passionate some of my Catholic friends are about taking communion or the Eucharist.

"A Mystical Portrait of Jesus" by Dememtrius Dumm has some wonderful insight into the Eucharist, particularly for a protestant girl like myself.

I am the living water
I am the bread of life

I am the light of the world

I am the Good Shepherd
I am the Son of God
I am who I am

do this in remembrance of me
remember my deep, abiding love for you
as the Father and I are one, I long to be with you

bread and wine
sustains me
flows through me

satifisfies me

nourishes me

gives me - life-energy

physically spirituality
JESUS

Best part of my day

Best part of my yester-day, Sunday.

- Sitting with a potential new WWKid volunteer and listening to her story about her relationship with God. She is exactly the kind of person I want working with our kids! Hope she decides to join our team!

On Sunday's you can have TWO "best parts" of your day. If you haven't figured it out if it's your "game" you can change the rules as often and anyway you please!

So my second "best part of my day" was when I asked my son, Jeff, "what was the best part of your day?" He replied, "making my Moses' diorama in the art studio at church." That was a huge surprise to me since Jeff is more a sports type of dude. I was so pleased to hear his response!

Being Transformed

The other day I was working on a child dedication parent meeting. I had purchased some material designed to help parents nurture their kids’ spiritual journey. Obviously I really liked the material since I purchased it. It was grounded in scripture, hands on, age appropriate, hands-on, ya de da.

As I began working with the material, I made a few changes that fit more my style and then I just stopped dead in my tracks. As a foundational point to building a Christian home, the curriculum was emphasizing the verse “we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.”

WHY? Why start with sin? Isn’t there an earlier beginning that isn’t rooted in sin? All of my recent reading, studying, and conversations with my co-worker/boss, Dave, and his current series on Genesis 1-2 about creation and the image of God came flooding in.

No, I couldn’t start with sin, because that isn’t where the Story of God began. It began with creation, when a loving God designed and formed mankind to become His “image bearers” to reflect His love. It began with an invitation to be in relationship with this awesome Creator God; a continual invitation to be part of His Kingdom work, a continual invitation to be transformed and more perfectly reflect His image.

It feels very different approaching

a creator God who already knows me

and has all along been inviting me into relationship with Him

VERSES

a God, I don’t know yet, but somehow I have already failed and disappointed Him.

Upon reflection I was surprised at how strongly I reacted against that Roman verse. Not because I don’t believe that we are sinners, but because I’m don’t feel that it’s the right place to start a conversation about God.

I’m not the same person I was four years ago. My deeper understanding of the image of God has radically changed some of my core thinking. I think I'm being transformed into a new creation!