Thoughts on Life (Page 2)
Darling of Heaven Crucified
By the time our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, the Romans had already been putting people on the cross for a while. But the Romans were hardly the first ones to use crucifixion to punish the hardest criminals. Studies show there were crucifixions dating back to as early as 500 B.C. when King Darius I of Persia crucified 3,000 of his enemies in Babylon. Some may have been even earlier. Even though the Romans did not come up with the…
Repairing What’s Broken: How to be a Relationship Mechanic
You know that sinking feeling you have when you’re driving, and your car starts making a funny sound? That sound signals something broken that’s now going to cost money and time to fix. But you take the car to the shop because the car is valuable to you. You need it to be repaired, so you pay the money. You take the time. That same sinking feeling when you are in conflict with someone you care about signals that something…
Suffering Outside of the Limelight
For what seems forever, television has made suffering seem stylish by recruiting people from all walks of life to endure danger and deprivation in seemingly real trials, pitting them against the elements or other contestants who are out to get them. The payoff scene at the end of the program celebrates lots of high-fives and expressions of relief as contestants board helicopters or Land Rovers to return to normal life and their often-healthier bank accounts. This kind of made-for-TV suffering…
Lessons From Job
I have to admit, I have avoided the book of Job most of my life. I read it in its entirety once in my twenties, so that I could check off the box and say that I had actually read the whole Bible. Job is not a book that you hear about much in sermons, and I don’t remember helping kids memorize any verses from Job in Sunday School or at AWANA. It was easy enough to avoid. Then a…
What Season Is It?
What season is it? Football season? Time to put on our Seahawks gear and cheer? Well…maybe…unless someone comes down with a virus, or the air is too toxic to play and the game is canceled. Apple harvest season? Well…maybe…unless a forest fire in Eastern Washington rages through the apple orchard. School season? Well…maybe…unless the schools don’t meet in person, or there’s a power outage on what’s supposed to be the first day of school (as it did in Federal Way…
Obeying God
Even as a child I had an analytical bent. Ever since the fundamental concepts of logic formed in my mind, the presentation of a rule by my parents necessitated a thorough examination: When did the rule commence and when would it expire? Did it apply to my brother as well as me (since, of course, it was my self-appointed duty to keep him in line!) How would it be applied in various circumstances? (list all that come to mind) Were…
Why Obey?
Is there anyone here who likes to obey? Anyone? Our family takes turns doing the dishes in our home. One day last week, my daughter told me, “Dad, it’s your turn to wash the dishes.” I finished some more things for work, turned off the lights, went upstairs, and got into bed. If you are like me, you don’t like to obey. Most people don’t like to obey. I consider myself a pretty obedient person for the most part, and…
Growing in Maturity in Relationships
Do you know how many times the word “discipleship” appears in our English Bible? If you guessed zero times, you are correct! While the word “disciple” appears over 250 times, there is no “discipleship,” not one. If you searched for the word “discipleship” in the entire Bible, you would not be successful. But more importantly, what does the word “discipleship” even mean? In the Christian world, everyone uses it, but what are we trying to say? And what does a…
Grace: A Back-to-School Survival Guide
I love back-to-school season. When I’ve planned my summer right, we achieve the perfect mix of scheduled stuff—camps, swimming lessons, sleepovers—with unstructured days to sleep in, lay around, be creative and/or watch too much TV. Warm weather, long days, fewer demands—it’s all pretty wonderful. But even after the best of summers, I’m still a little bit like this guy (best commercial ever). I like new school clothes. And I love new school supplies. It’s fun to meet new teachers and…
For Mercy’s Sake
TL;DR: Humans are merciless. God is merciful. Humans can show mercy. Showing mercy is important; a good place to start is with immigrants. When I was asked to write a blog about mercy, my first thought was, Oh, no. Maybe I was a bit overeager. My work as a therapist might indicate that I have more to say on the subject than most. If I were a merciful person, that might be true. But I’m just not. If you Google…
Wrestling With the Word of God
Growing up, all things “Christian” were pretty engrained in my experience. I’m the granddaughter, daughter and sister of pastors. I’m the niece and cousin of missionaries and Christian educators. I asked Jesus into my heart sitting in a grocery cart when I was four years old. As I grew up, I sang the songs (“Bullfrogs and Butterflies” and “The Music Machine” were my Veggie Tales equivalent). I learned the acronyms: S.O.A.P. for Bible Study, A.C.T.S. for prayer, and T.U.L.I.P. for…
All Things Belong to God
Genesis 1 and 2 tell the creation story. Before God’s creation, the earth was void. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. GENESIS 1:2 God spoke, and there was light. God spoke and separated the waters to create the sky. God spoke and separated the water from the land. On the land, he spoke, and the earth produced trees and plants. God spoke and separated day and…
‘Tis a Puzzle
I love jigsaw puzzles. For me, assembling a good 1000-piece puzzle is just enough of a challenge without inducing the feeling of frustration. I’m rather choosy about my puzzles. If I am going to spend a significant amount of time putting it together, then I want the final product to give me joy, or at least add to my knowledge base somehow. I recently put together a doozy that depicted hummingbirds of the world, and enjoyed learning about the large…
My Name is…
Apparently, the topic of my name was the subject of much discussion between my father (who was Thai) and mother (who was American). They wanted to give their children simple names that would be valid in both languages. My maiden name, transliterated from Thai into English, is “Chairatana.” You can only imagine the number of ridiculous variations that can be derived from those letters. Over the years I have been called chair-and-sofa, catch-a-tuna, carry-a-ton-a, cherry-and-tonic and a myriad of other…
Love Amidst the Tears
For many people living with or raising someone with a disability, suffering is an inevitability. Expensive medications and doctor consults, societal stigmas and discrimination, and physical discomfort and pain caused by chronic health conditions often characterize the lives of people with disabilities and their families. This suffering is intensified in high-poverty regions where medical services are inadequate and families are struggling to survive. So how should we respond? What can be done to support these community members who experience hardship…
Seeds of Hope
When my kids draw me a picture, I know which one of them drew it. They don’t need to write their names on it. Their personalities come through in their drawings. We can say something similar about God. The Creator is reflected in creation. Psalm 19:1 says, “The Heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work of his hands.” The invisible, mysterious, glorious God can be glimpsed in nature. We can’t know everything about him, but as…
Prevailing in an Unwinnable War
A couple of days ago a thought rooted in my brain: “We are in an unwinnable war.” That morning I read in Deuteronomy: “When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an enemy larger than yours, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, who brought you of the land of Egypt, is with you.” — Deuteronomy 20:1 Israel won many unwinnable wars. God planned it that way. Pinned between the…
Faith and Suffering
It takes faith to thank God in our sufferings. Did you catch what I just said? It is no problem for us to find God in our blessings, and to thank him for them. But it is not natural for us to thank God in our sufferings. Why are we quick to recognize that God is in the good things that happen to us, but not so much when bad things happen to us? It is easy for me to…
Becoming a Bridge Builder
Billy’s sermons these past couple of weeks have helped me to consider my role in the issues being highlighted right now, specifically the racial injustice that has once again been thrust out of the shadows into public light across the nation. It is true that real and eternal reconciliation is only possible through trusting in Jesus and his death on the cross and resurrection. As Billy has preached, meeting at the foot of the cross with all our brothers and…
Loneliness
Former surgeon general Vivek Murthy is so concerned about the physical and psychological effects of loneliness that he has written a book to counter the effects in society. According to his research and personal experience, loneliness can increase instances of heart disease, depression, dementia, anxiety, and a host of other conditions (not that we need anything else to worry about!?). Apparently, loneliness is a global issue, causing the United Kingdom to even appoint a loneliness minister. Tracey Crouch, the first to…
What to Say to a World in Chaos
Honestly, my head is spinning right now. Our lives get completely tossed upside-down during the total shock of the coronavirus lockdown, and then in a split second we are in chaos as a society. What am I supposed to say? Do I, as a pastor in a church family, say anything? Can I really add anything of value to the thousands of church and civic leaders who are speaking out? Can I add anything of value to the millions of…
An Unexpected Gift
Come back with me to the first of January. Do you remember what life was like? Remember we had to sit in heavy traffic to get to work? We had to jump from meetings to more meetings. We had to take our children to their soccer games. We had to take them to ballet lessons. We had to rush through meals. We had to pick up dry cleaning. If we are honest, we knew our busy lives were on autopilot,…
Know Which is Which
The secret is out. Americans love to take control. No, we have a deep, deep need for control, don’t we? We need to control this, control that. We need to control our schedule. We need to control how the app icons line up on our phone screens. And if we are honest, we need to control what others think of us. We need to take control over everything and anything that happens in our lives. We stress when we don’t.…
Where is Jesus in the Pandemic?
You guys, I had the worst dream—the whole world was consumed with a viral pandemic. Oh wait, that was not a dream. It’s really happening. When everything started to shut down and the numbers started to climb, my fear began to grow. I wondered, “Who of my friends or family will suffer?” The fear that I could be infected and not even know it was unbearable. Could I have given it to that nice old man in the grocery store,…
What Just Happened?
I find myself asking that question a lot these days. Do you? Do you ever think, “What in the world is going on?” I find today’s environment quite surreal. In many ways, it’s quite a pleasure having some real down time—time with my family, time in the Word, actually even a bit of time to work out now and then! But it can also be a bit scary—especially as we start to think about what the future looks like. A couple of Sundays ago, Billy…