Shepherd

Jesus is our Shepherd. The Good Shepherd. The keeper of our souls. The familiar voice to follow. The one who leads us to good pasture. These have become Christian cliches in so many ways--yet they are true. To really meditate on who our Shepherd is and on the abundant life He offers is more than just a watercolor devotional. The reality is gritty and mundane and gracious. Much more powerful than we realize...

I found this poem today...

The Good Shepherd
by Mary Van Nattan

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.

A silent pool, a deep refreshing draught,
The purest water from the purest Rock -
These shall be yours,
Oh, thirsty flock of Jesus.

A pasture green of richest grass so rare,
That all abide in satisfaction there -
This shall be thine,
Oh, hungering sheep of Jesus.

A quiet resting place, a cool retreat,
A shield and shadow from the burning heat -
These shall be yours,
Oh, weary flock of Jesus.

A strong Deliverer, a faithful Guide,
A tower of refuge, a wall on every side -
These shall be thine,
Oh, fearful sheep of Jesus.

A Shepherd kind, a Friend forever true,
A gentle touch, a comforting word to you -
These shall be yours,
Oh, suffering flock of Jesus.

A warm embrace, a folding safe within,
A place called home, sweet fellowship and kin -
These shall be thine,
Oh, lonely sheep of Jesus.

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep...
14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

Friday Five: Companions on the Way

I haven't done a Friday 5 in a while--but here's one!

5 Companions for the Lenten Journey

1. Brother Lawrence--so that I can learn better to practice the presence of God.
2. Hannah Whitall Smith--so that I can learn the simplicity of a happy and thankful heart.
3. Mother Teresa--so that I can learn to pour myself out for Jesus.
4. Anne Morrow Lindbergh--so that I can steal away and meditate by myself.
5. A deeply funny and wise friend with whom I can laugh and tell the truth.

1st Day of Lent

Lent is one of the wonderful church traditions that has always been around me because I grew up and live in a very Catholic area of the country. Among evangelicals who come from non-liturgical traditions there is a growing emphasis on Lent. Each year I try to keep it in a significant way, but without participating in the other traditions that support it like Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, I always feel like a lone ranger. The time I spent in the Episcopal Church while I was in college was so formative to me--it was my first real church home after my conversion--and I do miss it. If my schedule were not so complicated, I would "sneak out" and go to liturgical services whenever I could. I'd love to slip in the back pew and just be alone with God and the Book of Common Prayer. Isn't that a strange fantasy?

Micah Girl

Wow

God of mercy, this midday moment of rest is your welcome gift. Bless the work we have begun, and make good its defects and let us finish it in a way that pleases you. Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Taken from the Divine Hours mid-day prayer.

Just what I needed to pray. Bless my work, make good its defects, let me finish well.

Micah Girl

Working homeschooler

Thank goodness the sun is shining today. I wither without natural light and yesterday's "wintry mix" nor'easter was dark and gloomy. Snow I don't mind if there is sun bouncing off it.

I thought yesterday I might catch up on work I've been putting off, but instead did mostly school and hanging out with the kids...

Today I need to carve out some better work time after athletics.

It's been a challenging semester juggling school for the kids and work because I have both pretty much everyday and no single day completely devoted to work. I am falling behind! The kids are thriving which is good. My work is not suffering, yet, but I am exhausted this semester. This will all change when my husband is no longer in school full-time, of course, and I see that light at the end of the tunnel in just a couple months!

Perseverance with good humor is my goal in the meantime.

Micah Girl

Let it snow!

Good old nor'easter is blowin' through these parts.

Let it snow, I say.

We are home to read, do school, play in the snow, catch up on work, bake bread and make goodies. Maybe some housework and a DVD will be thrown into the mix for good measure.

Micah Girl

Two 911 calls and other police action all in one night

This evening on the way to our weekly college worship service I saw a woman walking in the frigid air on the dark and busy HIGHWAY. This road has no breakdown lane and she was walking as if she were on a sidewalk in the middle of the afternoon. I called 911 and told the police where she was because I was afraid she might get hit. I then continued to the church.

Later tonight when I was picking up students from campus to bring them back to the church, several blocks downtown were blockaded with cop cars and there were fire engines everywhere. I have no idea what was going on--but it was big.

Then tonight around 11:00 on my way home I saw a car that had crashed into a street lamp knocking it over. It had flipped over on its side on the median strip of the road near my house. Of course, I had to call 911 once again.

A man was frantically trying to see whether or not someone was inside the car. I pulled over to get out and see if I could help. The airbags had deployed but it was dark so we couldn't see much. The car was smoking. We called out "Is anyone in there?" but received no response. I shouted, "The paramedics are coming--hang tight." There was a winter coat on the ground near the car that for a heart-stopping moment we thought might be a person crushed underneath. A woman ran down the street in her pajamas and said she had seen a young man running from the scene supposedly to get help. Other drivers stopped and reported seeing a kid in a short sleeve shirt wandering around up the street. A car turned around on the street to shine its lights on the car and we realized that it was empty. The fire engine and police car arrived and those of us who had gathered there filled them in on what was going on. Once they checked the car, the fire engine drove up the street looking for the kid who was probably injured. I drove up the main drag to go home, but also to kept an eye out for the kid. He was standing up a short ways on the medium strip. Another vehicle had stopped and was parked near him. He was shivering and dazed. I drove past him to see if he seemed okay. Realizing that he wasn't going anywhere, I turned around on the road to go back home. I saw the fire engine still driving around searching for him. I pointed up the street to where the kid was and then drove myself home.

What a wild day.

Micah Girl

A spacious place

He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me Psalm 18:19

You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place. Psalm 31:8

Whenever the Lord leads, the final destination is always a spacious place I think. The hard times in my life when I have been squeezed from all sides have always been followed by the freedom of space.

I think the longing for a spacious place is innate in all people. The quest for a spacious place is the sentiment behind "the pursuit of happiness." The desire for unfettered openness is the urge behind all great adventures.

I want to never take for granted the open space I already have as a child of the kingdom even as I seek for my next adventure, my next free space to roam and live.

Guide my steps, Lord.

Micah Girl

How to write an scintillating CV

Don't I wish I knew! I realized that I need to write one--sooner rather than later--but I haven't even recently updated my resume since I've had the same job for 10 years. And the prospect of a CV scares me a bit. Fortunately, I have a friend whose husband is a professor and she writes all his CVs and markets him when he is looking for work, and she has offered to help me!

The interesting thing about my life is that it's not boring.

The challenging thing about encapsulating it is that it's not linear.

I have been at one time or another all of the following either for love or money:

an actor (once an actor, always an actor...)
a director (what I really want to do is direct!)
a member of an improvisational comedy troupe
an office worker
a corporate recruiter
an admissions counselor for a secretarial school
a temporary staffing specialist
a vocational rehabilitation placement specialist
an SAT prep tutor
a college minister
a conversational English teacher
an area-wide college ministry coordinator
a bible study teacher
a curriculum writer
a public speaker
a preacher
a homeschooler
a homeschool community organizer
a mission trip leader
a mentor of young ministers and college kids
a blogger (but mostly anonymous!)
and other things I've forgotten or blocked out

Now to make it all tell a coherent story and get me admittance to a doctoral program...

Micah Girl

Either/or

Frequently, when I am given an either/or proposition
my response is,
"Why not both/and?"

Does this make me postmodern or merely averse to giving up options???

Micah Girl