A Father's Love

Sometimes, well maybe most times, I believe that God patiently waits for us to finish our temper tantrums. We kick and scream and cry about our heartbreaks while God sits and waits for us, usually out of sight, but never far away, until we're finished. While we are breathless and exhausted, He gently approaches, brushes the hair from our faces, then drying our eyes, He whispers "Come with me." And I love how He always, without fail, always shows us something beautiful!

I'm reading The Shack right now and without telling much of anything I'll admit there is one such (and I expect several other) moments just like this. It occurred to me that there are so many examples of this tantrum and release in the bible. I think of David being pursued by Saul, Abraham and Sarah waiting on their promised son, and even one my favorite stories Elijah on mount Horeb.

Exhausted, frustrated, and alone Elijah heads to mount Horeb to get clarity from God on just what is going on. 1 Kings 19 opens with Elijah being threatened by the king's wife Jezebel. Afraid, he flees to the mountain where he weeps himself to sleep to be awakened by an angel who gives him food and drink, and tells him to go back to sleep, twice. I love this story because it is a clear picture of His heart for us, not as a scary an ominous God, but as a tender and patient Father. In fact I think that is what most of these stories have in common.

So then I began to think about all of the stories that weren't in the bible but I sense were there. I thought about women like Sarah and Elizabeth who were well past the age of menopause believing that God was going to keep His promise to them and make them mothers. I thought about Joseph in that prison, wondering if this cell meant that God had forgotten about him and His promise for him.

We have this image in our mind of faith as this stoic or maybe even Stepford-esque joy, complete with plastered on smiles and well prepared religious responses, but what if God is saying "I am a big enough Father to handle your temper tantrums. I don't stop loving you when you get frustrated, I don't take my promises back when you collapse in anger or weariness or fear. Tell me your troubles I want to hear everything. I only ask that when you bring them, you leave them."

Have you ever finished a really good cry and felt empty like "That's it, there's nothing else, I literally cried my guts out." I think that those are the moments that God says "Great! Now I can pour into you." Isn't that tremendous! That He takes all that sorrow pain and anguish and reveals something greater through all of it. I love Him!

Dear Abba,

Thank you for Your patience with us. Thank you for never leaving us alone, for crying with us, and when we're done, picking us up. Give us the courage to cry and surrender to You because we understand that You desire a broken and contrite heart more than sacrifice. We love you, honor and praise You even (and especially) through tears. In Jesus' name we pray,

Amen

Why The Hunger Games Scares Me

Spoiler Alert: If you haven't seen the movie, don't read this blog yet. Mucho spoilers throughout!

So about a week ago I finally saw Hunger Games. I waited a long time to see it because I knew instinctively it was going to be a lot, though I wasn't quite sure of what. I remember watching the first preview and thinking, "This looks like a modern day Holocaust movie."

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It's beautiful; quiet in the right places, loud in the right places, harsh, and tender. A truly wonderful movie, but it scared me a lot. Here's the thing, it wasn't just the violent scenes or even that these violent acts were being committed by and on children. The reason this movie scares me is I see so much of who we already are as a society in this film. The arrogance, the viciousness, the selfishness; and it does seem, in one way or another, to be pointed at our children. That scares me. Sure we may not be literally sending our children out to be slaughtered by each other, but consider all the ways we are harming them. Stealing money from education, continuing to employ teachers who care nothing about children, ignoring, harming, and belittling them, only to send them out into a world they are ill prepared for. What else can denying our children hope and preparation be called except killing them?

There is a line in a Switchfoot song called Blinding Light:

Hey boy, don't believe them, we're the nation that eats our youth. Hey boy don't believe them none of us are bullet proof.

Are we teaching our children the things that matter? Are we giving them the things that last? Do we even remember how? I honestly have no stats for this but I feel pretty confident that 20 minutes of undivided attention with your child or student or mentee will mean more and last longer than hours spent on any Playstation, Xbox, iPad, iPod or Wii. How can we make sure that our children learn not just survival skills but life skills? I don't know about you, but I don't just want to survive here. I want to flourish, and I want the same for my children.

So, I'm not one of those people who believe in shining light on heavy problems and then walking away, I want to know what you think we can do to kill the Hunger Games mentality in our own society. It doesn't have to be big like building a school. My mentor always says "Success comes in pieces, work the pieces." Let's start a little bit at a time. Love you guys!

To our future,

Ina