Monthly Archives: January 2009

What do I mean by the Sacredness of the Mundane?  The sacredness of the mundane is the call to live a life in which every single facet is supernaturally infused with eternal significance.  As William Paul Young writes, “If anything matters, everything matters.”  It is living with a real, conscious awareness that every breath of our life is important, indeed eternally important.  While we might agree with this on a cerebral level, it is quite another matter to live this way.  Why? Because the mundane rules our lives, and the Evil One has managed to successfully deceive us into thinking that mundane matters are separate from our spiritual life. 

I believe this is the most subtle and dangerous lie we are tempted to believe.  We are daily tempted, subconsiously, to believe it doesn’t really matter, and to live the majority of our lives–the mundane–in one manner, while attempting to progress in our Christian life through other means.  In the words of Paul David Tripp, “If God doesn’t rule your mundane, He doesn’t rule your life.  Because the mundane is where you live.” 

I say that life is infused with eternal significance because we are not the ones who give our life significance.  Material objects and a vast majority of actions and decisions have no moral value.  It is the altar which sanctifies the gift.  Sacred living is nothing more than living a life which is consecrated, or set apart, wholly to Him who alone is Sacred: The Triune God.  A life which has been given over to God (i.e. born again) has been consecrated to Christ and is therefore sacred and holy.  It isn’t a matter of feeling, but rather a matter of fact.  When we consciously decide to embrace sacred living, we are merely acknowledging and embracing what already is.  We are acting in the appropriate manner.  And nothing, absolutely nothing, is more satisfying and rewarding than doing that which you were created to do.   Mundane takes on immeasurable value and limitless potential.  Trials are transformed from obstacles to opportunities.  Life teems with meaning. 

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And because life teems with meaning, I am going to leave these thoughts for now and go iron my husband’s shirts.  Because that is pleasing to God and to Jeff. It matters.

So I’ve not yet risen from the ashes of sickness–I’m writing this while lying in bed.  But I couldn’t let too much of 2009 get underway without posting some resolutions.  I like knowing where I’m going, and even though I’m not the one in control, I like being purposeful about the course of my life.  So what about you? Where are you going?

It’s always fun to look at last year’s resolutions (posted here) and while I’d like to say I had 100% success, I didn’t.  But, one significant praise from 2008 is that I CAN see how God graciously allowed me to love more. He challenged me, showed me areas of weakness, and pushed me past some limits.  I’ve so far to go, but I’m not what I once was!  Probably my biggest praise, however, is from 2008 goal to not worry about money.  This was a big one. And what a perfect year to make that a goal, seeing the economic state of our nation!  This is where I saw God work in leaps and bounds in my life.  2008 brought Jeff and me through by far our leanest times, and also by His grace we ended 2008 in probably our most abundant times. And God was so good through it all!!

So if 2008’s banner resolution was the Love More, my 2009 banner Resolution is to Give Thanks Always.  My hope and prayer for 2009 is that my life would be characterized by a firm resolve to give thanks always.  A thankful heart is a humble heart, a thankful heart is a joyful heart.

My husband always says, ungrateful people do not get the gospel. They don’t understand it.  Because if we truly understood the gospel, we would never be ungrateful.  If we truly comprehended the amazing grace, mercy, love, abundance that has been poured out to us in Christ, we would never cease to give thanks to our God, in every single circumstance.  My heart’s greatest desire is that I would be a woman of thanks.  That praise and thanksgiving would flow from my heart.  So that is my prayer for 2009, that thankfulness would characterize my life.

A few other nuts and bolts which pertain to the mundane details of life–the sacredness of the mundane, if you will.  As I recently read, “If God doesn’t rule your mundane, He doesn’t rule your life, because that is where you live.”  Amen!  So, 2009 Goals/Desires…

1. Continue reading through the Bible each year

2. Pray every morning with Jeff before he leaves for work (God help me get out of bed!)

3. Pray & read Bible with Dutch every day (even if just 30 seconds of prayer and one Bible story!)

4. Read 25 books

5. Write a rough draft of The Sacredness of the Mundane.

6. Take kids walking every day that it’s not raining, and get back to pre-pregnancy weight!

7. Graduate with MA from Multnomah!

And a desire (not necessarily in my control): Buy a home in West Linn near our church.

Admittedly #5 is the real beast.  I’ve never written a book.  And I’m attempting it while having two kids in diapers. But hey, you gotta aim for something, right?

So there you have it. Pretty basic stuff.  That’s where I’m headed, I think. How about you? Where are you going?

As much as I love Christmas, I realize each year that New Year’s might actually be my favorite time of year.  You see, I’m a New Beginnings Girl.  I love new beginnings.  When I was little I remember loving the beginning of the school year, with clean sheets of lined paper, limitless potential.  As I grew older I loved getting a new journal–beautiful cover and delicously blank pages brimming full of possibilities.  And now, even though I can’t remember the last time I wrote something on a piece of paper, I still love starting something new, whether a blog post or a house project (better yet, a new house!) or a new semester of school (ok, actually I’m happy to be done with new semesters of school, at least for now).  That’s why New Year’s is my favorite time of year. 

Unfortunately this year a nasty cold has knocked me flat on my back.  A simple cold seems to augment to monstrous proportions when I’m almost 8-months pregnant.  Everything hurts, I can’t sleep, the house is a shambles, and changing Dutch’s diaper exhausts me of every ounce of energy that I have. So, needless to say I don’t have my usual New Beginning burst of energy, which kind of bums me out because I look forward to it each year. But I couldn’t let today pass without at least writing something…

I just finished the last few chapters of Revelation–a  few hours “late” as I read through the Bible each year and this time I had to finish on Jan 1.  But what stood out to me was that the reason we love New Beginnings is that Jesus is the New Beginning.  And He ends His message to us, in His Word, with a New Beginning.  Our hearts are filled with a heavenly vision of eternity, and we yearn for God to take this world and make it new.  Jesus promises, “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5), and in this new beginning there will be no more tears, no more death, no more sickness or mourning or crying or pain.  Now that is a new beginning. 

I don’t have my New Year’s Resolutions formed yet; but those will come soon, as soon as this cloud in my head clears.  RIght now I’m content to dwell on the fact that every new year reminds us that Jesus is the new beginning, and that a day will come when all things will be made new. And it will be great indeed.