Sacred Mundane: The Blog

Why is it that our week of vacation was the most hectic of all?  I can’t believe it’s been a week since the last post.  Monday and Tuesday Jeff and I had the stomach flu from you-know-where, so I spent these days on the couch reading hundreds of books to Dutch.  He was such a trooper and even got his own diaper and wipes out for me so I didn’t have to get off the couch.  Wednesday we packed the car and headed to Bend for Thanksgiving to visit Jeff’s family (which was wonderful, just exhausting for a mommy who’s pregnant and has a toddler who doesn’t sleep when he’s not at home) and then we got back yesterday afternoon, went to my parents’ to watch the Beavers embarass themselves (sorry), then came home and crashed into bed at 8pm.  I tried to write a LiveDifferent Challenge while in Bend but somehow the internet burped and WordPress’s automatic save thing apparently didn’t do its trick, so it was lost into cyberspace, which was just as well, because it wasn’t that amazing…Something about the horrors of Black Friday and how telling it is that some poor Wal-Mart worker was trampled to death by frantic 5am shoppers in New York.  The next two weeks are Jeff’s last two weeks of school (mine too but I only have one class so I’m already done with all my work), which is exciting, but also means that he has massive amounts of studying and writing to do.  Twelve days from now he’ll be a new man!  But for right now, he’s just plain tired.

So this morning I woke up and felt like I got hit by a truck–thankful for 10 uninterrupted hours of sleep but feeling like I’d like about 100 more.  But after a relatively pain-free morning of diaper, dressing, breakfast, and negotiating which trucks to take with us, Dutch and I arrived and church, he was settled into the nursery, and I was surrounded by God’s people, singing His praises…and times of refreshing came from the presence of the Lord. 

How I can’t even convey how God’s presence refreshes my soul!  Surrounded by the saints, singing God’s truths at the top of my lungs, everything fell into place.  His Word is trustworthy, His promises true, my hope secure.  He is never changing, always life-giving, perfect in every way.  How great is the goodness of God!  I have nothing else to say but that the gospel gives life.  The truth of who God is and all that He has done for us is more than enough to strengthen, encourage, sustain, give life.  He is so beautiful, captivating, worthy.  He is everything. 

Everything falls into place in the presence of the Lord.  In His presence truly is fullness of joy and at His right hand pleasures forevermore.  God is so good, friends.  Get with Him and experience rest and perfect peace today.  Amen.

Jeff said something last week that’s stuck with me–ungrateful people do not understand the gospel.  He may have said it more positively–grateful people understand the gospel–I can’t remember, but it stuck with me.  It’s been on my mind and heart all week, especially as we celebrate Thanksgiving, and I contemplate what it means to be thankful, how we express thankfulness, and how we cultivate thankfulness. 

As I mentioned in the previous post, yesterday and today mark such a sharp contrast:Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  The one day we are supposed to devote to expressing our thankfulness for all we have, and the one day we are supposed to feverishly shop at an ungodly hour of the morning, frantically stocking up on things we’ll supposedly die without.  (For the sake of full disclosure I admit that since we’re in Bend I went to one store today–the Carter’s outlet store for their 50% off everything sale–because Dutch’s shoes, pajamas, socks, and pants are all too small.  I knew it was time yesterday when he started crying when I put his jeans on because they were too tight around the waist and I could hardly pull his jammies up over his shoulders)  After one store I was exhausted and had seen enough people to last me the week, so we drove back home and hibernated the rest of the day. 🙂  Again, this post isn’t about harping on bargain shoppers or making you feel guilty if you shopped ’til you dropped today.  It’s just about gratefulness, and the massive newspaper filled with advertisements for Black Friday, along with the throngs of people swarming around crowded stores, reminded me what an interesting culture we live in. 

So Kari, what does this have to do with the gospel?  Everything. I have a dear dear friend who is the epitome of thankful contentment to me.  She has a hard time even thinking of things she needs or wants, she’s just that content.  I can say that I’ve tasted some of this, and that I have my moments, but I don’t always live in that place of absolute fullness where I can say with David, “I shall not want.” 

This morning I heard the best sermon on finances that I’ve probably ever heard.  The last of the messages from the Proverbs series, this morning we talked about Earning and Using Money Wisely. 

Some interesting statistics.  This Christmas the average American spends $1,000 in Christmas gifts (per individual not necessarily per family), and $500 in holiday travel.  $1,500 per person this Christmas alone, and that doesn’t count the inflatable snowmen in the yard, lighted Santa Clauss and reindeer paraphernalia on the roof, and the electricity bill for the Christmas lights.  Oh boy do we know how to spend. 

What’s more shocking is this.  The US consumes 40% of the world’s resources. 40%.  We only make up 5% of the population.  So we could say that on average we consume eight times more stuff than the rest of the world.  (And we weigh about eight times as much too but that’s another post.)  Of that 40% that we consume, 70% of that is spend between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  70%! Ugh. ‘Tis the Season. 

The answer, as I’ve said before in other posts on money, is not only to spend less (although that’d be a good place to start!), but to spend wisely.  Most of us think that if we only had a little bit more money, then we’d be set.  But the truth is, we don’t need more money, we need wisdom to manage the money that we have.  10% of the book of Proverbs is devoted to issues surrounding money.  About 25% of Jesus’ teachings revolved around issues of money, possessions, etc.  Since we know that God doesn’t need our money (how ludicrious is that?), we know that issue is our hearts, and God knows that best way to expose the state of one’s heart is to expose the state of one’s checkbook.  Where our treasure is there our heart will be also (Luke 12:34).

My prayer is Proverbs 30:8-9, “First help me never to tell a life.  Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.  For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” and if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.”  Lord, give us this day our daily bread.  Provide for our needs, and make us conduits of your resources and grace. 

Probably the biggest thing that stuck out to me about this message was the reality that worship is sacrifice.  In the Old Testament, you didn’t come to worship God with empty hands.  And more than that, you didn’t bring your lame three-legged goat with eye sores! You brought the best!  The book of Malachi is full of God’s rebuke to His people for their nasty ridiculous sacrifices.  God’s saying, “I don’t want your three-legged goat! I want your best or not at all.”  God doesn’t want our leftover change.  God wants our hearts.  He wants the firstfruits (Prov. 3:9-10), the best portion, the very first check we write every month.  Now that Jesus has once and for all satisfied the sacrificial offering of the Old Testament, Paul tells us to “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1).  We are to continue to sacrifice as our act of worship, through the giving of our lives.  This includes our time, our talents, and yes, our money.

But perhaps it is in that word “our” that we fall prey to misconception.  The real reason that many of us still struggle with sacrificial giving (I’m lumping myself in there too!), is that we don’t truly understand the concept of possessing nothing.  We don’t truly understand that none of it is ours.  Joel asked, if someone handed you $50,000 and then asked to have $5,000 back, would you feel cheated? Of course not!  It wasn’t yours in the first place.  But with God we seem to have forgotten this critical truth.  Perhaps the right question is not, “Lord how much do you want me to give?” but rather “Lord, how much do you want me to keep?” 

Though Joel purposely doesn’t know what any of the people in the church give, he did share some amazing statistics from our business pastor.  The nine elders of our church give 15% of the total budget. Oh my goodness that is startling!  The staff give another 5% of the total budget.  So of the entire church budget of over 800 adults, 20% of the entire budget comes from the 20 elders and staff.  20% of the budget coming from 2% of the church.  Hm…  I have a feeling our church isn’t alone in this trend. 

I must say, something must have been right about the spirit in which Joel shared this morning because I left feeling excited about giving more.  I left feeling inspired to think of ways to curb our spending and energized to look at our budget and ask God where He wants to change things.  I know that God loves a cheerful giver, and this message definitely made my heart feel this way. God has been so absolutely amazingly generous to Jeff and me, richly blessing us with health, amazing family, eternal life (!!!), peace, joy, the comfort of the Holy Spirit, an incredible son and thriving daughter.  He has given us shelter, food, clothing, rich friendships and an awesome marriage. Why wouldn’t I want to give back every ounce that I can?  Freely we have received, free give!

So as we head into the season that is characterized by consumption, spending, and materialism, let’s what it means to be thankful and content.  How sad is it that Thanksgiving, the one day of the year that our nation sets aside to express thankfulness, usually only includes a 30-second prayer of obligatory thanks?  And how sad is it that mere hours after this supposed holiday of thankfulness our nation begins the frenzy of shopping on Black Friday. Isn’t that ironic?  Black Friday, which now begins at midnight after Thanksgiving, has crept closer and closer into the sacredness of Thanksgiving, until now we almost immediately turn from our offering of thanks to thinking about all the new stuff we can buy the next day.  Perhaps this year could be different.  Perhaps this year we can offer up a sacrifice of true thanksgiving to God, content and grateful to the core.  And perhaps this year we can give a little more, spend a little less, and enjoy the wonder of Christ, the most beautiful, valuable, and captivating treasure our hearts will ever know.  ‘Tis the Season. 

I’ll just tell you, right now I’m struggling.  I’m struggling with desiring some stability and security.  We have moved eight times in the almost 5 1/2 years that we’ve been married, and I’m now almost 6 1/2 months pregnant with baby #2.  Insert insatiable urge to nest, coupled with the exhaustion of being on my final lap of the marathon that has been the 4 years of seminary.  I can see the end.  I feel like the last 4 1/2 years have been one long crazy transition, moving every six months, juggling work, seminary, pregnancy, baby, living with parents, commuting.  Right now I just want to curl up with my babies and never pack a box, grade a paper, or change addresses ever again. Ever.  The place on my driver’s license where you put new address stickers is layered so thick pretty soon I won’t be able to slide it into that clear plastic sleeve in my wallet.   

I found out today that we have some major obstacles to selling our home. I feel completely overwhelmed and desperate for wisdom.  I have no idea what to do.  We could move back into our McMinnville home, which would mean Jeff commuting two hours a day, six days a week, me changing hospitals and doctors a month before the baby is born, and commuting three hours to school for my internship meeting one day a week with a newborn.  This does not seem practical.  Our other option is let the home sit empty and risk losing every ounce of our equity if the house doesn’t sell in six months.  Right now I’d like to just snuggle down in bed, fall asleep, and wake up in 6 months when Dutch is potty trained and Heidi is sleeping through the night and we’re in a home of our own that’s not for sale.