25 Days of Christmas ~ Day 17

“After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.” Matthew 2:9

A miracle led the way for those Wise Men. But the miracle appeared in the sky, as a star. It was the same night sky that they had watched every night. 
 
It was the same charts that they had poured over every day. The miracle came to them where they led their everyday lives. . . .

To read more of this post

please join me over at

Purposeful and Meaningful 

where my friend Ifeoma Samuel 

and I have prayerfully prepared

short Devotions and activities

for you and your family.

Be Blessed during this last week 

before Christmas!

~~~~~~~

And the #HolyHaiku on Instagram continues

with my friend Susan Shipe

@hopehearthome,

where the prompt for today is "Hospitality." 

  My Vietnamese daughter-in-law's family

gave me a beautiful gift of 

hospitality

from their HOME.

How can I not give the gift of

hospitality

from my HEART

when the King 

of all the Universe

has come to

dwell with me? 

I am linking with:

#LMMLinkup 

 

 

 

Shade for our Souls

The hot tropical sun baked every pore of my exposed skin. How thankful I was to my Vietnamese daughter-in-law's family for their insistence that I wear some kind of long sleeves.  

Six years ago I was in Vietnam, riding past the rice paddies on my first motorbike excursion. The young nephew who had been assigned to drive while I held on (not too tightly, I hoped) behind him, was very gracious to this American Grandma.

How much hotter could it get, I wondered? The day already felt like I was in a sauna, and I had thought the breeze of the driving might be refreshing. Obviously I had never experienced this kind of baking sun, exposed in the open landscape! I longed for some kind of relief from the fiery heat, as we rode.  And it was then that the verse from my morning's reading became more real to me than it had ever been:

"The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night."

Psalm 121:5-6 



I spoke the verse again and again, until I felt the very Presence of God covering me with His safety, speaking to my burning soul that He would be my true shade.




Is there a place of safety from the burning heat, from the searing of our souls,
that we are meant to share?




We find our friend, Jayber Crow, in such a place for this week's portion over at Michele Morin's site

Living Our Days,

where she has invited us to join in an online book study of Jayber Crow, by Wendell Berry.


Jayber, the "bachelor barber," has begun to see himself as a true member of the community, when World War 2 sets in. Having been denied a place of service himself, because of a medical difficulty, he yet found himself saying:


"I was learning what I had meant when I decided that I would share the fate of Port William. I had not gone off to war, but the wounds and deaths of Port William boys were happening in Port William. They were happening to me. I was involved; I was being changed."

Berry, Wendell. Jayber Crow: A Novel (Port William) (p. 147). Counterpoint. Kindle Edition. 

Jayber had begun to experience what a true community feels like: what one person walks through does overflow onto the others within that community. 

As Jayber became more comfortable in his own shop, there were many nights after business was completed, that he lingered in his own barber chair (how cozy that must have been, in the days before our nice "Lazy-Boy" recliners!) finding it a comfortable spot for reading and relaxing. Often times if another lone soul was out wandering the streets, they might find themselves drawn to the cozy feeling of the empty barbershop themselves, knowing that a listening ear was waiting for them there.


In those awful years of the War, when the searing hot pain of grief became overwhelming, one father wandered in and just sat quietly. From within that peaceful setting, he shared about a dream of his lost son that had awakened a fresh pouring of grief:


 "He told me this in a voice as steady and even as if it were only another day’s news, and then he said, 'All I could do was hug him and cry.' And then I could no longer sit in that tall chair. I had to come down. I came down and went over and sat beside Mat. If he had cried, I would have. We both could have, but we didn’t. We sat together for a long time and said not a word. After a while, though the grief did not go away from us, it grew quiet. What had seemed a storm wailing through the entire darkness seemed to come in at last and lie down."

Berry, Wendell. Jayber Crow: A Novel (Port William) (pp. 149-150). Counterpoint. Kindle Edition.




And the tears that could not be shed by them, were shed by me. This "Shade of God's Presence" is the one constant thing we can offer to those who dwell in community with us. We may not always have a wise word. We might not even be able to serve or help in the way that we wish we could.


But our Lord
Who offers us the True Shade
Of His Presence

Asks us to extend that Shade
To invite others in
Who are burning
in pain and grief.

We can sit with each other
And know
That our restless souls
Only find rest in HIM.

I have found such shade and safety

with ones who have

sat with me.

If there is a burning in your soul,

please let me pray with you,

and join you 

in your own place of pain.

The Community of our Lord,

The Body of Christ,

has a beautiful shade

that is meant to be shared.

 

 Jayber Crow, by Wendell Berry, can be found at Amazon,
by clicking here.



I am linking today with:
Suzie Eller, #LiveFreeThursday 
Barbie Swihart, #Glimpses 

Day 27: Listen for HIS Heartbeat

Five years ago today . . . 

Does your phone or tablet have that app?

You know, the one that shows your pictures

from a previous year,

hoping that you will share them all over again?

Well, this morning when I saw where I was 

five years  ago today,

I heard a whisper from my Lord's heartbeat,

"Write about my compassion." 

And I knew what He meant. 

I was in Vietnam five years ago.  As I had prepared for the trip, and the days grew closer for my departure, I had a wave of panic sweep over me when I remembered the illnesses that my son had suffered on his previous trips. This was in my pre-RA days, and even though I was fairly healthy, I knew that I would be in a totally different environment than what I was used to.  As I prayed over my journey, I very clearly heard my Lord whisper to me, 

"If I keep you healthy,

will you be willing to pray 

over someone there

who is ill?" 

This should have been an easy answer for me, as I was as accustomed to praying as I was to breathing.

It was part of who I was.

But, Lord, I am traveling there

as a guest to my 

daughter-in-law's family.

They don't understand my language,

and they don't understand

my Faith.

The whisper would not leave me, and I knew

that my answer would be yes,

even though my heart still

held onto it's own fearing.

It was an amazing trip, with memories to last a lifetime.  We walked through Customs with hardly a question, and my health never faltered.  I ate all of the food set before me, and enjoyed every bit.  Then came the day,

Five years ago today . . .

When I walked into the small home of one of the family members.

The meal was being prepared out in the separate kitchen. The fire was burning under the heavy pot, and I felt that nudging of my Lord, preparing me to pay attention.  We all began to eat the meal, but I noticed that a brother-in-law was sitting by himself, out on the porch of the home.  "Oh, he is sick," my daughter-in-law translated for me, in response to my questioning.  "He is often ill, and cannot eat with us."  And my heart's compassions were stirred within me.  

Oh, Lord, this is who you want me to pray for,

isn't it?

So, after the meal, as my daughter-in-law loosely translated, I layed my hands on this brother's chest, and offered prayers to my Lord for him.  And the next evening, when he still felt sick, I prayed again. And a week later, as many of the family came to say good-by to us at the airport, this brother was beaming, as I placed my hand on my chest and then pointed to heaven & said "Jesu!" as we were leaving.

I cannot speak his language,

and I may never know until Heaven

how the Lord's compassions

touched the heart of a brother 

thousands of miles 

away from my home.

But I will never forget the way that

God touched me with HIS heart

in order to give back from 

that same heartbeat of compassion. 

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (MSG)  "All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too."


Ah, but where does that leave me today,
here in this Season of 
Listening with Chronic Illness?
God has obviously allowed
me to walk right into
the disease this time.
He has chosen NOT
to bring me out of the sickness.
And yet, I hear His Whispers once again,


"Even if I don't make you well,
will you still be willing 
to pray for people,
for the ones that I show you,
with the 
compassions of MY heart?"


And I know that my answer will be 
yes.


Are you in a place of sorrow
or pain?


My heart's compassions are stirred now
with the Comfort my Lord has brought to me.
And I long to pray for you
to know that same comfort
that only Jesus brings. 



 
This is Day 27 for the #Write31Days Challenge,
and I am honored that you are walking with me
through these #31Days of Listening with Chronic Illness.

Click here to find the Series Index

   

I am linking today with some great bloggers over at
#LiveFreeThursday with Suzie Eller



 

Sunrise in Vietnam

Sunrise over a small village in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.

How did I get to be in that incredible place?  And why am I telling this story now, in the middle of this RA/Fibromyalgia Season of re-learning my place?

Another word-sharing-session with my counselor brought me to the place of remembering.  I told her that I still wanted to be up and doing and walking away my anxieties. I am not finding the PEACE here that I thought I should have attained by now.  So my Counselor asked if I could take a walk through the memory hall of my mind.  The same emotions that were triggered during the actual pleasant times can be triggered again, proven by studies, simply when we remember those times.

Shortly after she proposed a time of remembering, a new Blog-Friend of mine found out that I had taken a God-Planned-Adventure to Vietnam, and she stirred up these very memories when she shared her own Adventures.  Thank you Valerie, at gracewithsilk  for asking to hear about my story!  So today I am walking over the land that a healthier and stronger me was allowed to witness.

I was probably 17 or 18 years old when I had a vision while I was praying. I saw myself in an Asian Village, being so thankful to share in a love that was God-given.  I assumed I would be a Missionary. But my life took a different turn, and decades later, as a stay-at-home Mom, I found myself wrapped up in the story of my Pastor and his Wife, trying to adopt a baby from Cambodia.  I prayed and agonized with them through a very long and difficult adoption process.  When they returned with their beautiful baby boy, I sat amazed by the pictures in their slideshow.  It looked like the Asian Village in my vision from so long ago.  Tears rolled down my face, as I felt the Lord say that I had been in that village with them through my praying.  Ahh beautiful, I thought.  Now I know why I had that vision. End of Story.

But God's endings are not the same as ours.  Another decade later, and this time our oldest son took a trip to Vietnam with his new friend.  We didn't know that a possible marriage with his friend's sister was in the itinerary.  But again, Jesus finds ways to let a Mama know how to pray.  On the very night of the marriage, half-way around the world, my heart was burdened to pray for my children's spouses, with an urgency like never before.  So when our son came home and asked us to pray with him so that his new wife could get a VISA to come to America, my heart had already been prepared.

Years of praying, and crying, and waiting were finally answered in the spring of 2011, when her VISA was approved.  When we finally met our new daughter-in-law, loving her was easy because my heart had been captivated before she ever set foot in America.

So when she asked me to go with her back to Vietnam for a Family Reunion Party later that fall, I thought my heart would burst.

Breakfast time in Vietnam means noodle soup (not cereal) and tea (not coffee.)

A trip to the market across the street from the family's house happened daily. Even when I thought I would lose my way, my daughter-in-law held my hand and treated me with honor, so that I knew I was in the safest place I could be.

This Grandma, (51 at the time,) managed to stumble into the flat-bottomed boat for a ride down the river. When God calls out the Adventure, we never know where He will lead us.  As a 17 year old, looking for a future of purpose, I thought I knew what LOVE looked like.  I thought I would be the one teaching those around me what God's Love looks like.  But HE is the teacher, and HE knows how to plan the future that will bring about HIS Beauty in every place HE leads us.

Sometimes Beauty looks like a small table, child-sized by American standards, set with simple fruit, prepared by the hands of a family that speak a language you cannot understand, opening their hearts for LOVE to be shared.

My journeys now feel large when I can take a day-trip involving a 3 or 4 hour car ride.  But my times for Adventure are not finished.  When I let Jesus plan my journey, whether through chronic illness or healthy travels, HE will set my feet in the good place of HIS choosing: Finding BEAUTY and LOVE each step of the way.

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus" Ephesians 3:20-21

I'm thankful to be sharing my remembering-story with a group of other great bloggers over at #TellHisStory.  Won't you check out their stories as well?

Jennifer Dukes Lee #TellHisStory