HOME

Sitting in the Ubon airport at Gate 4, waiting on a flight to Bangkok, then to Phnom Penh, I will be home in approximately 30 hours.

HOME . . . a term of comfort, stability. Yet "home is where the heart is," so the cliche' goes.

And I've just left a huge piece of my heart in Thailand. And earlier in Cambodia. And back in August, in France.

My heart home is torn apart and scattered for Christ's sake all over the world.

Confirming once again that my real HOME is with Jesus. Through His Spirit, He is my Home and I am His Home. Someday I'll live in His physical presence.

For now, 'til I see Him face-to-face, I invite Him to be thoroughly at home in my heart, wherever my feet may go . . . . near or far.

As I grieve, I breathe a prayer . . .

You, oh Lord, are my forever Home! Thank You for never leaving me nor forsaking me. For us, there are no sad goodbyes. We belong to each other. Forever! May all our family be a part of Your eternal family. Encourage my daughters as they pick up with loving their husbands and children, home schooling, ministering to others, and relating to You. Strengthen my sons-in-law. Infuse them with Your power and wisdom. Guard the hearts and minds of the little ones. 

In my mind's eye, I see one grandson along for the ride to the airport. It is a sober time. Even for a four year old.

What will you do when you get home, Grandma? How will you cry? What does the bunk bed look like in the red room? 

I explain my tears, my journaling, my prep for him to come see us, our service for God on our side of the world.

A lot for a four year old to digest.

My son-in-law pulls up to the airport curb. We pile out with our luggage, say our goodbyes as Grandpa sweeps his little grandson into his arms. Swallowing back tears, we lumber through the terminal doors. It is over.

Just like that. It always seems so abrupt, no matter what hugs, words, prayers have come before.

At some point, and I suspect sooner than what my young grandson expected, it was over.

For now.

I leave him at four and pick up again at age six, most likely. Losing those bulks of time while they are growing is one of the hardest things about this missionary journey.

Do You miss Your children in a similar way, Abba? Until we join You, face-to-face? You who wept so freely while on earth? I suspect You do. You weep for us and with us. My longing for You will likely never quite match Your longing for me. 

We board the plane and before we know it we're piling into an airport tram in Bangkok, surrounded by Asians. An overwhelming thought accompanied by a touching feeling grips me: These are the people my daughter loves, and has loved since she was five. 

The thought, the feeling, brings me full circle in my perspective. I let my kids go so that more can know Jesus as their HOME.

And that, after all, is what truly matters. 

Brought Near

Recently, while watching my youngest grandson (18 mos.) "float" around all the older kids, trying to do what they do but never quite able to, I realized I did the same thing as the youngest in my family.

In my healing journey, it's occurred to me that part of my struggles derive from this feeling of being on the outside looking in, not necessarily a new thought, but one I sense I need to explore further, if in no other way than simply to acknowledge the phenomenon.

I was the youngest of four much older siblings and always felt like I was "looking on." Everyone else was in the know, doing things I could not yet do or understand. Everyone else had passed through the door, so to speak. But that same door was slammed in my face and marked "Private." This internalized message was reinforced by the parental cliche': "I'll explain that when you get older."

After the day of watching my grandson, that night, in good Abba fashion, my heavenly Father brought scripture to my mind which I thought came from Hebrews, but no, it was exactly what I'd been reading in Ephesians, chapter 2, the day before but was barely aware of at the time.

But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13). 

I realize this passage is addressing the Gentile nation being grafted in (included) in the gospel message, but I also believe Abba brought it to my mind to reaffirm that no matter how excluded or "far off" I may feel from Him at times, He has indeed grafted me into His Kingdom by virtue of Christ's blood. 

The door is wide open with a huge welcome sign on the front! All because of the precious blood of Jesus! Brought near by the blood of Christ. It doesn't get any better than that! The more I run into His open arms, the more I will experience freedom to step through other doors, build relationships with others, and serve Him with a full heart. 

Dear Reader, I hope you will experience the same as you come to Him through the blood of Jesus Christ. 

 . . . for through Him (Jesus) we both (Jews and Gentiles) have our access in one Spirit to the Father (Eph. 2:18).

Scripture Pictures

Scripture Pictures during family devotions

Recently our son-in-law taught us how to memorize scripture using a technique his grandfather taught him: Scripture Pictures.

You take a piece of paper or a notebook and a pencil, choose a verse you want to memorize, then draw stick figures and other symbols to illustrate the verse.

Be encouraged, you don't have to be an artist to do this! Although your art skills will likely improve with consistent exercise.

I've been playing around with this technique during my continued study of "the fear of the Lord" in the book of Proverbs. What I'm discovering is that my mind often gravitates to an image I want to portray on paper. For example, for me I visualize God as light, so my symbol for God or LORD is a circle (never-ending light, love, purity, holiness, acceptance, etc.) with rays emanating from the circle. The rays are my reflection of the Holy Spirit drawing me in. One ray is a cross, symbolizing Jesus and His grace.

Another person might portray God as a triangle with each point representing one person of the Trinity. In other words, you seize upon the image that best reflects that concept in your mind, so that you can more easily memorize the verse, in most cases without even trying. There's just something about the brain, eye, hand coordination that helps us process and digest information.

In my experimenting, I'm also discovering that I'm coming up with certain symbols for repetitive words and concepts. Each person can devise his/her own catalog of symbols that best aid memory. For example, I use an equal sign to represent the word "is". The "fear of the Lord" is consistently represented by a stick figure bowing with arms lifted toward the Sunlight.

Below is an example of my effort for Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

In some cases (perhaps many), others would not make out my symbols. That's okay. The important thing is that I know what they represent, so that the image sparks the memory of the word(s).

 Here are a few more of my efforts. My goal is to do one verse at least 2 - 3 days a week. I've reserved a special notebook just for my Scripture Pictures.

Not only can this scripture memory tool be used as an individual, but also during family devotional times and in other small group settings, where participants can share illustration ideas with each other to help capture the best reflection of the verse.

Just for fun, I close this post with Proverbs 17:6a: Grandchildren are the crown of old men (and old women, too)!  :)

Happy drawing with eternal impact!

Eileen 

The Papa Prayer by Larry Crabb: A Book Review

But if God is so good as you represent Him, and if he knows all that we need, and better far than we do ourselves, why should it be necessary to ask Him for anything? 

I answer, "What if He knows Prayer to be the thing we need first and most? What if the main object in God's idea of prayer be the supplying of our great, our endless need--the need of Himself? Hunger may drive the runaway child home, and he may or may not be fed at once, but he needs his mother more than his dinner. Communion with God is the one need of the soul beyond all other need: prayer is the beginning of that communion, and some need is the motive of that prayer. So begins a communion, a talking with God, a coming-to-one with Him, which is the sole end of prayer." (George MacDonald)

Thus begins Larry Crabb's book titled, The Papa Prayer. At once intensely personal and richly didactic, Crabb nudges the reader toward a life of purposely relating to God through prayer. While reading, I had the feel that the author presented as a friend who'd invited me to his home for a chat, except this was no exchange of mere cordialties over coffee. This was one friend sharing with another the lifeline he'd discovered and could not hoard. 

Crabb admits that he is a first-grader in the school of relational prayer but seeks continued growth. Through a desire for intimate communion with God that extends beyond mere petition, Crabb uses the PAPA acrostic (named such in honor of his beloved grandfather). 

Below is the PAPA prayer in a nutshell (excerpt from page 10 of The Papa Prayer).  

P: Present yourself to God without pretense. Be a real person in the relationship. Tell Him whatever is going on inside you that you can identify.

A: Attend to how you're thinking of God. Again, no pretending. Ask yourself, "How am I experiencing God right now?" Is He a vending machine, a frowning father, a distant, cold force? Or is He your gloriously strong but intimate Papa?

P: Purge yourself of anything blocking your relationship with God. Put into words whatever makes you uncomfortable or embarrassed when you're real in your relationship with Him. How are you thinking more about yourself and your satisfaction than about anyone else, including God and His pleasure?

A: Approach God as the "first thing" in your life, as your most valuable treasure, the Person you most want to know. Admit that other people and things really do matter more to you right now, but you long to want God so much that every other good thing in your life becomes a "second-thing" desire. 

The Papa Prayer includes a simple four-day plan to develop the habit of presenting, attending, purging, and approaching. Each day unpacks a learning objective, a Bible passage, a reflection question, and an illustration of the prayer focus for that day. 

But please don't settle for the mere "nutshell!" Crabb does so much more in unpacking the four elements. Wordy and repetitive at times, Crabb seems overly careful to deliver a compelling presentation. Still, his authenticity is refreshing. This is a book worth reading thoughtfully and prayerfully. Definitely worth savoring and pondering. In the midst of a slew of endorsements, I found the one below most intriguing.

I'm thankful for this book. I suspect that God is far more thankful--thankful like a tired father is thankful to get his preschoolers past the candy aisle at Walmart. I suspect He's thankful for someone who would help His children speak their deepest desire, forget the candy, and know their Father. Our Papa is sweeter, richer, better than any candy this world has to offer. With practical advice and helpful examples, Larry coaxes us into our Father's lap, where we lose ourselves and find ourselves in Him. -Peter Hiett/Senior Pastor of Lookout Mountain Community Church. 

~~

The Papa Prayer (2006), available used or new in ebook, audio, paperback, or hardcover. 

Check out The Papa Prayer on Amazon.