some comfort and joy

Lent Reflection: My Confession (Philippians 2: 5-8)

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death– even death on a cross.
Philippians 2: 5-8

Holy God,

This is my confession.

I am selfish. I would rather be in control than actually helpful. I am happy to give someone a jacket, or a blanket, or a meal rather than a listening ear. I am sure others see the world the same way I do.

I am fearful of change and suffering. I refuse to face my inner pains at the cost of my own transformation. I avoid others who are hurting to protect myself, like their hardship is contagious.

I don’t want to appear weak. I would rather take the casserole than need one.

I confess I am controlling, fearful, and want to know the future. My faithlessness hounds my loved ones.

This week we remember the great humility of Your Son Jesus.

Jesus did not make power grabs.

Jesus who walked the dusty roads and touched the people others rejected. He listened and looked at their suffering with open eyes.

Jesus was the embodied expression of You in this world. Jesus who suffered and even died to show Your Great Love.

Lord hear my prayer and expand my vision beyond myself. Please forgive me.

This is my confession.

We hope this brings you comfort and joy. You can spread the joy by liking, commenting and sharing this post with others!

Practice of Joy: Eat for Your Heart

“…I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people…” Jeremiah 31: 33-34

A great way to practice joy is to celebrate our bodies and our actual, literal hearts beating away in there. And early spring is the perfect time for a beautiful salad with fresh lettuce and spinach, loaded with vitamins that are good for your body, including your heart!

These salad dressing recipes were shared with me by my sister, Karla Stoltzfus-Detweiler, who is the executive director at Hungry World Farm in Illinois. She knows all about using the bounty of the garden to fuel your mind and body in healthy ways.

The first recipe she shared with me comes from the Simply in Season cookbook by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert .

Two-seed dressing

1/4 c. sugar or honey
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1/4 c. cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
1/8 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Combine in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well. Pour on your salad and enjoy.

Garlicky Lemon-Tahini

This second dressing is great for salads of all kinds and can even be used with roasted veggies. Follow this link to find my sister’s recommended dressing number 2! https://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/garlicky-lemon-tahini-dressing

Lenten Comfort: Covenant of the Heart (Jeremiah 31)

“…I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people…”

-Jeremiah 31:33-34

Rejection from a parent; a shattering divorce; a splintered friendship. These broken relationships hurt differently than other sorts of losses. The pain and grief that comes with the loss of a heart connection reveals the difference between a contract and a covenant.

God isn’t our cosmic vending machine, but a loving parent, a hovering mother-hen, a faithful lover. The connection with God isn’t just a panic button or insurance plan or last resort. We don’t offer prayers or attend church or read scripture to log our time and keep up our end of the bargain.

Our covenant with God isn’t based on our behavior but on our identity.

God’s faithfulness to us isn’t dependent on our fidelity.

God’s love doesn’t require our merit.

A covenant with God is not rigid or transactional– if you follow these rules you will be blessed– but it is a heart commitment, an interactive relationship, an eternal bond.

God, may I continue to see your faithfulness and love surrounding me. And, may I be inspired to offer covenant love to those you have put in my life. Amen.

We hope this brings you comfort and joy. You can spread the joy by liking, commenting and sharing this post with others!

Snakes in the Wilderness: Complaint, Impatience + the Long Way Home

“…but the people became impatient on the way.”

Numbers 21:4

Some of us are weary of the wandering by now. While we’re beyond the halfway point in our lenten journey, we’re ready for spring, and a season of joy. We want to experience change realized.

The season of Lent leads us through a faux wilderness of sorts because we know when this will be over; we have certainty. We can countdown to Easter. The endpoint is fixed.

For most of us, our personal wilderness experiences are not as tidy and hopeful. Often times our wandering begins unchosen– disappointment, fear, loss– when the unexpected or unwelcome upsets our rhythms we find ourselves adrift.

And, we are not unlike the Israelites who got impatient with God’s rescue plan. Having been freed from slavery in dramatic fashion (parting of the Red Sea) the miracles of the past are quickly forgotten and the complaining begins (or resumes).

This unattributed quote appears in many places, but perhaps it comes from the wilderness experience. How quickly we move from one challenge to the next, often forgetting the miracle that led us to this new place.

What miracles have gotten you to where you are now? What are you longing for? What can you be thankful for?

God, in the long days of wandering and waiting, transform our impatience to gratitude. Amen.

We hope this brings you comfort and joy. You can spread the joy by liking, commenting and sharing this post with others!

Lenten Practice of Joy: Meditation of the Heart (Psalm 19)

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

-Psalm 19:14

The adage, “What you feed grows,” applies to our minds as much as to our gardens.

The psalmist offers with hope that the words spoken and thoughts carried in his heart are pleasing to God.

As you think over the last few days, what words have you spoken? What thoughts, cares or concerns are you carrying in your heart? What are the messages you are holding on to? Are these things nurturing your well-being?

Spend a few moments today releasing the phrases and sentiments that are not serving you. Choose a meditation or breath prayer to repeat throughout this day.

⦽ The glory of God surrounds me ⦽

⦽ I am a beloved child of God ⦽

⦽ Jesus companions me in the wilderness ⦽

⦽ I have what I need to navigate the challenges of the day ⦽

May my heart and mind nurture my faith in you, O God. Amen.

We hope this brings you comfort and joy. You can spread the joy by liking, commenting and sharing this post with others!

Lent Reflection: Star Gazing (Psalm 19)

“The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.” Psalm 19:1-2

At the end of summer, or maybe really the middle of fall, my son and I dragged our rather large air mattress out onto the front porch and pumped it completely full. With great anticipation, by my son, it was placed on the lawn where we had the best view of the stars. I have to admit that I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with excitement about spending the night out of my warm bed. I was pretty sure I wouldn’t get much sleep, but had decided to take one for the team so to speak.

We snuggled down on top in sleeping bags with extra blankets and pillows. The goal was to view the firmament, all the stars! My lack of knowledge about constellations was quickly apparent in the face of my son’s many questions, but our main goal, enjoyment of the night sky, was achieved. It even felt a bit wasteful when faced with all this beauty, to finally fall asleep. I woke at some point in the night with a gentle breeze blowing across my face. The stars were still there and remained as I drifted off again.

In the morning, I knew without a doubt that I had slept on an air mattress and not a bed. But I remain thankful for my son’s insistence that we spend the night under the stars. It is one of my most cherished memories from 2020.

Have you ever let go of something and been surprised by the new something that takes its place? Do you have cherished memories from 2020, despite the hardship it brought?

Certainly, God, the heavens are telling of your glory. Thank you!

We hope this brings you comfort and joy. You can spread the joy by liking, commenting and sharing this post with others!

Lenten Practice of Joy: Signs of Hope (Romans 4:18)

“Hoping against hope…” –Romans 4:18

After ten minutes of trial and error we were finally connected via zoom. While not preferable, it was the safest option for meeting. A stretch of cold, more than normal wintery precipitation, and the ongoing isolation and limits, we were all of a bit stir crazy.

“On my way back from the mailbox, I noticed this little bit of green,” she shared excitedly. “It was a crocus, pushing out through the snow. And it just reminded me that spring is coming. The season will change. Something beautiful will emerge.”

Even in the wilderness of Lent there are signs of hope and new life.

Take time to check your flower beds or go on a walk. Find a spring flower to pick (or purchase a grocery store bouquet) or photograph as a reminder of hope.

Consider, where around you is God offering a promise of renewal or transformation? Where do you see hope?

God, open my eyes to the signs of beauty, hope, and promise that surround me. Amen.

We hope this brings you comfort and joy. You can spread the joy by liking, commenting and sharing this post with others!

Lent Reflection: Faith in the Modern World (Romans 4:17-18)

“Abraham was first named “father” and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made the father of a multitude of peoples.” Romans 4:17b-18 The Message

In an age where we believe science can explain so much, where banks secure and guarantee our money, and we spend hours mapping our futures, it is baffling to imagine a 100-year-old man believing God would make him the father of a “multitude of peoples.”

Can we remember past gardens, or believe in future ones, in the midst of the winter?

What does faith look like in the modern world? Abraham is credited with having a faith so great he believed God could “make something out of nothing”. This line from Romans reminds us to look for God’s handiwork. Faith is accessible, not in its vastness, but in its quiet, repetitive glory. I am reminded that seeds become new plants every year. Straps of cloth, repeated in a pattern, can be transformed into a quilt. Hurt and loss, over time and with the love of God and friends, can become deep new understandings. God’s love is shown not in the absence of hurt and pain, but in its transformation.

What are some reminders you see of God’s transformative work in everyday life? Are there times in your life when you have “believed anyway”?

God, breathe life into our hopelessness, renew our dreams, grant us faith in You again. AMEN

We hope this brings you comfort and joy. You can spread the joy by liking, commenting and sharing this post with others!

Practice of Joy: Evening Meditation (Mark 1:13)

“Jesus was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.” Mark 1:13

Let’s face it: our culture highly values busy-ness and the pursuit and accomplishments of tasks. The frenetic pace can, if we are not aware, become excruciating all while pursuing worthwhile activities. A far cry from 40 days in the wilderness!

A gift of the past year, for some of us, has been the change of pace in activities. As our lives gradually become busy again, time for reflection on what we have added or subtracted from our day could help us move forward, taking with us what we have learned recently.

Recent winter sunset, over top my dead blackberry bushes.

Try an evening reflection time, perhaps just after you have gotten into bed. Take several deep breaths and consciously try to relax the muscles in your body. If you are still awake ( ), reflect over your day. What did you say yes to? Were my no’s life-giving? Thank God for the day behind and the night of rest ahead. Invite God’s presence into your rest now and your doing tomorrow.

We hope this brings you comfort and joy. You can spread the joy by liking, commenting and sharing this post with others!

Forty Days: Temptation, Identity + Mission (Lent Comfort from Mark 1)

“Jesus was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.”

Mark 1:13

It’s no surprise that the wilderness is the setting for this story. The 40 years of wilderness wandering of the Israelites is echoed in Jesus’ 40 days of temptation. Forty is a number of significance, and it should read to us as “a very long time.”

Each of the temptations Jesus faces (detailed in Matthew and Luke’s accounts) ask the same question in different ways: what will Jesus do with the opportunity for earthly power and glory? Each offers Jesus an alternative mission: a way other than the cross; a way other than through death.

These temptations all touch on Jesus’ identity; is he really the Son of God? And if so, what kind of Messiah will he reveal himself to be?

One of the gifts of saving faith through Christ is that we become heirs to the Kingdom of God. Our identity is rooted in being a child of God. Our calling is to join with God’s reconciling work in the world.

How often are we tempted to forsake the mission to which we are called? When have we been tempted to preserve our power, reputation or privilege instead of being faithful to God? When have we been tempted to avoid the way of suffering?

God, may I remember that my identity and calling come from you. In times of testing, may I be found faithful. May I trust in your truth and goodness above all else. Amen.

We hope this brings you comfort and joy. You can spread the joy by liking, commenting and sharing this post with others!