TRIBUTE...

This handsome cowboy is my dad, Jerry.  One year ago today he went to be with Jesus.  I took this picture on Christmas Day, 2014.  He had suffered a stroke in mid-September, entered a long term care facility for his rehab, and had recovered remarkably well.  When I snapped this picture I was picking him up to bring him to our house for Christmas dinner.  He was so proud of himself that he had chosen a red shirt to wear for the day!  By midnight we were in the ER...he had had another stroke.  For the next three months, one month he and I in a hospital 100 miles from home, and 2 months in a different long term care facility in our home town, he would travel back in time and wander through memories from his past...from his childhood to his present condition.  I was the passenger in his journey...I listened and prayed as he seemed to reconcile every part of his life. I was the audience as he literally lived out the words of the old song, "Precious Memories".

The last 3 months of his life were traumatic for both of us. After almost 30 years of seizures, brain bleeds and mini-strokes he had developed a condition called Frontal Temporal Dementia along with Sundowners Syndrome.  As the doctor described it...his brain tissue was now like swiss cheese.  His behavior was erratic and combative and he never stopped moving and walking...only when his body finally gave in to exhaustion did he ever sleep.  He rarely ate or drank. The sedatives were inadequate. He was bed-ridden the final thirteen days and I only went home to sleep and shower. His last three days I slept in the room.  I continued to talk to him about family and memories... because one of the most important things I learned in nursing school was this....they can hear to the end, even though they are unresponsive physically. I held his hand, stroked his cheek, kissed his forehead, told him I loved him, told him he would soon see Jesus.  Over the years when we had talked about his faith and his personal relationship with Jesus, his face would light up, his eyes would well up with tears and he would let me know his heart was full and he was at peace.

At 6:30 pm...sundown... Monday, March 30, 2015, my dad took his last breath.

Sundown...March 30, 2015

Gary and I were with him.  It was a holy, sacred home-going.  I envisioned the moment he took that last breath of air...he stepped into eternity....whole...healed...dancing...(he loved to dance) ... singing...(he had a beautiful voice which had been lost to the repeated brain traumas.)

I felt like Jesus was waiting on the other side of the bed with open arms to welcome my dad home and tell him..."Well done, good and faithful servant."

LOVE SONG - 4 / Freedom

Freedom...what does it mean to you?  What images come to your mind when you hear the word?  How do love and freedom work together?

In my last post I shared Galatians 5:1 from the Message Bible...
"Christ has set us free to live a free life.  So take your stand!  Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you."

Once we find ourselves free ...what then?  What are we to do with our new found freedom?  The fifth chapter of Galatians continues on to reveal a pathway of how to flourish and thrive in our life without chains...
"It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life.  Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to and destroy your freedom.  Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love, that's how freedom grows.  For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence.  Love others as you love yourself.  That's an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out...in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?"

How does a person learn to love themselves so they can love others in healthy, life giving ways?  May I suggest that forgiveness is what makes it possible  to love ourselves.  I free myself to love by forgiving myself for my failures...forgiving others for intentionally or unintentionally wounding me (with or without their remorse or apology)...and I forgive God for what I have perceived to be His abandonment and rejection.

Freedom is being able to release people and situations that I absolutely have no control over. The freedom to love sprouts, grows, blooms and bears fruit only if I am willing to forgive.

I just finished a book by Seth Haines, titled..."A Story of Faith COMING CLEAN". It is a journal of sorts of his first 90 days of sobriety. "The Healing" is a series of chapters of his journey through forgiveness. He writes this profound sentence on day sixty-four ..."Without forgiveness, there is no meaningful way to move into healing and peace."

Do you thirst for healing and peace?  Are you willing to forgive?  Are you ready to let go of people or emotions that have kept you imprisoned?

I want you to know that my heart aches for you to be free. We are all bound by something. My prayer is that you will find the life and truth in the words below releasing you from the disappointments of the past, the unknown fears of the future and give you the strength to walk peacefully in the gift of the present...and remember...He is ever singing a love song over you...

"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing."

Zephaniah 3:17 ESV

LOVE SONG - 3 / Rescued

Jesus, Liberator of Women.  Now that's a headline!  Some of you reading along know that statement to be true because of your personal life story.  Others of you may have just had your feathers ruffled a bit.  Hang in there with me....don't confuse the failures of organized religion with the truth of who Jesus is and what He came to do for you and for me.

The Scriptures are rich with story after story of women who were trapped in their circumstances, without hope of a future, and then rescued into a new beginning. One of my favorite rescues in the Old Testament is Rahab the Prostitute. You can find her story in Joshua, chapters two and six. But for me, her crowning glory is finding her mentioned again in the New Testament in Matthew 1:5.  She is listed in the family tree of Jesus.  Let that sink in for a minute....a prostitute named in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.  And she isn't the only woman listed with a "tarnished reputation".  God has established over and over again that He delights in rescuing and restoring His daughters.

Do you remember the woman caught in adultery in John, chapter 8?  The jealous religious leaders of the day sought to use her to trap Jesus.  Instead, they were humiliated and she was freed to start a new life.  How her heart must have experienced confused joy as she realized she had escaped being stoned to death, her accusers were gone, and Jesus released her with the words..."Neither do I condemn you." "Go, and from now on do not sin anymore."

And can you guess who was the first to be given an angelic tour of the empty tomb that no longer held Jesus?  And who did the risen Jesus appear to first and give the honor of announcing His resurrection to the disciples? Well...women of course!  You can find their story in Matthew 28.

 And then there's me.  You see, I'm no different than Rahab the Prostitute, the woman caught in adultery, or Mary Magdalene, who Jesus delivered from seven demons.  I also needed to be set free from my own path of self-destruction. Freedom isn't a piece of paper, a law, a right.  True freedom is a condition of the heart. It is a gift to be accepted, unwrapped, opened, put on like a garment and lived in, day in and day out.  Freedom is turning away from attempting to be someone I'm not and embracing the truth of who God says I am in Jesus Christ. Galatians 5:1 in The Message Bible says it like this..."Christ has set us free to live a free life.  So take your stand!  Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you."  That's what Jesus was saying to the woman caught in adultery when He told her to go and sin no more and what He says to you and me..."Don't let yourself become a slave to people and things and emotions that will cripple and destroy you."

What might you need to be rescued from?  What is causing interference with your life and your relationships?  Grief?  Jealousy?  Fear?  Addiction?  Pride? Unforgiveness?  Anger?  Insecurity?  Know this, my friend....Jesus is pursuing you. He has loved you and pursued you your whole life.  He has your story of rescue and freedom ready to bestow upon you like a crown.  You only need to make the choice to stand still....

I'm praying for your heart this week. Will you pray for mine?  Join me next week as we figure out what to do with our freedom!