February warmth seeps into my bones,

Bright sunshine, gentle breezes on the western wind.

Trees budding, birds frolicking, rabbits everywhere.

The promise of spring is in the air!

 

I feel it down deep in my bones,

Something budding in the warmth of the sun

The urge to run black earth through worn fingers

Anticipation of the delight as plants burst forth from the hard worked ground.

 

Evenings on the back porch, relaxing

Dogs at feet, beloved by my side

Watching in awe as the mountains turn pink

In late evenings setting sun.

 

Spring is coming soon,

I feel it in my bones,

The hope of life renewed

The promise of warmth and light.

 

Bursts of color as flowers spring forth

Desert willow alive with color

Dancing in the evening breeze

Peach tree blossoms on the wind.

 

Garden bursting forth from ground

Fresh tomatoes, perfect squash, home grown cucumber

Green beans springing up their tall poles

Spicy peppers row upon row.

 

My heart  yearns for spring

And the promise of life renewed

And the sure hope of harvest

As spring turns to summer.

 

February warmth seeps into my bones

Bringing promise of spring

Promise of life

Promise of hope.

 

Come spring come!

  Just a few miles from my home stands a tall mountain, a man made mountain. Today I stood upon that mountain built by heaps and heaps of discarded items covered in dirt over and over again, rising up from the desert floor, a mountain of waste.

  As I looked around me at all the things that people had brought to the top, things no longer wanted, things broken, things that had lost their shine and appeal I considered how it must have been in the beginning, when eyes were first laid upon that prize. I could almost hear the voices as they shopped, the justifications for why this thing was important and why they simply must have it.

" This will look so nice on me, I will feel pretty, it compliments my eyes.", "I have worked hard and I deserve this reward.", "This will look so nice in the living room."......and on and on and on.

 We humans are always seeking something, some shiny thing, some purchase that can once and for all fill the empty hole within our hearts. New furniture, new kitchen appliances, new clothes, new electronics, the latest fad, the perfect toy. I cannot count the times where I have yearned for something, thinking of how useful it will be, how much it will change my life, how much my children will enjoy it, and I have justified a thousand reasons why it was wise and right to buy it.

 And yet there I stood upon a mountain of these things, broken, rusty, our little pickup truck full with our own contributions to this growing mountain.

 Things never satisfy for long. There may be the moments of happiness you grasp onto as you behold this new acquisition but it will fade. The thing will degrade over time, it will become worn, or in some cases it will lose its appeal and become just another item to hang your coats on or to slide underneath your bed. At some point it will end up on some mountain of trash, buried beneath the dirt, forgotten, broken, useless, just trash.

 I still crave things, I think we all do. I still get caught up in the shiny things sometimes. Like that new SLR camera I have really been wanting, and the justification I tell myself about how awesome my photos will be if I could only have a real camera instead of one on my cell phone. And things in themselves are not wrong, we need couches to sit upon, if our stove breaks we need a new one, and it is good to wear nice clothes if one can afford them. I guess what struck me as I stood there on top of that mountain of trash was the excess of it all, an enormous mountain of cast off things.

 I have chased many things over the course of my life, all of them in that crazy elusive pursuit of happiness. During that often disappointing chase I was found by Jesus and discovered the real key to contentment and life. Happiness will always be elusive and dependent upon the shiny things, the weather, relationships, finances and other fading things, but Jesus is joy personified, He is peace in a person. The pursuit of Christ is far more valuable than the pursuit of happiness and in pursuing Him you will find in most cases you are happy. It won't be the things that can break that make it so, it will be the knowledge of Him that makes your heart sing! He remains the only thing that can and does fill the hole within the human heart forever.

 The key to happiness and contentment is far simpler than most imagine. It is in Christ.

 Things break, things tarnish, things lose their appeal.....but God and His Word stand forever.

 

 

      I have heard some folks preach a gospel that seems to imply that if a person would only accept Christ as their Savior all their troubles will be gone and life will be like a never-ending  trip to an awesome amusement park on a sunny day when your pockets are overflowing with money. That is not the case. Following Christ is a wonderful journey, and He is good and He blesses and He comforts and He carries our burdens and He leads and guides and loves. But He never promised that this life would be without obstacles and trials, He never said there would be no sorrow, nor pain.

      Perhaps that is why there are disillusioned people out there wondering why Christianity didn't work for them. I have been a Christian now for over 26 years and I have had my share of trials and troubles. Many of them were self inflicted and due to a lack of wisdom and obedience on my part, and many of them were through no fault of mine at all, they just happened. Life is like that. In this world you WILL have troubles, you can guarantee it, after all it was our Lord who said those words. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Those are the words of Jesus to His disciples.

     In this world we WILL have trouble, but in JESUS there is PEACE because He has overcome the world. I can only speak to my own experience, but for me I often get overwhelmed with things, with my troubles and the troubles of others. I get discouraged, I get sad. But when I examine myself I can easily see why this is. If you recall the story of Jesus as He walked across the stormy waters of the Sea of Galilee, you will remember that as the disciples in the boat saw Him coming they were afraid, and then He spoke to them, saying "Take courage! It is I"  and Peter yelled out "Lord if it is You bid me come to You on the water!", and Jesus said "Come", and Peter did just that. He stepped right out of that boat and he walked on the water. But he made a mistake, He took his eyes off of Jesus and he put them on the water and the waves and when he did that he began to sink.

  Life is like that, if we as Christians keep our eyes on Jesus, if we seek after Him with all our hearts, if we pray, study and commune with Him and as the troubles come into our lives, be they ours or someone we care about, we will have peace, we will be effective and we will get through the trial and in the getting through it we will bring glory to God and good to ourselves and others. It is when we take our eyes off Christ and put them on the troubles that we begin to sink. When I do this I can feel myself sinking, I begin to despair, I get really sad, the weight of the things going on around me become impossible to bear, to even tolerate, and I want nothing more than to run into a dark room and hide my head under a pillow to turn off the constant suffering I see all around. But when I place my eyes fully on my Lord, I am strengthened, I have joy and hope, even in the middle of painful circumstances, and when I keep my eyes on Him, I am able to be used of Him to help others. My calling is mercy, that is what He has called me to do, I am to care for others, to pray for them, to help them in a variety of different ways, all in His Name, in His strength and for His glory. Your calling might be different from mine as we all have different gifts and therefore how you feel when your eyes come off Jesus might be different than how I feel, but regardless the principal is the same.

  Keep you eyes on Jesus and everything will be okay. It might be hard, you might have to walk in some difficult places, but if you keep your eyes on Him you will always be standing on a firm and solid foundation and you will not sink. It will not all be sunshine and roses in this world. There will be many days when being a Christian hurts. If it doesn't hurt then you might want to consider carefully whether or not you are truly following Christ. As a Christian you will be misunderstood, you will probably be ridiculed on occasion, you will be burdened and pressed with the needs of others, God will ask you to do things that seem very difficult to do, things that stretch you out of your comfort zone,  but through it all, if you keep your eyes on Him, and follow Him,  you will  have the joy of knowing Him, the pleasure and comfort of His company and His care, the knowledge that He is using it all, every last bit of it, for His glory and for your good and/or the good of others. 

  Following Christ is not easy, He told us very clearly that it wouldn't be easy. But He is faithful in His promises of a peace that passes understanding, joy that is evident even in hard times and a hope that does not diminish when circumstances are not as you wish they were. There is no greater pursuit in this life than following Jesus, there is no better way to spend your life than in His service.

   Following Jesus does not remove you from the troubles and trials of this world, but it does give you the sure and present assurance of His presence with you as you walk through those troubles and trials and His strength and power to get through them in a manner that brings glory to Christ and that shouts out the message of the gospel to a world that is hurting and broken, because that is what Christianity is, it is walking through the troubles and trials and sorrows of this world with Jesus as your Lord and Shepherd showing forth the gospel of His good news of forgiveness and redemption and reconciliation to a lost and broken world.

   Jesus is worth everything, absolutely everything this world has to offer. As the apostle Paul said, " Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ." 

Keep your eyes on Jesus and off the waves and everything will turn out okay, and remember, this life here is just a tiny piece of an enormous tapestry. 

   Today was launch day, the very first public service of Mosaic Church Albuquerque. And what a glorious day it was! 

  The sunrise on launch day was spectacular, as I was getting ready this morning I looked out my back patio and marveled at how beams of light were shooting down out of the clouds. As I drove to church this morning alone, since my husband had left earlier to help with the setup, I noticed a large amount of balloons in the air, looking out over the city of Albuquerque it was almost like a Balloon Fiesta day. I thought it delightful that so many balloons were joining in on our "launch" day with such a beautiful display of colors.

  I and others have prayed and prayed and prayed some more for this day, for the service, the pastor, his family, the music guys, the setup and tear down guys, the greeting team, the pastoral care team and for everyone involved in launching this new church as well as all those who will be drawn to her doors. As Launch Day dawned this morning  I was excited and optimistic but trying to keep my hopes reasonable, after all this was only day 1 in the life of this brand new church.

  I should have known better, after all how many times in the past has God not only met my expectations but totally exceeded them? I have long since lost count. Today was no different. The sanctuary was filled with people!

  The music was uplifting and what a marvelous thing to hear all those voices singing His praise together as one! I felt such a love for all of these beautiful people that God in His good grace had drawn to this place, this new church. Many of them I knew from the launch team but there were a whole lot that I did not know, but I loved them. Looking across at that sea of faces, it truly was a beautiful mosaic of souls. My heart also filled with love for our great God and His incredible blessings!

 Pastor Adam preached a powerful message, from the gospel of Mark, Chapter 1, verses 14-20, the beginning of what promises to be an exciting and powerful series called The Way of Paradox: Following the Right-Side Up King in an Upside Down World. He spoke of how following Christ demands our all but also changes us completely. The gospel was proclaimed and I am excited to begin this series and eagerly looking forward to the next message.

  We had our first communion together and that too was a beautiful ceremony of grace, watching the various faces as they came up to take the elements was a great blessing. I felt the Lord's love for His people as each one came up to take the bread and the cup.

 The last song was beautiful as we sang a doxology together, but was sad, because I really didn't want to leave. We could easily have went straight in to next weeks service and I would have been fine. Sort of like Peter up on that hill with Jesus, he wanted to just throw up some tents and just stay right there, to bask in the glory of it all. But like Peter we are called to come down off the hill and walk out our faith right here in the world. I can honestly say that after this beautiful and uplifting service I feel well equipped to do just that.

  God has brought a lot of beautiful souls to Mosaic, the ones I have thus far come to know are already dear to me, and I look forward to getting to know everyone. God is making something awesome in bringing all of these people to this place to gather together and worship Him and proclaim Him to our city. What a great start to this wonderful collection of the broken coming together to form something beautiful!

 What an exciting time!

 At the foot of the snow capped mountain,

 By the river along the Bosque

 At a school turned into Sanctuary

 The broken pieces come,

 Some are worn

 Some have sharp edges

 A multitude of colored souls

 Each unique

 Each beautiful to the Creator

 They come together in His hand

 Laid out in rows

 Voices lifted together

 In praise to the King

 A beautiful mosaic

 Broken made beautiful.

 

World filled to brim with sorrow,

cringing from the pain

behind its closed doors

trapped within the fake smiles.

So much suffering.

Why do I feel it so,

why such overpowering,

empathy for the abused,

tears for the hurting?

Crying out for the broken..

Why this gift, this curse,

of bearing their sorrow?

It is too much for me,

my soul cringes

with the pain of their wounds.

And yet to this,

You have called me,

taken my heart of stone,

replaced with one that bleeds,

gushing blood staining my shoes.

No gifts of riches

to ease their way,

no healing touch,

to remove their disease.

Just words "I see you, I care for you!"

How empty the words

feel to my soul

as I speak them in love

to the broken ones,

while prayers rise from my heart.

Heart squeezed out

like empty sponge

nothing left to give,

curled up in heap

upon the floor...no more! no more!

I crawl to You,

Lord take this pain,

exchange it for Your love,

to fill  my empty squeezed out heart

that I might rise again.

Your hand reached down

and took my heart

squeezed out dry and frail.

I watched You fill it to the brim

with grace and peace and love.

I stood on legs

that quaked and shook

I stood with outstretched hands

to receive the blood filled heart

as You place it in my chest.

It was filled with but a taste

an inkling of the love

that You poured out, upon a cross

on that hill so long ago.

A love that none deserve.

So called to be Your hands and feet

and called to show Your love,

for broken ones and hurting ones,

I rise to carry on.

Fresh heart within my breast.

He is enough, Christ is enough!

All is grace

The race goes on

Run, run, run!

Every moment matters.