The Monarch Migration Badge

"Congrats on earning your Monarch Migration Badge" the email read. Fitbit was notifying me that I had walked a lifetime total of 2,500 miles, the same distance as the Monarch butterfly's migration.

2,500 miles is quite a distance. Could a butterfly survive a trip that long? No. As it turns out, they can't. 

Every year, when temperatures begin to cool, the Monarch butterfly begins its annual migration toward Mexico and Southern California. (Most Monarchs in the U.S. head toward Mexico.) 

The traveling butterflies begin their migration, but no individual Monarch makes it. The first Monarch begins the migration, lays eggs that hatch, mature, and continue the journey. It is the fourth generation Monarch that arrives at the overwintering site. 

The initial migrant Monarch begins a journey it will never complete. 

The destination is not the point of the journey. Survival of the species is the objective. In a way, the "point" of the Monarch's life is to complete their portion of this incredible relay for survival. If the butterfly does its part, and the next butterfly does its part, and the next, the goal will be accomplished. Survival will be insured.

It's all about the journey.  

In a way, the life of a disciple is much the same. We, too, are on a journey of obedience that must be completed. We know, and will reach, our destination, but if we fail to fulfill our role in the body of Christ, fail to reproduce our faith along the way, the cause of Christ will be seriously jeopardized.

Every one of us in the body of Christ must do our part for the purposes of our Lord to be accomplished. No single individual is more important that anyone else, but every person is vital to the proper function of the body of Christ.

Our journey is not a success when we bask in the spotlight. Our journey is a success when we work together to give Christ "center stage". 

"For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12 nasb)

Today, let's take a close look at our own lives. Are we, like the Monarch, living for the greater good, or only for ourselves? Are we making a difference that will be felt for generations to come?

We were created to be more than we know. We were intended to be a vital part in the Kingdom of God.

Let us not live as those who cling to this world. Instead, let us live as those who are on a journey toward an eternal destination, because that's exactly who we are.

~~~~~~~~~

**** My Amazon Author page is now live. Be sure to check it out and follow me.
www.amazon.com/author/leannahollis

~~~~~~~~~
In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links:  The Potential for Heritage, Does God Know When I Will Die? Part 1, Does God Know When I Will Die? Part 2, How to Live Longer, Is Longer Life Worth the Cost of Obedience?, The Changing of Our Culture: Physician Assisted Suicide, and The Opportunity in Trials.

photo courtesy of freeimages.com

#MonarchMigrationBadge #MonarchMigration #journey #bodyofChrist #FitBit #FitBitbadge

Grateful heart: Family

The view from our balcony

I'm celebrating Thanksgiving at the beach with my family this week. As a total homebody, being away is a mixed blessing for me. This week, though, I've taken a part of home with me because of the people who are here. Once again, I've been reminded that home is more about the people within the walls than the walls themselves.

We've walked on the beach for hours, gathered bucket loads of shells, laughed, and played together. It's been good. Tomorrow, most of us will begin our treks toward home.  

As good as the time has been, as sweet as the companionship, a part of me is already packing my bags and loading the car... at least in my mind. A part of me is already heading home.

That may sound shocking, because our time here has been nothing but good and there are no other people in this world with whom I'd rather share these days.

The truth, though we often forget it, is that this world is not our home and we are all, whether we realize it or not, already headed home. 

It was the Apostle Paul, writing to the church at Corinth, who said, "For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens..." Paul lived his life as a journey, headed to his final, eternal, destination. "I prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord...." 2 Cor. 5:1,8 nasb

Until we reach eternity, let us live with one eye on our final destination, for we like Paul, are on a journey. We, too, are already headed home. 

Early morning quiet

My morning walking track 

Family

~~~~~~~~~

In case you missed any of the past week's posts, here are the links:   Nigerian Nightmare,  Grateful Heart: Maggie Protects her Master, Grateful Heart: Hard Times, Red Hot Christmas Pickles and the Broken Jar, Grateful Heart: The Beginning of Stories, Grateful Heart: Blessing of Position, and Grateful Heart: Wonder Pickle.

The most read post of the last week: Praying for Peace.
#family #heaven #thisworldisnotmyhome #eternity #journey #Jesus Christ

Remembering My Way

For more than a decade, my friend and I have met in the prayer room during the Sunday School hour to pray. Over that time, we've shared our concerns, our fears, our struggles - not just about ourselves, but also about the world around us. We've prayed each other through some tough spots. We still do. 

Yesterday was one of those "tough spots" for me. 

The last few weeks have been hard. Jamie's hospitalization and death. Sam's grief. My rewrites. My son's search (albeit brief) for a new job. On and on. Like Martha (Mary's sister), I've been "worried and bothered about many things." (Luke 10:41)

I've soldiered on, trudging through whatever needed to be done, seeking direction, doing what I thought was right, looking for joy in the midst of the struggle. I've waited for God to fulfill His promises. I've done what needed to be done, and tried to be cheerful and optimistic through it all. There's been a fair share of grief, a fair share of hard, but I've only given in to tears once. Until yesterday.

Yesterday, I couldn't find my way.

Yesterday, I couldn't remember what promises I was waiting for God to fulfill. I couldn't remember if I had clear direction from God or not. I wanted an out-loud voice to speak from the heavens and say, "Leanna, this is my will." 

Did God tell me to do this writing adventure or did I make it up on my own? It was a critical question and one for which the answer could easily determine the rest of my life. I needed to be sure.

Yesterday, I wondered if the steps I've taken were God-ordained or not, and I despaired of knowing.

I was overwhelmed by uncertainty. 

Maybe you've felt like that before, too. It's the point of breaking, when God's will is more important than my will. Where His direction is all that matters.

I don't mind a hard time. I don't mind sacrifice. I don't mind it, if God has called me to it. What I feared the most was that I had called myself to it.

We prayed. I wept. I begged. "Show me the plan. Give me clarity."

I wasn't going to worship service. I was taking my fear and worry and tears home, where I could struggle in private. People might see my tear-streaked face and ask what was wrong. How could I tell someone that doubt, fatigue, and fear had overwhelmed me? I felt like a baby. I was acting like a baby. 

I went to worship service anyway. 

The sermon was from Exodus and I assumed it would be a wasted hour. I was so wrong.

When I turned the page of my Bible to Exodus 18, I saw it and nearly laughed out loud. In September of 2001, I had marked a passage and put a star by it. It was God's call on my life in a nutshell. Oh yeah, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I already know the plan. I already had clarity. I just needed to hang on to it.

Suddenly, my vision returned. My hope was restored. Everything made sense. My blog. My fiction. My little stories. 

I'm not off the path. 

I'm on the road less taken. It's a lonely, rugged path, but I am not alone. 

I love this place in my life, and sometimes I don't. This particular place is hard, but God is here, and that knowledge gives me peace. I don't have to know where this road leads, because He does. I don't have to know the complete plan, because He does.

My job is to take one step at a time, and keep taking those steps until He leads me home.

Yesterday, I wrote about it, but failed to catch the truth I'd written. Jesus' journey wasn't about the tasks He performed along the way. It was about eternity, and only the cross accomplished that. My journey, and yours, is more about eternity than about the jobs we perform, the tasks we accomplish along the way. 

My job as a disciple, and yours, is to follow my Master and allow the journey to change me into the kind of follower He intended me to be. It's not always an easy journey. It's not always a comfortable journey. But it's good. There's peace here, and joy.

The struggle is sometimes messy, confusing, and hard, and that's okay. Knowing we are in the midst of God's will makes all the difference, so if you're struggling, take those struggles to the One who knows the plan and holds you in His loving hands. He's more than willing to give you the help (and direction) you need.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 nasb 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In case you missed any of the past week's posts, here are the links:  The New Normal, The Blessing Disguised as Coincidence, The Blessing of Protection, Becoming a Writer: Cover Reveal, I Shook His Hand Once, and Knowing the Goal.

The most read post of the past week: The New Normal.

Here's the link to The Clay Papers, available as an e-book for personal use or to send as a gift for only 99 cents. 

~~~~~~~~

photo courtesy of freeimages.com

#journey #disciple #JesusChrist #followHim

Sending the Seventy, Part 6: The Silence of Greeting

Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.

Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. (Luke 10:1, 4 NASB)

"Greet no one on the way" seems like an odd command, doesn't it? Here in Mississippi, greetings, especially in public are a big deal. If you see someone you know, you greet them and chat about their families, catch up on their lives. It's considered good manners and is the way life is done here. So it was in Jesus' day. Greetings then could take as long as they do now. I enjoy the greetings that accompany a trip to the grocery or out shopping, and you probably do, too, but if we are honest, those greetings can be time consuming. Those greetings can also be a way to delay a difficult task. Perhaps you've never spent time visiting with someone when a job you dreaded was waiting, but maybe you have. If so, you know how easy it is to procrastinate in the name of good manners.

These seventy disciples were no different. Jesus knew that there would be a temptation to stop and chat along the way. They could easily spend hours greeting the people they knew, telling them about the job Jesus had given them, and discussing their big adventure, all while avoiding the difficult task ahead. Jesus sent them out as sheep, but he did not intend them to stay in a herd of fellow sheep. They needed to be on their way, going to their assigned sites, and preparing the way for Jesus. Theirs was a task that required haste. Just so we are clear, talking to our buddies about how we are going to be serving Jesus is not the same thing as serving Jesus, and that was part of the reason for His admonition. 

Matthew Henry, a 17th and 18th century theologian and commentator, suggests another reason for the instruction to "greet no one on the way." He suggests that this was a call to a kind of silence, that they might be "sober and serious". They had a difficult job ahead and Jesus knew that it could be, quite literally, deadly serious. Eventually, some of these "sent ones" would die for Him. Perhaps He was calling them to spent their traveling time in contemplation of the work ahead. 

Henry suggests that this silence of theirs was much like that described in Job 2:13, when his friends sat with him in mourning for seven days before speaking. If the "sent ones" understood the eternal plight in which the  people to whom they were sent stood, their response would naturally be grief. They were to prepare to minister by mourning the plight of the people, knowing that the good news of Jesus could change death to life, brokenness to wholeness. 

In some faith traditions, a season of silence is a powerful opportunity to focus attention on our Lord. It allows us to take a step away from the clamor of modern life and be still before our Lord. I have several friends, including a group of dedicated Protestant ministers, who enjoy annual retreats of silence. They spend the time studying Scripture and hearing from God rather than each other, and describe it as one of the most powerful times of devotion imaginable. Perhaps, during this busy season when the Advent of the Christ is our intended focus, we would do well to have a season of silence of our own. Consider the Savior who came in flesh to save us, the tasks to which He has assigned us, and those who do not know this One who died for them. As much as we enjoy the festivities, decorations, and gifts of our Americanized Christmas, the focus must be Jesus, and Him glorified. May our challenge be to spend a few minutes each day until Christmas in utter silence, greeting no one but our Lord, listening to no one but that Still Small Voice, worshipping no one but the Child born in a manger in the shadow of the Cross. 

Be still, dear ones, and know that He is God alone. 

------

The link to last night's post is here: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/12/clouds-in-sky.html

-------

The new book, The Waiting: When the Answer to Your Prayer is Delayed and Your Hope is Gone, as well as The Clay Papers and The Road to Bethlehem (an advent devotional guide) are now available at http://www.leannahollis.com/online-store/ Get your copy today.  

Sending the seventy: part 5

Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. (Luke 10:3-4 NASB)

We are looking again at the sending of the seventy. Jesus had selected seventy disciples to go on an evangelistic tour. He had assigned them specific communities and they were to share the good news of Jesus and perform attesting miracles in such a way that those communities would eagerly receive Jesus when He came. That's a sermon right there, isn't it? Do we present Jesus in such a way that those around us are eager to meet Him? 

This was not the kind of evangelistic tour, complete with elaborate sound systems, tour buses, and music teams that we see today. Jesus explained to the men that it was going to be a hard job. They would be like lambs among wolves. People would be against them. There would be controversy and strife. They were to have a quiet, gentle spirit, as a little lamb, no matter what happened. 

To complicate matters, they were not to carry a money belt, extra pair of shoes, or a bag. No backpack, no suitcase. No extra underwear or clean tunic. No money for a cup of coffee along the way. No picnic lunch. They could not even carry their toothbrush. The were to be completely unencumbered by stuff. 

I read that and think that I might have balked. I have to have my toothbrush! I can't go without clean undies! What will I eat? I can hear my whining and complaining already and, in light of what I know those men experienced, I am ashamed of my need for stuff. Jesus was sending them out on a hard journey, yet it was also an exciting adventure. Unencumbered, they were traveling so light that they were utterly dependent upon God's provision for their daily needs. It took the faith of a mustard seed to do it, and I wonder if my mustard seed of faith would be enough for such leanness of travel. 

Now, realistically, the twelve had already gone on one of these stripped down journeys and returned with enthusiastic stories of the wonders they had seen. Their trip had been hard, but worth every minute of it. "You will love it! It will change your life!" they probably told the seventy, and I suspect their encouragement helped those seventy men make that first step toward the exciting future God had for them. 

The no-stuff journey was not without a point. When they arrived in a community, they would quickly know the heart of that community by the hospitality they received, and allowing the people to provide for them would, in a small way, make them a part of the community. It would give them "traction" and a better opportunity for sharing God's Word. Lest you think the seventy were going as freeloaders, remember that they were not just going to preach. They were going to be performing miracles of healing, as well. A meal and a sleeping mat would be well-repaid by a miracle of healing. As always, that with which Christ had equipped them was all they needed. 

Stop a moment and consider this journey. During this season of advent, there is no better time to remember the journey Christ made in relation to the one He asks of us. He left heaven. He brought nothing but the skin in which He was wrapped, and it was enough. That fragile coat of skin was the "equipment" with which Jesus redeemed the world. It was that with which He redeemed you and me. In the hands of God, the skin that clothes us is more than enough to accomplish His purposes, if we are willing. But are we? That is the question we must answer. Are we willing to allow our Lord to strip us of our addiction to things and serve Him without encumbrance? That's how He served us, and, if we would follow Him, we must be willing to do no less. 

During this advent season, let us open our hands and allow our Lord free access to all the things to which we cling. We may not have to relinquish it all, but we must be willing to do so. Travel lean, dear ones. It's the greatest journey of all. 

-------

The new book, The Waiting: When the Answer to Your Prayer is Delayed and Your Hope is Gone, as well as The Clay Papers and The Road to Bethlehem (an advent devotional guide) are now available at http://www.leannahollis.com/online-store/ Get your copy today.  

-------

Here's the link to last night's farm story about Fred the Rooster. He's had a little trouble remembering who is boss: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/12/knowing-whos-boss-fred-rooster-forgets.html

Continue Your Journey

But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," -He said to the paralytic- "I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home." (Luke 5:24 NASB)

The proof is in the pudding, you might say. Jesus recognized that words were not enough if He wanted the scribes and Pharisees to believe in Him and His divine authority. "Get up, get your stretcher, and go home," He told the man. The Greek word for go, poreuō, means to pursue the journey on which one has entered. Jesus was telling this man to return to the life he had before Jesus, but be different there. He would be a kind of living Bible to those who knew him, demonstrating with his life what his words spoke about Jesus and His miraculous healing power. 

The Greek word translated as "home" is oikos and does mean home or residence, but it is also used to mean temple. Perhaps this particular word was used because the healed paralytic was to demonstrate the healing power of Christ both at home and at church. 

The people who knew this man before his encounter with Jesus could not fail to recognize that he was a changed man. I wonder, can people who knew us before Jesus see as recognizable a change in us?   

Today, pray that we and our loved ones will demonstrate by our changed lives that the Risen Lord has wrought a mighty work in us. Pray, too, that we (and those believers in our loved ones' lives) would be so clearly transformed by Christ that those around us (especially our loved ones) cannot help but see Christ in us. Pray that they will become shining beacons of Christ's light as well.