A Beautiful Mess

By Heather Arbuckle –

I am a do it myself kind of gal. In many parts of my life, I simply decide that God needs a little help and I opt to “give him a hand”.  Inevitably, that is precisely when life really starts to get messy.

With my limited perspective, things inevitably get tangled, and before long my situation look ugly. Discouraged and overwhelmed, I must then hand it all back to God and ask Him to fix my mess. Sometimes I picture God, shaking His holy head and nudging Jesus as He says, “Watch this. When will she ever learn? She is such a mess maker!”

Thankfully, my mess is nothing compared my God’s love for me.
He forgives my sin.
Comforts me in my pain.
Assures me all is well.
For He is not shaken by my mess.
In fact, one day this mess shall become beautiful.

Despite my mess, God sees the best in me. Where others see failure, the LORD sees potential. When He looks upon my mess, He sees His Son. Jesus took my mess to the Cross. And because of Christ’s great sacrifice, I can boldly approach the throne and present myself to God. Mess and all.

Even though I will never be worthy, He draws me near with assurance. For “the Lord will work out his plans for my life—for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever” (Psalm 138:8 NIV). Since I am His child, the LORD willingly takes my mess. Then, God uses it for His glory.

Opinion Versus Fact

By Carin LeRoy –

Sitting in a courtroom recently as a prospective juror, 24 of us were asked questions and expected to give truthful answers. Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys were seeking  people who would give an impartial judgment on the case.

In the courtroom, the judge over the proceedings was seated high above everyone, giving him an aura of authority and control. His words were to be heeded, and when he spoke, everyone listened. We were to judge the case by the facts – not opinion or bias.

How many of us live life by our opinion, how life appears to be, or what others think of us, rather than the facts God presents to us in scripture?

Opinion: God can’t forgive me for all the things I’ve done.
Fact: “As far as the eastern horizon is from the west, so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us” (Psalm 103:12 NET).

Opinion:  It’s okay to tell a little white lie.
Fact: “The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in men who are truthful” (Proverbs 12:22 NIV).

Opinion: I don’t have gifts God can use.
Fact: “Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ” (I Peter 4:10 NET).

Opinion: God doesn’t have a purpose for my life.
Fact: “For I know what I have planned for you, says the Lord. I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 NET).

Opinion: I can’t forgive what that person has done to me.
Fact: “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength,” (Philippians 4:13 NIV).

Let’s remember to look at what God says. He has the final word, and His truth can be trusted. We look at the facts of scripture and take God at His word, by faith.

PRAYER: Lord, Help me to check my thoughts, attitudes and actions against scripture so that they are consistent with the truth of Your word. Help me to learn how wrong thinking can affect my life. Give me a heart that follows after You.

BIBLE VERSE: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105 NIV).

Milk-n-Honey

By Nina Medrano –

I recently had a conversation with an individual who just got out of prison. Like many inmates, this individual accepted Christ while incarcerated. This person went to prison for doing a lot of the same things I used to be involved in. We share a common understanding of life in a dark, dark world. Now that our lives are with Christ, we live differently. So much change has taken place that we spent hours just catching up.

I shared how I remember never sleeping at night. Always doing, selling, and sharing drugs with other drug dealers and users. I remember the constant phone calls from users waiting on the product to arrive.  I remember crashing hard when the product was delayed. I remember rarely leaving the house during the day. I don’t know why other than we called ourselves “people of the night,” and only the “people of the day” ventured their lives during the daylight hours.

There were always people, strangers, coming and going at all hours of the day and especially at night.  There was always pornography in the background, playing along with the music as people partied. I remember the constant feeling of paranoia, the looking over my shoulder, peering out windows, sitting huddled in the darkest corner of a room—hiding from something I thought I saw or heard. I used to hear police sirens in my head until one day I couldn’t distinguish if it was from the realm of fear or from reality. I remember getting beat up by my boyfriend. I remember thinking, “I don’t want to die in this house this way.” I remember the lies—there were many, many lies—on this side of darkness you trust no one—including yourself.

As I openly shared my personal experiences with this individual, I noticed the frequent nodding of the head, saying to me, “Yep, I know exactly what you mean!”

This is true for all people of the night. They know exactly what I mean when I describe life in that dark, dark world. They understand the constant drama that comes with that life. They learn to live with mistrust and misuse. There is no friendship, no grace, no mercy, nor family for those who live in darkness. They harden their hearts, discard their feelings, and always carry a sharp eye and a loaded gun.

More nodding of the head but this time the nod is more pronounced, saying to me, “Man, you nailed it!”

Back in those days, I used to long for a simple life with no drama, no drugs, no darkness, and no paranoia. More nods, but these nods were gentle ones, saying to me, “Yeah, I want that too.”

I shared how God has taken me out of the land of darkness and brought me into a land of milk-n-honey. Today, I have a home that is safe and peaceful. I lead a simple life filled with grace and mercy. These days the only drama in my life is sitting in my back yard watching the brilliant colors of the sunrise and sunset. And the only things I do at night are watch for shooting stars across the sky.

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness” (Isaiah 42:6-7 NIV).

Abba (Father), thank you for bringing me out of darkness and for keeping me in the Light of your Presence. Thank you for setting me free and for bringing me into a place of grace and mercy. I will forever praise your name.

Seeds of Faith

By Cheri Cowell –

In my jewelry box is a tarnished and not-very-beautiful piece of jewelry. If someone broke into my home, they wouldn’t consider this a valuable treasure. But it is to me. It is a tiny mustard seed in a tiny glass ball on an inexpensive chain. The chain is too small to fit around my neck, yet I keep it to remind me of the lesson it brought. On the day of my confirmation, my grandfather gave it to me after sharing Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed. He told me that even with a small amount of faith, I had enough faith to become all God wanted me to be. Later, in my turbulent teenage years I needed that promise. That necklace was a tangible reminder that regardless of how small my faith seemed, it was enough.

The mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds yet produces one of the largest trees in the Middle East. Like that seed, our faith is worthless unless the Father feeds it. When we come to Jesus in our alone time He feeds us. In the quiet, He can explain unspeakable things and help us to do, be, and have all He has ordained for us. In that stillness, God turns our mustard seeds into giant trees of faith.

PRAYER: I praise You, God, for the gift of faith. Help me believe that the little amount of faith I hold is enough to help me become what You have planned for me since the beginning of time. Help me to set aside time to be quiet and listen for all the things You want to show me.

BIBLE VERSE: “Again he said, ‘What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade’” (Mark 4:30-34  NIV).

Mountain Climbing—What It Takes and Why We Do It

By Don Otis –

George Mallory, a member of the 1924 Mt. Everest expedition, was asked, “Why do you want to climb Mt. Everest?” Without hesitation he replied, “Because it’s there.” That famed and ill-fated expedition saw the death of Mallory and his climbing partner, Andrew Irvine. They were last spotted within several hundred yards of the summit before disappearing for the next 75 years. Mallory’s body was found in 1999. To this day, no one knows for sure if they reached the summit but that just adds to the often mysterious nature of mountaineering.

I can’t remember a time in my life that I wasn’t climbing on something, somewhere. Perhaps it had to do with being chased by an older brother. I found that if I scrambled up the side fence of my southern California home, I could shimmy my way up the wood shingles and escape his grasp for as long I was willing to remain planted there.

I graduated, of course, to bigger and better challenges. Some of my experiences are a bit humorous, dangerous, and embarrassing. And after more than half a century, you accumulate plenty of experiences–good, bad and everything in between.

Since moving to Colorado in late 2007, I found myself on a mission to conquer as many of the 14,000’ peaks as my budget and time would allow. There is something magical about standing on top of a peak and looking down, surveying the landscape and the winding trail to the top. There are easy climbs and daunting hair-raising climbs. I have been on both kinds.

If you asked me the same question the press asked Mallory, I would give a bit lengthier reply: Climbing and hiking in the mountains engages our physical and mental strength. There is nothing predictable about climbing, as there is nothing predictable with life. We live with an illusion of control. Climbing is less about the destination than the experience.

Fortunately, for those of us who live in Colorado, we are blessed by our Creator with many places to wander. Last year I reached the summits of thirteen of the 14,000’ peaks here in the state. One of these, Mt. Lindsey near Walsenburg, was fraught with challenges from the start. The trailhead had an eighteen-inch-diameter aspen lying across the road. I parked where it fell and hiked the last three miles to the trailhead. Then, the skies filled with black clouds. Lindsey was far off in the distance and shrouded in clouds. I was alone—contemplating what to do.

We persevere in the mountains the same way we do in everyday life. We feel like giving up. We get off track, exhausted or second-guess ourselves. That day I chose to keep going, in spite of the imperfect conditions.  Scrambling up through talus, spitting rain, clouds, delicately picking the cairns (piles of rocks) that mark the path, eventually there was no place higher.

I am not the only one scampering around the Rockies looking for adventure. Others have taken up the challenge and ecstasy of hiking or climbing in the backcountry. As someone who has stood on 32 of the high summits, I love nothing more than to see others experience the same.

In the future, Alison Gromme and I are going to guide a group up Mt. Shavano (near Salida). As personal trainers, we are encouraging people in a 6-week program that will build fitness and culminate with the climb. If you or someone you know are up for the challenge, comment below and I’ll tell you more!

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