Backstory

After Jacob stole Esau's blessing, Esau begged his father Isaac to bless him as well.  "Have you not reserved a blessing for me??  Bless me, even me, O my father."

Isaac's response seemed more like a curse:  Esau would live away from the fat of the land and the dew of heaven.  He would survive by the sword and one day break Jacob's yoke from his neck. It is hard to understand such a blessing for Isaac's favored son.  No backstory or explanation is offered for Isaac's change of heart.  When offered a chance to redeem what Jacob had stolen, dad passes.  Instead, as Jacob makes plans to flee to Haran, Isaac does not rebuke his deceitful son, but extends the stolen blessing.

Genesis 28:3-4 "God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.  May he give you the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that  you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham."

It is unclear why Isaac chose to retain and expand on the blessing that Jacob gained deceitfully.  But he did.  Even so, Jacob labored twenty years for his father-in-law and endured much injustice at the hands of Laban.  As Jacob received the blessings Isaac bestowed on him, hardship was met along the way.  And the years of difficult work, the loss of a son, and a beloved wife refined Jacob as much as the possessions he gained and the children he fathered.  As Jacob's blessing unfolded, suffering became part of the story.  He lived on the fat of the land and the dew of heaven, but he worked hard for it.  He became fruitful and multiplied, but mourned the faked death of his favored son, Joseph, for many years.

His blessing came with suffering that refined both he and his children.  Perhaps blessing is best understood in the light of suffering.  Jacob's family rejoiced when Joseph came forward.  His toiling in Egypt ultimately preserved his father and brothers.  They continued to live fruitfully because of Joseph's suffering.

I pray to understand what God has spoken through backstory and untold thoughts and conversations.  I pray that I would see suffering as a co-partner to blessing, and that both are worthy of rejoicing.

Pulling a Terah

Genesis 11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai, and his grandson Lot (his son Haran's child) and left Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But they stopped instead at the village of Haran and settled there. 32Terah lived for 205 years [fn5] and died while still at Haran.


As I climb into 2011, I am not sure what to expect.  Journeying thru 2010 was,undoubtedly, the most difficult and extraordinary adventure thus far.  I am left to ponder how 2011 could "top" the circumstances of 2010: experiencing the near death of my eleven year old daughter and God's miraculous intervention, leaving nearly all our worldly possessions behind in a remote corner of Fiji and moving back to the US unexpectedly.....regrouping as a family after being scattered across the continents and starting over.  
   
2010 was also filled with the kindness of strangers, friends,and family during lengthy hospital stays, and our US transition from Fiji and insertion back into the American culture. Looking back, we believe that ministering in Fiji was part of our spiritual journey towards Canaan; we took this step of faith and learned so much about ourselves and our God.  So now, how does living in the US become part of our Canaanite journey? I believe the choices we make in 2011 with our time and our resources will answer this question. 


The American lifestyle can be insidiously seamless - no strange foods, no homicidal Fijian bus drivers, no one asking why we are choosing to live in a foreign land or challenging our faith.  Yet it is this insane level of comfort that could ultimately be our undoing.  It was for Abraham's dad.  Even though we are still spiritual sojourners, it would be so easy to "pull a Terah".   We could stop and settle, acquire, and never move on to "deep-er-ness". 


The comfort of Haran consumed Terah and he died at the pit-stop.  Easy to do.  It is harder to push and challenge and step out of our faith comfort zones when settling into a safe ho hum routine is an option.  I pray that I would not die "while still at Haran", but that I would pick up my cross daily, challenge myself, and journey forward to the Promised Land as a dangerous maiden willing to lay down my life by putting to death my fleshly desires.  Happy New Year!  







  

Suffering

So they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council,rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.


Joy-filled suffering changes the position of affliction from focusing on pain to rejoicing that you can be counted worthy.  This is a paradigm shift for me as I view my very comfortable world in which I make every effort to be pain-free while studiously avoiding conflict and condemnation -losing chances to proclaim the Good  News.  Help me to live courageously and love full-out Father. Then the joy of the Lord will be my strength - not my well-insulated environment.

Deep Regret from Owl City

What Adam Young, from Owl City prays for his future wife:  She is out there. My Cinderella. She is real. She exists. I pray for her constantly. May God satisfy the desires of her heart, draw her close, consume her. May He claim her passions, her identity, her refuge, her hopes, her strengths and weaknesses, every fiber of her being. May she treasure and cherish her Savior more than anything of this world and cling to His will with every ounce of her stamina. By all that she is, does, and strives to be, may He draw near to her and she to Him.

Dangerous Maidens

With 5 daughters in my family, part of the blog name was easy to pick.  However, I  wanted a name that opened the heart of my girls to Jesus' ministry in a radical and profound manner. Pursing Christianity in 2009 is a dangerous mission.  Today, the message spoken by the author of the Sermon on the Mount is deemed polarizing because it demands lifestyle....... adjustments.

I desire that my girls will do more than just adjust to the Gospel - I pray that they will conform to it. This will enable them to live with truth, love, and passion by pouring out their lives to serve Christ expressively and exclusively.  Serving others requires unconditional love and forgiveness along with a very unpopular word, "repentance." 

In essentials, Dangerous Maidenhood requires a young lady to risk everything.  Practically speaking, one must die to self daily in order to live a life fully granted and exposed by love. This love must confront and conquer any adversary that rises up to expel and replace it.  Only God's grace will enable love to prevail.  I pray that today and everyday  my "dangerous maidens" would be filled with His undeserved favor.