New Growth

A couple of weekends ago I laid down grass seed in my backyard (to be very fair I didn't do much of the work but that is another story). My backyard was about 50% dirt due to being very shady.

After the seed was spread, I commented that it is absolutely amazing that you can just basically throw seed onto some dirt and it will take root and grow. I mean it is mysterious that inside a teeny tiny seed is the capacity to produce something beautiful, green and alive. There is life inside that seed.

It has been 10 days since we spread the seed. Not all of it has germinated yet. But some has. And where there was once dirt now there is bright green grass popping up all over. Life.

And in other places nothing seems to be happening. Perhaps the soil really wasn't prepared for growth yet.

I love nature, because it really believe it testifies to God, all the time. That is the way of life, isn't it? The smallest word from the Lord or experience we have has the potential to birth new growth inside our hearts. If our heart is prepared for the growth.

Beautiful

This is what I watched last night. Not this exact sunset (I took this picture about six months ago). But a beautiful sunset over the lake. Testifying to the wonders of the Lord.

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

Intercession

I went to a conference recently and a large part of the focus was intercession. Prayer. An important topic to me. In my childhood and adolescence, I often thought prayer was for dinner time, before bed and during church. As I got a little older I started to understand more that prayer is actually this conversation between God and me. Amazing. I talk, He listens. He talks, I listen. But I still struggled with spending long periods of time in prayer and even to some extent believing that anyone was listening to my heartfelt words. My approach was frequently, "God, there is something going on, I want you to know about, but I will just try to come up with some solution myself." I failed miserably on the wait and hear what God has to say part.


A huge part that was missing for me was knowing the heart of God for me (and all believers) and approaching Him in a way that said I knew what His heart was for his children. The other part that I missed was how important prayer is. Prayer is our opportunity to approach the throne of God, be heard and maybe move the heart of God.


I think of Ezekial 4:14-15, Ezekial pleading to the Lord that he not be made to eat defiled food as God had commanded him. And God relented, he allowed Ezekial to have this request.


I think of 2 Chronicles 2, after Solomon dedicates the temple and the Lord speaks to him, telling him that when things aren't going their way, if his people will only humble themselve and pray and seek his face and turn from their wicked ways, then he will hear from heaven and forgive them and heal their land.


And I think of 1 John 3:22, that we receive anything from the Lord that we ask, when we have confidence before the Lord and obey his commands and do what pleases him.


I am learning that God loves to hear the voice of his children and he delights in coming quickly to answer. The job of intercession, to sit at the feet of Jesus and talk to Him, it is not secondary. It is not "all I can do is pray." No, it is "ALL I can do is pray." Nothing more powerful, nothing more noble. It is not let's have a little prayer time before we have ministry. Prayer is the ministry. The ministry that moves the heart of God, that changes the lives of people, that changes the outcomes of the nations. The supernatural force that brings our world into alliance with the world of God.

Honduran Dinner

About a year ago, the daughter of my host family in Honduras moved to Oklahoma to live with a family from church and finish out high school here. We spend time together but not as much as I would like.

This Saturday I invited her over to make a traditional Honduran dinner with me since she doesn't get to eat that food much now. She was so excited! I was glad, but surprised at how excited she was to make beans, rice, tortillas and fried plantains. Yes, that was the menu. And because this is America, I made some chicken to go along with it.


I meant to take pictures, but I am going to be honest, that much cooking took all of my energy. We had some good laughs at me trying to make a tortilla by hand (which I succeeded at) and my attempt to make beans. This sounds easy enough but I didn't realize how long it takes to cook them.



One of my favorite Honduran foods is fried plantains. For the longest time when I stayed in Honduras, I thought I was eating fried bananas. Turns out plantains are a totally different fruit. And they do not taste good eaten raw! I tried it Saturday night. Fried they taste very sweet, and you can convince yourself you are eating something healthy since they are a fruit.

Right after I wrote this post, I remembered a statistic that I had recently seen about Honduras from World Vision. They estimate that 1 in 4 children in Honduras under the age of 5 suffers from malnutrition, in part because of their dependence on tortillas which contain calories but lack nutrients and vitamins. As much as I enjoy eating a traditional meal from that country, may it be a reminder to me and to us all that many, many children will die in that country and others this week due to not having adequate food. May our hearts always be moved by the plight of the poor and needy right next door or across the world.