HOPE in what is real: Advent Week 2 the YNP edition

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. 

But the greatest of these is love.

I’ve had a fascination with mud since I was a little girl. You see, in North Dakota where I grew up, the rich farming soil soaks up the rain. And when it rains a lot, you are going to put on those rubber boots because you were going to be slugging through MUD. One of my mom’s favorite stories is when I was around 6 and I made an outdoor kitchen out of sticks and old pieces of board so that I could assemble and bake my mud pies. I was a busy girl, let me tell you! I’ll have you know that 40 plus years later, I am still completely mesmerized by mud. BOILING mud, that is. Because Yellowstone National Park is packed with areas where the mud boils right there on the ground. And I couldn’t take my eyes off of it!

BOILING MUD AT YNP

Not only have I seen boiling mud, but I have been ON THE TOP OF a volcano. You see, Yellowstone National Park is inside the crater of a volcano so big that if it blew, most of the United States would be covered in volcanic ash.

OLD FAITHFUL

The volcano that the park sits on is called a super volcano because of how large the blast radius would be if it blew. Some volcanos are “dead”, but the super volcano beneath Yellowstone is very much active. We know that it is active because of things like boiling mud on the ground there and geysers like Old Faithful that blow hot water and steam out from beneath the ground where the super volcano sits. There is also steam coming out of the ground throughout the park. Vern took this weird picture of a buffalo herd standing in the steam that was pouring out of a hillside.

BUFFALO STANDING IN THE STEAM

I remember standing next to one of the more active geysers watching all of this boiling hot water and steam gushing out of the rock. I could hardly believe that so much volcanic activity was just beneath my feet. My eyes told me it was real, but it still just didn’t seem real.

CASTLE GEYSER

I’ll bet the shepherds felt the same way that night Jesus was born. First, there’s this angel that appears announcing Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:9-12). I would be rubbing my eyes and wondering if what I was seeing and hearing was real or if I was dreaming. And THEN, I’ll bet they REALLY thought they were seeing things when MILLIONS of angels filled the night sky singing their famous song (Luke 2:13-14).

I want to see things that are so awesome it’s hard to believe that they’re real. Don’t you? That’s part of the reason why places like Yellowstone National Park fascinate me. But God has performed wonders that are way more awesome (Deuteronomy 10:21) than the park or even the millions of angels that sang Glory to God that first Christmas! And the things that God does or makes bring us HOPE. It is that kind of hope that the shepherds had when they rushed to find Jesus. A hope that seems almost too good to be real—but HE IS REAL.

I pray that today you will come to expect God to do such awesome things in your life that you find yourself rubbing your eyes and wondering if it’s real!

Family Time:

1. Play a game. Make a human log pile or a human pyramid using every member of your family. Be careful not to dive on top of those already in the pile—someone might get hurt and you want this to be a fun memory, not a trip to the ER. For a real challenge, try taking a selfie while in the human log pile. Talk about how the awesome memories you make as a family last a life time.
2. What are some things that you have seen that are really awesome? Did any of those things seem like they weren’t real because they were so awesome? Do you think seeing a million angels all at one time would seem like it wasn’t real? What do you think you would do if you saw something like that?
3. Deuteronomy 10:21 tells us that God has performed awesome wonders. One of those wonders is YOU. Did you know that? God thinks you are so awesome that He sings when He is with you (Zephaniah 3:17). Have other people in your family tell you some ways that God has made you awesome.
4. When the shepherds saw the angels that night, they were filled with hope and excitement. Why do you think they felt hopeful after seeing the angels? (Hint: read Luke 2:15-18)
5. As Christians, we believe in Jesus even though we have never seen Him. What makes Jesus real to you? What about Jesus makes you feel hopeful?

FAITH on a steep and curvy road: Advent Week 1 the YNP edition

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. 
But the greatest of these is love.

This summer, we took our 37-foot fifth wheel camper to Yellowstone National Park, approximately 1,444 miles from our hometown in Texas. We had studied the route for this vacation pretty intensely, but once we hit Wyoming, the mountain road was going to be steep with lots of curves.

I was not prepared, however, for the sleet and snow that would cover those roads. Wasn’t it scary enough that the road was steep and had lots of curves in it? Oh, I was a hot mess.

But there was my husband, Vern. Renewed in the adventure of it. Breathing it all in with excitement. I smiled in wonder at him. So opposite of me. Vern sees such moments as adventures laced with opportunities to grow and learn and LIVE. He faces them head on with confidence. It’s how he does this thing called “life”.

Most of the time, I tend to treat unfamiliar situations that life throws at us as hazards that should be avoided. But once in a while, I open my eyes and see our life as Vern does--the beautiful adventure that it is-- and it takes my breath away. Vern sees that our life’s journey has helped us gain strength as husband and wife. As family. As believers in Jesus Christ. And he sees that even my faith has grown on this steep and curvy road of life.

He sees beauty in the adventure of it. Because he lives by faith. He doesn’t know any other way to live.

The Bible doesn’t tell us anything about how Joseph and Mary faced their life journey. Jesus’ birth would change everything for them—WAS changing everything for them already before He was born. Would they face these adventures with great faith, or would they yelp at every scary unfamiliar turn?

I want to be someone who faces these strange and unfamiliar situations with faith, not fear. With eyes wide open, shoulders back, and chin up. I think that’s why Paul the Apostle lists faith as one of the greatest attributes of a believer. Faith changes our perspective on the steep and curvy road of life. It changes how we see things. Changes how we react to things. Changes us. It can even change those who are around us.

So this Christmas season, I pray that you will see your steep and curvy road for the adventure that it is. A place where faith is born. Where faith grows and changes you and those who are around you. Faith will turn even the most fearful creatures into faith-filled warriors. If it can do that to me, it can certainly do that for you.

Family Time:

1. Play a game. Pick one person to hide and give them a few moments to go hide. The rest of you split up and try to find the person hiding. When you find them, hide in that spot with them. Eventually, your whole family should be in that hiding spot together. If you want more of a challenge, turn off all the lights in the house and play this game in the dark. The little ones can have flashlights with them or seek the others using a buddy system. After you are all in the hiding place together, talk about how good it feels to be together as a family.
2. Joseph and Mary had to walk 80 miles to get from their home to Bethlehem. And Mary was about to have a baby! How far have you ever walked in a day? Do you think it was easier for Joseph and Mary because they were together?
3. How do you think Joseph and Mary felt as they traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem? Do you think God gives us family to bring us courage to do hard things? Why does family help us do hard things?
4. Do you think the faith Mary and Joseph had in God helped them on this journey? Why or why not?
5. Have you ever been in a situation that was scary like the steep and curvy mountain road we were on to get to Yellowstone National Park? Did your faith in God help you during that time? How? What are some things you can do to help grow your faith?

NOW THAT I’M FIVE YEARS OLD…

The room was stuffed with flowers and people. I was having a hard time deciding which was more beautiful: the flowers or the tear-streaked faces of her loved ones. Chelsie had known the love and devotion of many on this earth and that moved me. But now she was with the very author of love in heaven and that moved me too. For those she had left behind, grief would mingle with joy for a long time to come.

I had been a cancer survivor for a little over 2 years at that point. Chelsie’s cancer journey had hit me hard and I wanted so badly to trade places with her. I felt like I had lived a full life and she had died so young. I knew that wasn’t the way that I should think about it, but it has taken me nearly 3 more years to finally experience peace with the outcome of Chelsie’s cancer journey.

The answer to that struggle was right there in front of me, to be honest with you. I feel silly to have missed it all this time. It was in Chelsie’s favorite verse, Psalm 27:1 written by King David himself:

The Lord is my light and my salvation—

    whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life—

    of whom shall I be afraid?

Fear is a common emotion, even for someone like King David who as a young shepherd boy had killed lions and bears to protect his sheep. Fear saps your energy, steals your joy, distracts you from experiencing peace and certainly makes you feel weak. Just to name a few things fear can do to someone. It certainly has done that to me more than I care to think about, particularly during my cancer journey.

But one thing fear cannot do is exist in the presence of the King of Light and Salvation. He is much too strong for so weak a thing like fear to exist anywhere near Him. What a relief it must be when we are in the presence of the ONE TRUE GOD where we cannot be cheated out of our joy and peace anymore.

And that then, is the truth. To be in His Presence is to experience joy and peace. That’s what Chelsie has now and forever. I wouldn’t want her to trade that for anything. None of us will live a full life here on earth. A fulfilled life can only be had in heaven in the presence of GOD.

I always thought that once I reached this milestone 5-year mark, that I would somehow be free of experiencing fear. My cancer risk is the same as anyone else now. But I have to tell you that I do still experience fear. I think a lot of people assume that once your treatments are over and your hair grows back, that you just keep truckin’ on down the road and don’t think about cancer anymore. Or that hearing about other people getting diagnosed or undergoing cancer treatments doesn’t get those old feelings all stirred up again. Well, I don’t think that’s true for many cancer survivors because in the back of your mind is always that thought about if your cancer will come back. No matter what the statistics tell you.

Well, my cancer may come back. But it may not. So now every day I have to make a choice. Am I going to waste my time and energy thinking about whether or not I will get cancer again, or am I going to dive into the presence of THE LORD where I know I will experience joy and peace?  

Sure would’ve been easier if The Lord had called me home like He did Chelsie. But it’s not my time yet. He still has things for me to do here.

Think I’ll start by having ONE. BIG. PARTY.

I am, after all, a 5 year old who knows how to defeat fear. And that’s something to celebrate!