My great-grandmother, Ina Davis was born in 1899; and I was lucky enough to know her. She cooked a mean fried chicken, the saltiest green beans you ever tasted and the best chocolate cream pie I've had to date. Granny sewed slipcovers and drapes in her barn on an old pedaled sewing machine, hung chickens from a clothesline before they met the frying pan and liked to beep her horn in tunnels just to hear the echo. She also hated when I whistled.
I loved her.
She was my "Granny" and she was a character from the generation of preaching "hellfire and brimstone". For better and sometimes worse...you knew what Granny thought and you heard Granny sing! But she had faith...and it was for me a faith to build on.
My grandmother, Dorthea Davis was born in 1921 and I was lucky enough to have her until I had three teenagers of my own. I used to salivate in anticipation of her yellow cake with chocolate icing and her huge yellow bowl of potato salad. Nanny worked in the dietary department of Brandywine Hospital in her crisp white uniform for YEARS! And Nanny was strong. She regularly arm wrestled her sons-in-law and her grandsons. Then twitched her nose in delight if she could still take them down. She also let me call her ridiculous names.
I loved her.
She was my "Nan" and God doesn't make them sweeter. For better and sometimes worse...Nanny worried or Nanny sang! But she had faith...and it was faith for me to build on.
My mother, Millie (Davis) Morris, was born in 1942 (sorry Mom); and I am lucky enough to have her still! I used to love to come in from playing in the snow to her milky and rivelly potato soup and no holiday is right without her perfect apple pie. Mom has worked hard her whole life..."secretarying", mothering, caring, cleaning, buying, selling, home-making and giving in delight to the delighted. Mom makes even the mundane feel special. She also forgives my scattered mind.
I love her.
She is my "Mumsy" and she continues to be one of my best gifts in this life. For better and rarely worse, mom fusses over her family...( I won't comment on her singing since she reads my blogs!) Mom's life is full of evidences of faith for me to keep building on.
My patriarchal matriarchs are absent from my life experience but I have been told of their faith and seen it in my great aunt, Helen Riggs. I was lucky enough to know her in my formative years. Before you crossed her threshold, you were handed carrot juice, a vitamin and whole-wheat carob chip cookies; all long before the "healthfood" industry showed its face in Chester County, PA. Helen was a spitfire who jogged in her basement until she had to be 80 years old. She used to play hymns on her old 45's and greet you with so much enthusiasm you felt like a celebrity. She worked at getting her family "saved"...and it worked for me! For better or worse Aunt Helen told you about Jesus...and though she is my blood on my father's side, her singing could make your ears curl in. But boy, did Aunt Helen have faith...faith to build on.
Why do I write of my matriarchal lineage? Because I feel lucky!
And because I'm reflecting on the women in Christ's lineage...
women with strengths and weaknesses. Women whose faith God chose to build on. And though we cannot comment on their vocal talents we can read the songs of their lives and build on their faith.
They are, by faith, the matriarchs of us all.
Read about them:
Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, Mary...
I promise you their stories will make you feel lucky.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Picked
My family is full of quips that do not really need to be re-quipped ...such as:
"You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose,
but just don't pick your friend's nose;"
for one example.
Is it in poor taste to introduce the lineage of Jesus in this way?!
The point is, of all relationships in life...you cannot pick your blood line.
(Please understand that I would still pick mine as mine...if I could. In spite of an occasionally questionable sense of humor, they're my blood!)
When God chose to be present with us, he picked the best representative of Himself...His equal in every way, His son. And Jesus came. He picked a human blood line that is mapped out in Luke 3: 23-38. The genealogy of Jesus includes all kinds of moral failures...liars, cheaters, murderers, prostitutes, adulterers...
Any human genealogy has its share of shame, Jesus picked this one;
A family with victories and defeats, godly and ungodly.
This family of our Savior communicates beautiful things about our God; things way too important to speed read!
Did you know:
That within this Jewish heritage, three of the four women listed in Matthew 1 were Gentiles?
Did you know that through His legal (though not genetic) father Joseph, Jesus fulfilled prophecy as the Messiah who would come in the line of King David?
Did you know that through Mary, Jesus was also part of a priestly heritage?
Did you know that while Matthew describes Jesus legal lineage through Joseph, Luke defines his blood line through Mary?
Matthew explains His connection with the nation of Israel
and Luke, his connection to all mankind through Adam.
Together these two gospels, form every family connection needed for God to keep His promises to His children, extending forgiveness and a restored relationship with Him. He is our priestly intercessor...the One who makes it all right again. He is our Messiah...the One who rescues us from a life doomed to idolatry and death.
And of all the glorious gifts that Jesus shares with us, my favorite is this: His presence.
He is able to come into the human condition of liars, cheaters, adulterers, murderers, outsiders
and still remain perfectly God, perfectly good, perfectly perfect.
No matter whose bloodline He mingles with, Jesus remains
incorruptible.
Untainted by the ugly,
unchanged in His love
forever loyal to His plan to be our brother through His blood.
"You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose,
but just don't pick your friend's nose;"
for one example.
Is it in poor taste to introduce the lineage of Jesus in this way?!
The point is, of all relationships in life...you cannot pick your blood line.
(Please understand that I would still pick mine as mine...if I could. In spite of an occasionally questionable sense of humor, they're my blood!)
When God chose to be present with us, he picked the best representative of Himself...His equal in every way, His son. And Jesus came. He picked a human blood line that is mapped out in Luke 3: 23-38. The genealogy of Jesus includes all kinds of moral failures...liars, cheaters, murderers, prostitutes, adulterers...
Any human genealogy has its share of shame, Jesus picked this one;
A family with victories and defeats, godly and ungodly.
This family of our Savior communicates beautiful things about our God; things way too important to speed read!
Did you know:
That within this Jewish heritage, three of the four women listed in Matthew 1 were Gentiles?
Did you know that through His legal (though not genetic) father Joseph, Jesus fulfilled prophecy as the Messiah who would come in the line of King David?
Did you know that through Mary, Jesus was also part of a priestly heritage?
Did you know that while Matthew describes Jesus legal lineage through Joseph, Luke defines his blood line through Mary?
Matthew explains His connection with the nation of Israel
and Luke, his connection to all mankind through Adam.
Together these two gospels, form every family connection needed for God to keep His promises to His children, extending forgiveness and a restored relationship with Him. He is our priestly intercessor...the One who makes it all right again. He is our Messiah...the One who rescues us from a life doomed to idolatry and death.
And of all the glorious gifts that Jesus shares with us, my favorite is this: His presence.
He is able to come into the human condition of liars, cheaters, adulterers, murderers, outsiders
and still remain perfectly God, perfectly good, perfectly perfect.
No matter whose bloodline He mingles with, Jesus remains
incorruptible.
Untainted by the ugly,
unchanged in His love
forever loyal to His plan to be our brother through His blood.
Monday, May 15, 2017
The Shape I'm In...
Romans 8:29 "God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. " The Message
Yesterday was Mother's Day. Our family sat around telling stories for two evenings in a row. My Mom and I reminisced about my early childhood shyness and attachment to her and the weird ways this played out. Apparently, My kindergarten teacher expressed to my mom that I was isolating myself at school so in an attempt to help me connect with friends, my mom planned a little party at our house. When the "friends" arrived I brought my toys out to them and then went and hid behind my bedroom door. This is kind of how life has continued to challenge me. I am an introvert...and that's Ok but humanity is meant for relationship, and relationship can be a scary and difficult thing for anyone!
Just like getting in physical shape takes discipline, self-control and perhaps an excellent coach and roll model. Getting in better relational shape is work! It takes effort and intention.
It takes courage and inspiration.
At the core of being human, is this truth: we are all made for relationship, with God and with others. And so, I must continue working out my faith to get into better shape. The shape I was made for.
Jesus was in perfect spiritual and relational shape. His life with God and others demonstrates exactly what being human is all about: faith, love, goodness, kindness, joy, peace, patience...and self-control spilling out onto others. The shape of Jesus life, was the shape of God's heart...and the shape our life is meant to take.
Jesus is the perfect coach and the ideal role model, and we can study his spiritual fitness plan in the way he related to others in the Gospels.
If I love God, I will want to be like Jesus and if I am like Jesus, I will become better and better at loving people,
so they can see the shape of His heart.
Luke 1:1-4 "So many others have tried their hand at putting together a story of the wonderful harvest of Scripture and history that took place among us, using reports handed down by the original eyewitnesses who served this Word with their very lives. Since I have investigated all the reports in close detail, starting from the story’s beginning, I decided to write it all out for you, most honorable Theophilus" (whose name means 'one who loves God'), "so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught." The MSG
"Everything was created through him (Jesus);
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out."
John 1: 3-5 The MSG
Yesterday was Mother's Day. Our family sat around telling stories for two evenings in a row. My Mom and I reminisced about my early childhood shyness and attachment to her and the weird ways this played out. Apparently, My kindergarten teacher expressed to my mom that I was isolating myself at school so in an attempt to help me connect with friends, my mom planned a little party at our house. When the "friends" arrived I brought my toys out to them and then went and hid behind my bedroom door. This is kind of how life has continued to challenge me. I am an introvert...and that's Ok but humanity is meant for relationship, and relationship can be a scary and difficult thing for anyone!
Just like getting in physical shape takes discipline, self-control and perhaps an excellent coach and roll model. Getting in better relational shape is work! It takes effort and intention.
It takes courage and inspiration.
At the core of being human, is this truth: we are all made for relationship, with God and with others. And so, I must continue working out my faith to get into better shape. The shape I was made for.
Jesus was in perfect spiritual and relational shape. His life with God and others demonstrates exactly what being human is all about: faith, love, goodness, kindness, joy, peace, patience...and self-control spilling out onto others. The shape of Jesus life, was the shape of God's heart...and the shape our life is meant to take.
Jesus is the perfect coach and the ideal role model, and we can study his spiritual fitness plan in the way he related to others in the Gospels.
If I love God, I will want to be like Jesus and if I am like Jesus, I will become better and better at loving people,
so they can see the shape of His heart.
Luke 1:1-4 "So many others have tried their hand at putting together a story of the wonderful harvest of Scripture and history that took place among us, using reports handed down by the original eyewitnesses who served this Word with their very lives. Since I have investigated all the reports in close detail, starting from the story’s beginning, I decided to write it all out for you, most honorable Theophilus" (whose name means 'one who loves God'), "so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught." The MSG
"Everything was created through him (Jesus);
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out."
John 1: 3-5 The MSG
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