how the light gets in

Category: NOVEMBER 2017

• Golden Hoorays

  Posted at 9:33 pm by How the Light Gets In, on November 19, 2017

  Heart breaks offer a gift.  The gift is unique because you have to be willing to open it. I’m glad I took the gift. Now, I offer it to you.  If you are in a good place, tuck the notes away for later.  If you are stuck in a hard spot, let’s open the gift side by side.

  The gift comes when you allow the suffering to sharpen your wounded heart’s perspective. When you decide to, you begin to see and feel how precious time is moment by moment. There’s a word for that moment by moment time approach; and it’s called Kairos.
  I had read an explanation of Kairos vs Chronos a few years ago on momastery.com. But, since life was okie dokie; I “liked” it, even jotted down a few notes on it and then moved on. In a nutshell: Chronos is our scheduled time; the day to day. Yes, Chronos is where we get the term chronological.  And chronos is the hustle that can rob you of the gift, Kairos.

  In one day, I had the honor of being with a friend who does not have much time left to then hosting a “Friendsgiving” celebration for girls who have all the time in the world.  I sat with my friend and slowed my breathing to take in how special it was to just sit with her, clearing out the errands before and the to-do’s ahead, to just be with her.  A few hours later, my house was full of high school sophomore girls celebrating their friendship with a chili, cornbread and dessert feast for Friendsgiving.  Again, I wasn’t thinking ahead to anything.  I refilled sour cream, cleared dishes all while smiling from the inside out.  Heart break and it’s gift of understanding that now is now, led me to this point.

  Now, we celebrate whenever I feel like it.  Because I can.  And so I will. Wanna now how?  I bought this.

  

  It’s just a gold “Hooray.” But I started hanging the banner to celebrate the everyday awesome, Kairos. HOORAY because we are all at the table for dinner. HOORAY because John got straight A’s! HOORAY because Honey didn’t have a nightmare and we got to sleep through the night. Ugh, that should get two banners.

  It takes courage to open the gift.  I’m not the bravest person so I am especially grateful that God gave me the nudge.

  Also, I am no longer looking for the “silver lining” because every moment is a golden, hooray-worthy gift from God.

  Unwrap and enjoy.

   

   

  Posted in NOVEMBER 2017 | 7 Comments | Tagged Chronos, Friendsgiving, Heart break, Hooray, How the Light Gets In, Kairos, momastery.com

• Hyperalgesia

  Posted at 11:39 pm by How the Light Gets In, on November 12, 2017

  Someone asked me what the worst part of Joseph’s illness was this past year.  In the early days of Joseph being sick, he developed “hyperalgesia.”  Essentially, Joseph’s brain had swollen enough to put his senses in overdrive.  This turned out to be a pretty tough side-effect for all of us.  Think about it… the tv was always too loud.  Our dinner conversations would send him into a fit, covering his ears.  Sunlight was too bright.  He was always freezing or burning up.  But the worst? The worst was his hyper-sense of touch.  All I wanted to do was snuggle with him.  But, just putting my hand on his cheek would make him flinch.  When you’re the type that just wants to hug everything better, hyperalgesia is your #1 enemy.

  And one day I read this from 2 Kings 20.  Hezekiah is facing some tough crap when he says to God, “Remember Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.”  And, it goes on to say that Hezekiah “wept bitterly.”  See, this is where I would want to hug Hezekiah.  I love that the scriptures tell of real interactions like this with real feelings.  And here is God’s response…

  “I have heard your prayers.   I have seen your tears.  I will heal you.”

  More than once, I doubted the promise of these words.  I doubted God heard me at all.  I wept bitterly like Hezekiah.  I said out loud, “Hey, I’m good. No more testing please!  I know I can’t handle this anymore!!!”

  But this verse holds promise.  The promise of being seen.  You are seen.  You are heard.  Maybe it doesn’t feel that way.  Maybe you feel like you’re the only one.  So say it.  Say it to God.  You know enough about me to know I have said these words to God a) out loud & angry b) kneeling in tears c) in the car, talking like a looney bird d) with friends surrounding me in prayer e) while eating a lot of chocolate f)all of the above AT THE SAME TIME.

  The living word is a reflection of our living God.  Read it and then look around you to see Him.  Because you will.  And then, you will read this verse from Job 42:5 and know it to be true in your very soul.

  “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.” 

  Hard things in life can make you flinch at the idea of church, religion, God.  My ears have been hearing about a God I can not describe with physical adjectives like height and weight and hair color.  But I have seen Him.  I have seen God.  And I just want to hug Him.

  Posted in NOVEMBER 2017 | 2 Comments | Tagged 2 Kings 20, brain swelling, Hezekiah, How the Light Gets In, hyperalgesia, I have seen your tears, Job 42:5