FRESH AIR FOR THE SOUL

Today’s post is part of the Christian Writer’s blog chain. The theme for June is “Fresh Air.” Click on the links to the right to see how my friends look at this topic.

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Most days my bedroom window is open. Except on summer afternoons when it is shut tight against the heat.

Ah, but come evening, the blinds go up; the window slides open and the cool evening air slips through my screen and pushes the hot, still air up through the attic and out of the house.

Thanks to our remarkable whole house fan, it takes but moments to bring the temperature in the house from 90 to 70. And to return my mood from heat-induced grumpy to my very cool self.

Sometimes we don't get those cool evening breezes though. When that happens, it's not pretty in our bedroom. There's me, lying on one side of the bed—as far away from my heat-producing husband as I can get. Pillows turned every 5 minutes to the "cool side." The ceiling fan is on high. The nightstand fan is on high. The big box fan, perched on my dresser and aimed directly at me—is on high. Another box fan in the window. On high. And a cool, wet cloth on my hot, sweaty forehead.

The only good thing about those nights is that when the cool breezes return, I'm praising God and thanking Him for rescuing me from another night in the inferno and for sending me exactly the kind of fresh air I need.

Kinda like He did when He sent Jesus.

To the early Christians, Jesus must have been like fresh air—sweeping away the cobwebs of legalism; brushing off the dust of disbelief; blowing away the despair of sin. Understanding the promise of salvation, forgiveness and redemption through Jesus literally does away with the threat of spending eternity in the inferno of hell.

Yes, there are a few crazy people who actually like triple digit temperatures. But for most of us, the still, hot air is suffocation. It is a baking of the soul; a crisping of the mind; a burning up of a peaceful spirit.

We need the cool fresh air of the evening to renew our bodies so we can prepare for the heat of the day ahead. Likewise, we need the fresh air of Jesus to renew our souls for a time that may be filled with an inferno of trials and worry. The blessed fresh air of Jesus flows through us by means of the Holy Spirit. It can refresh us. We need only to open the window of our souls and let it flow.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for the variety you created in this world—day and night; light and dark; the heat of the day and cool evening breezes. Thank you, Jesus, for gifting us with your Spirit. Help us let your Spirit flow freely through us, restoring our souls with the fresh air of your love. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Are you invigorated by the heat or the cool? Was there a time when your experience with Jesus was like a breeze of fresh air?

FRESH AIR TO A STALE WORLD

Today my baby girl is 22. No, I won’t embarrass her by posting baby pictures online for the entire world wide web to see. Take my word for it. She was a beauty. And still is.

Nicole wasn’t one of those girly girls as a child. No pink frills. No lace. No ribbons. She wore jeans, cowgirl boots and an oversized wolf T-shirt until she turned 12. Then one day when I wasn’t paying attention, she went from total tomboy to young woman.

When I turned around, she took my breath away. Now that she’s moved away from home, every time she comes back it’s like she’s bringing fresh air with her. She fills the house with color and music and delight. Having her home is like breathing fresh air after a spring rain.

Before we become parents, we are still becoming the people God means us to be. We are still moving from childhood ourselves; learning to trust our never-quite-enough wisdom; understanding the world and our place in it. When we are blessed by that first child, he turns our world upside down and forces us to find a new place to perch.

When our first born arrived—our wonderful son—I remember my husband and I sitting quietly together holding our precious bundle of blue and whispering. “Life will never be the same.”

And it hasn’t been. We simply cannot imagine life without our children. When they arrived, it was as if God breathed fresh air into our lives and expanded our lungs and our hearts to contain the increased volume of love they brought. Every day our children showed us how to look at the same thing we saw yesterday and see it from fresh eyes. Every day our children showed us delight in things we had forgotten were delightful. Every day God showed us how to love our own children so we could finally understand His love for us.

One day 4-year old Nicole came running into my office, declaring, “Mommy, look what I found!”

Tearing myself away from the computer, I had half a second to wonder what could be so exciting to merit her enthusiasm.

There she stood, next to me, holding an egg beater, turning it slowly, rotating the beater blades like gears on a bicycle. I’d had that egg beater for 15 years, but to my 4-year old daughter, it was brand new; miraculous and exciting. And for a moment, it was exciting to me, too.

To children, everything is fresh and new. They remind us of the amazing things God has created for us in this world. Once reminded, can we continue to look at our world with the freshness of children? Can we retain our childlike love for God and a childlike gratitude for His gifts?

Perhaps we can, if we remember that we are His children.

Happy birthday, Nicole. You are a precious gift from God. He loves you and so do I.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please help us never lose our childlike love for you. Help us to always see you as our Heavenly Father. I pray that we will always be a sweet blessing to you; a fresh breeze wafting up to heaven. Thank you for being our Heavenly Father and thank you for the fresh air we experience from the children you place in our lives. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Do you have an example of a time a child taught you how to look at something with fresh eyes?

FRESH MOUNTAIN AIR

This post is part of the ChristianWriters.com blog chain. Our theme for June is “fresh air.” Click on the links to the right to enjoy what my friends have to say about “fresh air.”

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The contemporary Christian group, Third Day, has a beautiful song called Mountain of God. Here is part of it.

Even though the journey's long

and I know the road is hard.

Well, the one who's gone before me,

He will help me carry on.

And after all that I've been through,

now I realize the truth

that I must go through the valley

to stand upon the mountain of God!

Do you recall Moses’ journey through the desert?  For 40 years as the Jews meandered toward their goal, following as God led them by day with a pillar of cloud and by night with a pillar of fire. What a long, hot, dusty journey it must have been. How many of the people who had left Egypt died in that desert? How much suffering was involved in the journey?

I imagine the tents and the families; little children running past the crying babies and moaning elders, tired from the journey—emotionally, physically and spiritually. I imagine Moses, climbing the mountain and finding God waiting for him. It must have meant cooler temperatures, possibly even fresh, invigorating air after the heat of the dry, desert valley.

We too wander the desert of life. We yearn for a roadmap, forgetting that God has given us his divine roadmap right there in scripture. Sometimes—even with our eyes focused on God—we wander the desert valley. Trials. Pain. Worry. Grief. Setbacks. Loneliness.

These valleys make us yearn for the fresh air we can find when we stand on the mountain with God. Those precious moments when we feel God’s presence; know His love and grace.

Here’s to the fresh air we can find when we stand upon the mountain with God.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for walking through our valleys with us and thank you for meeting us on the mountain where you fill our spirits with your fresh air. Remind us that your presence, your word and your Spirit are refreshing to our souls. Keep us seeking after you. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Was there a time in your life when you felt you were traveling through a long, dry desert valley? Was there a time when you experienced the refreshing presence of God and could look back on the valley and know that God carried you through it?

FRESH AIR: SOARING WITH THE EAGLES

This month, we at ChristianWriters.com are blogging on the theme of "fresh air." (See the links to the right.) I love this theme so much that I will post a different blog about "fresh air" every Wednesday this month.

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Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV)

I loved Peter Jackson’s fabulous film recreation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic trilogy, Lord of the Rings. In The Fellowship of the Rings, we first meet the giant eagles. Gandalf the Gray has gone to his mentor, Saruman to coordinate their effort to fight evil. But Saruman has “turned to the dark side” and places Gandalf atop the tower, with no possible escape.



Or so we think. Gandalf summons the eagles and in a dramatic scene, he leaps from atop the tower. His mane of tangled hair flies across his face as he falls, until he is caught by a giant eagle. As the camera angle changes, we see Gandalf facing directly into the fierce storm as he soars effortlessly into freedom on the wings of the eagle.

We see the giant eagles again in The Return of the King. Frodo and Samwise have destroyed the Ring of Power only to find themselves stranded on a rock surrounded by molten lava. Frodo can no longer even imagine the taste of strawberries, so worn out are our two heroes. But as they begin to lose consciousness, Gandalf arrives with three eagles who whisk Frodo and Samwise to safety.

Tolkien wrote the epic to tell a specifically Christian message: at the end of time, God will triumph over evil. In our non-epic lives, we too have battles; some large; some small; some internal and some with the world. We may have no escape from our prison and no place to go if we could, but like Gandalf, we too can take a leap of faith. We can fall safely into the arms of Jesus. If, like Frodo and Samwise, we are surrounded by fires in life, God can lift us out and show us how to soar.

When I read Isaiah, I picture these scenes from Lord of the Rings. When I am weak and weary, with no strength of my own; when I have come to the end of a journey and cannot take one step further; when I can no longer even recall the taste of strawberries, God is still there. He can carry me. He will help me soar, as I trust in His strength and power.

In fact, every single moment of every single day as I focus on God, I can be revived by the fresh air that surrounds me as I soar with Him. The fresh air of God breathing new life into us.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for symbolism in great literature that helps us glimpse your character, your power and your glory. Remind us that when we feel like we are imprisoned in a stale, lifeless jail, you are there, ready to set us free. Help us to soar with you. Renew our strength for whatever you have planned for us to accomplish in your name. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? How does Isaiah speak to you? What image does it call up to you? What symbolism in Lord of the Rings spoke most to you?





Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV)