One of my favorite things about Tapawingo are the songs we sing.  One song that stayed with me from this past summer was, "The Tree Song." 

  

I want to be like a tree planted by the streams of living water.  Oh, I want to be like a tree planted by the streams of living water...I want to be unmovable, unshakeable, let my roots go down deep, unmovable unshakeable in You...

  

We sang it with such joy!

  

It stems from Psalm 1:2-3 which says, "But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers."

  

On the flip side it reminds me of Jeremiah 2:13 which says, "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."

A tree - longing, thirsting to be near the only source of true life - versus a person who has forsaken the source of true life AND THEN begun digging and working and thirsting after such foolish things.   

  

It strikes me that when God could have accused the people of many, many things, He says only two...They turned away from Him and tried to satisfy themselves with other things...

  

Now that we are all back into the swing of the fall and school, it's a great time to ask ourselves a few questions...

  

1) Am I still thirsty for Jesus?  Do I still want to be like a tree planted by the streams of living water?

  

2) If not, where in my life am I thirsting for other things?   

  

Miss Charis once told me a story about horses.  She asked me if I knew how to tell who the lead horse was in a pack?  I was thinking it was probably the strongest, or fiercest.  Maybe it was the biggest.  But she told me that it was actually the horse that remained calm and grounded in the midst of chaos.

  

When all around you in school is difficult, will you be a leader?  When your friends are making choices, will you stand out this year as a woman who is unmovable, unshakeable, like a tree planted by the streams of living water?  Will you remain connected to the only true source of life? 

  

Now is a great time to remember the sisters you have who, like you, may be struggling, but want to STAND for righteousness this year.  Who want to thirst, more and more for the living water (Jesus) and who want to be the lead horses right in the middle of their friends. 

  

We won't regret it when we meet again next summer and tell each other stories of how we stood firm for Christ and became more deeply rooted.

  

Oh, and it's okay if you want to go outside and sing that song at the top of your lungs.

  

Much love,

  

Miss Joy

  

Joy Huseland

Tapawingo Director

518-774-6713

"Fragrance" and "Petunia"

I love my family...a lot.  We're in a really fun season of becoming adults and enjoying each others' company.  We've revisited countless childhood stories in the last few years and it's usually quite hilarious.  I really love it when David, in particular, tells stories.  Once he starts belly laughing, it's all over from there.  Sometimes I just wonder where in the world we had time to come up with this stuff...Recently we had a good laugh over, "Fragrance" and "Petunia."  Let me explain...

One of my brothers is especially passionate.  He lives life to the fullest and growing up it wasn't too difficult to get under his skin.  Let's just say that between 6 siblings, tensions could escalate very quickly.  Two brothers in particular rather enjoyed pushing his buttons to the brink.  They saw it as their self-righteous, brotherly duty, to "call him out," with pet names like "Fragrance," or "Petunia," when his moods were particularly sour.  Without knowing it, in essence they were saying, "Your attitude stinks.  Why don't you freshen it up a little bit?"  That really stirred the pot.

Recently I heard a sermon by Dr. Bill Lawrence on 2 Corinthians chapter 2.  He emphasized that for Christians God, "Always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing."  As he said, "People are sniffing us out...'She smells like...Jesus.'"

When I was a little girl and my grandpa died, I remember, helping my grandma go into his dresser and closet.  I was comforted by the lingering cologne on his clothes.  We too are an aroma that brings comfort as we remind people of Jesus and in the process please God.

I'm pleased to say that, "Fragrance," and "Petunia," is a brother that does smell of Jesus...

"Train Up a Child"

"Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6  

  

  There is no such thing as "laissez-faire" parenting in the Christian world.  More often than not, a child will follow the faith of his parents (although there are no guarantees).  And more often than not, he will only go as far as they have gone in their faith.  If that faith is based on God plus ____, it should come as no surprise when the next generation displays that same watered down faith.  Last week, my pastor spoke to us and referenced a book called, "Soul Searching."  I am firmly convinced that parents must be prayerfully intentional in "training up their child."  I really don't think that has anything to do with parents dictating career paths etc. or "I want him to be an athlete," when clearly his gifts are in music.  It has so much more to do with the intentionality in his spiritual upbringing.  While there are several different training grounds to consider (the household, the church, the athletic field etc.), I believe one of the most important places for a child to be is in the church.

  Twenty years ago this past Friday, I experienced the first taste of death that "didn't make sense."  Of course I had lost my great-grandpa at the age of six and cried.  I still remember that.  But on this day, at the tender age of eight I can vividly remember my mom picking up the phone and crying.  I remember her explaining to me in the best way a mom trying to understand things for herself can explain to her eight year old daughter, that a twelve year old boy from our church had died.  This was the first boy that I sincerely thought I would marry.  He was handsome.  He had a southern accent.  And he was twelve.  Just a few days earlier he had bounced through the church hallways with all the other boys and now he was gone.  In an instant.  He had collapsed at the base of the school bus.

  I cried.  That's all I know.  But this was the first time I can really remember my faith taking form.  I was not allowed to go in to the funeral - my parents left us kids in the car with our pastor's wife while they went inside.  There was probably some wisdom in that.  But they did let me sit through the church service.  And I can remember the quivering voice of both his parents as they stood up to speak - his mom literally radiating the joy of Jesus amidst tears - his dad wrestling through questions...one of them, "God, I just need to know, did he suffer at all?"  And explaining to us that God reassured him that he didn't.  I remember it vividly - their lives were saying, "It is well with my soul."  Their faith declaring, "We will still walk with God."  They read an article he had written just a short time earlier - "My Creed."  I don't remember exactly what it said, but essentially this boy had spelled out the gospel and declared he believed it was true.  Those thirty to forty-five minutes had a profound impact on my life.  I sensed I was in the presence of something raw but genuine.  I knew that somehow the words we sang back then - "Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place, I can feel His mighty power and His grace, I can feel the brush of angels wings, I see glory on each face. Surely, the Presence of the Lord is in this place" - they were true.  I knew God for myself - but through them, at the age of eight, I knew He was faithful and true.  I experienced an entire church coming together to mourn and in the process came away seeing what godly grief looks like.  Those parents were strong - only in Jesus...but sitting in the chairs at Valley View Chapel, I learned in my heart at a very young age just how big their God, and mine, really was.

  It happened again, four years later when my Grandpa passed away.  Healing began just a few days later when our entire family was in church and his favorite hymn was playing...we all stood in the back and wept silently.

  And while these are instances of deep faith-building, I believe it can happen every Sunday as children (mind you I don't know exactly what age), learn how to sit through a sermon and parents discuss it with them on the ride home.  I believe we sell kids far short.  We think they're not intellectually able to be attentive in church.  We think they should be off having fun with their friends in Sunday School, while we're in big church.  We think they're not attentive enough, but I have SEEN kids listen with longing eyes for more Truth - for more that is counter to what the world is telling them.  We need to teach them to eat meat...and to speak kingdom language from the Word of God.  They will rise and engage to the extent we call them to.

  Now, just a disclaimer - I do not claim my particular stance to be absolute truth.  Training needs to be well-thought out.  Well-planned.  Well executed.  And there may be times when it is not appropriate for children to be part of certain things in a church.  I merely want to point out that it is my personal conviction that churches not become silos...that children learn how to sit under the teaching of their elders, to love the elderly, to care for those younger than themselves.  To sit under the teaching of God's Word with their parents and learn to engage it.  To sit through a prayer meeting - and maybe even to pray out loud for the needs they hear.

  We train for a purpose...to enter into the game...so let's be intentional trainers!

How I Got to Where I Am Today

I was thinking today what a great designer God is...
Looking back on my life, it's hard to imagine, but there was a day when my parents were on CAMP-of-the-WOODS staff together without having any notion that one day they'd be married and have 6 kids. Okay, well maybe they liked the notion of each other and then their love grew. I was thinking...they walked these same grounds I'm walking today without ever having known when they looked out across the lake at a tiny island that one day they'd be married (to someone they didn't even know yet) and have a daughter who would grow to love that place and love the Lord and His people there. But it even goes back to both sets of grandparents I guess. It just reminds me of Psalm 139...before I was even a twinkle in their eyes, I was a purpose for His glory...and so it is with all of us.

I look back as well at myself and how many times I have doubted God's promises...that He really is able to do far more than we could ever ask or think (Ephesians 3:20)...oh how what I've really wanted all along was to be used by Him and for Him...and then when it comes into my lap, like Moses, I tell Him I'm not good enough (and really I'm not, but my focus is still in the wrong place). But a key ingredient that is so often missing is "bowing my knees before the Father (3:14)." And what Paul's been talking about all along in the previous 3 chapters is the gospel...so bowing my knee to what Jesus has already done...in saving countless others...in redeeming and reviving me...and then humbly asking Him who is able to do far more...to do it...and to allow me to play a part in it.

I look back at how God had to bend my knees for me. And I wish I had been more willing at times. But I'm thankful for those times and what He revealed to me...because they've made my heart more able to hold compassion. How He had to show me that I had some bad misconceptions that Christians who were truly following Him would never suffer...or rather that in suffering, they wouldn't feel it so hard, or respond like other humans would...That they'd be superhuman. But it was through those times that I learned how much God loved me, and slowly but surely that I really loved Him...and that suffering often later produced the greatest joy in realizing just how far His grace had stooped...and really what it means that only in death is there life.

It's not just that God is in the cosmos...His Son came to earth to redeem the micro. And what a great story that is! He's just as involved in the pixels of the canvas as the entire landscape!

I love sunsets...mostly the vibrant ones...but even the gray, snowy, only faint light sunsets have a story to tell of darkness and light.

"I'm not what I should be, and I'm not what I will be, but thank you Lord, I'm not what I was (ibid)."

After God's Heart...

I'm learning about David...and I guess just hoping that, in the spirit of David, I will begin to grasp the immensity of what it really means to be a person after God's heart...In 2 Samuel God defines that: "He will do everything I want him to do." I only hope our lives are devoted to that. Is it any wonder the heart is the control center of our lives? And the spiritual heart affects our thoughts, feelings, will, and character...oh that we might think what He thinks, feel what He feels, want what He wants, DO what He would have us, see others with His eyes.

Paul's Last Will and Testament: 2 Timothy

This past Sunday in church, I was brought back to my college days of study in 2 Timothy, Paul's last recorded letter. I am struck again by the dual simplicity yet complexity of the passage. Here is essentially what Pastor Mark Coleman said:

-2 Timothy is Paul’s last recorded letter. It is essentially a “last will and testament,” as his death is imminent.
-Paul is done with his work. There is to be no more preaching to large crowds, etc. yet he still wants to make sure he does three things while awaiting his death...
1. The first and most important is this: "Preach the gospel!" He is sure to remind Timothy that the gospel must be preached. We are one generation away from the gospel dying out. It is OUR responsibility to pass it on. It would be completely irresponsible for us not to say what it is we live for; not to pass it on to those around us: our children, grandchildren, friends, anyone who will hear. "Before we get into the hammock, we need to make sure we've passed on the gospel! It is always too early to quit...retirement is not our right!"
2. Paul wants to make sure Timothy knows what he is doing. He is passing on the baton - a critical moment in the race. In fact, the most critical. First of all, he realizes life will go on after him (it's not about him anyway) and he must leave Timothy prepared. Someone I know once said that to me..."Joy, make sure you're preparing others around you so if you go, things can go on like they always did." Second, he is able to not only prepare, but to encourage someone else as he himself could selfishly wish he were being encouraged while on the throes awaiting execution...
3. Encourage Timothy. In the face of death, he is encouraging the person after him! This is so profound on a bunch of levels...I was thinking about this today...That really is the job of a leader. Even in the midst of his own personal trials, he saw the bigger picture and wanted to remind Timothy of that...and what is the bigger picture? Back to the gospel!

Oh the things to learn...whenever I feel tired, or timid, it comes back to the gospel..."I know WHOM I have believed (not what as Nate Winters would say)...And I hope many others learn to know and love Him because of the gospel!

Amazing Grace...

I really love the movie, "Amazing Grace." It got even better the second time around for me. That's been my prayer lately - that I would be overwhelmed by the grace and mercy of God and in turn, that I might be a person of grace and mercy.
One day about six months ago, I was having a very "self-centered" morning and realized it. I decided I wanted to hear Chris Tomlin's, "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)." So I went onto iTunes and tried to buy it, but for some reason, the computer wouldn't let me. After spending a frustrated half-hour I turned the computer off and probably thought something like, "All I wanted was to hear, 'Amazing Grace,' to get out of this rut, and look where that got me!" But I decided to go downstairs and turn on the radio, and remember thinking, "What if maybe, just maybe, God would let that song be on right now. Sure enough it was..." I definitely think God has a sense of humor. And He definitely wants us to rely fully, on Him. Why do I ever doubt His love? And why, despite my attitude, does He do little things like that?