sheri carlstrom...slices of an ordinary life

Old Testament Journey - 1 Chronicles

With my renewed discipline during Lent, I have traveled back to the Old Testament. I read through 1 Chronicles and am now in the the 26th chapter of 2 Chronicles. Second Chronicles is a book where I am finding myself saying things like "No way" and "You've got to be kidding" and even find there are mornings when I just have to read the next chapter to see what's going to happen. There is much to write about in 2 Chronicles, but I will go back to 1 Chronicles and share a few nuggets first. (Click on the highlighted verse to read it on youversion.com)

1 Chronicles 5:20
Cry out to God during the battle. God delivered because the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh trusted in Him. It's easier at times for me to stop at the crying out to him, but they cried out and trusted him.

1 Chronicles 16:8-36
OK, lots here - some of the nuggets are:

• Give praise
• Tell what He has done
• Call on the LORD
• Sing to Him
• Seek His Face
• Remember wonders, miracles, judgments
• Sing to the LORD
• Proclaim His salvation
• Give thanks to the LORD

2 Chronicles 21:24
I will not sacrifice something to God that costs me nothing. Which makes sense really, but David said it, and I highlighted it, so I'm sharing it.

2 Chronicles 29:9
Leaders give first. If I'm a leader, I need to be giving first. My time, my talent, my treasure.

2 Chronicles 29:17
True. May I stand before the LORD and say this.

Next time I will come back to Chapter 21, this chapter is so full, I need to post on this by itself.

Fasting to Turn to God

I have an idol. I don't like to admit it. I'm embarrassed to say it. I'm ashamed when I recognize it - but drift toward it anyway. I'm horrified when I think about standing before God with this sin in front of me.

With Lent upon us, I have been mindful of a recent message at my church about fasting during Lent. Fasting, traditionally from certain foods or entire meals, is meant for self-denial. The time that would have been spent on the meal is instead spent drawing closer to God.

This year I am engaging in a different self-denial, one that will hopefully lead me to smashing the idol that resides with me, thus drawing me into deeper relationship with God.

My idol is my computer. Although quite honestly, its not really the computer itself, it is the addiction to check e-mail and Facebook that has captured me. So the idol resides less with me and more within me. (Easier to hide that idol, harder to get rid of.)

I enjoy feeling connected. After joining Facebook, I understood the sense of community my friends and co-workers would speak of, and I like it. My e-mail keeps me in the loop with the teacher of a particular child of mine, friends who don't "facebook", and more. None of this is bad, but it is when it comes first and foremost in my day...I grab my coffee and check my computer.

But for the past nine days, I have grabbed my coffee and checked in with God. My "sacrifice" for Lent is that I will not check my the computer until I have checked in with my heavenly Father. I need to step around the computer and go to God first.

This was not easy the first few days, I wanted to cheat a little...except there is no cheating God a little. I either cheat Him, or I don't. To cheat Him is to steal from Him, so that would be a whole other commandment to work through.

I am only nine days into Lent and I will report this: It is good. I look forward to my time with God. My days seem to run more smoothly - and I am sure it is because I have ordered my day in an honoring way. My idol is already less attractive, God is more fulfilling. The connection on-line can make me smile, even make me happy, but the connection with my Father is bringing me joy.

Have you sacrificed something for Lent? If you have, comment below and tell us what you have given up and how it is affecting you. I'll start you off with a link to a friends blog, she sacrificed in an inspiring way - click here to read.

A Holy Moment

This morning, while worshiping in church, there was a holy moment that captured me. Today was summer camp kick-off at our church and the youth worship band was leading worship. I love when this happens, youth who are leaders anywhere in the church excite me.

My fifteen year old son leads kindergarten and first graders every other month in Sunday school; I love that little kids get to see a teen boy leading. It is quite possible his presence will inspire one of these little ones someday. The other thing that excites me is that as our kids become active members, the potential for their faith, community and connection grows. Hopefully this also creates more positive experiences so that as they go off to college or move away, they know the one place to get involved right away is a local church.

But, back to what happened this morning. My two daughters were on vocals and as we worshiped God through the song "How Great is Our God", I opened my eyes at a  moment when both the girls had their hands in the air and eyes closed, singing straight into the heart of God.

It was a holy moment. As a parent I could feel myself step back. This was a place that I pray about. This is the place I can let go. This is the place where I know its all OK.

There are moments and places where I want to walk as closely with my kids as I can, places where sometimes I am afraid, times when I don't think I can let go. But when I saw my girls move into the surrender of worship, I backed up, I teared up, I let go. As a parent, my deepest longing for my children is that they will develop a strong and enduring relationship with God. If they walk within the boundaries, love, mercy and forgiveness of God, I know the letting go (which begins to happen as they grow closer and closer to leaving this nest of ours) will be easier.

When they were very little, they raised their little hands to me and I picked them up with love. Watching them raise their hands to their heavenly Father, well...I am assured He will pick them up with a greater love than even I.

Right there the Whole Time

A few weeks ago, on a staff retreat, we received the gift of fifteen minutes of silence. We were told to go find a place to walk or sit and simply be with God. The trees were still very full of leaves, but were coming down like snow that day due to the wind. I found a bench under a tree that was covered with leaves, I brushed them off and sat down.

I had not been feeling very close to God for some time, and so I started out by reminding myself that God is not a feeling; whether I felt He was close or not had no bearing on where He actually was. As the leaves continued to pour down from the trees, I said to God, "Could I have a leaf, right here in my lap, as a sign that you are near?"

I immediately thought of Gideon who asked God to give him a sign by making his fleece wet while the threshing floor remained dry. When God did that, Gideon then asked the next day that the fleece be dry while the floor was wet. (Judges 6:36-40)

Then I thought about the verse"Do not test the LORD your God..." I was reminded of the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They knew God was faithful whether they burned up in the furnace or not. (Daniel 3:16)

"OK," I said to God,  "it doesn't really matter if I feel you or not, it doesn't matter if you give me a leaf or not, I will trust that you are near." And I went on to pray and worship Him. When it was time to head to lunch, I dropped my hands out of my lap to stand up, and there it was...a leaf...in my lap.

I don't know when or how it got there, my eyes were open the whole time as I sat there on the bench. I watched leaves go to the left and to the right of my legs, I never saw the leaf drop into my lap. I laughed out loud - and thought, This is so like God. I didn't see or feel the leaf (or Him) show up, but I suddenly knew He (and possibly the leaf) had been here the whole time.

The other thing about the leaf was this - it was smallish and brown. I laughed at that too, I pictured a big, beautiful red leaf in my ask...God gave me a small brown one. As I chuckled, here's what I heard in my head, My grace is sufficient for you.

I walked to lunch and I tucked that leaf into my pocket as a reminder of God's faithfulness, presence and grace in my life; whether I feel it or not.

Old Testament Journey - Back to Nehemiah

There is so much in this book that is speaking to me, here are the few nuggets I'm chewing on today:

Chapter 3:
Rebuilding Jerusalem's walls and gates was a huge job. After Nehemiah finished his inspection of the walls, he did not simply get to work. He gathered the people together, affirmed the trouble they were in, and said "Come, let us rebuild the wall..."

My Take-away:
I love that they rebuilt the wall together. If we belong to a church body, the application I see is that when one of our leaders identifies a project, mission, outreach, then we should do what we can to begin the good work. There were many hands that contributed to the rebuilding. In the Archaeological Study Bible at the beginning of the book of Nehemiah it says, "The national identity of God's people were at stake". How true is this even today. Let's do this together, with intention.

Chapter 4:
As the Jews were rebuilding the wall there was constant ridicule, taunting and threats. Verse 9 says "But we prayed to our God..." and verse 14 says, "...Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your people, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."

My take-away:
If you have not endured ridicule, taunting or threats to the walls of your family, there will come a time when you will. When that happens, let us each remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and lets fight for our people, our sons and our daughters, our husbands/wives and our homes. Seriously, this is something to be posted on our mirrors. Sometimes we will have to fight for what we have built.

Chapter 6:
When others were trying to drag Nehemiah and the work at hand off course, he knew he was being set up and he refused to engage, he stayed focused and on track. I love his response in verse 3, "I am carrying on a great project...why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?"

The attempts continue, lies are told by the enemies and yet here is Nehemiah's response, "Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up in your head." (this sounds like something one of my kids would say, but it is from the mouth of a great leader!) He knew they were trying to frighten the Jews thinking to themselves, "Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed." But Nehemiah prayed, "Now strengthen my hands."

My Take Away:
I lose focus all too often. I need to identify the great projects that I am working on, stay on track regardless of distractions, and ask God to strengthen my hands.

Bottom Line

• Let's do the work of God together.
• Fight for your sons, daughters, husbands, wives, and/or your home.
• Stay on track, pray for strengthened hands.

Old Testament Journey - Nehemiah

I love the wisdom and richness of the Old Testament, and I really like the book of Nehemiah. I was most recently struck by Chapter 9 in this book about the community of Jews who returned to their homeland from Babylon. Nehemiah went to Judah almost 100 years after the first exiles returned.

Let me start at Chapter 8. On the first day of the seventh month, all of the Israelites had assembled as one and Ezra read from the Book of the Law from daybreak until noon, (and we sometimes get itchy if the Sunday service goes past one hour) and as they read they gave the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read. (nice, or not...sometimes we like ignorance) Then everyone bowed down and worshiped the LORD.

The people were then instructed to not mourn or weep but to go enjoy food and drink for the "joy of the LORD is your strength", he said this because the people were weeping as the listened to the words of the law. (maybe out of shame, or from an awareness of the grief they must have caused the Lord, or an awareness of the great love and compassion the Lord has for them? I don't know, maybe if I spent that kind of time listening to the Word, I might find out.)

Moving on to Chapter 9...

Twenty-one days later, everyone is back together. They spent a quarter of their day listening to the Book of the Law being read, a quarter spent in confession and worship. (can you imagine? reminder, lets not feel restless if the Sunday service runs late) Their memories are refreshed about all the LORD has done for their people, from creation to deliverance from Egypt to the manna he sent and more...and then it goes on to say...they failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. Then here is the thing that really caught me, They became stiff-necked. They built a golden calf and sinned. (ouch)

But God sustained them. They were given kingdoms and nations and more. (wow)

Again they were disobedient. So they suffered. And then they cried out, and from heaven God heard and in his great compassion delivered them. But as soon as they were at rest, they did it again - forgot, turned away, got in trouble, and so they cried out to God again...who heard them from heaven and delivered them time after time. For many years God was patient with them. By His spirit he admonished them through his prophets, but they didn't pay attention.

Words that are thousands of years old, and yet so relevant to my life today.

I get close to God, He may have even recently delivered me through a terrible time, so I'm worshiping, confessing and listening. Then one morning, its cold and dark outside and I decide sleeping sounds better than getting up and meeting with God. Then its been weeks (and weeks) and I'm still sleeping in. And then its my schedule and the list of things to do that can't seem to wait, so my time with God gets pushed away...again. Then I'm in a place where I need him, so I call out, and He seems to hear me from heaven and in His great compassion, He meets my needs. And I get comfortable....and, well you followed the story line from chapter 9.

The point is:

• Even with the examples of the Israelites written out in black and white, I am still like them.
• I have golden calves, they are just shaped in the images of computers, lists, sleep and more....
• It would be good to spend a day reviewing all the God has done for me.
• I hope I never become too stiff-necked to remember all that God has done for me.
• It would probably do me good to spend more time reading the Word, confessing my sin and worshiping the LORD.
• I am grateful beyond words that God is compassionate and does hear my cries from heaven and rescues me from myself time and time again. (not something I am proud of, but grateful for certainly)

Cute, Little Bites

I love candy, and I'm trying to follow Weight Watchers, so with trick-or-treating coming up, and candy in every store...on every end cap, its a tempting time for me. The candy is mini-size and some even bite-size, so it can't really be too bad, right? This is what I tell myself.

A few years back my sister Jamie was here visiting at this time of year and we had an interesting discussion about my Halloween decorations. I had some pumpkins, a few cute little witches, an adorable little ghost, witch place mats and a few more such items. I don't remember exactly how the conversation began but she asked some questions about how having these items in my home lined up with my faith.

Ummmm....well...I hadn't given it much thought. In fact, I had given it no thought whatsoever. I saw Halloween as separate from my faith. Not connected. It was just a time of year, almost a season really, like autumn, and lots of people decorated with the very same items. Its not like I went to a dark ally to get them, in fact I bought them in the brightly lit isles of my favorite stores. And they were harmless. Adorable even. Seriously the witch was so cute.

But our talk and her questions resounded in my head after she left. What did they really represent? Did it matter? Was it OK for a Christian to display symbols of witches and ghosts in her home?

I looked at my cute little witch sitting on my mantle, the adorable white ceramic ghost, they didn't appear to be scary or wrong. But isn't that just how evil works? Making it look harmless, cute, adorable even. Cute mini and bite-sized images of witches and what not can't hurt, right? This is what I told myself for awhile. But then I wondered, if Jesus walked through my door for dinner in October, would I be ashamed of the symbols he would see?

The answer was obvious to me.

On my best day I have enough to be ashamed of, I don't really need to add to that by displaying symbols on my mantle of that which he opposes. I still decorate this time of year, but now it with symbols of harvest and thanksgiving. I guess I always knew what my Halloween decorations represented, I just never thought about it. I'm glad someone asked the question that led to the clearing of the idols that never really belonged.

2 Kings 23:24    John 17:15-17    Galatians 5:19-21    Dueteronomy 18:10

Share with Others

And do not forget to do good and to share with others,
for with such sacrifices God is pleased. 
Hebrews 13:16

This verse is inspiring to me. It doesn't say what we should share, just that we should share.

This week my youngest daughter Erin had ten inches cut off of her hair so she could share her hair with others through Locks of Love. For some reason she is very aware that there are kids who have no hair due to cancer treatments. So when she was very little she decided she would share her hair. She grew it for a few years and at the end of 3rd grade, she had twelve inches cut off. The very next day she announced she would grow it again, and share it once more.

It wasn't always convenient. Those last few inches were hard, when her sister and some friends were getting cute new haircuts this summer, she did not. She was getting tired of the effort it took to keep it maintained. But she stayed true to her desire to share. I believe God, as well as the child who receives her hair, is and will be pleased with her sacrifice. 

Erin inspires me to be creative in how and what I share. Sometimes I share our dinner with the widower across the street, last weekend we shared our home with some children from Uganda. I really don't think it matters what we share, we just need to remember to share. How about you, how or what will you share this week? If you have shared in a creative way...inspire with us what you did!

Hope and a Future

My heart has been stirred by some children I have yet to meet, yet the weight of their suffering is within me. We will welcome some of them into our home in just few days, for just a few days; they are children from the Hope for Africa Children's Choir. I work on communications for my church and as I prepared media for this upcoming concert, I was both heartbroken and hopeful.

Uganda has seen civil war for over 20 years and as a result there are all these children who have no parents. Some of these children have lived their whole lives in camps for those driven or fleeing from their homes. Some of these children's parents have been brutally murdered; some have witnessed this. Many have lost parents to disease. All of them depend on someone other than a parent to provide for them.

As a foster parent, I am aware of the many children in our own country that need a place to live to be safe. I am sometimes left breathless by the abuse and neglect some parents inflict. I can guarantee you this, you will never be left to provide for my children because I have abused or neglected them. But...what if I lived in a country where war was the norm, where disease was rampant, where my husband was killed, and I was about to die of AIDS. Then...well...I guess I could not issue that guarantee. What then? 

Well, I believe the children need to be absorbed into us. We have to go to them. We have to step up. If I am the mother in the above situation, I want to know that I can trust someone will wrap their arms around my child, take her in, provide for him, give them a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) When it appears all has failed, and it is dark, I have to believe there is a plan. I suspect we are that plan.

Join me Sunday at 4:00 at Sonrise Church to experience
the Hope for Africa's Children's Choir.

If nothing else, come and praise God for all He has done and is doing for the twenty-two children, ages seven to eleven, who will grace our stage this Sunday.