Fashion, Human Rights and Prayer

Several weeks ago, I saw my friend Maura wearing a scarf over her hair. It looked like a fun and easy style for summer. When I saw this article in InStyle, I was determined to try it myself.

Several of us wore scarves wrapped around our heads to Bible study last week:



My friend Claudia directed me to this website, where I found directions on how to tie the scarf. I like the Dutch crown look best; it's easy to do and gives me different looks depending on the thickness of the scarf.

Today I got an invitation on Facebook to participate in a day of Fasting and Prayer for women in Saudi Arabia. The invitation says:

On June 17th Saudi Women are planning on protesting the religious ban on Women driving. These are our sisters fighting for their human rights. They need our prayers for their safety as Saudi men have been told that they are allowed to beat any woman that they see driving on that day For more info visit:
http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/article441832.ece
I encourage you to fast at least one meal and pray for our Saudi Sisters. If you want to join me I will also be covering my head to show my support.

I've never fasted. I'm praying about that. But I am going to use my fun headwraps to remind me to pray for the women of Saudi Arabia. I would really prefer not to drive, but I can't imagine being banned from driving simply because I am a woman. This is only one detail in the many ways Saudi women are not treated fairly, but it caught my attention because it is something I do so often and without any thought of what a privilege it is. I am praying for their safety, for their political leaders, and that someone would share the good news of the gospel with them. Will you join me?

Perhaps you'd like to try the current fashion of headwraps--not just for fun, but as a reminder to pray. Or maybe when you enter your hot car this summer you will pray during those rough moments while you wait for the airconditioning to take effect.

Back to frivolous fashion for a moment: I have several "Parisian neck tissues" from a seller named Textile Monster on etsy. They are the perfect length for me. If you have a favorite seller of headwraps, please tell me in the comments.

Biscuits...

I won't be blogging very frequently for the next two months. I'm working on my next book: Only for my King: a Song of Service and Surrender. This book will include, in addition to scriptures, examples of historic and contemporary people who served (or are serving) God.

One of them is Amy Carmichael. I'm saving most of my thoughts on Amy for the book, but this quote was so funny and so thought-provoking that I had to share it with you now. In this letter, Amy is writing about the new missionaries she's been meeting and what she thinks of the institutions that are training thse missionaries:

I don't pray for milk biscuits [“biscuit” is a British term for “cookie”]...all cut to a pattern and stamped with a single decorous pretty stamp. So many places, to judge by the results, seem to be great biscuit manufacturers and they turn out tidy boxes of biscuits. I pray for soldiers, not biscuits! (p. 303 A Chance to Die, a biography of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliott)

I picture the Little Scholar chocolate biscuit cookies when I read this. Look for them at Albertsons or Cost Plus World Market. They are delicious. They are beautiful. But every single one of them is identical. Amy Carmichael thought that serving God required a bit of uniqueness, and a willingness to be a risk-taking soldier.

I'll let you come up with your own soul-searching application question to this.

thoughts about the Princess

Tomorrow Kate Middleton will marry Prince William and become a princess. I am going to honor the occasion by wearing a fascinator (a little bit like this one, but assembled at home at a much lower price) and drinking tea. Yesterday I showed my daughters pictures of Kate and they were fascinated. I discovered a royal hat blog and I look forward to the updates tomorrow! On a shopping trip, we were tempted by "princess" cupcakes. A sample convinced us to purchase them to enjoy with our afternoon tea.

Princesses are popular at our house. I tried to explain the details of the royal wedding but my youngest daughter got a little confused and in her bedtime prayer she thanked God that "that guy is going to marry the princess."

Kate Middleton's story is not exactly a fairytale. She and her groom have not waited til their wedding day to live together. The royal family has had its share of disfunction lately (actually if you know your history, royal families have never been known for healthy family relationships). But tomorrow, Kate will wear a gorgeous dress and she will walk down a long aisle in a historic cathedral, and I will "ooh" and "ahhh" because she is becoming a princess. She has no royal heritage herself, but she is joining a royal family because the Prince loves her.

Who loves you?

The Lord your God is among you,
a warrior who saves.
He will rejoice over you with gladness.
He will bring quietness with His love.
He will delight in you with shouts of joy." (Zephaniah 3:17)

The Lord your God--the High King of heaven--loves and delights in you.
And that's more precious than a diamond tiara.

Thought Provoking Thursday is hosted here.

I should give credit to the website from which I borrowed the photo.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Peel 6 sweet potatoes and cut them into french fry size wedges.

Preheat a cookie sheet in a 450 oven.

Combine juice of half a lemon,
2 tbs olive oil,
1/4 cup fresh marjoram or oregano,
salt and
pepper
in a ziploc bag.

Add sweet potatoes to the bag and shake.

Place on preheated cookie sheet and bake in a 450 oven 20 minutes.

These were lovely in our Easter dinner (which included herbed ham and also asparagus in a citrus balsamic sauce), but they'd be just as nice for an everyday lunch.

Focus

An unpleasant surprise when we figured out our taxes brought us to a new season of trusting God. I found encouragement in these verses. They all tell me where my focus should be.

Keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith... (Hebrew 12:2)

We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing [to Him], bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:9-10)

But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord...(Philippians 3:7-8)

The instruction of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy,
making the inexperienced wise. (Psalm 19:7)

I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set Your ordinances [before me].(Psalm 119:30)

I pursue the way of Your commands,
for You broaden my understanding.
Teach me, Lord, the meaning of Your statutes,
and I will always keep them.
Help me understand Your instruction,
and I will obey it and follow it with all my heart. (Psalm 119:32-34)

This is my post for Thought Provoking Thursday, hosted here.

My Testimony: a Spiritual Scrapbook

Kristi Stephens at krististephens.com asked her readers to share their testimonies today. My testimony is already here, but it's spread out into five posts. I realized that if you click on "Spiritual Scrapbook" in the links here, you'll find it in reverse order.

So here are the posts, in order. They are adapted from a talk I shared at a Women's Retreat last month.

Part 1: Why make a Spiritual Scrapbook...and what is a Spiritual Scrapbook anyway?

Part 2: Beginnings and Guidance

Part 3: Darkness and Change

Part 4: Change and Contentment

Part 5: A Biblical woman who shared her story

All and Everything

Just two thought-provoking words:"all" and "everything." Look for them in the verses below.

Casting all your care upon Him, because He cares about you. (I Peter 5:7)

I don't say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret [of being content]—whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. (Philippians 4:11-12)

I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5)

For His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3)

And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

Thought Provoking Thursday is hosted here.

Breakfast on the Beach

After Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to His disciples several times. My favorite is His appearance on the beach to cook breakfast for His friends. (John 21:1-14) The disciples went fishing and Jesus met them on the shore, with bread and fish cooked over a fire.

The resurrected Son of God spent a morning enjoying His creation with His disciples; He could have brought them anything for that breakfast, but He used the fish that were available right there in the lake. He spent the morning fellowshipping with them in their everyday environment. And He wants to do that with us. That's what prayer is all about...fellowshipping with Him!

I read that story in John several years ago when we were about to make a long car trip to the Northwest for my father's memorial service. I thought about the disciples and Jesus and their special time of simple food and good fellowship, and I asked the Lord that I would find that kind of simple joy on our trip and that I would be aware of His presence.

He answered. The trip was full of joy! There were so many friends to visit, so many memories to remember and the Northwest Spring was beautiful.

As you read the Gospels, as you watch Jesus interact with His disciples, talk to the Lord about the fellowship you crave....fellowship with other Christ followers and fellowship with the Lord Himself.

Gratitude

I am grateful for Jesus' humble birth. Thinking of the Holy God coming to earth in this way fills me with praise.

I am extremely grateful for Jesus' death--and the salvation He gave me.

And I am grateful for His life.

None of His earthly life was lived in splendor. His neighbors still knew him as “the carpenter's son” when He began His ministry at age thirty. He traveled around Israel, teaching and healing, and He certainly didn't have luxury accommodations.

As I read the gospel accounts of Jesus' life, I see His power and His gentleness. I see Him holding children, comforting grieving families, and reaching out to sinners. Yet when confronted with hypocrisy and pride, He didn't mince words. Far from weak, when He saw God's temple filled with people who were only there to make money, He sternly drove them out!

How wonderful to serve a Savior who lived His earthly life with kindness, perfectly balanced with power. I am grateful for that.

The last week of Jesus' ministry began in triumph, though Jesus still appeared lowly and unassuming as He approached Jerusalem:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9 NKJV)

But soon the crowds turned against Him and He faced an unjust trial. Still, the Son of God kept His power under control and responded in a meek manner:

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth. (Isaiah 53:7)

On the way to the cross, the Son of God was so weak that He stumbled and fell, and the soldiers forced someone from the crowd to carry His cross. Think about that for a moment: the Son of God—a captive.

Of course, you know the rest of the story. You know that Jesus was crucified and buried but then He rose from the dead. And suddenly His power was obvious to His believers. Yet He did not appear to them in a spectacular glory, but with gentleness and approachability.

Praise Him!

Praying for Godliness

I've been in the desert eight years now, and I've come to love our weather. But there's one thing I miss in the spring time: flowering bulbs...daffodils, crocus, and tulips. I've read that if you want to make bulbs grow and bloom in a warm climate, you must dig them up and store them in your refrigerator for a certain length of time. The cold is necessary for the blooms.

In our spiritual lives, growth in godliness often happens during a trial—we might call it a chilly season or a storm.

In the book of James we're told that the trying of our faith produces patience. I've heard Christians say that we should never pray for patience because God will answer us by sending trials. I can understand a bit of the logic behind this idea, but I am not sure that it takes into account the wisdom and love of God. He wants what is best for us and what will bring glory to Him. I cannot believe that He has a stockpile of troubles He's just waiting to pour on us if we pray the wrong prayer.

We know that He wants us to pray for godliness (Paul prayed that his converts would grow spiritually) and I believe that we can trust Him to follow His good plan for us. Trials will be a part of that because we live in a fallen world, but God in His grace and wisdom speaks to us through the tough times, using the chill of troubles to produce beautiful blooms of godliness.

If God has prompted you to pray for a certain character quality, a specific fruit of the Spirit, or godliness in general, rest assured that He is working within you, and He has already arranged or allowed the circumstances and now He's preparing you. He will be with you every step of the way, whispering His words of love in your ear. You can pray confidently!

I pray this: that your love will keep on growing
in knowledge and every kind of discernment,
so that you can determine what really matters
and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ,
to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-10)

We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit. (Col. 1:10-11)

We always pray for you that our God will consider you worthy of His calling, and will, by His power, fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12)