God’s Glorious Grace

The agent who checked us in at the Lufthansa counter in Atlanta waived *many* overweight baggage fees (at $50 a pop), even though the adjacent agent was being very strict and charging the fee. As much as we tried to pack each bag to the exact limit, bathroom scales aren’t precision weighing instruments. Thank you, Jesus, for giving us favor!

A nice German stranger handed us 2 blankets and a pillow at the exact moment we decided to set up “camp” for our 11 hour layover in Frankfurt airport. Thanks to those plus the 2 Pooh bears our twins brought, we all caught some great naps on the floor!

Paul’s Russian reading skills ramped up when he inadvertently bought six 1-liter bottles of Kafir instead of milk (Kafir falls somewhere between buttermilk and runny yogurt). I’ve discovered it’s a great ingredient for muffins, popovers, and tuna pot pie.

The two Russian repairmen who came to our apartment to fix some leaking radiators apparently didn’t require any privacy when changing their clothes in the middle of our living room – a bit of a surprise for the Sculley females! A walk around the neighborhood at night also reveals that closing curtains is optional, too . . .

Paul figured out how to adjust the heat in our apartment, thanks to new radiator technology, so now we can sleep with the windows closed. Too much snow was blowing in, anyway!
What would be considered very minor medical issues in the U.S. translate here to phone calls to other believers for urgent prayer. We received one such call this week from some friends. Imagine having even a minor complication with no readily accessible drug store or trustworthy clinic. Living here is giving us a greater appreciation that our dependence is totally on God, because as wonderful as great medical care is, it can lure us into thinking of that as our first line of defense and only really praying about the “biggies”.

My morning quiet times have been so lovely – in our bright, cheerful little kitchen on the 3rd floor, I sit at the table facing the window. I see the city lights, then as dawn breaks through, I see many of our neighbors come out to de-ice / snow their cars or make their way to the bus stop for work or school. The sun casts a beautiful glow on the side of the adjacent building, and beyond that is the beautiful Volga River, a sash of ice at this time of year. It’s a lovely way to start the day, and I’m enjoying the arsenal of devotionals we brought (those and itunes worship music are essentials!). There really is something to “praying in high places” . . . it helps me to have much more of a heavenly perspective in praying God’s Kingdom down on a neighborhood, a city, a nation!

Write it Down

A couple of weeks ago, I had an epiphany (in the middle of a mundane task, which seems to be how most epiphanies occur). I suddenly realized that I am more like biblical Paul than David. Let me explain . . . when I was about 10 years old, I began a journal, and continued this daily discipline for over 20 years. And then following a very intense period of brokenness and healing, it changed. I transitioned to journaling only when something fairly significant occurred, and didn’t journal day-to-day things anymore. Initially I thought maybe I’d just burned out, but eventually realized there was more to it than that. There was a sense of incompleteness, but journaling more wasn’t the answer. This is where the epiphany comes in. David journaled. The book of Psalms is largely David’s private journal, as he recorded his innermost thoughts, struggles and victories, joys and sorrows, conversations with God. My understanding of God, life, and myself has been greatly enriched by his writings! His journal is a prayer book, a source of hope, a lyric sheet, and much more! Maybe Paul journaled, too, but what we know of Paul is that he was a letter-writer. He wrote to others what was on his heart, often in order to encourage them or spur them on.

Aha!
I’ve been a letter-writer all my life! As a teenager, I corresponded with 72 penpals, 20 of whom I wrote to every week. I still love to correspond with people, especially to bring encouragement. OK, so what I’m learning is this. Firstly, it’s very important to write it down. Johnny talked about that on Sunday – Moses wrote down everything the Lord had said (Exodus 24:3). We all forget stuff – some of us forget details more readily, others forget emotions, a few forget most everything. The most important thing is to record what God speaks to us. There are lots of things we could write down that would be interesting to remember, but not likely to significantly affect the course of our lives if we don’t refer back to them. But when God speaks to us, it’s crucial to write it down, think about it, remember it, do it, and read it again when we doubt or get discouraged. Incidentally, I did not think I heard much from God for many years. In retrospect, He did speak to me quite a lot, but I didn’t perceive it, largely because I wanted to define how He should speak to me. I had to learn to be still, wait, rest, listen, be open. I needed to learn to pay attention (“For God does speak – now one way, now another” Job 33:14). I’m still learning. Secondly, and here’s where I needed an epiphany – how we write it down can vary. Some of us tend to be more like David, some are more like Paul, both in the way we process things, and in the way we share with others. Both disciplines are needed for our own growth AND for the strengthening of the body of Christ. We can do both, whether we consider ourselves more of a David or a Paul . . . journaling (setting aside time to write down and think about what the Lord speaks to us), and writing letters (sharing some nuggets with others). Both habits not only help us to grow in faith and confidence, but God will bring encouragement, comfort, and hope to others as we share our treasures and our stories.

Crossing the Line

About a year ago, the Lord began to speak to us about living in Russia for a season. This had been on our hearts for years, and in our minds it was something Paul and I would do at a more convenient time like when the kids were all grown. But God spoke to us and He kept on speaking and made it clear that He had a different timeline in mind. We got to a point where we realized that there was a line drawn on the ground, so to speak. We stood there, with our toes right up next to the line, and our Heavenly Father gave us a choice. He said in essence, “I’m not going to force you to do this, but my very best plan for you requires you to cross that line. Don’t be afraid. Trust me. I love you. I’m always with you. I want you to lay everything down before me. Are you willing? (And by the way, there’s no turning back.)” It was a terrifying decision, a momentous decision, one that evoked feelings of diving headfirst off a very tall tower through a thick cloud into a tiny and not-yet-visible tub of water. The Lord showed me how much idolatry and selfishness I had in my heart – in my flesh, I didn’t want to give up seeing my friends face-to-face . . . I didn’t want to give up fruitful, life-giving ministries . . . I didn’t want to give up a comfortable living environment . . . I didn’t want to give up being known . . . I didn’t want to give up having more than one bathroom in our home . . . I didn’t feel like bending. But God is love, and He poured so much encouragement, so much grace, so much comfort, and so much courage and faith into our hearts to enable us to repent and to surrender all. He put a desire in us that we couldn’t possibly have manufactured on our own – He gave us the desire to give it all up. Now, it’s one thing to give up things that aren’t that great like clothes that don’t fit you anymore anyway, but another thing entirely to give up your most priceless treasures. We were living in a season of tremendous fruitfulness in every area of our lives. It is especially difficult giving up something that you’ve birthed, labored over, and loved from the depths of your heart, whether relationships, ministries, or math clubs. But God’s grace is sufficient! He has drenched us with His grace and given us such joy in the process! He’s continued to speak and confirm His word, through Scripture, through His still small voice, through dreams & visions, through others, through circumstances. The heart, the core of our vision, the reason we’re going is to pray, and to simply “be” among the people as carriers of God’s presence (“Christ in you, the hope of glory”, Colossians 1:27). We want to passionately embrace all that God has for us, and expect Him to connect us with whomever He chooses. We certainly don’t presume to know what’s in store for us, but we are confident that our Lord does – we trust Him. True to His Word, He’s kept us in His peace and rest as we’ve kept our focus on Him. Going to Russia is gonna be hard, maybe harder than anything we’ve ever experienced, but we know it’s gonna be GOOD because God’s plans are ALWAYS good. So . . . we’ve laid everything down at the feet of Jesus. We took the leap of faith, just one step, actually, and we were across the line. He’s shown us one step at a time, given us grace for that one step, and that is enough. Our job is simply to trust Him completely – to put our hand in His and confidently expect Him to give us grace for the next step and then the next . . . this is a FAITH journey we’re all on. I want to encourage you . . . has God drawn a line on the ground before you? Of course, giving our lives to Christ is crossing the ultimate line. But periodically, the Lord draws other lines and calls us ever forward out of our comfort zones, to transform us to be more Christlike. Count the cost, receive courage and grace from Him, seek Godly counsel and prayer from your leaders and loved ones, throw yourself with wholehearted abandon into the arms of your loving heavenly Father, be confidently expectant in the Lord . . . and cross that line . . .