Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Breath Praying through the Journey of Grief #6

One of our authors, Lois Hoogeveen, lost her husband in early March to a battle with cancer, which began just 3 months earlier. Jim and Lois had pastored 5 churches, 2 they planted. At the time they were hit with this disease they were transitioning into specialized transitional ministry for the next season of their full time ministry. They were and are good friends of Ascending Leaders. Through the journey with cancer, Jim and Lois wrote and shared their "breath prayers," each day. "Breath Praying" is something they had first learned seven years ago from the Ascending Leaders Christ Habits book Prayer: Listening to God's Voice.

Since Jim's passing, Lois has been continuing to write excellent reflections on this journey along with breath prayers. She has consented to allow us to share some with you. Lois is also the core author of one of our newest workbooks:  Your Pathways: Strong Connection with God.


Breath Prayer: GUIDE
Lois Hoogeveen
July 29, 2012

I can’t do this. That’s how I felt a number of years ago when we hiked to the top of Harney Peak, the highest summit in the United States east of the Rocky Mountain. As we made our ascent up the trail I would look ahead, hoping that when we got to the top of the next hill we would be at the peak. Time after time I saw a stretch of the path leveling off or even going downhill, only to turn into a steeper gradient. I stopped frequently to catch my breath, mop the perspiration off my forehead and drink more water. My husband waited patiently with me, encouraged me and cheered me onward.  You can do it, he told me as we inched our way upward. Many times I wanted to quit. But I didn’t. I kept going. Alone I would have lost my way. Surrounded by people I trusted, I just needed to follow in their footsteps. I was so relieved when I finally looked up and saw the peak, where our friends, who made it to the top ahead of me, were cheering me upward. Imagine the ecstasy I felt when I joined the others for a group picture at the summit.

It is a good thing I did not know what was still ahead. We took a different trail back to the base. Unknown to any of us, this trail was more challenging than the one we had taken to the top. Sections of the path were narrow and rocky. We had to be careful so we did not lose our footing and slide down the rocks. As I made the steep descent, my toes pushed against the ends of my shoes, causing excruciating pain. Many times I wondered why I thought I could do this. I sat on a log to rest. That’s when I saw it -- the Cathedral Spires of the Black Hills standing in their glory against the brilliant blue sky. I beheld God’s creation in a perspective I would not have seen from any other spot. Things did get easier, and I felt an incredible sense of accomplishment when I was finally back at the base. I did it! I climbed Harney Peak!

Life has many I did it moments that we can and should look back on with joy and feelings of fulfillment. Many of them begin as I can’t do this experiences. The situations that are the greatest challenges often turn into the greatest memories. One often has another person to thank for turning an I can’t do this experience into an I did it experience. What I did it moments do you remember and celebrate? Who were the people who helped you make what you thought impossible possible?

Our journey on earth could be compared to hiking a mountain trail. We do not all take the same path. It takes some people longer than others to reach the summit.  Far from level and straight, our life trail often includes life’s trials. The pathway of life has twists and turns, ascents and descents. There is beauty all around us as we travel through life. We need to intentionally look for these blessings.

The trail I started on years ago when I met my husband is now “closed” and I have been rerouted to an alternate road. The last months have been rugged as I walked along the path of firsts and lasts, of embracing new and releasing old. I’ve said I can’t do this. Then I hear words that give me strength, hope and courage to keep going.  I have maneuvered twists and turns. It seems like there is always another hill to climb, another curve to traverse. Downhill stretches are also challenging. Days when I am no longer faced with a mountain of must-dos, I find myself descending on the path of emptiness, aloneness, uncertainty, confusion. Where is this path leading? What is going to be around the next curve? How long and how far is it? At times it feels like the road will never level off. And maybe it won’t. Alone, I would lose my way. But I have a Great Sherpa, a trustworthy Guide, and He has promised to lead me to the very top, to the place where His glory dwells. He surrounds me with people who encourage and support me as I continue on both smooth and challenging roads in this world.

I have been asking God to open my eyes to see the pinnacles of beauty and the array of blessings that surround my life on this new pathway. The route to the crest might have changed, but my eternal destination has not. Imagine the ecstasy our loved ones, who arrived at the Heavenly Summit ahead of us, have already experienced. Imagine our ecstasy on the day when we reach this pinnacle of glory. On that day we will not say I did it. No, we will say YOU did it! Our Father planned our earthly walk, Jesus Christ carved out the path and the Holy Spirit is leading us all the way. 

GUIDE You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Psalm 73:24
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Praying Through The Journey of Grief #5

One of our authors, Lois Hoogeveen, lost her husband in early March to a battle with cancer, which began just 3 months earlier. Jim and Lois had pastored 5 churches, 2 they planted. At the time they were hit with this disease they were transitioning into specialized transitional ministry for the next season of their full time ministry. They were and are good friends of Ascending Leaders. Through the journey with cancer, Jim and Lois wrote and shared their "breath prayers," each day. "Breath Praying" is something they had first learned seven years ago from the Ascending Leaders Christ Habits book Prayer: Listening to God's Voice.

Since Jim's passing, Lois has been continuing to write excellent reflections on this journey along with breath prayers. She has consented to allow us to share some with you. Lois is also the core author of one of our newest workbooks:  Your Pathways: Strong Connection with God.



Breath Prayer: RESTORE
Lois Hoogeveen
July 22, 2012

I had a dream. I was a little girl walking through the pasture on the farm where I grew up. The ground was dry and cracked, much like fields may look today after weeks of temperatures in the high 90’s and even more weeks without significant moisture. I was trying, with my short legs, to keep up with the farmer who was in front of me. I was hot, tired and falling behind. The distance between us was increasing, and I was afraid that I would lose sight of him and be left all alone in the field. Not totally alone, because there were cattle in the field, which added to my anxiety. I was terrified by these big animals. Anxiety of never returning to the safety of my family who lives in the big farmhouse engulfed me. 

My pounding heart suddenly quieted as the scene in my dream changed. In a matter of seconds, I was no longer a little girl following the farmer but a little girl being carried by this strong, yet tender, man. The fields were no longer covered with brown, crusty stubble but gloriously arrayed with wildflowers of many different colors. Later, in my dream, I was no longer being carried but walking on my own, following closely and never losing sight of the one who carried me.

The details of this vivid dream, which I had over twenty years ago, have become very clear to me once again. No longer driven by the demands of the tyranny-of-the-urgent that I had to deal with these past few months, my days now are more quiet. I am tired. I rest. I read. I reflect. I remember. At times I feel like the little girl walking through the pasture just east of our farmhouse. My world feels parched and withered. I feel some anxiety about the known and unknown realities of living alone, of the monsters of grief and change that now share my space.  I wonder if I will ever again find the safe place where I once lived.

However, my thoughts cannot stay at these places of sadness, fear, isolation and uncertainty. The second scene of this dream gives me a different message. My Shepherd picks me up and carries me, and there is color in my world. The wind gently blows and the Shepherd whispers words of love and peace in my ear. We stop, sit in the soft field of wildflowers and drink from the canteen of Living Water, quenching my thirst. For the moment, I am RESTORED.

Extreme heat and lack of rain result in barren land. What heat and drought are you experiencing in your life? Are you walking alone, closely following the Shepherd or are is the Shepherd carrying you?

Right now I need the Shepherd to carry me close to His heart. I trust that the day will come when I am strong enough to again walk by His side, hand-in-hand, always close, always safe.

He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart. Isaiah 40:11

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:1-4

Friday, July 20, 2012

Discipleship: 10 Lessons I Learned Beyond Sunday School--Part One


I was recently asked by the Christian Reformed Network to write a couple blogs about discipleship and Ascending Leaders. I did so for them and am reprinting them here in several parts. I hope they help you--Mike.

The Christian Reformed Church that nurtured my growth as a child taught me that Jesus saves and is present for me to reach out to in prayer in times of need. Adults there invested in my life. They taught me to work diligently as if for the Lord and more. 

There were also lessons about discipleship that the church of my childhood never taught me. Of course, life is a good teacher, and being in ministry for 20+ years, seven of those focused on developing discipleship materials, has taught me a lot about how to be a disciple and follow the command to make disciples.

Here are ten important lessons:
1.      A disciple is one who is with/in the master (Acts 4:13), becoming like the master (Phil 2:2) and serving beyond the master—Spirit empowered (John 14:12).
2.      The best definition of “discipleship” I can come up with is “the process of growing as a disciple.” To me that is the process of growing more fully into the great command to love God and love my neighbor (even non human neighbors in God’s creation). It is to live as an ever clearer image of the one whom a person is a disciple of—Jesus Christ.
3.      Add “Discipleness” to our vocabulary. “Discipleship” is a made-up word. We need to make up another word which represents the degree one is like Christ. “Discipleness” is a good candidate to be that word.

I will include more in my next post.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Breathing through the Journey of Grief #4

One of our authors, Lois Hoogeveen, lost her husband in early March to a battle with cancer, which began just 3 months earlier. Jim and Lois had pastored 5 churches, 2 they planted. At the time they were hit with this disease they were transitioning into specialized transitional ministry for the next season of their full time ministry. They were and are good friends of Ascending Leaders. Through the journey with cancer, Jim and Lois wrote and shared their "breath prayers," each day. "Breath Praying" is something they had first learned seven years ago from the Ascending Leaders Christ Habits book Prayer: Listening to God's Voice.

Since Jim's passing, Lois has been continuing to write excellent reflections on this journey along with breath prayers. She has consented to allow us to share some with you. Lois is also the core author of one of our newest workbooks:  Your Pathways: Strong Connection with God.


Breath Prayer: ROOTED
Lois Hoogeveen
July 8, 2012

If I had known that a walk through the neighborhood on a beautiful November day would lead to a root canal seven months later I would have stayed home. But I didn’t know and I went for a walk. Catching the toe of my shoe on a ridge in the sidewalk, I took a nosedive into the concrete. The rest is history. After a few weeks, my cut lip, bruised eye, swollen nose and shifted front tooth looked the same -- on the outside. On the inside, however, my tooth is forever changed. Changed but not destroyed. This week I had a root canal. The endodontist drilled the unhealthy tissue out of the root and filled it with a substance that will keep the root a strong anchor for my tooth.

On that same November day, my husband went to the doctor because he had a persistent cough. The rest is history. On the outside my life looks the same. On the inside it is forever changed. Changed but not destroyed.

The swelling and bruises on my face went away, but the pain and discomfort lingered. There were days when I didn’t notice it so much, and then other days the throbbing persisted. It was no longer obvious to the casual observer that my face had been injured. But for me the dull ache was often there.

That’s also how I experience grief. The initial trauma is gone, but the longer term impact of loss causes episodes of swelling and tenderness in my inner being. Antibiotics healed the infection that developed because of the trauma to my tooth. Similar to an antibiotic, the Word of God functions as a combatant to my feelings of sadness and disappointment that naturally come with loss, infusing me with words of comfort, peace, joy and hope.

I have had three different experiences with roots this week.  The root canal made me grateful for skilled professionals and modern technology that saved my tooth by treating the root. My second experience with roots was not to save but to destroy.  I extracted prickly thistles one by one from my back yard, working diligently to not just get the plant but also the root, in an attempt to eradicate these obnoxious weeds from my lawn. My third experience with roots fills me with appreciation and gratitude for my personal roots. A family gathering reminded me of the richness of the roots of my heritage.

My breath prayer is that God will keep me ROOTED in Him as I recover from the distress of death and rediscover the joy of living. Many people have been influential in helping me become rooted and established in the Lord’s unfailing love -- my parents, teachers, friends, and my dear husband. Deep spiritual roots provide strength that helps us endure storms of any kind – chronic illness, terminal disease, death, unemployment, financial fallout, betrayal, rejection to name a few. Trials of many kinds will affect us while we live on earth. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up. (Hebrews 12:16) The impact of painful circumstances may leave us changed, but we need not be destroyed. Not when we are rooted in the love of Jesus, Christ dwells within us and we are filled with the fullness of God.

ROOTED I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19