Love Serve Shine

Proverbs 3:9-10 – Honor the LORD with your wealth, and with the best part of everything your land produces.  Then He will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with the finest wine.

When you work at a radio station, you sometimes get to do fun things.

My career as a DJ has whisked me and my husband off to L.A. for the Hollywood premiere of the 2004 blockbuster, “The Aviator,” where Mike and I met Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Beckinsale, Martin Scorsese and Paris Hilton.  It’s sent us to broadcast live from the ski slopes in Beaver Creek, CO.  It’s taken me to Nashville, New York City, and Las Vegas to watch both the ACM’s and CMA’s.  I’ve traded jokes with Blake Shelton and discussed our youths’ alcohol problems with Brad Paisley.  I’ve shaken George Straight’s hand and given dating advice to Kenny Chesney.  I’ve even sat on-stage, yes, on the stage, during one of Brooks & Dunn’s final concerts.

All of that pales in comparison to the first time I met Taylor Swift.

When Taylor Swift comes to town, she comes with a splash.  It’s not just a concert, it’s a major production, complete with costume and set changes between nearly every song.  You don’t watch her sing, you experience full-blown sensory overload in every possible way.

And that’s minus the backstage pass.

Visiting an artist backstage sounds far more exciting than it is.  You meet at a designated place roughly two hours before the concert begins.  You get your pass, which is a fabric sticker, and you’d better not forget to take it off, because if it goes through the laundry it’s there for life (another story for another time).

Either a DJ or a label representative lines you up with about 30 other people and takes you down winding halls with more twists and turns than you can count (by design, no doubt, so you can’t sneak back in).  Once you get to the room-next-to-the-room where you meet the artist, you stop and wait for approximately 20-45 minutes.

Then the cattle-call begins.

The DJ/label rep gives you strict instructions on what you may or may not do (i.e. shake hands but no autographs; get a picture, but not with your own camera; get something signed, but it has to be approved; smile but no chatter, you get the point), and then they file you through one-by-one.  Then you’re ushered back through the endless twists and turns and that’s it.

Unless you’re Taylor Swift. (more…)

I had the opportunity to visit with some residents of West, Texas on Friday, April 19th.  They are calling themselves “The Small Town with a Big Heart.”  A big heart, indeed, but a big heart, broken.

The explosion that rocked West decimated 4 blocks, two schools, churches, an entire apartment complex, and up to 75 homes.  All stuff, stuff that can be rebuilt and revived.  Not everything, though.

The tiny town of approximately 3000 residents is now a tinier town of 2,986.  When you live in an area that size, everybody knows everybody.  And that means when you lose one, everyone feels it.

This poem was inspired as I sat thinking about the lives lost, and the grief-stricken that were left behind.

From Jesus to Us: Death, From Heaven’s Perspective

It’s time to set your burdens down;

Exchange your pain for a crown.

Your work is done, your toil through…

The angels are awaiting you…

Those who’ve gone before in death, are waiting now with baited breath.

Death is not the end you see, you’ve only just begun.

You’ve kept the faith, you’ve fought the fight, your battle now is won.

It’s time to gather your reward, your treasure now awaits;

Leave this world of tears and strife, and enter through my gates.

Pain cannot exist here; not darkness, only light –

Your body is eternal, your robes are sparkling white…

A mansion has been built for you; your treasure will not rust;

Leave your earthly tent down here, and let it turn to dust.

Yes, you’re leaving some behind, and they will mourn and grieve;

Trust Me that I’m with them too, and to them I will cleave.

It’s time to follow Me now child, but this is not the end.

It’s time to enter into to rest.  Well done, My faithful friend.

The darkness will never overcome the light.

Authorities believe that two people are responsible for the horrific acts performed on Monday, April 15th, at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  Acts that caused 3 deaths and 144 injuries.

Thousands have run to the front lines of this battle opening their homes, offering hot meals, and warm beds.  This act of hate pales in comparison to the outpouring of love.

To the individuals who seek to put out our light:

The more you hate, the more we’ll love.

The more you destroy, the more we’ll build up.

The more you seek to tear us apart, the more we’ll come together.

The more you take, the more we’ll give.

The more you hurt, the more God heals.

And when you take our earthly life, we gain eternal life.

You cannot put out our light.

2 Corinthians 4:6-10 - For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

The more darkness you spread the more light we’ll shine.

John 16:33 – “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”

We are the body of Christ, and the light has already won.

Heavenly Father, We pray for the three families who lost loved ones, and the countless lives they touched.  We pray for the injured, that, while You heal them physically, You would draw them to You through the outpouring of love our country is extending.  Lord, where there is fear, make us brave.  Where there is darkness, shine through us.  Where there is hate, love through us.  Where there is hurt, heal through us.  We offer You our hands, feet, and hearts.  Use us for Your glory, Father.  We love You, and we praise You for the work on the cross.  It is because of the cross that we can shine.  In the mighty, matchless Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.

Psalm 139:23-24 – Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

One of the occupational hazards of working on a morning show (90.9 KCBI) is that, inevitably, when you get up at 3:40 am Monday through Friday, your body does not always understand that it’s a weekend.  You might want to sleep until the sun comes up, but your mental clock says otherwise.

On Saturday, March 9^th, my eyes popped wide open at four am.  Not 3:59, not 4:01, but four o’clock on the dot.  I half-heartedly fought my unwelcome alertness for about 15 minutes, to no avail.  At 4:15 am, I padded down the stairs in my slippered feet, poured a steaming mug of hot coffee, lit a fire, and opened my Bible and my journal.

This is my most sacred time of the week.  A quiet house, the dancing light of the flames, and a fresh sheet of paper.  This is where Jesus and I meet.

As I wrote, two specific verses began to rattle around in my mind.  It was almost intrusive, the way they kept interrupting my thoughts.  After a moment, I relented and turned to the book of Psalms, and wrote out Psalm 139:23-24.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts…”

As I meditated on the words, it occurred to me that God already knows my heart.  Being in my head as He is, He knows my anxious thoughts and can probably articulate them better than I can.

Exactly.

King David, the author of Psalm 139, was not asking God to “get to know” his heart or to “check and see” what his anxious thoughts were. He was asking God to reveal them to him.

This was an “aha!” moment that turned into one of the most powerful, intimate, and life-altering journal sessions I have ever had.

Over the course of two hours and 14 pages, God revealed to me that I was harboring unforgiveness in the deep recesses of my heart; unforgiveness toward others, and unforgiveness toward myself. This unforgiveness was woven so deeply into the fabric of my soul that I had no idea it was there, it was simply a part of who I was.

I would like to share a piece of that journal entry with you, but first, let’s set the stage. (more…)