Happy Birthday

To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Today is my birthday and I am thinking about aging. In all honesty, I’m also thinking about parties and putt-putt, polka dots presents and perennial friends, but today’s tick of the clock does point out that indeed, I am a year older.

The American culture doesn’t look kindly on aging. It pressures me to hide it, dye it, deny it, and fight it at all costs. A little liposuction here, a slight tightening with the knife over there, and a generous sprinkling of support garments everywhere all add to the illusion that youth is a treasure to be grasped forever. God disagrees.

A gray head is a crown of glory;
It is found in the way of righteousness.
Proverbs 16:31

We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us…Though outwardly we are wasting away,

yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
II Corinthians 4:7,16

Long life is a blessing. While one glance in the mirror shows that outwardly I am wasting away – inwardly I carry the treasure of God.

Against the cultural pull, God declares, a year older is a year newer. And this year, the plastic surgeon of my soul has been cutting away all that is not of Him. The temptation towards independence is being removed, the busyness increasingly stilled, and the importance of God seen clearer than ever before. He is the gift I most want to unwrap.

God has called the old, the wise, and the increasingly wizened to an important work. Even as the ice cream cake melts, I am to know Him and to show Him. The Psalmist puts it this way,

O God, You have taught me from my youth,
And I still declare Your wondrous deeds.
And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come.

Psalm 71:17-18

With smile lines showing, I joyfully declare, I am a year older today. I have a rich inheritance and a heavenly calling to pass it on. Hand me another piece of cake; it’s time to celebrate.

A Snake in my House

I woke up today and discovered a snake in my house. A snake. Okay, maybe it wasn’t exactly a cobra or a python and if I told you the length I’m sure you wouldn’t be impressed but please don’t miss the point. I woke up and there was a snake in my house.

Last night I went to bed blissfully secure in my usual nighttime preparations. The windows were shut; the doors were locked. Yet, somehow, while I slept this black, slimy, intruder slithered in uninvited and unwelcome.

Barefoot and ignorant, I awoke and stumbled towards my morning bottled water. That’s when I saw him. I’m not sure who was more surprised, my nemesis or me. Either way, it was not a happy moment. I decided I wasn’t as thirsty as I thought, quickly fled the scene, and left the water untouched.

I then thought about Satan, the original snake, in the original garden. Barefoot and blissfully unaware, one day Eve bumped into Satan as he stood between her and the fountain of living water. It was not a happy moment.

Satan often sneaks into my life when I’m not looking. Jealous thoughts, petty impatience, stubborn insistence on my own way – these are the back doors he frequently uses. Suddenly, there he stands, blocking the way between me and the fountain of living water, and all too often, I’m the one who has let him in.

Unfortunately, I’ve grown accustomed to Satan’s attacks over the years and rarely see them as the unwelcome, slimy intruders that they are. But I should. They stand between me and the Savior I love.

Today, I discovered a snake in my house. I took a long-handled shovel and put him out. Pray that when Satan shows up later, I will have the wisdom to do the same. There’s nothing I want more than to drink deeply from the fountain that is my Christ.

Transitions

Today will be better. I hope. It’s not that yesterday was bad but it didn’t take long for all my early morning intentions to fly out the window in a gusty morning breeze. I intended to pray more, love better, worship continually, and witness frequently. But when a strong storm of busyness blew through my day, those noble aspirations were literally gone with the wind.

So, this morning while praying and dreaming about my day, my intentions suddenly shaped themselves into a plan. A simple plan, literally just a 3x5 card. On this card, I reminded my forgetful self to stop and yield to Christ at each new shift in the day. My new and inexpensive memory system would now jog my memory and inform my prayer at every transition point.

Fueled for success, my card and I leapt into my bright red car and off I went. Unlike yesterday, today Jesus went with me. From the dry cleaners to the grocery store, from Staples to Chico’s, at each new point, I saw my card. I stopped, I yielded, and I lingered in His love.

Small transitional check-ins changed my day from Christ-deficient to Christ-saturated. Today really was better. I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow.

Florence Littauer's Amazing Influence

Since 1970, legendary speaker and author Florence Littauer has bravely pioneered the path for Christian women speakers everywhere. From a humble home and an unchurched background, Florence never aspired to greatness. She simply wanted to reach hurting women. Thus, she began teaching small Bible studies in her home. But it wasn't long before God called her to take His message to a wider audience. Thirty books and millions of people later, Florence has touched the world.

Last week in Austin, Texas, I had the amazing privilege of being trained by this gentle giant. For three days, I sat under her teaching and she sat under mine – gulp. Why? Because although Florence could have taken those three days to make ten of thousands of dollars and added one more conference to her own resume, she chose instead to pour her wisdom and experience into the lives of 70 other Christian leaders.

Ten years into her speaking career, Florence faced a fork in the road. Down one path lay personal success and the accumulation of the world’s accolades. The other, more narrow path offered the possibility of kingdom influence. Florence chose influence. For over twenty years, she has dedicated herself to reproducing quality, godly Christian communicators who would share God’s good news.

I am blessed. I have watched, learned from, and been critiqued by this godly, talented woman. Florence Littauer has inspired me, not just to be the best speaker and author that I can be, but to more than that. She has reminded me that true success comes from influencing people who will influence people. Together, with God’s help, we can change the world.

Christ-Saturated. Irresistibly Attractive.

Christ-saturated and irresistibly attractive – these two hauntingly beautiful and seemingly unattainable descriptions came to me when I asked the Lord to describe the life I am to live. These ideals are lofty, lovely, and a far cry from the Kim I am today.

Christ-saturated - Every moment of every day, He wants to permeate and saturate my life. My words, my thoughts, my actions are to be soaked and dripping with Jesus. This is my deep desire but hardly my current reality.

Instead, on many mornings as I begin the day with Him, I pray, I meditate, and then carelessly meander through the day. Like a good cup of Starbucks, I use God to jump start the morning but fuel the rest of the day with a bottomless cup-of-Kim. “Forgive me, Jesus. Please be my all in all – all day, every day.”

Irresistibly attractive - This should be the outward result of my inner Christ-saturated life. When I drink deeply all day of the cup of Christ there is a rich reservoir to tap into as I seek to live a life of love.

I have a long way to go. Even today, my snippy voice, my impatiently drumming fingers, my visible life were not exactly a magnetic force drawing all to Him. “Lord, help me to be so full of You that Your love can’t help but spill out on all I meet.”

Christ-saturated. Irresistibly attractive. Don’t try to pick me out at the grocery store using only those descriptions, for I will not be found. But do join me in prayer, that these two phrases will more and more become the music of my life.