Happy Birthday to Me? (And a really cool thing)

My husband pulled off the feat of the century this past Sunday. For the first time in nearly 13 years, he surprised me! Mind you, this is no small feat. For a girl who snoops for her Christmas presents and can usually figure out what is going on under her own nose, I somehow always manage to be the spoiler of surprises. So, bravo to my hubby on this one! :)

What was thought to be a casual lunch with some old and dear friends that we hadn’t seen for awhile, wound up being a book release party for Behind Those Eyes on my behalf! As I stepped out onto the patio of one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, I was nearly bowled over by the loud, “Surprise!” 20 of my closest friends and family greeted me with. I was SO surprised, in fact, that a few seconds after the shock wore off and I realized the party was, indeed, for me, I looked at them and quite honestly asked, “Surprise? What in the world for?”

Not that the release of a new book one has sweated over, prayed for, and dreamed about for many months is forgettable, of course. The girl just doth lose her mind every now and then, ya’ll. :)

Oh, and did I mention I was not anticipating a surprise party for it’s release? Yeah, that, too.

But it was a beautiful time spent with people who love and support me intensely. It was so incredibly special to me to know I have friends who cheer with me in my life, just as they hold me up when life is not so much fun. What a blessing! (This is me with my mom, biggest life "cheerer," ever!)

And the biggest of brownie points go to my sweet hubby, Scotty, who not only organized this party AND managed to keep it a secret, but also got me a fantastic cake with a picture of the book on it (enough to feed a small country, by the way, but that’s beside the point), but also did all of this while spending most of the weekend on the couch, sick. Props, honey.



Undoubtedly, the most memorable point of the lunch came when the staff of the restaurant came and plopped a bejeweled sombrero on my head and draped me with an Aztec-looking wrap and began to sing “Happy Birthday” to me! Clearly, they had not gotten the memo on what the lunch was really for. (No, it's really NOT my birthday.) Either that, or my awesome friends who love to tease me about basically everything, gave them the wrong memo…accidentally, on purpose. Aren’t they fantastic? :)

Regardless, the surprise book release party was tons of fun. I was truly overwhelmed and honored by all of it. And I continue to pray that Behind Those Eyes will get in hands of women, everywhere. In the words of my dear friend, Devyn…every woman should read this book. I hope and pray many will.

And by the way…all of this fun at lunch topped off an already awesome morning in our class at church. Our dear friend, Alan Capps, graciously agreed to come and paint one of his famous “Jesus Paintings” for us. We were all awed by his unique and amazing way of painting the beautiful face of our Lord. To watch Alan at work, click on this link. Trust me…you will be blown away by his talent. Let’s just say that it’s probably not what you are expecting.

Oh, and guess who is the proud owner of a new Alan Capps, "Jesus" painting?

Happy Birthday to me, after all!

Lisa :)

Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed, ya’ll.

As I sat in the dark theater, wiping tears from my eyes, I could sense my 10-year old staring at me. I guess I can’t blame him…after all, seeing his mom cry in the middle of a ferocious fight scene must have made him wonder. But he held back his questioning until after the credits ran and we made our way back to the warm car for the drive home. “Mom, why were you crying in the middle of Prince Caspian? It wasn’t a love story or anything! Seriously…it was just a movie!”

Naw…seriously…for me, it wasn’t.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not and have never been a movie reviewer/critic, and I don’t want to start now. I am not blogging today to plug this movie. But I have to tell you, it overwhelmed me. It’s blatantly salvicic message overwhelmed me. I know about the books and of C.S. Lewis’s amazing writing that has truly stood the test of time. (Now that’s some good writing!) But seeing it on-screen, well…overwhelmed me.

I’m not sure what overwhelmed me the most.

Maybe it was the example of childlike faith when Lucy sees Aslan and the others don’t. Later in the movie when she is asked by her sibling why they didn’t see Aslan and she did she honestly replies, “Maybe you didn’t really want to.” Makes me stop and ask myself… Do I not see and hear from God more often because I really don’t want to?

Maybe I’m overwhelmed by the scene where the impressionable prince starts thinking there is a “better way” to do things and messes everything up. Oh, how I can relate. I could write the script on messing things up. If only I would stick to HIS plan.

Maybe I’m overwhelmed by the intense moment when both the Prince and Peter are nearly persuaded to join hands with the evil white witch, thinking she has the power they are looking for when Aslan doesn’t show up when they think he should. How many times do I get impatient, waiting on God to show up when I want Him to? And how many times am I tempted to search for a “quick fix” to my problems?

Maybe I’m overwhelmed by the symbolism of the scrappy army of Narnian misfits that is up against the polished, shiny mass army of men, coming to get them. I feel so scrappy as I parent upstream in this influential, yet Godless society. I feel so scrappy everyday as I try to battle against my own powerful flesh and sinfulness.

I’m overwhelmed by so many things I saw in this movie. And I relate to so many of them.

In the movie, when things start looking really, really bad for the scrappy Narnians, Aslan shows up. In my life, Jesus shows up to help scrappy little old me in my “no way out” moments on the journey. (And incidentally, every other moment on my journey, too.)

In the movie, Aslan shows up to defeat the evil army, but not in the way that is expected. He doesn’t pull out a bag of normal lion-like tricks. He’s not lunging. Not swiping. Not attacking. But rather…roaring.

Why? Because…he can. Because it works.

He’s just that powerful.

And when he lets out that beastly roar to end all roars, as the water begins to stir and churn and agitate, his power is, well, quite apparent. There is no more question as to who he is or what he can do.

Kinda reminds me of a passage in Scripture found in the beautiful Psalm of David about my Lion of Judah… “Praise the Lord from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths, fire and hail, snow and storm, wind and weather that OBEY HIM…” (148:7-8)

Can't you just hear the roar in that verse?

Through all the symbolism in this awesome movie, I think the thing I am the most overwhelmed by is the reminder of His power by the power displayed by Aslan. I am overwhelmed by the thought that His command sends water into a state of agitation, and can be stilled just as quickly as it was stirred up. As I sat in the back of the movie theater watching this movie with my children, I literally turned my palms up to the Lord and WORSHIPPED Him.

Now THAT’S a good movie. :)

But that's an even better Holy God.

I couldn’t help but think of the studio execs who made this movie. They are probably already counting their money, so proud of themselves for their “genius” behind the script and the casting and the marketing and the partnerships they joined in to make it the box office success it is sure to be. But I could also not help but think about God and how He is getting His message across through studio execs who don’t even realize how specifically they are being used by Him. The thought of Someone powerful enough to do that makes me remember just how powerful He is…

(Soul convicting.)

(Society convincing.)

(Evil conquering.)

…always has been…

(Ground swallowing. Numbers 16)

(Giant dominating. I Samuel 17)

(Water walking. Matthew 14)

(Bush burning. Exodus 3)

(Donkey talking. Numbers 22)

(Death defying. The Gospels)

…and always will be.

(Body healing.)

(Relationship mending.)

(Life saving.)

My Jesus is wise enough to know how to show up when He needs to…always on time, and never needing to call for back-up. His roar is loud enough. His name is powerful enough. His presence is strong enough.

That even the winds and the waves obey Him.

And so do studio execs and 36-year old women in theaters who have no business crying during fight scenes.

Prince Caspian rocked my world.

Jesus always rocks my world.

And He’s still getting His point across.

Lisa

"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.” Rev. 11:17

Devotional Series – Week 3: Ms. Perfection Has Left the Building

With Behind Those Eyes having just been released for purchase (Buy it here now!), I thought I’d post a portion from the book this week. This story is from the first section of the book, called The Great Charade. It is excerpted from the chapter on Ms. Perfection, and it is all about our need for others to see us as perfect rather than our willingness to get real about our struggles. As this story begins, I have just finished writing about something I call The Great Sunday Morning Fake-out, (if you're interested in what that is, you’ll have to get the book to read about it! :)), and I am talking about an instance when I took part in a Sunday Morning Fake-out of my own, on an Easter Sunday morning, a few years ago…


My children at the time were ages eight, six, and four. Although the oldest two are boys and are no longer willing to wear matching clothes, they still allow me to dress all three of them in coordinating colors. This Easter, I took particular care in picking out just the right suits, shirts, and shoes for the boys to go with the bright plaid dress my daughter was to wear. As I am sure most people know, the unspoken rule about Easter attire is that the female outfit takes precedent over the male outfit. (Women from the South know this, especially.) So the color scheme of green was built around a size 4 toddler dress for our little Easter princess.

In my quest to find perfect outfits for the children, I had nearly forgotten to shop for myself. While some years I simply wore an existing outfit on Easter Sunday, this year I was determined to get something new. I don’t have anything green, I reasoned. With the day looming closer, I managed to make a quick trip to the mall without the children in tow. I tried on quite a few things until finally I found just the right skirt and matching shirt-sweater combination. I quickly purchased it and headed home.

Easter Sunday came, along with the usual morning rush. After getting the children dressed, I consulted with my husband on his outfit and got dressed in my own. I was pleased with my green patterned shirt, beautiful green sweater, and bright, white skirt. I was starched and ready.

We took a few pictures, loaded up the car, and left for church. To my delight, things were running rather smoothly for a Sunday morning. We arrived at the church and entered the sanctuary. Our pastor had encouraged us to bring our entire families to the service with us, which we had decided to do. We greeted my parents inside and took our seats on a row midway up. While the children drew pictures and worked puzzles, the adults worshiped. The music was uplifting, the sermon was inspiring, and we looked just perfect. Things couldn’t have been better.

About halfway through the service, I looked down at my crisp, clean white linen skirt. That’s when I noticed a glaring flaw in the plan. Right down the middle of my skirt, stretching from my left side to my right, was a bright, royal blue pen mark smiling back at me. Horrified at what I saw, I realized the only way to remove the stain was to take it to the dry cleaners. I couldn’t believe that after all my stressing and striving, the look I wanted to achieve that Easter morning was ruined with a mark from my son’s pen. So much for perfection, I thought.

I learned a great lesson from that simple story. It was as if God said to me, Lisa, you can prepare and plan and anticipate things and seek perfection. But just in case you have forgotten that you are anything but perfect, let this remind you of just that. The pen mark symbolized to me the imperfections in my life, no matter how well thought out and organized I may be.

Women, the truth is that God doesn’t have to prove anything to us to let us see our imperfections. We can manage that all on our own. As 2 Corinthians 3:5 tells us, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves.” It doesn’t take us very long to see and know that in our flesh, perfection is not even remotely possible.

Lisa

We Blasted Back, Ya’ll!

Nothing quite says 80’s like a mullet, now does it?

A big thanks to my friend, Bobby, who let me "throw him under the bus" with this picture! He made an appearance as his 80’s alter ego when the DJ spun some Def Leppard for us. (Yeah, I know…Baptists don’t dance, and especially not to Def Leppard!)

Uh…oops. :)

Yes, we had an awesome time at our Second Chance Prom this past weekend! We blasted back to the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s with our favorite music and even re-visited a few of our favorite dances. We brought back the “sprinkler,” “running man” and the “cabbage Patch” with passion and enthusiasm, albeit a little stiffer and far less cool than we did back when. Between the music and the dances and the gowns, we almost felt like we were back at our real prom. That was, until our bad knees and jacked up backs started flaring up and reminded us we weren’t the young bucks we once were! Oh well. We still had an amazing amount of fun, jacked up backs and all! :)

Here I am with three of my best girlfriends…from left (me, Michelle, Laura and Wendy) My girls and I got our groove on together and wound up shoeless by the end of the night!

Here is my cutie-pie hubby with his two best friends…from left (Scotty, Mike and Bobby) (Sidebar: Mike is married to Michelle and Bobby is married to Wendy.) Three handsome guys, don’t ya think?

Of course, I would be remiss if I forgot to include a picture of our fearless DJ, Cap’n Sam himself. He kept us groovin’ all night long! (Or at least, until 11pm, when the janitor gave us the good-old heave-ho!)

















Here’s a picture of me with my prom date, my cutie-pie hubby, Scotty. Isn’t he handsome?













Now that is one energetic man on the dance floor. (That is his sister, my very sophisticated “assistant” dancing with him.) One of them has rhythm…the other…not so much. Not saying who. All I’ll say is that my husband is very energetic and has a blast on the dance floor. Regardless. :)

Speaking of blasting, some of us blasted WAY back…(shout out to my friend, Don, for the powder blue tux/retro look! Norma, you look great!)

















Some of us looked glam and modern…
(these cute lovebirds, Tim and Wendy, actually went to their real prom together!)














Some of us showed off our skills on the dance floor…














And some of us just showed off…

















But all of us had a seriously great time!

We danced, we laughed, and we celebrated life together. It was one of those fantastic moments on the journey that I hold dear in my heart. I haven’t stopped dancing since!

So, prom night lives on in our hearts. Or at least, until next year. We got our second chance at prom, and it was a night we won’t soon forget.

Thanks for sharing in the fun!
Lisa :)

Devotional Series -- Week 2: The Game of Life

In this second week of devotionals, I am posting a piece I wrote back in 2003. It was the first thing I ever had published, in HomeLife Magazine. Though not written in a “devotional” format, I pray that it will speak to someone’s heart. It was written in the midst of my husband’s extended job loss, a difficult life event for our family.

The Game of Life

Growing up, my brother and I loved to play board games together. Occasionally, one of us would draw a card or land on a space that instructed us to, “Go back to the start.” The one who escaped such a fate would gloat while the recipient would moan over the thought of having to backtrack and start again.

Fast forward 23 years. I experienced those same feelings of frustration and discouragement when my husband lost his job. I felt I’d drawn the “Go back to the start” card in my life, much to my dismay. Starting over was not my first choice, especially with three preschoolers in tow. And this time the game of life was much more real: real players, real struggles, and even, real money. Our journey led us down a path of fear, doubt and loneliness that I had never before known.

Over the years I had dealt with all of these feelings at one time or another. But never before were they attached to such a major issue in my life. For a self-professed type-A personality, sitting helplessly on the sidelines was difficult. Common Christian phrases such as “Let go and let God” came to mind. Perfect for slogans on posters, they were harder to put into practice. For months I watched as we maneuvered down a road filled with dead-end leads and broken promises.

Everything in our world was changing. Our outlook certainly had. My usually gregarious husband suddenly gravitated toward people who knew his situation. Squelching his outgoing personality helped him dodge new people who would ask, “So, what do you do for a living?” Friends became distant. Loved ones didn’t know what to say. Defenses were up, and spirits were down.

Trying to be a loving wife, caring mother and devoted follower of Christ became difficult. Even dropping my children off at preschool took on new meaning as I watched seemingly carefree parents come and go while I was dealing with my private pain. I looked just like they did on the outside, but I was sure I was different on the inside.

And then I met Christine. Perfect hair, perfect child, perfect Volvo. Only, her life wasn’t perfect. Her husband was also out of work, even with an Ivy League degree. And I learned right then and there that everyone has a story beneath what we see on the surface.

Days and months went by. Friends searched alongside us for the meaning in it all. Observers asked, “What’s God tyring to teach you through all this?” It was as if they assumed God caused our situation in order to reveal deep truths to us that we didn’t already know. Yet, instead, I kept coming back to the childhood lessons taught to my by my parents so many years before…God is love. God loves me. God cares. God sees and knows. Simple lessons, yet amazingly profound.

And what I found in the midst of some very dark days was that God was there. He does love me. And He does have my best interests in mind, even when I don’t really know what that means.

There is no other way to play the game of life than to do it with endurance, faith, hope and trust – trust in the One who gave me the life in which to play it.

Lisa
P.S. I hope you’ll come back on Thursday when I will be posting about our very exciting Second Chance Prom this past weekend. Can we say, FUN?

Devotional Series -- Week One: His Only Child

For the next 3-4 Mondays, I am going to be posting a series of devotions I have written that have appeared in various places, such as Crosswalk.com and Proverbs 31 Ministries. I truly hope and pray that something in them will mean something to you and God will speak to you in some way through them.

This week, a particular devotion came to mind, as I am still consumed with thoughts about our friend, Kris Lawing. It seemed quite appropriate to begin the series of devotions with this post...

His Only Child
Even when a mother has more than one child, she has an innately individualistic sense of each one of them.

Several weeks ago, I had gotten up earlier than my still sleeping children to do some work on the computer. Groggily typing some notes, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Although I couldn’t see with my eyes who it was, I instantly sensed it was my youngest son. I recognized the sound of his step, and I was acutely aware of the fact that it was him. Without looking up from my keyboard, I greeted him from my semi-closed office door. “Good morning, Micah. How are you this morning?” Seconds later he opened the door and looked at me, puzzled. “Hi, mom. How did you know it was me?” he asked. Smiling, I answered, almost without hesitation or any real forethought to his question. “Son, I would recognize you anywhere. Don’t you know that I have everything about you memorized, even the way you walk down the stairs in the morning?” Though I had not yet seen Micah with my own eyes before I spoke to him, I didn’t need to see him to know that it was him. I had an innate and intimate sense of my precious son, just as I would have with either of my other two children.

As I think back to my own childhood, I can remember how my own mother would communicate to me that she loved me by knowing all my likes, dislikes, preferences and passions. As the middle child of three, I knew that despite being sandwiched in-between two other children, she loved me as if I were the one and only focus of her life. She would often tell me that she felt like I was her only child…and she felt the same way about my older brother…and my younger sister. At the time, I didn’t fully comprehend how she was able to feel that way about us. But now with three children of my own, I absolutely do.

Dear friend, in the eyes of God, you are His only child. Whether or not you had an earthly parent who treated you with care and priority, He does. He knows your likes, dislikes, preferences, and passions. Though you are one of millions of His children, He doesn’t put you in a group or category. He looks at you…individually. He sees you…clearly. He knows you…completely. He pursues you…as if you are the only one on His mind. You are His beloved child, and He longs to love you like you have never been loved before.

Maybe you are desperately looking for love. Maybe your soul desire is to know that you are truly important to someone. Maybe you wonder why you would matter so much to such a powerful and wonderful God of the Universe. Rest assured that Someone who would take the time to count the number of hairs on your head has an everlasting awareness of exactly who are you. May you know today that He looks at you as if you were His only child, with a deep longing for you to recognize Him as your Daddy.

Now What?
Spend some time today meditating on the thought that He loves you as if you were His only child. Read Psalm 139 and let the words sink into your soul. Praise Him for His presence in your life, and ask Him to show you in the coming days just how much He adores you.

Challenge Questions:
Have I allowed God to love me like He wants to love me? Or am I holding back areas of my life I consider too personal or unlovable?

Do I accept the fact that He sees me as His only child, even if I don’t really understand it?

Have I fully embraced Him as my Father?

Challenge Verse:
Jeremiah 1:5a : "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” (NKJV)

Awesome God of the Universe, thank you for treating me as if I were your only child. Thank you for seeing me, recognizing me, and knowing me inside out. Help me know that with you I am able to completely be myself. May I rest in your loving arms and recognize you as my daddy. Amen.

For more on this subject, order a copy of Lisa’s new book, Behind Those Eyes: What’s Really Going on Inside the Souls of Women.

Lisa

So Long Status Quo

Today I watched a Nichole Nordeman song come to life.

My husband, Scotty, and I had the privilege of getting together with Kris Lawing and his wife, Renee, at a Chick-Fil-A this morning. If you read this blog entry, you know that Kris is a childhood friend of my husbands who has recently been diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Kris is just 36 years old, and he has a beautiful wife and 6-year old son.

Sitting at a table in the middle of a busy Chick-Fil-A, we laughed, shared a few tears, and spoke an agreed prayer for healing on Kris’s behalf. It was a sweet time spent among friends…old (in my husband’s case) and new (in my case). Our hearts were knit together by the Spirit living inside of all of us…and it was beautiful. Listening to Kris share his heart and journey with us was a true spiritual experience. I felt so honored to hear from him, almost guilty that I had the privilege of being in the presence of someone who has such direct contact with God in these difficult days of his journey. But it was truly a joy to sit with someone I am taking daily to the Throne in prayer.

Kris feels our prayers -- mine, yours, and all the prayers being raised up from Charlotte… to California…to Canada…to Poland! (Please continue to lift up Kris and his family and visit his website and minister to him by your comments on his guestbook. He is reading all of them and being so blessed in the process! And...please continue to spread the word about Kris and his story.)

In talking with Kris, one of the things that struck me was the sense of peace he has about his life and future. He shared many specific things with us, among them, something that happened when he was faced with the news about the cancer that has cruelly invaded parts of his brain. I hope he won’t mind that I share it with you…but it is just too awesome to keep to myself.

He said that when the results came back from the brain scan showing cancer, it was as if Satan began immediately whispering to him in his ear, “This is a death sentence. You won’t get to see those you love grow up or get older…you are done.” He began to become gripped by the fear the evil one was using to eat his lunch. He started to doubt and worry. And he proceeded to get caught up in the terror of the moment. But just as quick as the evil one's lies invaded his thoughts, he heard the strong voice of God saying lovingly to his heart, “You are on my timetable, Kris. I’ve got you, and I knew about this cancer a long, long time ago. Don’t believe what he is saying. Trust me.” Kris said the battle between good and evil went on for about 1 ½ hours, until finally, victory was had within his heart and mind. He said that in that moment, an inexplicable peace came over him, and he knew it was going to be ok.

God, the victorious One, won the battle for Kris’s mind…as He did the battle for Kris’s soul…and we believe when it’s all said and done, the battle for Kris’s life. We are praying with Kris for total and complete healing. As Renee so eloquently said today, “The bigger the problem, the bigger the miracle.” Now that’s some truth, friends. And it is, indeed, our prayer. It’s the prayer of Ephesians 3:20…“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” (the Message) Our prayer is the prayer of the FAR MORE!

I left today after meeting with Kris unexpectedly inspired, motivated, and encouraged. I felt like I had been in the presence of a true miracle, regardless of what happens on Kris’s journey. Kris is not unrealistic about the challenges that lie ahead for him, but he is also very optimistic that His powerful God…the great I AM of many miracles…is more than able to perform a miracle in his life. In fact, he is counting on it!

As we left our friends and pulled away from the Chick-Fil-A parking lot, I unconsciously started singing along to the Nichole Nordeman song playing on the radio, filling the car…

“So long status quo
I think I just let go
You make me want to be brave.”

My sentiments, exactly.

Lisa