Salty Zebra

  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.   Ephesians 3:20-21  Some of my family members have become involved in a ministry called Celebrate Recovery (CR). This ministry is, “a safe place to find freedom from your hurts, hang-ups, and habits.” Like AA, they utilize a tool called the Serenity Prayer. If you haven’t heard it, it goes like this: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference.   This simple prayer, written nearly 100 years ago, has made a difference in millions of lives. I’m certain that when it’s author, Reinhold Niebuhr, wrote it, it came out of a time of personal growth and challenge and he had no idea how incredibly God would use it in the world – around the world. We h...

  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 Lord’s holy people, 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 to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19  I’ve spent a lot of time lately praying for my family. We’ve had some pretty big upheavals and the ground feels shaky beneath us. Do you know what I’ve been praying for them? It’s very much like what Paul prayed for the Ephesians in today’s passage.   My first and highest priority prayer for my family is always that they would draw near to God and find their salvation in Him. I pray that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith. I know that even that faith comes from God, and so I a...

  I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. Ephesians 3:13 NIV  Again, today, I am focusing not on the suggested SOAP verse for our study, but on the verse that comes after, Ephesians 3:13.  In this verse, Paul asks the Ephesians, a church birthed from his missionary journeys, his spiritual children, to not be discouraged by his sufferings. Indeed, he conveys that his sufferings are for them and they are, in fact, the Ephesians’ glory. All of that can be a little much to take in, to understand, so I’d like to break it down a little.   While he was writing Ephesians, Paul was under house arrest in Rome. He was there because the Jews in Jerusalem had accused him of ministering to the Gentiles, specifically bringing them into the temple – which he had not done. He was, in fact, imprisoned and suffering for them. But Paul goes on to say that his sufferings are not only on their behalf, but also for their glory...

   Sometimes life isn't ideal. Let's face it, most of the time it isn't! So, we do what we need to, to make things work. In my "Making It Work" posts, I share life hacks and ideas that have helped me so that maybe, they can help someone else too. I hope you enjoy!   In past hospital stays, I had been given a puny, almost worthless little "kidney shaped emesis basin" when I was nauseous.   Needless to say, these don't do much to contain mess and are fiddly to try to hold when you're very sick. During my tenure at the hospital (several different ER visits and stays, including nearly 2 weeks in the neuro ICU) over the course of my three brain surgeries in 2023, I became acquainted with a much more practical, useful tool, the emesis bag. In  part 14  of The Whole Story of my Brain tumor and surgeries (really the story is ongoing, but this is the name of the series), I mentioned my use of " green bags " as well as a funny happenstance where...

   Have you ever been concerned about pickpockets and thieves while you are out and about in your travels? You should be! More than 400,000 instances of pickpocketing occur EVER DAY (1)! In New York, 3,000 pickpocketing incidents are reported each month, and you know there are more that are not. Internationally, Italy has the highest likelihood of being pickpocketed with 463 mentions per million visitors, followed closely by France and Spain. I've tried different theft deterrents in the past: money belts worn under my pants or a pouch worn under my shirt. While I've never been pickpocketed from these locations, neither is it very practical to get out my ID, cash, or credit card when I need to purchase something. So when I was preparing for my Transatlantic cruise back in January, I wanted to find a better option. I'd been seeing adds for travel purses and I started looking into them. Today, I'd like to share with you what I found and how I've been using it all year!...

  Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given to me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ,  “What can God do with me?” you may have asked. You may see yourself, as I do, as small and insignificant in the Kingdom of God. I jokingly mentioned in an earlier post that I sometimes wonder if, in the Body of Christ, I am the appendix. We see people out there like Billy Graham and Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer and wonder how someone like us could ever measure up, could ever do something big.   When I was a young mom, I used to read a lot of missionary biographies. I was so inspired by how they headed out into the unknown with nothing but a pith helmet and their Bible. They suffered tragedy and loss, but in the end, something great and amazing came from their ministry. A hundred, or two hundred years later, people were still reading and writing about what God had done through them. I really thought this was my destiny...

  For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles-- [Ephesians 3:1 NIV] Today’s reading is Ephesians 3:1-6 , and although our study has us focusing on verse 6 today, I feel more drawn to verse 1. I’m calling that being spirit led and not bound to a man-made structure! Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians while under house arrest in Rome around AD 60-62. He was imprisoned for sharing the gospel, not allowed to go out about the town, hold gatherings, or do other missionary work to which he had been very accustomed. My guess is that is it precisely because he was imprisoned that he was able to write the important letters that later became books of our Bible: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. You see, if he was busy all day running around, doing the work of a missionary, he would never have had the time to sit, pray and contemplate to land on the mysteries that he wrote about, the inclusion of the Gentiles in the Kingdom of God. Ne...

 Towards the end of our recent Alaskan cruise, I asked my husband what one of his favorite parts of the trip was. What he shared so resonated with me, that I want to share it with you as well. He told me that he enjoyed our cruise "routine." After several such trips (we have taken 11 cruises together), we have developed some rhythms to our cruise days that we find much enjoyment in.   In the morning, unless we have an early excursion (which we try to avoid), we sleep until our bodies wake us up naturally. I love waking up without an alarm! After showering and getting ready for our day, we head to breakfast, which is usually in the Garden Cafe (NCL's buffet). Here they have a fabulous array of options, including our favorite, made to order omelets. On the Breakaway Plus class ships which all have a similar layout, we have a favorite area to eat - just outside of the buffet on the pool deck near a drink station. This gives us fresh air, beautiful views, the convenience of t...

In him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:21-22  The culture I live in, that of the United States and more particularly of the Pacific Northwest, is one of intense individuality. People pride themselves fiercely on their independence. There is a homeless man, Brian, who lives downtown that, despite having no where to lay his head and nothing to eat or drink, absolutely will not accept charity of any kind. He will not accept a book to read, although he is a voracious reader, or a meal with a family. His sense of independence is so strong it prevents him from connecting with those around him. I’ll confess that I’ve had judgmental thoughts about this, thinking him foolish or prideful, but this morning I am confronted with the truth that I am no less at fault in this area than he is, perhaps even more.   I have t...

  He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Ephesians 2:17-18  Peacemakers, that’s what we’re called to be. Jesus doesn’t want us to empower an us-and-them society where we seek to make ourselves greater at the expense of others. He has called us to One family, One people. While there is diversity and beauty in that family, and we can celebrate that, we cannot let it create division.   Jesus, through His sacrifice for us on the cross, set us free from slavery to sin and death, but He has not yet completely cleansed us of our sin nature – that comes when we are finally set free from this earthly existence and we get to be with Jesus, and like Him, because we see Him ( 1 John 3:2 ). So, as we muddle through this life, we will still occasionally fall prey to that sin nature inside us. That’s why we can be grateful that Jesus covered all of our sins, past and prese...

  Sometimes life isn't ideal. Let's face it, most of the time it isn't! So, we do what we need to, to make things work. In my "Making It Work" posts, I share life hacks and ideas that have helped me so that, maybe, they can help someone else too. I hope you enjoy!  Today's culture would like to have you believe that there are supports and accessibility options aplenty all around us. Many people I've spoken with have the impression that if you're in a wheelchair you get to skip the line wherever you go - especially in Disney parks. People have seen allergy information on menus, so most think that allergy friendly food is offered at most restaurants. The bad news is that just isn't reality. Yes, there may be options available, but it isn't likely that anyone will offer them to you. Yes, you sometimes get to skip the line, but that's only if you know to ask. And no, most restaurants are not  allergy friendly, and those that are usually only ha...

 As I mentioned before, I've been dreaming of Australia . I think it's good for me to have dreams . It keeps me excited about life and gives me something to look forward to. I decided that it would be beneficial for me to put feet to my dreams and start playing around with what it would take to make them come true. I know that once I get down under, I want to spend a few days in my first location, likely Sydney, Australia, then take a cruise that visits multiple ports in Australia and New Zealand, then spend a few days in my last location, likely Auckland, New Zealand. When I was trying to figure out when  to go, it made sense to look at the cruises first as they have particular start/end dates that have to be worked around.  There are a lot of cruise lines and itineraries to compare when you're looking at Australia and New Zealand. What I decided I was looking for was an itinerary that would get me to a few different ports in Australia and a few in New Zealand. That way ...

  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.   Ephesians 2:13  Have you ever felt like you were on the outside looking in? I don’t know about you, but in my experience, and in every Disney teen movie ever, there’s a group of kids at school that you are just not a part of, and clearly not welcome to be. I wonder if this is what the Gentiles felt like when they lived near or with the Jews.   You see, back in the day, the Jews were seen as God’s people. They were special, and other races weren’t. It’s not that the Jews were particularly good at being God’s people, they messed up A LOT. But God had chosen them on purpose, for a purpose. They were to demonstrate to the world God’s grace and usher in His kingdom. They got to demonstrate His grace by the fact that they messed up a lot and He loved them and used them anyways. Sound familiar? Yep, me too. And they got to usher in His kingdom because Jesus was born of ...

  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9  Grace is undeserved favor. You don’t deserve it. You can’t deserve it. That’s grace. By faith in God we can accept this grace gift extended to us. So how do we get that faith? Boy, it turns out there’s a lot written on that subject! I learned new words today as I read about it like monergism and synergism. My own understanding of this subject has shifted over the last year or so as I learn more, and here’s where I’ve landed – though I do not claim any particular divine revelation and I’m totally open to other opinions.   We are saved by faith, and that faith itself comes from God. In Hebrews 12:2 the NKJV reads, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the th...