Dirty, Smelly Feet

Dirty and Smelly Feet

When Jesus walked the earth it was the Jewish custom to offer guests water for foot-washing. The Israelites wore sandals instead of shoes, and usually went barefoot in the house, so frequent washing of the feet was a necessity.

Scripture refers to this duty of the host to give his guest water for the washing of his feet in Gen. xviii. 4, xix. 2, xxiv. 32, xliii. 24; Judges xix. 21.

Dirt was a given, and it was visible. People entered each other’s presence despite dirty, smelly feet.

How differently we live today when we try to clean ourselves up before we get together with others.

Of course, we aren’t always clean and perfect but we try not to show the dirt that’s within us and on us to others.

Our culture has phrases for dealing with our inner “dirt” like “getting our act together.” As if an act is a good thing when it’s really being fake, putting on an external facade. When painful feelings make us cry we speak of dissolving in tears or having a melt-down as if we’re disappearing when our emotions are becoming more real and visible.

Yet, when we can brave being real, dirt and all, really good things happen in us and in our relationships with others.

Christ sees our dirt, our inadequacies and He loves us even with the dirt and requires no “acting.” He’s always waiting to give us a wash, the clean-up and affirmation we need.

MY FREE E-BOOKS ON AMAZON THIS WEEK

Truth For Teens - Tips teens need to know but seldom hear plus good topics for parent & teen discussion. Wed. August 21

Love Always, Mom - A love story about God, a mom and her son. Wed. & Thurs. August 21 & 22

Romans 10:15:  As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

We Are What We Read

Planning What We Read

Author Bob Hostetler gave an excellent plenary speech at the Wheaton, IL Write-to-Publish conference this past Friday. I especially liked his idea of choosing the books you want to read each year and setting up a yearly reading plan for yourself.

My book selections are usually arrived at on the fly. A book passed on by a friend, a book review in the paper, a wander among the library shelves.

The idea of carefully planning my reading is new for me. I love it - whether I have time to read twenty or thirty books or eighty to a hundred per year as Bob does.

How wise, just as we are what we eat, we are what we read. I wouldn’t just grab anything on a supermarket shelf without giving some thought to what’s entering my body. Why should I be any less discriminating about my brain food?

Bob suggested we include a variety –like a good nutritional mix - some biography, autobiography, historical fiction, spiritual, contemporary fiction, classics, a couple of children’s books, even re-reading two or three books that impacted us in the past.

The idea of reading children’s books surprised me! Being a parent and grandparent is such fun because I got to read children’s literature again. But I never thought of reading this category for myself.

So what shall I choose for my list this year? I asked the gentleman in the picture below to give me suggestions for the plan that I’m going to begin in July. He wasn't helpful.

What books do you suggest? Let me know your favorite biography or historical fiction. 

Has any classic book other than the Bible inspired you enough to reread it every few years? 

What about a recommendation for a good mystery? You can leave a comment below if you wish.

Hunting for a Scripture about the wisdom of planning I found this gem: Isaiah 32:8 “But the noble make noble plans, and by noble deeds they stand.”

The titles of Bob Hostetler's books intrigued me: Don't check Your Brains At the Door, Quit Going to Church, The Bone Box, American Idols. I'm definitely putting one on my list. 

Don't miss Love Always, Mom  my  free e-book on amazon June 13-15th - a heart warming true miracle story of our son's healing. 

Blessings and love dear readers!

Incredibly thankful...

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you, two simple words but we write them with huge sincerity and deep gratitude. Your outpouring of love and prayers following the sudden death of our twenty-four-year old beloved grandson, Drew, has astounded us. Such love! So many of you have literally ached with us as we grieved his death. Those first days of shock were very tough. 

We continue to be saddened by our loss – if you knew Drew you can understand – he moved among people with unique charisma and reverent respect for each individual. To be with him was to become even more energized about life. He loved nature, delighted in even the size of radishes and the perfection of a single flower and listened to Harvard business school podcasts for fun because he loved ideas and learning.

It’s not a surprise that God would take Drew’s soul to be with him. It’s probably a wonder that God allowed him to be among us as long as he was. A disclaimer: All our grandchildren are extraordinary (as are yours if you’re a parent or grandparent ) but even his cousins knew Drew radiated a special kind of joy. I’m not implying he was perfect, he certainly wasn’t. He spent a year and a half battling addictions and trying to make sense of a world that wasn’t perfect and people who disappointed him and the beauty of it is DREW DID figure it out! He got his life together, worked two jobs with a passion for perfection and for serving others and was focused on sharing the spiritual truths he’d learned. His primary truth: God is real, God can always be depended upon (just like his Grandpa Wayne he often said) and heaven is a worthy goal for each of us.

In the two months before Drew died he started writing an inspirational blog that more than 2000 people have read. Even for one so young Drew lived with an awareness of the importance of keeping an eye on the goal of eternity with God. He shared this in his writings on Facebook and his blogs and in his last conversation with his brother, going through the travail of medical school studies: “Remember Jack, it’s all about Jesus.”

Drew's personal journal entries always ended with ACTS –adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication. Tamara read from his journal at his funeral: “Entry 1/9/2013  There is SO much I want out of life and so much God wants out of me.  I am so blessed to be called His son, to do His will.  He requires everything though, and whatever I give Him always brings fruit.  Hold up.  Everything I give to God bears fruit in my life.  What am I waiting for!  Today Lord I give You God my all in mind, body and spirit. Search my heart, and use me as you will.  I pray your power in my life be shown and your will be done.  You are real. You love me. You want me to know you. Take control today. Lord, in spite of all my sin and shortcomings, my heart is yours, AMEN!”

So dear friends, in answer to your question how are we doing, we are good, truly, yet those tears still pop up unexpectedly. I hear Drew speak phrases in my mind that stir sweet memories. But we’re all committed to moving forward knowing someone special has lived among us. Our prayers for Drew’s victory over drugs were realized. He died peacefully in his bed with no illegal drugs in his body. Three weeks later we still don’t have a cause of death even after autopsy and pathology reports, but we know he still lives on in heaven because our grandson dedicated himself totally to Christ.

We mourn our loss with supreme peace that God’s will and purpose have been completed for his life. Thank you for the comfort your love and prayers gave us. May you be blessed and also know the incomparable riches God has in store for all those who love Him.

***

If you didn’t know Drew well but would like to meet him, you can read his blogs at www.drewswan.com For those of you who couldn't attend any of his memorials you can watch the one put on by his amazing friends in Florida http://tinyurl.com/ckj4unj (set the viewing bar in 25 minutes to bypass intro music), or view one of the slide shows at www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SPfkqr1iXg‎ or perhaps watch Drew sing one of the songs he wrote: You gotta have faith.www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvB4cr9hSoA‎

Easter Thoughts

Easter Thoughts

I’ve been thinking a lot about Easter, the day that’s truly the root of all faith. I find it so revolutionary that the resurrected human being, Jesus who was dead, became alive again. And not just a human person, but a divine Being, the very one and only God.

Death to life - can this be possible? Of course if You’re moving in and out of the earthly reality that You spoke into existence. Jesus alone has the power to raise His bones and His Being to surprise and delight our merely human race.

And then on Pentecost He began the spark of divinity within all of us who will receive it. The Holy Spirit became front and center. This great God, Trinity, to whom I kneel every morning in praise of a new day. I know Christ rose on Easter, because I see His work among us.

This amazing God recharged my husband’s heart four weeks ago through the hands of a Jewish doctor, Gabi Silberman, and marvels provided by wonderful drug companies who invested in medical research so Wayne can forever carry a Pacemaker in his chest.

I saw the reality of Easter’s message in Wayne’s peace of mind as we entered the emergency room. His prayer, he told me later was: Whatever Lord You’ve planned is fine by me, altho I know my wife would like to have me around a little longer. (Got that right!!!) Wayne’s peace was so strong it could have been  blocked a gale force.

My seeing Easter’s confidence in him is not any wonder. My man starts each day sitting calmly on the sofa reading the Bible. No fanfare, no hoopla, wherever we travel, with friends, family or the two of us, he simply is attracted to absorbing more and more of God’s message to man.

Plus he can tell the funniest stories you’ve ever heard, he’s compassionate enough to get teary eyed in Les Mis, and he can’t pass an infirm person without silently praying. Yet he’s a guy’s guy, wild about golf, he ‘s dreaming of his upcoming trip to Canada. He’s got that something extra - the deep joy that comes to God’s very own, that God wants for all of us.

As we sat through that first night in intensive care, me in my hard rock recliner, inches from his bed next to me, holding hands through the bars with me watching pulse numbers behind him, he slept off and on between nurse’s attentiveness, and his peace never faltered. Whatever the Lord has in mind…simply stated, deeply believed.

This is where I saw Easter’s grace, Easter’s power not only in Wayne’s renewed gift of life for which we’re deeply grateful, but in the peace that prevails in life or death. I saw it in the man I’m privileged to call husband. The peace that exists for us all every day, God’s present to the living. It’s essence is caught in one of  my all time favorite Scriptures: “…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-8 May the peace that passes all understanding be yours every day! Happy, blessed holy, incomparable Easter!

My book Teen Truth, Answers For  Life’s Tough Questions in our Fantastic Family series was released on amazon this week. We labored over giving answers for questions about life aided by our daughter Pam who ministers with her family to teens. Pre-launch price is $2.99 until April 30^th the official launch date when it jumps to $7.99. Please pass the word around especially to teens and their parents. I’d also love it if you’d be so kind as to leave a review to help future readers decide to delve in. Our prayer is that Teen Truth will guide teens in our challenging culture. And perhaps some adults too who have unanswered questions about God and life.

[Please note: You’re receiving this blog because you are family or dear old friends, new friends, or attended a talk or seminar of mine or were in a social group with me or in some mysterious way ended on my blog list. If you’d prefer not to recive these please respond with unsubscribe in the message line.]

To read previous blogs click on the archives to your right.

On Writing

I've been invited to write my bio for a writer's association newsletter and submit a blog to the Tallahassee Democrat Newspaper. Self promotion is very difficult for me as it is for most writers. So  here goes...

First am I a writer? Yes, I suppose because I write. Yet twelve published books later, with seven in the works, I still wonder.

I do know why I began to write - because I can’t stand to be bored. My mind is packed with thoughts that bubble and burst, and somehow they’re clearer when written because alphabet letters catch the ideas and give order to them.

Writers need imagination and I lay claim to one. How to create an imagination? Take a young girl and give her a secluded childhood, place her near a forest to breathe in the wonder of nature, alcoholic parents so she’s largely ignored and a hungry mind.

Most of my writing has a spiritual component to it, I can’t stop that, nor do I wish to. I was a façade church person throughout my childhood; God was like the wallpaper in the kitchen, just part of the family experience. After the birth of the first two of my four children I questioned His existence. I was an atheist for a brief time, an agnostic for several years, and in my late twenties after a serious searching asked God for experiences to show me He was real.

Zow, bam, on and on, some by joy, many by sorrow, I came to experience the Presence that is permanent in this wild and wonderful, ever-changing world. My God is the Jewish God of Abraham, Yahweh, God the Father, the God Jesus and the Holy Spirit present and gifting me and all who will receive Him with love and peace and power to fulfill the purpose for which we’ve been created.

So I write edgy, contemporary devotionals, children’s fantasy adventure books to develop imagination and creativity like kids have never known before, a women’s mystery series although more of my amazon reviews have been written by men for my latest novel Directive 99. Oh, and I write books on marriage and family and parenting and grandparenting because I’m a professional marriage and family counselor and think the family is the most wonderful idea God ever had!

I've never before listed my books on this blog although I've mentioned several at one time or another.  They are:

Parent’s Treasurebox of Ideas, Tyndale House

52 Ways To Keep Your Promises As A Husband and Father, Kregel Publications

 A Woman’s Guide, 52 Ways To Choose Happiness and Fulfillment, Kregel Publications

Love Always, Mom, NJ Publications

The Adventures of Tommy Smurlee Series, Iuniverse Publishers

Tommy Smurlee and the Missing Statue, Iuniverse Publishers

Triumphing Over Cancer, NJ Publications

Hey, I’ve Got ADHD, Here’s How You Can Help, NJ Publications.

Hey, I’ve Got Cancer, Here’s How You Can Help, NJ Publications

Directive 99, IUniverse Publications

Breathless Minute Meditations E-book, Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas

Grandma and Grandpa’s Special Stories, Fantastic Family Publications

Each book is available at amazon or my website: www.judithrolfs.com.

My blog, Thoughts on Fun, Faith and Family, has family tips and dabs of inspiration for focusing on the joy in every day. www.judithrolfs.blogspot.com

[The top two pictures are of my writing buddy Alex waiting to go for a walk then giving up while I work at my desk. The bottom one is a book signing at BooksAMillion in Tallahassee for my contemporary mystery Directive 99.]

Gratitude and Loss

Thoughts of God, thoughts of gratitude go together. Every day a roof to shelter me, central heat, physical warmth - a reminder to seek the Center for soul warmth as well, for teeth to chew the delightful texture of food, for shoes, always something to find, pause and consider with awe and simple thanks.

Coldness and ingratitude, each a terrible thing. A cold soul seems as if it must shrivel the organs, distort one’s being. I’ve seen serenity on the face of homeless people and seen frigidity and yes even fear on the faces of the rich.

Faces say a lot, happy clown, sad clown. I know from counseling people with depression that gratitude brings a sweetness that shows and stirs deep.

My first thought this day wasn’t of gratitude but of loss, fear I left my treasured little red Bible at the last resort I stayed at. Before I started writing I searched everywhere in my new lodgings. Losses disturb me, pieces of something that touched me, my life, left behind never to be enjoyed again.

I finally stopped searching, soul-seared, after all it’s only a thing I object to mislaying and forgetting, I have Scripture of value in my heart and another book can be purchased, thank God for the means – and now someone else may be blessed I pray with this pretty little Bible.

I consider the greater loss, will there be a soul shown into hell today and how sad the loss to God and to the community of faith.

What might be said to a frigid face I meet this day to point them to gratitude, to God, to their place in heaven?

 

Micah 6:8

“…what is good and what the Lord requires of you:

Only to act justly,

To love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Breathless Devotionals published by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas - more thoughts about God. Be blessed.

A Thought Catcher

From the vantage of my lifetime of counseling, I’m occasionally asked what message I’d give women today. Here’s my humbly offered answer:

Be a thought checker, desire not just any thoughts but ones that stir your soul because souls are quite important and they get too little attention today.

If you doubt this, consider when were you last asked, “How’s your soul doing?” When women get together do they chat about dates, or husbands if they’re married, kids, jobs, or what’s spiritually inspired them recently? Do young women know more about latest fashion trends and body supplements than about soul nourishment?

So my advice is to think deep, go deep with God. Make sure you’re thinking your own thoughts. This means taking time to examine ideas you absorb from our culture, being sure you agree and approve. Make sure faith is yours, one that you’ve studied through yourself.

What are your soul goals? We’re only a month into the New Year. How about forming some soul goals?

What might these look like? Maybe memorize one Scripture verse that really speaks to you of God’s love for you. Carry it in your head forever.

Find a favorite passage all your own that comforts you and turn to it often.

Read about a person deeply spiritual who lived before, how did they live out real faith and how might you take a lesson for your own life?

Open your mouth. Ask questions. Speak about the huge romance, the exciting mystery of God with someone with whom you’ve never had the conversation before. 

Leash any passion that’s ungodly – overeating, overspending, overdoing - and release every passion that’s godly. Pretty simple, pretty strong – that’s God’s plan for woman.

Also be your own stylemaker. Set the trend that fulfills your deepest longing and moral yearning for truth and beauty and goodness.

If you have children make sure you teach them to think for themselves, to study ideas, give them quiet times to reflect. My character Quid in the Tommy Smurlee series often speaks a famous quote or makes up a life thought that fits the occasion he’s in. He’s always thinking.

Married gals remember marriage is about stirring more than scrambled eggs or cake batter. Stir the souls of your spouse, become real soul-mates. Talk about cultural questions, unresolved fears. Getting back to Scripture: read a chapter together with your husband and children after dinner, or ONE verse at every meal. Probe the Bible until an applicable idea  pierces you.

Want an exciting, non-boring life packed with joy days? Go deeper with the giver of every good and perfect gift, the God who is the huge I AM and the amazing Always Was.

Speak, ask, listen. S-A-L every day.

The women who charge the home, the work place, the world get charged first with spiritual energy and keep their souls strong.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

A few thoughts, a reminder to me as well.