I'm Moving!

Becky's Blog is moving to Wordpress!

I'm very excited and very grateful to my friend, Nibby, for all of his work and his willingness to teach me all kinds of things. I'm really excited about the new site.

Basically, things might be shaky for a day or two while the domain changes over!

The site will still be beckydurham.net and you'll arrive there automatically if you type that/keep that link.

The RSS feed will change, so if you've subscribed or are using it in a widget, you'll need to update from the new site.

Here we go! Thanks for reading!

John 9: The Meeting

(This is part 4 of a four part series on John 9)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

John 9:35-41

Remember, the man had never actually seen Jesus. Jesus applied the mud and sent the man to Siloam, so when Jesus approaches, he wouldn't have recognized him. "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" Jesus asks.

The man is excited, I'm sure--show me where he is! He had no idea that his miracle worker is before him.

Jesus went looking for the man, and to me, that's a very important part of this story. The man, who had been tossed aside by his community, all alone in his post-miracle joy, is found by Jesus.

Jesus, who has crowds following him everywhere he goes, went looking for just one guy--a guy he had already helped! When no one else wanted to stand with this man, when no one else wanted to acknowledge him or what this dramatic change in his life really meant, Jesus was there. This one person mattered to Jesus.

No gimmicks, no steps to salvation, no scare tactics. A simple question: Do you believe? A simple answer: Lord, I believe. Jesus' miracle has changed this man forever...and gotten him exiled from his religious community. But he can see! And he is befriended by Jesus! And he devotes himself to his new Lord through worship.

This man didn't know Jesus when he woke up that morning. He had no idea that he was going to watch the sun go down that evening with new eyes. It was Jesus who came to him and healed him (healed him before he confessed Jesus as Lord, by the way). It was Jesus who found him later and let him in on the Messianic secret.

That man mattered to Jesus. People matter to Jesus. You matter to Jesus.

I love this story because it's a beautiful picture of Jesus, our leader and savior and Lord, and his ministry, work and purpose. It's a beautiful picture of the kind of work to which we are called--seeking and serving those who need help and healing and then being there as they believe and worship and follow, too. As we follow, may we serve like Jesus. As we believe, may we worship like the man.

John 9: The Investigation

(This is part three of a four part series on John 9.)

Part 1

Part 2

John 9:13-34

Any joy this man must have felt about his unexpected miracle was unfortunately short-lived. I can imagine him racing back to the place of his healing--not crawling, not healing, not haphazrdly limping. I imagine him running back to the place where he met Jesus.

Except now Jesus isn’t there. He finds himself surrounded by neighbors.

I feel like this man spends this part of the chapter with people acting like he’s not actually there. They all seem to talk around him. Maybe that was how they usually treated him--maybe his blindness made him less of a member of the community.

The neighbors had been unable to agree on whether or not he was actually the man born blind, so they hand deliver this man to the Pharisees. These religious leaders call for an account of what happened. When the man shares his story--his testimony--they focus on one thing.

The mud. The man who healed the blindness did it by making mud.

The Pharisees argue. They accuse. They fault-find.

The man stands by.

The Pharisees bring in the man’s parents.

I wonder if the man’s heart jumped a little bit--his parents were here. His parents who had raised him, who had lived with his blindness as long as he had! Finally! Someone who can validate his story. Someone who will be just as excited and joyful at his healing as he felt inside!

I wonder if his parents acknowledged his presence? They certainly did not acknowledge the miracle. Not wanting to lose their standing in the Jewish community, the man’s parents all but turn their backs to him--”You’ll have to ask him. He’s of age,” was what they would offer.

The Pharisees don’t want to be challenged, so they send him away with harsh words--you’re a sinner and you don’t count. Get out. Just like that, the man is excommunicated.

This man has been blind for as long as he has been alive and now, today, he has 20/20 vision! He must be ready to pop with excitement. Instead, he found himself in the midst of a trial about his character, his healing, his validity. The verdict? Guilty.

When you or I are miraculously changed, when amazing things happen in our lives, when we have an encounter with Jesus that leaves us full of wonder and joy...

There will be people like the neighbors who refuse to affirm and encourage.

There will be people like the Pharisees who argue, interrogate, accuse and exile.

There will be people like the parents who refuse to acknowledge the miracle.

Things will happen in your life that are grace-filled, miraculous and exciting. Overjoyed, you’ll turn to celebrate and you’ll run right into a Pharisee or loved one who wants to take it from you. They key is this: you can’t control the things that these people say to you or say about you. You can control your reaction.

At no point does this man waiver in his certainty about what happened to him. He has yet to see Jesus with his new eyes, but he knows what Jesus did. The man does not know what kind of a man Jesus is, but the man knows this: he was blind, now he’s not and Jesus was the one who made that happen.

You and I can hold on to what we know is true, too. You are a child of God, created in God’s image. The are the recipient of lavish, extravagant, eternal grace. You have a calling and a purpose. When people attack, interrogate and try to diminish you, remember those things and stand tall.

You might feel alone, but you’ll find that you’re not alone.

(Tomorrow Part 4: The Meeting)

John 9: The Miracle

(Part two of a four part series on John 9.)

Part 1

John 9:4-12

This is a miracle that is fun to act out with children. Especially children who are boys. Basically, Jesus heals with spit. It’s gross and glorious at the same time.

I always thought this was funny--Jesus, why are you going out of your way to make mud with your spit? Obviously Jesus could have simply touched the man to restore his site. He could have just spoken the words.

Jesus is making a point. It’s the Sabbath and he’s kneading spit into dirt--that’s not allowed.

“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (v. 4-5) For Jesus to heal on the Sabbath is just and necessary.

This is, of course, what is going to get the Pharisees involved in this whole situation. Who is Jesus, this Jewish Rabbi with a dirty band of followers, to break Sabbath law?

Here’s what I love about this whole story: The blind man in question? The one who’s at the center of this discussion? I imagine that he’s just minding his own business, going about his regular day. All of a sudden, he finds himself in the middle of an object lesson.

And then this Rabbi? He puts spitty mud on his eyes and sends him to wash in the pool that is called “Sent.” (Sent like the man...sent like Jesus). And the man is healed.

HEALED! At the most unexpected time!

I mean, the man had been blind his whole life. I realize that to consider much about the man’s background and attitude, we have to read a little bit between the lines and apply basic human nature principles to the situation (which is common in the Bible--authors weren’t really concerned about whether or not the 21st Century Reader understood what the subjects were thinking), but I imagine the last thing the man expected was that he would be able to see at the end of the day.

His whole life, he’s been blind.

It is the Sabbath.

Unexpected.

A miracle, for sure.

I consider the number of times I’ve sat or stood by a friend going through an unspeakable heartache, cried with someone so frustrated by life’s curveballs, hurt with someone dealing with something he or she is sure is terminal. I have a line that I use a lot: “Just hang on. Things can change when you least expect it.”

A couple of weeks ago, a friend asked for prayer because he was finding himself suddenly homeless. He was distraught. There was no way out. Nothing good would ever be again. This was it.

“Just hang on. Things can change when you least expect it.”

The next day, an update: a friend had asked him to make the trip to her hometown and stay with her family while he gets back on his feet. All was not over. Help came from the most unexpected place.

I believe it because time and again, I’ve been the recipient of such wonderful, miraculous, unexpected grace. I understand the blind man’s joy and surprise.

If you’re in a dark place and it seems hopeless, hang on! Miracles are usually surprises.

Tomorrow: John 9: The Interrogation

10 Things I'd Like To Learn

1. How to play the guitar

2. Italian

3. How to raise saltwater fish

4. How to run a race (I'm working on it)

5. How to bake sweet potato fries without burning them

6. How to knit without making 5,000 mistakes

7. How to straighten my hair like Cindy at Shine does

8. How to gracefully stop my bike

9. How to cash a book advance check (ha...)

10. How to say witty things when they count and not just think of them much later

John 9: The Question

(There are a lot of reasons I have this blog, but one of the main reasons is that it is an opportunity to improve my writing skills. I try to use a variety of different styles and topics and formats. I’ve not done a series blog yet. I decided to use one of my very favorite passages of Scripture and create a four part post about it. As always, thanks for reading.)

This is the first of a four part post on John 9.

John 9:1-7

The disciples are walking with Jesus. The blind man is minding his own business. All of a sudden the disciples

turn the blind man into a group object lesson.

“Hey, Jesus. Here’s a blind guy! Did his parents sin or did he sin?”

It’s so interesting to me that this is the question. It really causes me to have a lot more questions:

1. He was born blind, right? So how could it be because of his sin? Because of the sin that God knew would be in his life? That makes my head hurt.
2. It’s completely not fair that he would be punished for his parents’ sins, right? (I know, it’s a cultural belief. I’m just sayin’.)
3. How do the disciples know anything about him in the first place? Where do they get off using him as an example?
4. What are they trying to prove? What’s the point of their whole discussion?

Of course, it’s a cultural question. The common belief is that bad things happen to bad people. You are blind? It must be someone’s punishment! Jesus’ response is counter-cultural: No one is being punished. “He was born blind so God’s works could be revealed in him.”

This is quite possibly my very least favorite answer given by Jesus anywhere in Scripture.

What? This man has spent his entire life without his sight to give God glory?

Just like I wrestled with Soren Kierkegaard about the justness of God “using” Isaac and creating intense agony in Father Abraham’s heart in Genesis 22, I wrestle with this. It just doesn’t seem fair. This man has spent his whole blind just so that Jesus could heal him today?

One of the things I decided early in my walk with Christ was that I trust God to always be just. I don’t have to understand God’s ways, I don’t have to always have an answer for what’s happening, but I can always trust that whatever God is doing is right.

Are there situations or conditions in my life, in the lives of people I love that exist so that God can be glorified? I don’t know, but I think so.

“...Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Cor 12:7-10

Could it be that sometimes, God is glorified when we are weak? Yes.

Could it be that God can take a “bad” situation and do something amazing? Yes.

Have I seen this in my life? For sure. I have had dark moments, struggled with hard scenarios and lived with all kinds of pain--and I look back at them now and I can see clearly how God moved and redeemed.

For now, this man is the subject of discussion. In a moment, his life will be changed forever.

Wednesday: “John 9: The Miracle.”

Saturday Afternoon View

(At Audubon Park)

--Posted using Blogpress

Not The Only Solution

Last night, I was glancing through my twitter stream and I saw a particular blog post was being re-tweeted at a high frequency. The author was @hughlh (known in real life as Hugh Hollowell) and he tweets things like:

@hughlhTo look at my twitter followers, you would think I was Presbyterian. (Not that there is anything wrong with that...)

Anyway, I was wondering what was up with all the re-tweeting, so I clicked on the link in another friend's tweet. The post on his site is called "What Can The Church Do To Eliminate Homelessness?" and you should go read it now. It struck a chord with me.

The post ends this way:

The question we really want to ask, but nobody has the guts, the cajones, or the simple intestinal fortitude to ask is

“How can the church end homelessness – and yet keep all of this? “

Simple.

We can’t.

That's a hard truth for me to swallow.

As a Church, we spend a lot of time asking questions like how can we end homelessness/the AIDS epidemic/the war in Darfur/child slavery/the exploitation of women?

But the truth is, at the end of our question, there's always an implied "...and yet keep all of this?" Of course we want social justice! Of course we want to end poverty! Of course we care about widows and orphans--as long as it doesn't mean giving up all the justice, riches and family we enjoy!

I'm just as guilty. I wrote the other day about how I'm throwing up my hands about gas prices. A woman stood in front of me needing gas. I mentioned that our church sometimes is able to help people in need, but what about me personally? Yes, sometimes I do personally help the people I meet in or out of the church who need help. Depending on the situation, I've shared food, items or cash with people in need--and Jason and I do give to the church's benevolence fund.

But...

If I had cash to pay our utility bill in my purse and a young mother came in needing cash to pay her utility bill, I would feel bad for her and I would pray for her and I would give her a list of resources and places to call, but I won't go pay her utility bill instead. I want to help her, but not at such a great personal cost. Jason and I don't make enough money to pay two utility bills and if I pay hers instead of ours, I'll be the one calling the places on that resource list.

Tomorrow, the Youth Group will teach the Kids' Club children the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 (Luke 9:10-17). The Disciples were perfectly happy to send the crowd away when they got hungry. Jesus didn't allow for that. The Disciples were hungry themselves and didn't want to be bothered by the hunger and needs of the masses. But Jesus had another way: "You give them something to eat," He commanded/suggested.

So, I ended my last entry this way: "I'm praying for people who are going without today because they have no choice. It's the only solution I have right now."

It should read: "...It's the only solution I'm personally willing to allow for right now." Because it's not the only solution and it's not the solution to which Jesus calls the Church or the Disciples.

Fuelin' Up

As I got out of my car, I groaned and the guy fueling up on the other side of the gas pump smirked. "It hurts, doesn't it?" He asked.

I mentally calculated how much a full tank of gas was going to cost at $3.65 a gallon. I traded complaints with the guy on the other side, who informed me that filling up his huge pick up truck was going to cost close to $100.

I sighed as I watched the number climb. I resisted the urge to stop the pump, because I knew I needed the gas and if I didn't fill it up today, I'd be back soon enough to top off. I remembered being in college in Evansville and driving to Henderson for gas because it was only 88 cents a gallon.

It's so frustrating, isn't it? Gas is so expensive. /complaining

I'm not feeling political about the price of gas. However, I will say this:

1. The rising cost sure is making me conserve gas more. The higher the number at the pump, the more efficient I become with my errands and trips. For example, I used to head to Evansville once a week or so. Now I evaluate the importance of the trip before I go.

2. I try to buy all of my gas at the nearby CountryMark station. CountryMark uses American refined oil from the Illinois basin--so it's local, even.

But here's the thing: as much as I complain? I'm still able to go to the gas station and fill up my car whenever I need to do it. I may do my best to conserve the gas in my tank, but if I need to go somewhere--work, the doctor, coffee with a friend in Evansville...I'm going, and if I don't have enough gas to get there, I'll stop on the way. This won't be true for much longer if gas continues to climb--there will come a point where I just can't afford a full tank whenever I need it. For some people, that's a reality of right now.

"I just need to get my mom to Evansville for her doctor's appointment," the young lady told me in the church fellowship hall the other day. "She has to go. I've been everywhere, no one has funds." Our church does try to meet needs like this--we have a very limited amount of funds for this. It used to be that we could give someone a $20 gas voucher for a local gas station and that would be a lot of gas...not so much now that gas is $3.73/gallon (today's price in Henderson).

I feel much concern for the people that are hurt most by the rising gas prices--there are people who no matter how important their errands and trips are, they cannot afford it. And I run into them every day and their stories are difficult. And it's hitting more places than the gas station--been to the grocery store lately?

I'm praying for people who are going without today because they have no choice. It's the only solution I have right now.

#RunRevRun

So...this happened:

http://runrevrun.net/

http://runrevrun.net/authors/

Oh, believe me, I was/am probably as surprised as you are. God does unexpected things when I'm not really paying attention. I'm excited about what this site can do and that I get to be a part of it. I'm also a tiny bit terrified that I'll be the worst health and fitness blogger in the history of forever blogging.

My first original post (the second one is scheduled to post tomorrow):

http://runrevrun.net/2011/new-beginnings/

Two pieces from this blog about relevant topics used to help populate the site with content:

http://runrevrun.net/2011/02/run-run-run/

http://runrevrun.net/2010/04/five-ingredients/

It's a new site and we're still working on building it and our author list. My co-authors span a wide range of locations, professions, denominations and types of fitness interest and they are all very talented and some of their articles are already up and some of their articles are coming soon!

You can follow us on twitter

You can "like" us on facebook

We also have an RSS feed (fancy!)

10 Podcasts

I listen to Podcasts (that I download from iTunes) regularly. I love them for two reasons: there are so many of them that are interesting, entertaining or informative and they are free, which is my very favorite price!

Ten Podcasts I subscribe to and listen to regularly:

1. Stuff You Should Know (from howstuffworks.com)

2. NPR's "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me" (the very best thing on radio and in podcasting, in my opinion)

3. Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips

4. This American Life

5. APM: Dinner Party Download

6. Stuff Mom Never Told You (from howstuffworks.com)

7. Modern Manners Guy

8. TEDTalks

9. NPR: All Songs Considered

10. God Complex Radio

My Dad

I just got off the phone with my Papa. He checks into the hospital at 12:01 a.m. for first thing in the morning knee replacement surgery.

If you (yes, you!) could pray for him and for his doctors, that would be awesome.

Update (11:00 a.m.) As expected, everything went just fine with the surgery. Dad's in recovery. Thanks for praying!

Spring Is Here

Jonas and nephew Nolan biking at Angel Mounds this afternoon. This "before" picture is a lot less muddy than their "after" picture.

Saturday Morning

I'm feeling a lot of things this morning:

(let's get the less wonderful ones out of the way first)

Disappointment: The child tried to pull a fast one last night. Typical 12 year old kid stuff, but still disappointing. His parents are pretty sharp however and we figured it out kind of quickly. He gets to do some chores this morning and we get to sit back and watch him.

Hurt: About a situation that is out of my control.

Concern: For people in my life who are struggling with health issues or grief issues or just all the pain that sometimes rains down.

(and now the upswing)

Successful: I survived another April Fool's Day without falling for the usual pranks and trickery (sorry to my friend Melissa who posted that she's pregnant and I immediately replied that I don't believe anything posted on April 1 and then accidentally led all of her friends in a conspiracy against her....and she's actually going to have a baby in November.)

Excitement: About a new (extra-curricular) project/team that I joined this week. There are some really amazing possibilities that go along with it and it will challenge me as a leader and as a writer. More details about this in the next week, I hope!

Nervous: The above project will challenge me in some other ways too, and I'm anxious about whether or not I'll be able to meet those challenges (but hopeful that I will)..

Peace: It's Spring Break and I'm taking some time off.

Joy: About the quiet, beautiful, unplanned day ahead. Nothing I need to accomplish. No chores that need to be done (by me, anyway).

Hopeful: That even though I'm pretty inadequate, God still calls me to do some really unbelievable things.

Grateful: For my family and the wonderful friends and supporters God places in my life.

Loved.