Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage: My Journey to a Deeper Faith in the Land Where Jesus Walked by Lynn Austin

 

Lynn Austin

 The word means to take a journey for a purpose. This journey is about the end destination, but even more about the sojourning. About the traveling.  

A pilgrimage is embraced and experienced. It pivots on the place you have chosen to go. How you chose to get there. Who you will travel with. What will you take with you? What will you leave behind? Sounds like a vacation. Perhaps, but it is far more.

Pilgrimages begin first in the interior, and the journey is the outward manifestation.

Recently I read a cathartic book that stirred my heart to hunger for a pilgrimage. Lynn Austin’s newest book is called simply:

Pilgrimage.

Lynn journeys to the Holy Land. She walked where Jesus walked. She went worn, frazzled and depleted. But oh, what God can do when we put ourselves in his hands, when we give our pilgrimages over to him and allow him to plan the itinerary. This book is the fruit of a many day journey through barren desert, tangled wilderness, lush oasis and sacred places. Lynn captures each one in a fresh way. She tells her story gently. Easily. In several chapters I thought I was actually reading her journal.  

Lynn’s account of traveling through Hezekiah’s Tunnel riveted me. Not just because of the physicality of the underground trek, but because something terrifyingly beautiful was birthed in Lynn in that tunnel. I squeezed through the tunnel with her, water up to my thighs, dark hovering before my face and following someone I don’t quite know.

And isn’t that what all good and significant books do? They draw you into the middle of the experience. They pull you into the story and you find yourself present.

Lynn Austin’s Pilgrimage set me down in the middle of the Holy Land. 

Undone

Our God is always doing a new thing. Always. Just when I think I’m settled and easing along in a comfort zone He does a new thing.

 

Back in January midst snow and ice and frigid temperatures an opportunity opened for me to speak to a group of women who had been studying Dee Brestin’s Idol Lies. He opened a place for me to share a message, to share a hope and to share my heart.  

The women were beautiful. Diverse. Engaged. Hungry.

Incredible was that day. When the Spirit  slides you into your gifting it is a beautiful, horribly wonderful thing. It scares the time right out of you because you know you can’t do it on your own. There is nothing you can drum up, nothing you can pull up out of yourself. So, you ask Him. Ask Him to show up. And he does.

Glory he does.

There were many ways our God manifested his presence with and in us that day. My precious friend the worship leader (and coordinator of the event) opened with a song I had never heard before. And oh, what a voice the Father has given her.

As I stood taking in the words I hovered in a thin place between my feet on the ground and my head rimming the edges of heaven. For a few minutes I actually forgot where I was except that I was wholly and holy in his presence. He knew what I needed to speak. He knew what I needed to have the courage to share.

I bless him still.

The song? Hillsong United’s Oceans: Where Feet May Fail.

Today I listened to it again at the request of my daughter. And the swell of praise pushed on the walls of my spirit and the words that came out of my mouth?

I am undone. Undone.

 

Please take the time to click on the following clip. Yes, it’s long. Over 7 minutes. But it will be a seven minutes invested not wasted.

My prayer is that, you too, will be undone.

 

 

 

Yum Yum Coffee Cake--A Titus 2 Story

Many years ago, almost twenty, God placed me on a parallel path with a wonderful woman. While our lives intersected she taught me so much, even now I will do something and realize that the seed, the idea or the method came from her example. God sent her into my life when I was a harried and frantic young mother with four children. Four children under the age of seven. We went to her house often.

I often watched her quiet, calm and determined ways and attempted to implement them in my life. She was a strong personality—a steel hand in a cashmere glove. I look at my life now and realize much of what I know about a servant’s demeanor and a prayer warriors’ heart and an open door of hospitality was molded by her example and character.

Peggy and Howard (her sweet husband)

All the time I knew her she battled cancer. There were seasons of remission, and through prayer and faith in our God she held cancer back. She prayed audaciously during that time. She went boldly before his throne, not out of arrogance, but because she believed in the faithfulness of God. She had several reasons to pray persistently. She wanted to see her children grown, wanted to see them into maturity (They became beautiful people, both her daughter and son). I know she asked the Lord for time, time to accomplish these things, and he gave it to her.

Her name was Peggy. A nickname for Margaret. My girls called her Ms. Peggy. Peggy was a Titus 2 woman in my life. She mentored me without ever calling it such. She instructed me without ever lecturing. She taught me without ever being didactic. She led me by example. She was the seed God used to begin the growth of intercessory prayer in my own life.

One of the most vivid memories I have of Peggy connects to how she put feet to her faith and prayers. If she said she would pray for you she did, but often those prayers would be accompanied with a meal. But what I remember most is her Yum Yum Coffee Cake.

Peggy baked these breakfast treats in large batches and kept them frozen—ready to pull out and take to someone in need. She baked them in round, disposable aluminum pans (so no one needed to worry about returning them). She covered them with cellophane and then wrapped them in foil for protection. She delivered them with a handwritten card, a real smile and gentle pat. I remember her hands, her handwriting (I still have her cards), and the sound of her voice.

Peggy with her daughter Elizabeth on her wedding day. God answers prayers!

At Christmas this year I found Peggy’s coffee cake recipe and made it for the first time in many, many years. I made it mostly for my husband who loves sweets with coffee on lazy Saturday mornings. As I made the recipe I thought about Peggy. While that coffee cake baked and the scent wafted through the kitchen he reminded me of lessons learned in her kitchen long ago.

Peggy taught me to do more than just tell someone you would pray for them. She taught me to pray immediately. If not you would might get sidetracked and forget she explained. Peggy also taught me to give. Give time and effort and thought—whether it be a meal, a gift or a coffee cake.

Peggy taught me that putting feet on your faith is not nearly as complicated as we often make it. Sometimes it’s just as simple as making a breakfast cake and delivering it for no reason other than to make someone’s day. 

I bless and thank God for Peggy’s enduring example and her lasting legacy.

Here’s Peggy’s recipe. Enjoy it with your own family on a lazy Saturday morning. Make an extra one and deliver it with prayer to someone else.

That's what Peggy would want you to do.

 

Peggy’s Yum Yum Coffee Cake—in memory of her own mother Genevieve von Allmen.

(Use 1 stick of butter to replace oleo.)

 



Peggy's recipe--found in the Big Hill Avenue Christian Church Cookbook.

 

 

 

2013's Word--FAITH

Whole. Prayer. Faith. Worship. Watch.

These have been my tag words in recent years. Words used to guide, steer and focus the 365 days of a given year. These words have been oars in the water. They have been rudders on my boat. They have been reins on the wild horses of my spirit. And they have been anchors dropped deep.

Last year my word was given to me before I really even contemplated it. The Spirit handed it to me through the sweet gift of a friend in the form of a silver necklace.

2013’s word was FAITH.

I thought I had plenty.

I believed that it to be strong. I confessed it repeatedly. But I didn’t realize what God had in store—what he had waiting.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for but not seen. In 2013 I watched God cause my faith to become sight. An eight week Bible study became a pivot point of faith and a catalyst of change for many. A prayer of faith for someone quite ill and sick became a canvas on which God painted his faithfulness and compassion. An almost decade long dream became a reality in the last days of 2013—a dream that involved risk and trust. And yet there it was before me.

But this faith was not sight during the year. Only here at the end as I look back do I see faith manifest. I realize now Faith told me to trust what or rather who I could not see. Faith encouraged me to move forward when I was fearful of even switching positions. Faith allowed ideas and ideals to become flesh. Faith revealed the weak spots in me, but assured me that it is in these very spots God is strong.

Not just any faith, but faith in God the Father who was and is and is to come.

At the end of the year right before Christmas a friend came to where I work and handed me a gift.  A wood carving of the word faith. In the top of the T was a candle—faith has a light to shine.

My friend remembered my 2013 word.

That gift and that word now sit on my mantle to remind me.

 

My FAITH word with my Willow Tree Sculptures.
 (The couple is Steve and Me. Each of the others represents one of our eight daughters.)

To remind me of what God can do. Of what God will do. If we have faith. Without it we cannot please him. And sometimes in order to have it we have to step out into places we cannot go on our own. We must purposefully decide to move beyond our comfort zones and strengths so we are not relying on what we already have or know.  Faith reminds me God can move mountains. If we ask he can toss them into the sea and they will be swallowed whole. Or he will help us traverse them.  Either way he is with us. Either way we will grow. Either way we will mature.

This faith is not in myself. It is not in my ability to do, be or say the right things. Faith is not about formula. Faith is not about pulling up our boot straps, sucking it up, getting over it or God helps those who help themselves.

NO!

Faith is believing God will do what he says he will do. It is believing regardless of sight. It is trusting regardless of evidence. Our God will do what he has promised to do—in one way or another. At the right time. In the right moment. At the right place. Faith believes this. Faith lives this.

Now it is time to choose a new word for a new year. What is God wanting me to know, to change, to become, to address, to embrace, to lay aside and to see this year?

In the next 357 days what revelation does he have for me? What unfolding will he give me?

 

I think I've found my 2014 word. I'll tell you about it soon.

And perhaps you might choose a word? One word. Just one.

I think you just might be surprised. 

 

Resources to aid you in this journey:

 

myoneword.org--Mike Ashcraft's website

My One Word by Mike Ashcraft--book

One Perfect Word by Debbie Macomber.

A Holy Experience —Ann Voskamp’s blog

 

A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet by Sophie Hudson 

 

Love the cover!

Sophie Hudson is the author of the Boo Mama blog. http://boomama.net/ . I read her book this summer at the beginning of our vacation. The book is exactly what the title promises. We spend our days eating and digesting a lot of sugar, and I don’t just mean the granulated stuff that has been hidden (in some form or another) in things we would never dream would need sugar. Days need to have salt too.

One of my favorite snacks in the world is dark chocolate covered pretzels (not milk chocolate). There’s something wonderful about the combination of semi-sweet and salt. I guess it’s because our taste buds are designed to detect both of these—and to do so at the same time is a marvelous experience. Sophie is the queen of getting this combination, our need for a little salty in our literary and spiritual diet, balanced in her writing. Her wonderful, southern spun stories and recollections caused me to laugh out loud more than once, but then there was a sweetness that would linger.

Certainly I hope we see another book come from her pen (cursor, keyboard) soon.

 

Sophie Hudson, aka BooMama

Taste and See

Taste and see that the LORD is good…
Psalm 34:8a

Back in the summer when the tomatoes were heavy on the vines a very good friend (who is also an incredible cook) gave me a wonderful recipe. I am not sure where she found the original version, but I know that she and I both tweaked it to suit our own families. Isn’t that the way of all really good recipes? They lend themselves to change.

I washed the cherry and grape tomatoes: red, yellow and black. Left them whole, and I filled the casserole dish with them. Then I poured in olive oil. Rich and thick. Minced garlic next—the scent immediate and so recognizable. I added Italian seasonings until the tomatoes had freckles. Finally sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper. I stirred all these ingredients together making sure the tomatoes were coated. Then I popped them in the oven. Later this incredible aroma wafted through the kitchen into the den and I followed it. I couldn’t resist. I opened the oven door and stood above the opening so the scent would rise.

Later, when we were sitting at the dinner table I took my first bite. Oh my. I closed my eyes and took my second bite. Perhaps the pleasant aesthetic appearance had swayed me. The wonderful red against the creamy white of the goat cheese and the thick crusty French bread was quite lovely to me. (Don’t allow the goat cheese to hinder you from trying this recipe. I had never tried goat cheese before this, and the thought just wasn’t appealing. Little did I know.)

I took another bite. No. It tasted better than it looked.

I turned to my husband and very matter-of-factly said, “This is better than chocolate.”

My daughter chortled.

My husband’s reaction was priceless. Many of you know about the relationship I have with dark chocolate. There is little to rival it.

I had heard, read and used the word savor before, but in that moment I understood what it meant. I experienced it.

To savor. To enjoy immensely. To relish. To absorb the essence.

And so when the Psalmist says to us, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” I now understand. Savor the Lord he exhorts.  

Our Father wants us to savor our relationship with him. To enjoy it immensely. To relish every moment and aspect of it. To absorb the essence of him. He meant for us to enjoy him. Taste and see.

My friend, Alicia, gave me the recipe. She gave me tips. She even gave me a different variety of tomatoes to mix with mine. But the bottom line? I had to make the recipe in order to taste and see. Anything God calls me to do will follow this pattern. He will give me the recipe. He’ll give me everything I need in order to make it. But I have to actually do so. If I want to taste.

God asks me to take a risk. And the only thing I can think of at the moment is what will I lose? What will it cost? What will be said? Or unsaid? I won’t know the flavor of the risk until I take it. I won’t be given the provisions until I begin to mix in the bowl.

Life is about the savor. It is about the rich taste and see experiences. It is not read about it and surmise. It is not listen to someone else’s description and suppose. It is about you and me—tasting and seeing for ourselves. 

(My disclaimer: I am NOT a professional cook or chef (not at all Rachel Ray or Ree Drummond); I just like to spend time in the kitchen. I love new recipes, new foods. The recipes I share here will not be perfect, but they might be something different to help you out of the dinner rut—preparing the same things over and over. I get so frustrated during the dinner ruts. Don’t you?) 

Better than Chocolate Tomato Bruschetta

Adapted from Alicia Melton’s recipe (We give kudos to the originator of the recipe!)

Loaf of French bread, sliced thickly

Goat cheese, softened

A variety of cherry and grape tomatoes (You determine the number. They should completely cover the bottom of your dish, overlapping and a few on top.)

Olive oil

Italian seasoning—to taste

Minced garlic (fresh is best, but I have used minced jar garlic)

Sea salt and black pepper—to taste

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 ½ hours or until tomatoes split and crack.

Toast French bread slices in oven, then slather on the goat cheese. You want enough cheese to give the tomatoes a mortar of sorts. Mash the tomatoes slightly with the back of a spoon and then ladle them on your bread. Sometimes I have to eat this with a fork, but there is something wonderfully earthy about eating it with your hands.

Enjoy! 

(There will often be book recommendations on this Savor tab. Rarely ever do I endorse or embrace everything an author writes or teaches. I have many filters. Only the Scriptures hold an immovable, infallible place on my reading shelf. Period. But God can and will speak through others, because everyone has a different voice and style and perspective. Scripture instructs us to test all things. Be sure to follow this exhortation. God will make sure we hear his truth, if we are searching for it.)

Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist

If you haven’t read any of Shauna’s books then you should find one like yesterday. Get one online for your Nook or Kindle or order a real one—any of her titles would be worth your effort. Bittersweet and Bread & Wine are my particular favorites. Shauna has a wonderful, informal and easy writing style—like an unhurried conversation in the kitchen. She has a wonderfully refreshing self-effacing writing style: she’s transparent without being dramatic, and she’s funny without being ridiculous. Bread & Wine holds a spot on my Top Five Books of the Year for 2013.