Sarah Baughman's Blog, page 13
February 16, 2016
Saying "I’m Sorry"
Keeping bonds strong in the Word and in prayer.
Teaching our children to say “I’m sorry” is something my husband and I have striven to do from their youngest days. Repentance from sin and free forgiveness are pretty central to our family life. Goodness knows we sin enough to need it! And sin sitting darkly and angrily between two people has terrible effects on that relationship. Loss of trust, bad feelings, poisoned interactions…these are things we do not want in our house. They hurt.
And teaching them to say “I’m sorry” isn’t a matter of forcing it from them even as they glare at the other person. It’s a matter of helping them to calm down enough to look at the situation from a different perspective. Are his tears really worth the fun of knocking down his block tower? If she’s being bossy, is there anything you can say to her, instead of yelling her? If he won’t stop saying the same word over and over, isn’t there a better way to handle it than pinching him?
From a heavenly perspective: Will you let this stand between you and your brother, who is also your brother in Christ?
Ash Wednesday points us to another relationship that was broken. It wasn’t repaired with a simple “I’m sorry” but with the sacrifice of Christ. It wasn’t fixed with a quick “Please forgive me?” and a “Sure” or even an “Of course I forgive you!” It wasn’t fixed with tears, but with blood. It wasn’t fixed with the death of selfish pride, but with the death of God’s Son.
Isaiah 58 is a passage dealing with true and good fasting, as well as the connection between a contrite heart and our relationship with our neighbors. Namely, those in need. When we are querulous and unforgiving, we cannot draw near to God – in fasting or in devotion or in anything. When we are looking only to make ourselves happy, we cannot draw near to God.
“Cry aloud; do not hold back;
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgements of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgements;
they delight to draw near to God.
‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you
take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
Behold you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
Is this the fast that I choose,
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the LORD?
~Isaiah 58:1-5
Fasting isn’t a practice done much anymore in the modern western world. We could dissect the implications and the benefits and the fact that our sin has already been atoned for and we don’t have to fast to show repentance. But just as I tell my children: will you let a pet sin, a sin that in your innermost heart, you really don’t want to give up, stand between you and your God?
I like to eat desserts. I don’t even think at this point that it’s an appreciation of good chocolate or a perfectly-timed baking cycle. I just like to eat them. If I have a headache, it goes away while I’m eating; if I’m sad, it gives me something else to think of for a short time; if I’m hungry, it’s something that’s immediately ready to eat. This costs me no small amount of pride and shame to admit. It’s something that I’ve tried halfheartedly to combat for a while. But a half-hearted fight will always lose. And the thing I realized recently is this: Do I want this sin of relying on a temporary fix like eating a dessert to stand between me and my God?
Not that desserts are evil. Or that enjoying them is sinful. Or even being overweight.
But not turning in prayer to God when I’m disheartened is. Treating a problem (sinus headache) with something which its use over time contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle is. Not taking a few extra minutes to find a healthy meal rather than eat something quick but unnecessary (and may I add void of nutritional value) is. Not setting a good example for my children is.
Allowing something to be between me and my God is.
“Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the
LORD
shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
And the LORD will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
~Isaiah 58:6-12
It isn’t easy to admit when there’s something wrong in our lives that we have been ignoring or encouraging or perhaps pretending isn’t wrong. But getting at the heart of it, at the root, will show its nature: either something that isn’t a problem, or (like in my case) something that needs to be addressed. God can heal those breaches in our lives.
“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the LORD honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
then you shall take delight in the LORD,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
~Isaiah 58:13-14
Not that this is the only area of my life that needs work. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray; all of us have sins that we battle.
This Ash Wednesday, though, I am prayerfully planning to begin a battle of leaning more heavily on my God than on a temporary, false help. To lean more heavily on the God who did not spare His own Son, but sent him for all of humanity, for you, and for me.
What might you, with the help of God, seek to remove from between you and Him?
My anthem for Lent:
Closer to Myself, by Kendall Payne
Saying "I'm Sorry"
Keeping bonds strong in the Word and in prayer.Teaching our children to say "I'm sorry" is something my husband and I have striven to do from their youngest days. Repentance from sin and free forgiveness are pretty central to our family life. Goodness knows we sin enough to need it! And sin sitting darkly and angrily between two people has terrible effects on that relationship. Loss of trust, bad feelings, poisoned interactions...these are things we do not want in our house. They hurt.And teaching them to say "I'm sorry" isn't a matter of forcing it from them even as they glare at the other person. It's a matter of helping them to calm down enough to look at the situation from a different perspective. Are his tears really worth the fun of knocking down his block tower? If she's being bossy, is there anything you can say to her, instead of yelling her? If he won't stop saying the same word over and over, isn't there a better way to handle it than pinching him?
From a heavenly perspective: Will you let this stand between you and your brother, who is also your brother in Christ?
Ash Wednesday points us to another relationship that was broken. It wasn't repaired with a simple "I'm sorry" but with the sacrifice of Christ. It wasn't fixed with a quick "Please forgive me?" and a "Sure" or even an "Of course I forgive you!" It wasn't fixed with tears, but with blood. It wasn't fixed with the death of selfish pride, but with the death of God's Son.
Isaiah 58 is a passage dealing with true and good fasting, as well as the connection between a contrite heart and our relationship with our neighbors. Namely, those in need. When we are querulous and unforgiving, we cannot draw near to God - in fasting or in devotion or in anything. When we are looking only to make ourselves happy, we cannot draw near to God.
"Cry aloud; do not hold back;
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgements of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgements;
they delight to draw near to God.
'Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?'
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
Behold you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
Is this the fast that I choose,
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the LORD?
~Isaiah 58:1-5
Fasting isn't a practice done much anymore in the modern western world. We could dissect the implications and the benefits and the fact that our sin has already been atoned for and we don't have to fast to show repentance. But just as I tell my children: will you let a pet sin, a sin that in your innermost heart, you really don't want to give up, stand between you and your God?
I like to eat desserts. I don't even think at this point that it's an appreciation of good chocolate or a perfectly-timed baking cycle. I just like to eat them. If I have a headache, it goes away while I'm eating; if I'm sad, it gives me something else to think of for a short time; if I'm hungry, it's something that's immediately ready to eat. This costs me no small amount of pride and shame to admit. It's something that I've tried halfheartedly to combat for a while. But a half-hearted fight will always lose. And the thing I realized recently is this: Do I want this sin of relying on a temporary fix like eating a dessert to stand between me and my God?
Not that desserts are evil. Or that enjoying them is sinful. Or even being overweight.
But not turning in prayer to God when I'm disheartened is. Treating a problem (sinus headache) with something which its use over time contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle is. Not taking a few extra minutes to find a healthy meal rather than eat something quick but unnecessary (and may I add void of nutritional value) is. Not setting a good example for my children is.
Allowing something to be between me and my God is.
"Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.'
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
And the LORD will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
~Isaiah 58:6-12
It isn't easy to admit when there's something wrong in our lives that we have been ignoring or encouraging or perhaps pretending isn't wrong. But getting at the heart of it, at the root, will show its nature: either something that isn't a problem, or (like in my case) something that needs to be addressed. God can heal those breaches in our lives.
"If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the LORD honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
then you shall take delight in the LORD,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
~Isaiah 58:13-14
Not that this is the only area of my life that needs work. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray; all of us have sins that we battle.
This Ash Wednesday, though, I am prayerfully planning to begin a battle of leaning more heavily on my God than on a temporary, false help. To lean more heavily on the God who did not spare His own Son, but sent him for all of humanity, for you, and for me.What might you, with the help of God, seek to remove from between you and Him?
My anthem for Lent:
Closer to Myself, by Kendall Payne
January 28, 2016
Thank you and Free Kindle Today Only!
Just a quick message: the Kindle version of my book is FREE today! If you liked it, or still want to read it, this would be a great day to download or gift or share about it.
I’ve been so thrilled with the response to Penelope’s Hope thus far, and look forward to connecting with even more readers and hearing what they liked and even what they didn’t like about Penelope’s story. I love weaving heart-truths I’ve learned into my characters’ stories, and my prayer is that my readers will be encouraged and uplifted by the presence of God’s grace and love in the stories.
Free Kindle Download!
(and please check if you go to download it that it is still free)
Thank you and Free Kindle Today Only!
I've been so thrilled with the response to Penelope's Hope thus far, and look forward to connecting with even more readers and hearing what they liked and even what they didn't like about Penelope's story. I love weaving heart-truths I've learned into my characters' stories, and my prayer is that my readers will be encouraged and uplifted by the presence of God's grace and love in the stories.
Free Kindle Download!(and please check if you go to download it that it is still free)
January 18, 2016
Help Me Choose!
Because I'm self-publishing, I need to provide my own cover to upload to CreateSpace, or pay someone to do it. When I was preparing to publish Penelope, a writer friend and mentor (you can visit her site here; she's a YA superstar!) strongly recommended that I choose a stock photo and purchase rights to it. I looked and looked, but never found one that I really loved. So, against my better judgement, I set about finding a photographer in the town where I live and sewing a dress for "Penelope" to wear. I figured that if it didn't turn out, I'd take the loss and buy a stock photo.
But I had to try.
The photographer that I found (website here) had amazing emotion in the photos on her site, and she was so nice and accommodating when I finally gathered the courage to contact her. She even found a friend of hers to fill in when my "Penelope" had to back out of the shoot.
As all of this was coming together, I started looking for a graphic designer to handle font-purchasing, layout, and so on. A good friend of mine suggested another friend of hers who had just graduated with a degree in Visual Communications Technology (website here). She was located closer to where I grew up, but with the wonders of the modern world, we were able to communicate via email. While her current occupation runs more along the photographic lines, her training, which included graphic design, helped her design my cover with the photograph already taken.
Now - back to Violet. I'm working on designing the dress she will wear for the cover-photo. Those who read Penelope's Hope know that Violet is not a flashy dresser and that she loves to be outdoors. I have a lovely green for a pelisse for her (a full-length coat) and plans to make a white underdress. I would love to hear your opinions on the trim for the pelisse, though. Below are some options. Comment and let me know what you think!
Embroidered ribbon with a ruffle. I love the color this adds.
The Ruffle could be double-wide....
...or single.
I love the richness this slightly-darker ribbon adds.
And this one feels very Violet: subtle and not at all ostentatious.January 9, 2016
"I'm Lonely!"
My four-year-old has been going through a phase (at least I hope it’s just a phase!) in which she does not want to be alone. Even when I tell her to go into the kitchen to choose a snack, she says, “I don’t want to be by myself! Will you please go with me?”Psalm 139 is an excellent portion of Scripture which offers a great deal of comfort, regarding how intimately God knows us. Verse seven asks, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” The psalmist of course comes to the conclusion that wherever he might go, God is there. “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you” (v. 11-12).
Now, of course, for the spirit troubled by sin, this passage may not offer hope, but terror. Where can a sinner hide from a holy, righteous and just God? We cannot hide from Him. He knows all and sees all – Even our sin. But we need not fear Him. God cannot stand sin, but His love and mercy is such that He could not leave us in our sin. He instead sent His Son, the only One who could bear the punishment for sin and satisfy God’s justice, while at the same time remaining holy and blameless so that the death which He suffered could not hold Him. He rose, and we too have that hope. He is with us always, to the end of time (Matthew 28:20).What a blessing to teach this to my children! I pray that God’s love and patience will be reflected in my actions toward them!
December 25, 2015
From Heaven Above to Earth I Come
It starts with the angel's joyful announcement to the shepherds of Christ's birth. The first five verses detail that announcement. Each verse gives special attention to different points to the truth of His Advent: a heavenly being, an angel, was sent to herald His coming; a child, born of a virgin, is come to be the joy of all mankind; this child, is in actuality the Child, the Son of God, come to free all from sin; this Child will give gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation, that we may share in the glory of God, having been restored to Him; the signs that you will recognize Him are the swaddling clothes and manger, and where He lies, also lies the Maker of all things.
Verses six and seven are the shepherd's response, and our response. How glad we are! How joyfully we go to his manger-cradle. When we see Him and see His love and salvation, we tell others: come and see!
After this, in verses eight through twelve, the words change from a telling of the story to a prayer to the God of whom it speaks. Welcome, noble Guest! Even though You created all, You choose such a humble place for Your birth. Even so, if the whole world was greater and lovelier and better than it is, it would still not be good enough to host You. Instead of comfort and luxury, You chose discomfort for us, that we may be comforted; the things the world values are worthless before You.
In verses thirteen and fourteen, the prayer moves from exalting the new-born Savior to a more personal, quiet prayer.
Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child, Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled,A quiet chamber set apartFor You to dwell within my heart.
Lord of all, my heart can do nothing but leap for joy, and I cannot keep silent. I sing with the angels:
Glory to God in highest heav'n,Who unto us His Son has giv'n!While angels sing with pious mirthA glad new year to all the earth.
And I suspect that "new year" has more to do with an age of grace and mercy ushered in by Christ's coming than with champagne and parties and midnight.
December 23, 2015
Christmas Light
December 15, 2015
We are Advent People
For those who may be unfamiliar with this term, Advent is a season in the church year that is a time of anticipating Christ's coming. Both as a little baby in Bethlehem about 2,000 years ago, and also His second coming at a time yet unknown to us. Romans 8:22-23 touches on the eager anticipation in which we wait for Him, in which the whole earth awaits His coming, groaning as in the pains of childbirth.
Last week, after the Christmas program rehearsal at church, my husband and I were talking with our pastor about some of the great Advent Hymns. The hymns so rich in their telling of that longing, that yearning for the Christ. The hymns that singing them swells your heart so that it's almost painful. The hymns that are sometimes difficult to sing because of the tears they can evoke.
Or maybe that's just me.
Initially, I had wanted to name a few of those hymns here, with a few words about what in them speaks to me. But as I was flipping through my hymnal, reading these words, often straight from Scripture and set to music, my list kept growing. And growing. And I was waxing poetic on them. So I'm saving them for another post...or posts.
All these hymns, and so many others, hold an exceedingly important message about the preparations for Christmas. We aren't eager for its coming because of the warmth and good feelings of Christmas. Though that's nice. We aren't even eager for its coming because of the birth of a little baby. Though that certainly is part of it. We are eagerly awaiting God's Salvation, in all of its intricacies and timelines and timelessness and completeness. We wait, hope, yearn, even ache for His coming, and in this, it is clear.We are advent people. We are awaiting eagerly our Lord, knowing that this world is not our final home, that the suffering we face here will be as nothing compared to the joys that await us when He returns. We groan with creation and cry, "Come, Lord Jesus."
We are advent people.
Come, Lord Jesus.
December 8, 2015
Christmas Joy
Ever since K and I started having children,my mom's been on the lookout for kid-friendly nativity scenes.I've been having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year. Like poor Charlie Brown worrying about Christmas... Can anyone else relate?
There's so much to do: gifts to buy or wrap (or both!), baking to do, concerts to attend, programs to prepare, decorations to drag from storage, travel to plan, cards to write, photos to take...Need I go on?
My joy was flagging, at best. And what is Christmas without JOY?
It was enough to bring me to tears. My favorite season of the church year - Advent - and I couldn't find my joy.
Carved olive wood nativity scene.(I was even considering trying to convince my husband that we shouldn't bother with the tree this year!)
But is this what Christmas is all about? Of course not. I know and I knew that it isn't the gifts or the tree ... or the baking or cards or ornaments or any of it.
This set is from my aunt.My youngest, G, set it up and was very happy
with how they all are looking at Jesus.
It's Jesus. It's God becoming flesh and dwelling among us.
It's His heart being revealed to all in the person of His Son, a tiny babe born in a dirty stable to a poor girl and her almost-husband.
This Christmas Pyramid was from my mother;my grandma always had one in their living room
that I loved seeing when I was little.It's about love.
And that's also enough to bring me to tears. Good tears, tears that flow from a heart that's been poured full of God's love.
My paternal grandfather painted this set;my grandmother gave it to me as a Christmas gift
a few months before her death.And from that love, springs joy.
