wendt on a journey

new-s

funsize — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 05:13:49 +0000

well, i have a new job, a new home, a new family, a new haircut, a new car…a new life.

and now, a new blog: www.wendtonajourney.blogspot.com.

come and visit!

little altars

funsize — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 03:40:15 +0000

It strikes me that when Noah and his family and all the animals left the ark and walked on the ground, Noah built an altar. After they survived the destruction and devastation of the flood, after the Lord had shown His faithfulness to Noah, after the Lord brought about new life on this earth, Noah build at altar. His first response was to worship, to attribute the success to the Lord, to do something monumental that later could be looked back upon and rememebered.

And so, I am building my own altar to the Lord.

I’ve created a new site for my blog. Here you will see my own feet as they stumble along the path. Though the path has taken a different direction than I had planned on, I have watched as God has moved in tremendous ways. How He has taken what was dead and breathed life back into it. How He has redeemed the painful parts. How He has used me in spite of my weaknesses and failures for His glory. So, here you will read about those things.

The crazy thing about this journey is that even though it isn’t what I had dreamed of or expected, it is very good. In fact, it is far better than I could have imagined. And, when the road takes turns through dark places, I want to be able to look back and say, “truly God was in that place and that place and that place, so certainly He must be here, too.”

I invite you to read along as I leave my little altars in this space. And, I also encourage you to leave your markings on this trail…sharing your thoughts and ideas…making your own altars in order that you, too, would worship and remember our very faithful God.

Come along, friend! You are most welcome here!

favorite thing number twelve

funsize — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:53:22 +0000

Jopi’s laugh

daddy

funsize — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:15:44 +0000

“No matter how old the little girl gets, sometimes she still misses her daddy.”

who is this person?

funsize — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 05:25:41 +0000

me: “I feel like someone has crawled into my body, and she’s content and peaceful and full of joy! Do you know this person?”

bri: “Yeah! I’ve met her before!”

someone thinks like me…

funsize — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 03:24:08 +0000

My soul is weathered but green
When a storm passes over the roots are unseen
until all is laid bare
and the hope that I needed was already there

Iowa, I don’t know how to leave you
don’t know how to tell you goodbye
Iowa, I am a field after harvest
sowing under a new sky, Iowa

- Alli Rogers, “Iowa” (my new favorite artist! check out her free download on noisetrade)

woo hoo!

funsize — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:15:56 +0000

I just bought gas for $1.94/gallon!

conversation at the wendt home

funsize — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 14:34:49 +0000

As I was making apple crisp, my mother was gathering the ingredients for me. Making sure I had all them she said:

Mom: Do you have everything you need?

Me: Yes, Mom. And, do you know what else?

Mom: What?

Me: I have everything I want, too.

Mom: Isn’t that a blessing?

Me: It sure is!

no, no, no, no, no!

funsize — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:30:05 +0000

Her tight curls draped down in her face. She reached for the fragile glass on the table, and before I knew it, a string of no’s fell from my lips in rapid succession: “No, no, no, no, no!” My niece was startled and looked at me. Her hand remained in midair waiting for me to tell her what it was that she wasn’t supposed to do.

Often when I come home to the farm I find myself thinking through the agricultural parables that Jesus used to teach His followers. I’ve been pondering the wheat and the tares lately. I remember as a little girl weeding the garden with my mother. One of the weeds that was easy to spot was velvet leaf. It’s large, soft leaves resembled hearts, and early in the season could be removed from the garden with a little tug. However, there were other weeds that were harder to identify. Not a few times my mother would lean over and instruct me not to pull the plant that my little hand was gripping. “Wait,” she would say, “We need that one!”

Sometimes as I look around me, I’m just sure I am looking at tares. In my opinion, their leaves look like weeds, their fruit doesn’t add to the harvest, and they are taking up space in the garden. But it struck me this week that perhaps sometimes God wants to say, “No, no, no, no, no!” as we bend over to rid the garden of one more weed. And as we look to Him we are startled and our hand remains in midair. And, He whispers, “Just wait! We need that one!”

And when I consider my life, I must say that I don’t always look like a plant that will bring in a great harvest, but God in His mercy at one time or another has said, “Just wait! We need that one!” So, in this season of my life, I’m attempting to look at the plants before me and let God do the sorting. Because I’m pretty sure that I would rip out a few that we need…some that will someday bring in a great harvest.

t’s, parallelograms, and tupperware

funsize — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:21:10 +0000

Not so long ago, I thought I understood Scripture. I would open up this book, read a few pages, and thank God that He made it so easy to understand. It was sort of like a 1+1=2 faith. Every t was crossed. Every parallelogram had 90 degree angles. Every Tupperware container had a label and a neatly fitted lid.

I’m not sure what changed. Maybe it was the questions I learned to ask in seminary. Maybe it was my brush with cancer that seemed oh so evil. Maybe it was being wounded by God’s children. In any case, something in me has changed. The t’s aren’t crossed. The parallelograms are all askew. The Tupperware containers are shoved into corners with lids that don’t fit allowing their contents to spill out in an untidy mess.

I’ve come to understand Yahweh in a new way. In fact, I’ve come to be okay with not being able to pin Him down. So often, the things that I label as evil, He changes to make good. If it were me, I would slap a “good” sticker on things like pink skirts and lollipops and slap an “evil” sticker on things like cancer and economic crisis. But, our Lord doesn’t seem to do that. Instead, I think He slaps on stickers that say “just wait.” And then, He goes about redeeming the very things that I had condemned. He cares deeply for the tax collectors and prostitutes. He loves the politicians and the used car salesmen. He makes strong statements to the Pharisees. And, I believe, He shares tough words with the pastors, Christian educators, and worship directors who are leading His Church today.

So, this day I am choosing to stare at the “just wait” sticker and rest in His unfathomable greatness. I am grateful that I can’t understand the almighty God, because if I could, how almighty would He be? If a mere human could reason their way through eternal and supernatural things, then I would have no need for God. But, oh how I do need Him. And, how I praise Him that He is the one who creates, controls, and condemns. All praise I give to Him, my good and almighty God.