Complete, Not Too Complicated

Welcome to His Table For Two!  We are delighted you stopped by.  I have a special guest blogger today ~ my friend Maria Reyes.  We pray you are blessed as she shares her heart for Him!  

Maria and her husband, Tito,

and their beautiful children

Complete, Not Too Complicated
 "For I am confident of this, 

that He who began a good work in you 

will be faithful to complete it..."

Philippians 1:6

Have you ever taken on a project and then half way through you wish you hadn't?  With the excitement of a first-time mother, I took on one of those huge projects many years ago for the love of my first-born son.  Titus loved Sesame Street as a toddler, and I over-zealously decided that I would paint all of his favorite Sesame Street characters in full-size on his bedroom walls. 

With enthusiastic ambition, I started my artistic project with Elmo and Dorothy, then I moved on to Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Oscar and finally Big Bird.  Big Bird was enormous!  He took up one entire wall all on its own!

Whew...finally I was done!  

No, no, no, wait!  Super Grover!  I had almost forgotten Super Grover.  The room was not entirely complete without... Super Grover!  So, I decided that I would paint Grover suspended in mid-air in a flying position smack in the middle of Titus' biggest wall!

I knew exactly what I wanted Super Grover to look like.  Exactly!  But Grover in action was not an easy task.  Every time I attempted to sketch Grover's legs, they appeared to be dangling instead of flying.  Over and over and over,  I erased and re-sketched those long, furry, skinny, blue legs.  I grew so frustrated with Grover that at the end, I decided to leave him without legs at all!

Moving Titus' tall hutch across the room, I placed the convenient piece of furniture right underneath Grover.  It was perfect!  Perfect to hide the bottom part of Grover's body.  Only I would know Grover was unfinished and legless.  

The room looked great, even with Grover looking like he was flying from behind the hutch.  

But every time I saw Grover, I knew he was incomplete.  I knew I had not completed my Super Grover masterpiece.  Grover served as a gentle but poignant reminder to me.

So many times I have wondered Am I making it difficult for God to complete me and will be stubbornness or pride cause God to leave me this way?  Incomplete.  Just the way I had left Grover.  

See, I can be pretty difficult for Him to paint me just the way He always pictured me.  Not because He's not a great artist, but because I constantly resist Him.  There are things in my life that I refuse to surrender to Him.  And there are other things that I feel like no matter how hard I try to surrender them to Him, I can't.

Do you ever feel like you're a project too complicated for God to finish?

Philippians 1:6 tells us that God will never give up on us, no matter how difficult we may be or how complicated we make matters.  He doesn't leave us dangling.  He won't hide our imperfections behind a dresser because He didn't work to finish us.


The Lord diligently works on making us into the perfect masterpiece He created each of us to be.  You are not too complicated for our Creator!  He will never leave us unfinished.  He who began a good work in us is faithful to complete it!

For we are God’s workmanship, 

created in Christ Jesus to do good works, 

which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

Ephesians 2:10

Dear Lord, forgives us for resisting your work in our lives.  Change is difficult.   It's so much easier and more comfortable to remain the same.  But Lord, deep, deep inside, we truly desire to be made perfect in our Creator's eyes.  We don't just want to appear to be godly by hiding our imperfections.  We want You to complete us and to make us holy, just as you are Holy.  Thank you for promising that you would never give up on us.  Amen.

As a visitor to His Table For Two, if you take a moment to leave an encouraging comment for Maria, you will be entered to win my newest favorite book (Lisa had me at "spiritually clumsy"!)!!! Lisa Harper's book "Stumbling Into Grace"! 

By Maria Reyes

© 2012 by Maria Reyes. All rights reserved.

Sippy Cups and Surprises

Pull up a chair...we have a place set for you!  Enjoy this guest post today being served today by my friend, Jennifer Wood. 

 Geoff & Jennifer Wood and their beautiful children

Jenn and her son, Judah

Sippy Cups and Surprises

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,may have power…….to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled< to the measure of all the fullness of God." ~ Ephesians 3:17b-19

"My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life..."

Psalm 23:5-6

Ear-piercing shrieks and a contorted scowl.  That is the reaction I received from my 15 month old son, Judah—my surprise baby, when I took the sippy cup from his high chair tray to refill it in the middle of lunch.  He didn’t know why I took it.  He just knew he really liked milk and I was removing his toddler-sized vessel of his white, creamy drink. 

I was slightly understanding but mostly just surprised that he hadn’t yet learned that I don’t just try to rob him of good things.  “Sweetheart,” I said, as I walked to the refrigerator, “I will bring it right back, filled with more milk.  You have to trust me!  Trust that what I am doing is good for you because I love you.” 

I stopped in my tracks as the last phrase came out of my mouth. "You have to trust Me!  Trust that what I am doing is good for you because I love you.”

It came over me like a comfortable, warm blanket.  The Lord was speaking to me through my own words!  Isn’t that just like Him!? 

How many times in my life had He whispered those words to my heart but I was so busy shrieking in my head about my circumstances that I couldn’t hear Him remind me that His love was guiding His will for my life.

Prior to our precious son’s birth, I had 2 school-age daughters and a 3-½ year old daughter who was potty trained and no longer napping so we hit the road of small adventures every day.  We were “free to move about the cabin” as the captain of an airplane would say when flying through smooth, non-turbulent air.  We were cruising at a nice altitude and I was just beginning the journey that I thought God had marked out for me and placed in my heart as a dream—speaking, teaching, writing, visiting the nations to bring the Gospel to those who have not heard the Good News.  I was very excited to feel like I had a new calling when it seemed to come to a screeching halt with the discovery that a baby would be joining our family.

Anyone who looks at this objectively could see that this new journey was far better than the previous one…….but I was not objective. 

I could not have been more subjective!  I felt old, tired, spent, disorganized, ill-equipped, already over the edge.  Did I mention old? On top of all that, it appeared to be the crashing and burning of these dreams and the 9-month challenging transition to a new-old dream……the privilege to raise a little boy. 

Well, that little surprise is now 3-½ years old and God is showing me that He may be filling more than one sippy cup in my life.  There have been glimmers along the way that my crashed-and-burned dreams may somehow become resurrected and today I am writing my very first devotional………EVER!  I just took a sip from that cup and am looking forward to drinking of the rest, whatever God’s best for me is.

I believe Matthew 7:9-11 which says, “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" 

The second cup that God is filling?  The obvious!  The privilege of raising a little boy—having him come into this world to change it for God’s glory.  And to change us….for God’s glory, too!

God’s love and provision for me are not always displayed in the form of Him taking something away, only to give a fuller version of that same thing back.

Two months ago, the Lord took my dad.  The pain was searing.  Several times I thought this shell in which my soul lives would die too.  But God reminded me that it is His mercy that we get to leave this place which is filled with sin and hardship, and go to be with Him in glory.  For now, I wait patiently(sometimes) and desire to live out His plan for me here, listening for His whispers of love, until the day when I worship our marvelous Maker in His glorious kingdom alongside my dad and all others whose hearts belong to Jesus.

Jenn and her daddy

I pray that you have ears to hear.  He loves you and is filling a cup for you, too.  In fact, He is filling many cups for each one of us.  Abundantly.

"I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

John 10:10b

 Lord Jesus, would You help us to hear You when you whisper to our hearts that we need to trust You because your love for us is great?  Remind us of Your faithfulness and lovingkindness.  Give us the faith to trust You and live in your abundance.  In Jesus’ Precious Name, Amen. 

By Jennifer Wood

© 2012 by Jennifer Wood. All rights reserved.

How can you relate to Jenn's testimony of God's goodness?

Leave a comment for Jenn and you will be entered to win 

"Out of The Mouth of Babes" by my friend Wendy Pope!

Winner announced Monday 6/18/12!

Comments welcome all weekend!

When A Wave of A Hand Is Not God's Way

"Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, 'Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.' 

But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, 'Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’"  

2 Kings 5:9-11 NKJV

Often times, God's ways do not make sense to us. Sometimes His ways can frustrate us...or even infuriate us.  Like Naaman, we know God has the power to heal us or change our circumstances by simply waving His hand.  Why then does He sometimes ask us to do certain things before bringing about His plan?  

In my article "Why Is My Raincoat 'Dry Clean Only'?", I write about how we must follow God's instructions even when they don't seem sensible.

Noah was asked to build an ark when such a vessel had never been seen or built before and they had never seen rain!!  Noah simply obeyed and labored as God had instructed.  His obedience and labor preserved his family.  "Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did."  Genesis 6:2

Joshua was commanded by God to march around the walls of Jericho for seven days, have priests blow trumpets and give a battle cry and shout!  This may have made no sense to Joshua, but he obeyed and the walls came down.  "When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys."  Joshua 6:20-21

Throughout scripture we see examples of God requiring things that may not make sense at first glance.  In our own lives we see that too.  As I wrote  in my article, "Writing and following my own instructions can seem more efficient and gratifying, but only temporarily.  His instructions for care may require me to wait, sacrifice, experience heartache or to remain silent when I want to speak up.  But as I seek His will and follow His instructions, He sows a beautiful, more valuable product for me."  

Obedience.  Humility.  Reverence.  Gratitude.

With our hearts postured properly before God, as we yield to His ways and not our own, He can choose to bring life and healing and restoration.  His ways are not our ways.  His ways are perfect.  "As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless."  Psalm 18:30  

God graciously healed Naaman through the prophet Elisha, but it was not by the wave of a hand as Naaman had hoped.  Naaman was required to "go and wash".  Naaman had to obey and labor.  "And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, 'My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?' So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean."  2 Kings 5:13-14

Why does He ask us to do things even when it doesn't make sense to us?  We won't know all the reasons this side of heaven.  But I am venturing a guess at three:

1.  God is God.  We are not.

2.  The joy that comes with obedience is unmatched.

3.  Only God gets the glory!

"And [Naaman] returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, 'Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel...'"  2 Kings 5:15

Has God asked you to do something that doesn't make sense?  Follow His perfect instructions and see what His perfect way is for you!  There is none like our God!

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways May ways," says the Lord.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth

so are My ways higher than your ways

and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9

Untied, But Not Undone

 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 12:1-2

"Mom, what should I do if I mess up?  What should I do if I misstep?"  Gabrielle was feeling the jitters of dancing in her very first Irish Feis (dance competition).  She had practiced and prepared, yet she was asking me about the "what ifs" of the feis.   I answered her, "Honey, if you mess up your steps, just keeping looking up at the judge, keep smiling and keep on dancing."  I knew as I said these words, they were more about a life lesson than an Irish dance competition.  And it wasn't a matter of if, it was a surety of when.

We misstep.  We mess up.  We all do.  And while there is comfort in us all being on the same dance floor of life, none of us want to mess up or misstep.

Before leaving home, Gabrielle asked me to tie her competition shoes.  I did so with care, and I double knotted them, just to be sure.  We prayed together as I drove Gabrielle to the feis.  She was feeling excited and nervous all at the same time as we arrived.  Telling her that was normal, we held hands tightly as she bravely walked into the feis venue.  Animated Irish music and the buzz of excitement filled the air.  She squeezed my hand and smiled.

Gabrielle works hard at those things to which she commits.  Whether it is a friendship, a God-given talent, a Bible memorization kids club or an academic goal, she works diligently.  So,when her shoe came untied in the middle of her third (and last) dance for the feis competition, she looked at me from the stage with wide eyes holding back tears, and I mouthed to her "Just keep dancing, Honey.  Keep your eyes on the judge.  Keep smiling." 

And she did.  Ice arms and fire feet...she kept on Irish dancing and fixed her eyes on the judge.  Her long untied laces seemingly whipping her legs, she kept on kicking up her Irish feet.  Gabrielle's composure moved my heart.  She was dancing, keeping her eyes on the judge and smiling.  

I had been the one to tie her shoes...I double-knotted them.  But they came untied.  Yet she did not come undone.  Digging deep into God's treasure of truth, the life lesson was playing out on stage before a crowd of witnesses.  And she kept on dancing...keeping her eyes on our true Judge, our Heavenly Father, looking to Him for strength, courage and joy.  She was looking unto Jesus while dancing with her untied shoes.  And she did not come undone...because His power is made perfect in our weakness.   "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Corinthian 12:9

The grace and understanding of the judge exemplified for Gabrielle the grace and compassion of our Lord.  She kept her eyes on him and had joy in her heart as she kept on dancing.  After some seemingly long moments for this Irish momma, he quietly and gently signaled for the Irish musician to stop playing so Gabrielle could re-tie her shoes and start her dance over again.

Grace and compassion to start again.  Thank you, Lord, for this life lesson lived out for Gabrielle before an audience and with a wise and gracious of judge.  You, God, are amazing. Gabrielle had not misstepped, even with the untied shoe lace dancing around in a dance all its own.  Yet the judge knew it was distracting her and also possibly dangerous to her.  So, he paused the music so she could begin again.  Wisdom.  Gentleness.  Grace. 

As Jim, me, Joshua, Nan Nan, Uncle PJ, Aunt Anne and many others looked on, Gabrielle started again.  Composed and joyful, she smiled and completed her dance with enthusiasm, grace and gratitude.  I could hardly wait to hug her; not because she had danced well, but because she kept on dancing, she smiled and she kept her eyes on the judge. 

Gabrielle was so thankful and excited to receive 2nd place out of 23 dancers for the dance in which her shoe became untied, and she received 1st place in her other two dances.  We are so proud of her, and we give God the glory and thanks. 

Yet, our proudest moment of Gabrielle wasn't the awards she won or the places she earned.  Our proudest moment of Gabrielle in her first Irish feis was when she kept on dancing with a distracting and menacing untied shoe.  Our proudest moment of Gabrielle was the life lesson of truth she lived out on stage while many watched.  "...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him..."

Our sweet Irish Lassie kept her eyes on the One that mattered most and she kept on dancing.

Untied, but not undone.  Thank you, Jesus.  We give You praise!

"My eyes are ever on the LORD, 

for only He will release my feet from the snare."

Psalm 25:15

 

Come On In ~ Thanks For Visiting

"Your Word has given me life."

Psalm 119:50

Welcome to those of you visiting for the first time after reading my lil' article "Why Is My Raincoat 'Dry Clean Only'?" in the June 2012 P31 Woman magazine.  I am humbled and delighted that you would stop by.

The table has become a precious place for me.  A place where I meet with the Lord in His Word and in prayer, where I quietly sing my praises and share my rejoicing, and where I desperately display my brokenness and need before Him.

I invite you to read my Table Testimony so you have a glimpse into why the table has become so precious to me.  It's a testimony of His love and His desire to dwell with me...with YOU... with us.

So pull up a chair, kick off your shoes and enjoy your favorite refreshment.  I pray you are blessed by your visit, and I hope you'll come by often.  Take a moment to sign my guest book by leaving a comment.  It would be a pleasure to come visit you too!  (I'll bring dessert!)

"I am convinced that the one chief cause why some do not grow more in grace is that they do not take time to hold inward communion with the Lord.  Spiritual truth does not become our possession at once.  Although I understand what I read, although I consent heartily to it, although I receive it as truth, it may speedily fade away and be forgotten unless by private meditation I give it time to become fixed and rooted in me, to become united and identified with me.

Christians, give your Lord time to transfer His heavenly thoughts to your inner, spiritual life.  When you have read a portion, set yourselves in silence before God.  Take time to remain before Him until He has made His Word living and powerful in your souls.  Then it becomes the vitality and power of your life."

~Andrew Murray (The Lord's Table)

"You shall be filled at My table..."

Ezekiel 39:20

Covered Tenderly by My Kinsman-Redeemer

 “Spread the corner of your garment over me,

since you are a kinsman-redeemer.”
Ruth 3:9

I call them the Threshing Floor Seasons of life. Those times when God, in His love and faithfulness, takes us through a process of purifying our hearts. He necessarily goes through the grain of our heart, gets to the root and separates the righteous wheat from the dead chaff. I have found it to be a more effective and efficient process as I surrender my heart willingly to Him and say, “Father, please separate the wheat from the chaff in my heart so only the wheat remains.” The wheat represents the good, fruitful part of our hearts that is pleasing and useful to Him. The chaff is the dead, fruitless part of our heart that does not honor Him and cannot be used by Him. He wants to purify our hearts by ridding us of the chaff. Afterwards, our hearts are refreshed, our faith is stronger, and God is glorified. The healthy wheat has remained, and the lifeless chaff has been burned away.

Often His instrument used during this process comes in the form of a person. Someone in our lives who God uses as His tool of sanctification. Sometimes these tools are trusted, proven relationships where we feel safe to expose our hearts and have our uglies revealed.

Other times, the tool, as a winnowing fork, is someone with whom we would not choose to expose our hearts, someone who tends to rub us the wrong way…the unlikely servants known as sandpaper people. Difficult relationships can  be a source of great pain, but they can also be an invaluable tool for God’s purifying work and healing for me.


I have learned to truly thank the Lord for sandpaper people as they can, if I yield my heart to the Lord, be tools used to burn away the choking chaff so that only fruitful wheat remains. In the light of God's Word, these threshing floor seasons are invaluable.

Once as I was going through a threshing floor season and the tool was an unknowing servant (one of my sandpaper people), the Lord impressed upon my heart to do a little Bible study about the threshing floor by reading through the book of Ruth. This book of the Bible illustrates the law of the kinsman-redeemer. A kinsman-redeemer was a near relative who was able and willing to pay the price of redemption, freeing the relative by taking care of the debt/ransom price for them. By leaving His throne and coming to dwell with us in flesh through the incarnation, Jesus became our Kinsman-Redeemer. Our Perfect Nearest-of-Kin made reconciliation with God for us, while we were yet sinners.

As I read through the third chapter of Ruth, I was tenderly overwhelmed by His Word. Ruth 3:5 tells us that she went to the threshing floor in obedience. I was breathless as I read on and was reminded that there on the threshing floor she encountered her kinsman-redeemer, whom she asked to gently cover her with his garment of protection and care. How this ministered to my heart. Our Kinsman-Redeemer is faithful to meet us on the threshing floor of our hearts. He loves us and desires a pure heart in us. He tenderly meets us in that place, and we are secure under His covering of love.

"...there is a kinsman-redeemer nearer than I."

Ruth 3:12

Going to the threshing floor of our hearts is a bittersweet process. But the sweet redemption is invaluable. Our Kinsman-Redeemer tenderly meets us there in faithfulness and gently covers us with His garment of protection, care and righteousness. The chaff is burned and blows away. The beautiful wheat remains and brings Him glory.

"This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

"I am the LORD your God,

who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go."

Isaiah 48:17

“ …for the Lord searches the heart and understands

every motive behind the thoughts.

If you seek Him, He will be found by you…”

1 Chronicles 28:9 (NIV)

Unglued...But Not Unfinished

"And I am certain that God,

who began the good work within you,

will continue his work until it is finally finished

on the day when Christ Jesus returns."

Philippians 1:6

Connections.  Relationships.  Two things on the top of my list of passions and priorities.  That's why I LOVE this book!

Previewing my friend Lysa's newest book Unglued, which is due to be released in August 2012, I am totally connecting with her message.  I am connecting because of my own abilities to become unglued.  And since I have been previewing the book, it seems as though I have been given more opportunities to respond to situations in God-honoring ways rather than becoming unglued. (Take for instance the other day when I was pulled over and ticketed by a police officer on the way to my children's school to serve lunch at the 6th grade Asia Day celebration...didn't that officer know he was making me late?  Or earlier that day when I had an opportunity to graciously reply to a snippy email I received.  Oh yes...I heartily agree with Lysa's way of replying to snippy emails in grace and truth.  And with her wisdom that sometimes the delete button is our best response to a snippy email. Smile.)

My family knows well of my unwanted talent to become unglued at times.  Sometimes I SCOO-KA-MA-BOB-A!  And God sweetly and gently teaches me through my children that I can be Untied, But Not Undone.

If I receive a compliment, I often reply "Well, glory to God, and please go check with my family to authenticate that!"  Living a life of godly integrity happens within the walls of our own homes first. That’s really where we are authenticated.  Walking with a blameless heart in our homes.  Yet, this is most often where our stickiness rears its ugly head most often.  What my family sees and knows of me is more important than what others may think.  Integrity of the soul.  Lysa talks about it in her new book.

Unglued.  I can relate sometimes.  I think it's safe to say we all can.

Connections.  Relationships.  Daily time in His Word.  "We must first exchange whispers with God in the morning before we exchange shouts with the world." ~ Lysa Terkeurst

While I can totally relate to becoming unglued, the reason I LOVE Lysa's new book is that, at the heart of it, Lysa's message is about connections and relationships.  Our relationship with God.  Our connecting with His Word daily.  Nurturing healthy and God-honoring relationships with family and friends.  And the truth that, once in a while, we have to prune a "toxic" relationship from our lives in order to bring forth new life. 

Imperfect progress.  Prepared godly responses to challenging situations ~ the fruit of our abiding in Him.  Godly integrity of our soul.  Peace.

Unglued.  I have underlined just about every sentence in the first eight chapters I have read of this book so far!  I imagine the same will be true as I continue to read through the rest of the book. 

I don't say this often, but it is a must-read for women!  In this book, Lysa again demonstrates how our relationships with God flows down into our relationships with family and friends and others.  In her sweet, southern, down-to-earth kind of way, Lysa unearths the treasures of being unglued and reminds us that imperfect progress is progress and growth nonetheless.

We may feel unglued, but we are not unfinished.  He who began a good work in us is faithful to complete it.

Unglued will be released in August 2012!!  If you can relate to feeling unglued at times, please leave a comment here.  My hubby and I will be giving away 3 pre-order copies of Unglued.  The winners will be announced on Friday, March 16th.

"The mind of sinful man is death,

but the mind controlled

by the Spirit is life and peace..."Romans 8:6