Mz. Butterworth’s Neighborhood

I always say God's timing is perfect.  I never know when I turn on the radio what great thing I may hear on my favorite Christian talk radio station.  Many times I get delayed then I turn it on and think, wow, if I had been in the car 15 minutes ago or 15 minutes later I would have missed this.

Well, today I was listening to Family Life with Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine.  The neat thing is they were interviewing a woman named Sharon Jaymes and she is the author of a new parenting book a friend gave me on How to Be a Great Mom and Raise Great Kids.

A quote was shared during this broadcast that really struck me and it was about managing yourself...mind, body and spirit. Especially your spiritual life.....

Here is the quote:  "Most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you're listening to yourself, instead of talking to yourself.   The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself."  That's ultimately what you're talking about here, is knowing how to handle yourself.

So many times people just let life happen to them without truly engaging in a relationship with God.  God has really been teaching me about really listening to Him and being led in all things.  I am trying to look at predictable patterns that work and do not work and how to be more effective.

In fact, my latest prayer has been, "Lord teach me a better way.  How can I be a better mom, wife, friend and disciple. God show me how to be more effective in all I do."  But more imporantly than that, I am just learning to trust God when I do not always see how things are going to turn out.

Also, I am really worshiping the Lord a lot.  Our family listens and sings a lot of praise and worship music.  Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  So I am excited to see what God has in store for myself and my family.  Life is full of many ups and downs and uncertainty.....but that makes the certainty of God so much sweeter.

I am so thankful for a Savior because I have needed a lot of saving :)

I always like to share a video.  My daughter and I have been practicing this together for her to sing as a solo.  Love this.

Recently I heard someone say you should focus on what God is about and what He is for, not about trying to argue but trusting God to give us what to say in due season to bless in His Power.

I am always intrigued by Christmas Cards as so many are just useless.  Like cards that say Happy Holidays.  Well....what Holiday.  How can it be happy if there isn't one.  Why not say Merry Christmas.  I find it maddening that so many people want my money for gifts under the tree but don't want to let me call it Christmas. 

The beauty of faith is that no one can take away our freedom of thought, our salvation and our heart to worship God and love others.

So I am praying that people will look for meaning in Christmas.  That it will be more than a Holiday.  God says He draws all men unto him.  Draw us Lord and let us respond to your calling.

Recently I have been focusing on blessing others.  Finding kind words or helping someone.  I try to show my kids how to find something nice to bless someone whether it be their hair, smile, or painted fingernails.  Just asking someone how they are really doing knowing that you really mean it.

I have found that giving freely of my time and blessings is the greatest blessing of all. 

Be blessed this Christmas and remember that JESUS is the reason for the season.

I recently heard this song and loved it.  I love to end with a worship video.  Enjoy as this is what Jesus is longing for.

Dear friends & family,

I hope this email finds you all well!  Although I'm still in denial that we're already half way through the month of November, I wanted to send a quick update with the following news...

20% off THAT HOLY NIGHT (A CHRISTMAS EP)
through November 30th
The Christmas EP I recorded last winter is available now for $7.99 (regularly $9.99) at my website or at CDBaby.  Or, for those who 'go green' & prefer digital downloads ;), the album is now available digitally at CDBaby and iTunes.

Christmas cards for sale!
In my free time (read: unemployment) of late, I've re-explored my artsy side and designed three Christmas cards, inspired by the hope, joy, & peace that we celebrate in the upcoming holiday season, which are also for sale on my website.

Thanks for your continued support!  Patrick & I covet your prayers as we continue to trust GOD's provision for my employment situation.  More news to come soon!

with love,
Amy (Gustafson) Oden

Psalm 86

(A prayer by David.)

A Prayer for Help

¹ Please listen, LORD,

and answer my prayer!

I am poor and helpless.

² Protect me and save me

because you are my God.

I am your faithful servant,

and I trust you.

³ Be kind to me!

I pray to you all day.

⁴ Make my heart glad!

I serve you,

and my prayer is sincere.

⁵ You willingly forgive,

and your love is always there

for those who pray to you.

⁶ Please listen, LORD!

Answer my prayer for help.

⁷ When I am in trouble, I pray,

knowing you will listen.

⁸ No other gods are like you;

only you work miracles.

⁹ You created each nation,

and they will all bow down

to worship and honor you.

¹⁰ You perform great wonders

because you alone are God.

¹¹ Teach me to follow you,

and I will obey your truth.

Always keep me faithful.

¹² With all my heart I thank you.

I praise you, LORD God.

¹³ Your love for me is so great

that you protected me

from death and the grave.

¹⁴ Proud and violent enemies,

who don't care about you,

have ganged up to attack

and kill me.

¹⁵ But you, the Lord God,

are kind and merciful.

You don't easily get angry,

and your love

can always be trusted.

¹⁶ I serve you, LORD,

and I am the child

of one of your servants.

Look on me with kindness.

Make me strong and save me.

¹⁷ Show that you approve of me!

Then my hateful enemies

will feel like fools,

because you have helped

and comforted me.

My humble and sincere thanks to all veterans who have served to keep my country and my liberties safe. My heart goes out to all of you, especially to those who have made serious sacrifices. While I go about my daily business and snuggle down safe and sound in my bed, many of you are guarding a wall, battling with the enemy, or rescuing people off rooftops during a natural disaster. Some of you are tipping your last-call glasses of beer down in the halls of the American Legion or the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Your time of service has passed, yet a part of you lives always in the men and women who now serve. Some of you are praying, alone or in groups, that all sons and daughters, wives and husbands, brothers and sisters, and parents are home by the next Veterans Day. You know He can grant your prayers, but it's unlikely given the evil in the world.

Many of you will march in parades -- some of you will be escorted in your wheelchairs -- and be either encouraged by the numbers of people who gather and wave flags along the parade route or disappointed by the numbers, which seem to dwindle more each year. But you should know that the intensity of pride and sincerity of gratitude from just a few who gather are much richer, fuller, and sweeter than all the speeches, blog posts,and five-minute clips on the late news hours.

Some of you are homeless. We can argue about whether you are crazy or on drugs or a victim of the recession or whatever it is that makes you chronically without shelter, but I am at a loss as to how this could happen in my country. With the billions of dollars we borrowed from the Chinese to give to banks and companies who turned around and thumbed their noses at us while they got massages and played golf at an exotic resort, we couldn't spare a couple or three to shelter people who, conscientiously or not, went and stood in the way of bullets when others did not? I apologize to you, for both looking the other way and not being sincere enough to promise you I will not do it again. But I know that you sacrifice to this day for what you did for your country and I live in the grace of your sacrifice.

Some of you are recuperating in a hospital, trying to recover physically, mentally, or spiritually. Some of you are being taken care of by people who care about you, and some of you were forced to endure deplorable conditions at a military hospital, where people were supposed to care for you and try to make you whole as possible, in the name of the American people whom you served. I cannot understand this breach of faith and I'm angered by it, as I believe other Americans were, but like other government-run horror shows it appears to have been easy to sweep under the rug.

I am one of those people who get a lump in their throat when they see an American flag backlit by the sun's rays. A sucker for icons, I get it when anyone plays the national anthem, even though I love "America the Beautiful" a thousand times better, or a color guard comes out onto a baseball field, or some jets fly over a memorial. The arresting sight of a string of motorcycle guards heading to a funeral to protect a grieving family from a bunch of evil nutcase protesters from a Topeka church makes me want to pull in line and follow them to their destination.

But I get downright weepy when I walk through the tombstones of Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, whether they mark the graves of Civil War soldiers, entire crews of planes shot down in World War II, or soldiers from other conflicts. And, even though some of the graves are for World War II and Vietnam vets from my own family, the the saddest to me are the newer graves of people who have died in recent wars.

I mourn those men and women who kept the wolf at bay.

And thank those who today still keep it from my door.

A one year old boy, who could have a tracheotomy, be taken home from the hospital and live his life, may have his ventilator removed at the wishes of his mother and the HOSPITAL TRUST PAYING FOR HIS CARE, because his severe physical disability has been deemed 'intolerable suffering'. His father disagrees and is fighting for his son's life.

In honor of Reformation Day, the anniversary of when, in 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg University’s Castle Church door, boldly declaring where the Church needed reform, I'm writing my own thoughts about the Church and some places where we still need reformation. Of course, this post will lead to inclusion of people with disabilities, because, well, that seems to be what I do.

There are two religions in this world. One is based on works, the other on grace. The religion based on works requires its disciples to work through law, rite, or service to make that disciple in right standing with the god of this religion. The God of the second religion, that based on grace, demands perfection unto His Law; however, when man failed and fails, this God has given mankind His own righteousness through His Son, the Second Person in the Trinity that calls Itself God, a righteousness contingent only on faith in this Holy Son and His atoning work on the Cross.

The disciples of this second God- of this One True God- the adopted sons and heirs, join together according to the Word of this God, as one Body, and we call ourselves the Church, with Christ as our Head. Like the followers of the first religion, the Church has a law, the Law of God, though our Law has been fulfilled by this Christ, and we members of the Body now walk by faith in our Savior, Christ Jesus', work and in the Spirit, Who is the Third Person of this Triune God. We perform rituals in our church gatherings as does the first religion, though our rituals, rituals of baptism and the communion of the saints, focus not on our attempts to gain righteousness but rather on the One Who obtained righteousness for us. 

And, as do followers of the first religion, Christians, those of the Body, of the Church, we perform acts of service. As is the Law, Christians, attempt to love God and love our neighbors by serving our community and serve others. 

However, unlike those following the first religion, Christians are not attempting to earn our place in our God’s Kingdom through this service, though serving God and serving others is part of God’s Kingdom. In fact, daily lawbreakers, we could never serve enough to enter that Kingdom. 

Nor are we serving God through our own power or our own nature. We are serving God because we have a new nature, and a new Power- the Holy Spirit, given to us through the work of the Cross, upon our belief in Christ, this work, and the repentance of our sins. We are serving humanity- offering grace and mercy to one another- in response to how we were shown grace and mercy, in response to how we were invited into that Kingdom based solely on the death and resurrection of our King. We love because we have been loved.

Based upon this motivation for service and community within our own Body, we take seriously our Savior’s teachings on service and community. The fourteenth chapter of Luke’s gospel, verses 7 through 24, includes one such teaching. Through instruction and parable, Jesus shares His Father’s desire that, oh, may His house be full! He teaches us that His Father wants those at His table those who cannot repay His kindness- ‘the poor and the crippled and the blind and the lame' (vs 13) (as if people who are not poor or who do not have a disability could pay Him back). In fact, He says to compel them to come, revealing the earnestness of His heart toward the least in this world, those same ‘least’ who will become great in His Kingdom.

How does this teaching apply to Christ’s Church 2,000 years after its original exhortation? It applies the same way. There are still those who are ‘great’ in this world, and those who are poor or who have disabilities are still regarded as ‘the least’. Sadly the world’s view of who is great and who is the least is often paralleled in the Church.

Thankfully, the Spirit of God is working in the same way that He has for 2,000 years. He still convicts the Church, both the individual member and the entire of Body, of sin, and He is convicting me of my exclusionary practices of the ‘least of these’ in my church’s gatherings. 

So, what do inclusionary practices of the ‘least of these’ look like? Inclusionary practices begin by being reminded of how all inclusion to the Body begins. It begins with the Cross and how Christ, forgiving us of our sin, reconciles us with God, making us His child and a member of Christ’s Body. We must be reminded that God never needed our able bodies or cognitive awareness or our large bank accounts to forgive us our sin, to give us faith, and to make us one with Him and His community. In that regard, we become aware that we are no different than our poor and/or disabled brother and sister.

When we become aware of the absolute equality with ‘the least’, community- koinonia- the Greek word used 20 times in Scripture for 'fellowship, sharing in common, communion'- makes sense! We are equally created in the image of God, we are equal in our human depravity, and we are equal in that any grace anyone has received has been from God. We are one Body.

Therefore, as one Body, if one member suffers, we all suffer. When one rejoices, we all do. When one holds a banquet, all are invited. 

Whether through formal programming, or just meeting an individual or family where he or they are suffering or struggling, any church can do ‘disability ministry’. The call is for all, for all of the Body, to invite, to compel, ‘the poor and the crippled and the blind and the lame’ into the Kingdom of God and sharing a meal- that is, offering them repentance and the forgiveness of sin through Jesus' name, and truly becoming one Body- for the grace of God is for them, too!- in loving response to how the Father first invited us. This is how we reveal the religion of grace to the world.

Several times I have been thinking about something and wish I could see or think in three dimensions.  I want another angle on something or I need another perspective.  Many times God is that third dimension for me.  Where I can go beyond myself and my limited thinking.

Also, I think it is important to surround ourselves with sound teaching.  Listening or reading what other's have to say is not a substitute for our own relationship with God, but it can provide another view.

God reveals himself in so many wonderful ways and I love to read the excitement others have when sharing their experiences.  I have listed some resources on my blog and I hope you will enjoy them. Batterson, Jentezen and Moore are a great place to start.  Do you have any other resources you would like to share.

Also, I have been searching for new, deeper worship songs that can really minister to my family.  We all love to sing and there is nothing like a good song to touch the heart.  Here is one of my recent favorites.  I love to preview songs on You Tube since it has become quite expensive to buy so many songs.  Enjoy this simple song that is so profound.

"'Rational' Suicide Advocates Push Assisted Suicide in Mental Health Journals"- A podcast edition of bioethicist Wesley J. Smith's 'What It Means to be Human'