66 Love Letters, Larry Crabb

Oh my.

One of the areas in which I struggle in my perception of God is that familiarity of Him.  It is incredibly hard for me to picture Him as my "daddy," "papa," "friend," or anything else more familiar than authority figure, disciplinarian, holy, angry, all powerful God.  I don't know why, it's just very hard for me.  Interestingly enough, it is something I long for, to understand God as a friend, a familiar voice, a kind voice, someone who wants to be with me, someone who desires me and accepts me in my sinful state.  I have to say, I'm desperate to believe God loves me in this way, and ask Him regularly to help me overcome this unbelief.

I think He may be sending help to me! 

Excerpts of 66 Love Letters by Larry Crabb are coming to my inbox each day during this season before Easter.  

Notice the book on the top right corner and click at the bottom on READ.  You can read the first 35 pages of the book for free.  This one is definitely on my wish list.  Unfortunately for those of us on a new budget, it's just out, so there probably aren't any cheap, used copies to be had!

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Here is the invitation:

Stop. Take a deep breath. Reflect...it's Lent.

Since the earliest days of the church, Christians have prepared for Easter by observing Lent. Lent is much more than a time to give up unhealthy foods or bad habits; it's an opportunity to unplug from our regular patterns, look truthfully at ourselves, and approach God with repentance and gratitude.

This year, we invite you to take the time to deepen your understanding of God’s love by reflecting on best-selling author, Dr. Larry Crabb's new book, 66 Love Letters: A Conversation with God that Invites You into His Story.

Sign up for this free service and you will receive, by email, a short reading for reflection every day during Lent's forty days. *

*Haven't observed Lent before? It is the forty-day period before Easter (not including Sundays) beginning on Ash Wednesday. This year Ash Wednesday is February 17 and Easter Sunday is April 4. The earliest Christians, during the apostolic era, understood Lent as an opportunity to refocus their lives, withdraw from usual practices, and draw closer to Christ.

We invite you to deepen your understanding of the joy of Easter by observing a prayerful and reflective Lent. Click the link below to receive daily emails during Lent containing passages fro Dr. Crabb's new book to help you focus your thoughts and begin your won conversations with God. Emails will begin on February 17.

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I can guarantee you won't be sorry if you jump in and sign up.  They are short, so even if you don't have much time, these are definitely manageable.

My First Lenten Journey

I'm observing Lent for the first time, but in a quite unorthodox manner.  I have to say, I'm going at it a bit in the dark.  I've never observed Lent in any way before, except maybe to say different prayers at a liturgical church we attended when I was 12.  And one other memory is that one day a volcano erupted while I lived in Alaska and showered more than an inch of ash on Ash Wednesday. Clearly spiritual events, you can see!


I'm also going into it with a number of questions that probably make me sound quite skeptical.  What is the root of it, really, since it has no official basis in scripture?  (Not to mention that John Piper and John MacArthur have starkly opposing views on it!  How's that for confusing?!)   If I make sacrifices to grow closer to the Lord and avail myself more to Him, why should I only do these for forty days?  Shouldn't I give as much after Easter as before?  I'm always very leery of participating in something just because every body else does.  I don't want to jump in to and commit to something that isn't what the Lord is asking of me. 


So why am I observing something about which I have really no clue?  :)  I really don't know if it is Lent I'm observing or that it just happens to be at the same time.  I know that sounds ridiculous!  But I'm just being real!  It's probably just a matter of semantics, but one thing I guess I feel the need to have clear in my head is that an observance of Lent as a ritual draws me no nearer to him.  Randomly selecting something to give up without the Lord asking me to give them up is a recipe for failure for me, and I don't think it will really draw me nearer to Him.  


But I have been feeling for some time that I needed to give up, control, set limits, reduce time on, etc. Facebook and the Five In a Row message board.  These are two things that I allow to steal time from the good things I should be doing.  The reason they are such good time robbers is that they steal 3 minutes at a time.  I get distracted knowing it's just a minute, then chase conversations, threads, or photos until I've been there for 20 minutes.  And no, while I couldn't have gotten my dishes done in 3 minutes, I sure could have finished them in 20! I could have done a puzzle with Jacob, read a book to Mattie, cleared off my table, made a call on a bill, started dinner, cleaned the bathroom, etc.  You get the idea.  My lack of self-control with these two things has turned into outright sin that is hurting my main responsibility: managing my home.  So I'll be staying off these two websites except for Sundays, unless Sunday comes and I feel like I should avoid them too.  I'm still praying about it and I trust I'll know when Sunday comes.

My one other biggie that I hesitate to mention is coffee, because this is the true spiritual fast for me.  The Lord spoke this to me loud and clear.  I was hoping I heard wrong!  Coffee is an emotional beverage for me.  It reminds me of my growing up family, sitting around together visiting, loving each other.  There is comfort, familiarity and security in it.  And as ridiculous as it sounds, that is comfort, familiarity and security I need to be finding in Him as opposed to my favorite mug full of warmth, cream, and sugar.  


I'm praying that the Lord will draw me nearer to Him as I set my time apart for Him.  I'm praying that I will serve my family well and bring glory to Him as I'm more diligent with each and every minute of my days.  I'm praying that I would seek Him for familiarity, security and comfort.  And I'm praying that He would provide some answers on the entire season of Lent for starters!  If you know of any books or links written from an evangelical Christian perspective that have helped in your understanding of Lent, I'd be thankful if you'd share them.