God With Us

December 24, 2020December 24, 2021Karen Brown4 Comments

This Advent (and year) has been one of wanting. Wanting more fun, more good news, and someone else to cook dinner. Wanting more of my family and much less of them at the same time. Wanting things to be normal but also everything to be different. Wanting Covid to go away forever.

And if you remember where we left off last time , I had just confessed that I want Immanuel, or “God with us” to mean more than it does.

For the record, I can’t remember a day in my life when I didn’t love Jesus. I’ve prayed and gone to church since forever. I’ve collected shelves of books and Bible studies about God. I’ve taken classes, retreats, and even answered a call to ministry.

Sometimes, in all of our coming and going, we forget what love looks like.

How could we forget? We were made from love, for love, and to know it when we see it. True Love, that is…

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The Angel

December 13, 2020December 14, 2024Karen Brown1 Comment

If you’ve been with me since the first day of Advent, you know that Mary, Joseph, and even a few animals are now waiting in our stable. Since he’s already made a couple of appearances, the angel should be next.

Our famous Christmas angel, Gabriel, appeared long before Jesus’ birth in the Old Testament book of Daniel:

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Mary

December 5, 2020December 24, 2021Karen Brown3 Comments

Now that the stable and animals are in place, The Story takes us about 90 miles northwest to Nazareth, in the northern highlands of Galilee. There, we find a teenage girl. A virgin who was visited by the angel Gabriel and told she would become pregnant with the Son of God. Mary, the one who agreed to it all.

“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
Luke 1:38

I doubt Mary knew the full extent to what she was agreeing, but I’d bet she knew enough. At her age, it’s likely she’d seen enough of childbirth to know of the fear, pain, and blood. She certainly had experienced enough of human nature and gossip to predict the shame. She surely understood it would be easy for Joseph to abandon her. She had probably learned enough of God’s Story to know that entering it would be costly.

Mary said yes to much more than a baby. Like all consenting mothers, she grabbed her chance for possibility and promise, even when it came with risk, suffering, and lots of mystery.

And isn’t that how it goes with every Yes to God? God comes with His strange, shadowed plans and somehow we agree. Are we really that desperate?

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The Animals

December 2, 2020December 24, 2021Karen Brown4 Comments

Now that I’ve got our nativity stable in place, and I’m reaching back into the box for Mary, or Joseph, or the tiny manger crib, I can hear the memory of my children asking, “But what about the animals?”

During the annual retelling of the “no room in the inn”, my kids would often interrupt to ask about the fate of the animals who may have given up their home on that first Christmas night. I usually responded with a variety of fast-talking half-answers:

Oh, we’re not sure it was actually a stable, it could have been another type of small shelter, so maybe there were no animals around. Now listen up to hear what happened next…

Maybe the owner’s stable was brand new and he didn’t have any animals yet. Anyway…

Well, if there were animals, I’m sure they were happy to make room for Jesus. Let’s turn the page...

Our nativity set does include a few animals, but I rarely unpack them. Our table is small and my time is precious, so let’s get to the point, right? And honestly, who wants animals cluttering Christmas, anyway?

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The Irony of Saying So

June 11, 2018June 13, 2018Karen Brown10 Comments

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On Sunday, my pastor preached from Psalm 107 and challenged us to more boldly tell our personal experiences of God’s goodness. We are “the redeemed of the Lord”, he reminded us, “let us say so.”

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble

“We need to share our stories”, he said, “because there are plenty of folks who need to hear about a good God.”

We listened from our pews. We shook our heads and took notes. I noticed some folks even cried. The redeemed-est, I guessed. Continue reading →

When You’re Wondering if Your Personality is an Effect of the Fall

February 3, 2017February 4, 2017Karen Brown3 Comments

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An online quiz promised to tell me what kind of cookie matches my personality. I was hoping for chocolate chip, but I got oatmeal raisin. The shame. Maybe I’ll do better with my spirit animal …

We’re obsessed. Chances are, if you’re like me, you know your Myers Briggs letters, or your Disney princess, or maybe even what Hogwart’s school fits you best. I’m Gryffindor.

Of course it’s harmless and fun, but with all this talk, I’m finding myself ranking my personality high or low, evaluating, comparing, wishing…. Continue reading →

Ordinary Time

January 26, 2017January 27, 2017Karen Brown6 Comments

Week four of a New Year’s resolution is not for sissies. Week four is when you notice your biggest supporters, Motivation, Novelty, and Determination, have all packed up camp and headed to wherever they hide. I’m guessing they ran way ahead of me to the final days of December. Or rushed on to Lent. Or are waiting for me in the countdown to swim season. Bye, Felicia.
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When You Ask First

Link January 2, 2017January 3, 2017Karen Brown7 Comments

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Recently, I was at a retail store grabbing a few last-minute things for Christmas. I checked off my yellow post-it in record time and headed to the registers.

For the holidays, that particular store created “human corrals”. They cleverly funneled all shoppers into a chute leading up to the cashiers. Instinctively, I followed the herd and wound up wide-eyed and shuffling forward. (more…)

Not Enough World

Link December 16, 2016December 18, 2016Karen Brown2 Comments

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A Holy God enters the cursed,
The King abandons His throne.
The Creator becomes the created,
Elohim with flesh and bone. (more…)

When You Just Need A Little Honesty

Link September 16, 2016September 19, 2016Karen Brown11 Comments

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If you’re like me, you try hard to remain positive, look on the bright side, and count your blessings.

But some days, you just can’t …

I’ll never forget one day during my student-teaching in a second grade classroom. Early in the year, one student, a stringy-haired boy with scabby knees, was having a bad day. He eventually crawled under a table and refused to come out. I was eager to prove myself to the lead teacher, so I rushed across the room to coax him.

None of my persuading was working:

“Come on out, you’re missing all the fun! Your friends are looking for you at the Craft Corner. You are so good at reading…!” In fact, the more I talked, the further under the table he scooted.

Finally, the veteran teacher walked over, asked me to keep an eye on the rest of the class, and did something that changed me forever… (more…)

The Promise of Losing Ground

January 19, 2016September 19, 2016Karen Brown12 Comments

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“Say you are my sister …so my life may be spared for your sake.”

I’ve been stomping my feet in Egypt this week, reading about how Abram handed his wife over to Pharaoh. He was afraid the Egyptians would kill him to have his beautiful Sarai, so he panicked and reached for a half-truth to save his life.

How ironic that Pharaoh was the one to convict Abram. “Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? ” Abram was supposed to be the one set apart; chosen to be the father of many nations, yet God used a heathen to show him how lost he really was.

It was a low point for Abram, but he becomes my hero of the faith at the very next turn … Continue reading →