Report

Several of you have kindly asked for a full report of my weekend with the family and church in Rio Hondo as we celebrated Nana and Papa's 40th Anniversary as pastor there. I am still working on coming up with the words for that, but I thought I'd start by publishing the tribute I delivered during the worship service Sunday morning. It'll tell you a little bit more about who Nana and Papa are to me at least. Later, I'll work on coming up with words for the weekend celebration itself!

"Three" Minutes about Papa ...

I had a really great speech prepared for this morning that contained three points and a psalm. I mean, it was a perfect sermon. Papa would have been proud. But, it didn’t contain anything you didn’t already know about my Papa and Nana, and it wasn’t anything any of you couldn’t have shared, given the chance. I’d written about how I know that Papa prays, and what I believe that faithful prayer life has done for this family and for this church. I’m convinced that Papa’s consistent prayer life is the secret to all that we’re celebrating this weekend. Papa doesn’t just pray, he gets on his knees and calls our names before the Lord, often shedding tears on our behalf. Papa’s prayers are the most precious gifts I’ve ever received. I wrote about how Nana reads her Bible each morning at the kitchen table, and how I want to be a faithful student of the Word of God like both of them are. But, none of that conveyed what I’m really celebrating this weekend in my heart. None of it really told you who Nana and Papa are to me, to our family.

Then, I got a call from Jaclyn a few nights ago. She didn’t want to get up here and talk, but there were some things she wanted to be sure I said. - Now, I have a Spanish degree from Hardin-Simmons University, but Jaclyn, she went to College Station and majored in Speech Communication. Evidently, what a speech communication degree from Texas A & M University will get you is a seat on the front row this morning! Right, Jaclyn?

No, seriously. Jaclyn called me a few nights ago after I sent her my notes for this morning and asked me if I could add just a few thoughts from all of us grandkids collectively. I honestly think it was just what this talk needed, the personal touch that really does make it something only we can share. Because there’s something else about Nana and Papa that marks their character and changes lives forever. Nana and Papa love me. Well, they love Steven and Daisy and Jaclyn and Danny and Travis and Jill, and Gina, too, of course. My point is, they have loved us as a family in a way that none of us will ever be the same. In fact, we probably will love others differently, better, because of it. I actually have a quote about this from one of my friends. In writing to me about this weekend, she said, “One piece of evidence of you Papa’s legacy that speaks volumes to me is how close your family is. You and your cousins always talk and hang out and love spending time together. You all actually like each other...the good and the bad. You talk to each other throughout the year, and when you are together, you enjoy each other.” It’s true. I confess. We do.

Jaclyn went through the family scrapbook and letters we wrote to Nana and Papa for this weekend, and made a list of things that none of us will ever forget. It was so fun to see how many of us shared similar thoughts! The first thing that comes to mind when we talk about Nana is food. Nana loves to feed us, but she’s very careful to feed us the right kinds of food. How many other kids look forward to eating such delicacies as “crockpot chicken” “ak-mak crackers with ‘Papa’s cheese’” – that’s mozzarella, if you didn’t know -- or “avocado-bean sprout sandwiches” when they go to their grandmother’s house??? My personal favorite was the time she wanted us to eat oatmeal muffins, so she baked Reeses’s peanut butter cups into the center of each muffin. How long do you think it took us to figure out we could pull the muffin tops off, discard them, and get straight to the candy? ;-) Of course, we also dipped our crockpot chicken in ranch dressing, and Travis always found a way to get more than his share of pudding pops out of her, too. But, she did try, though!

Christmas is always a good time at Nana and Papa’s. As you know, kitty cats are a very important part of being at Nana and Papa’s. And, even though she pretends like she doesn’t love those cuddly little fur balls Papa’s always feeding on the back porch, Nana has a bright red Christmas apron with a kitty cat on it. She puts it on whenever she knows we’re coming over, and greets us at the front door proclaiming, “Merry Kissmas!” and stops us for a hug and a kiss before we can enter the living room. We love it! Nana’s house is also where you go when you don’t feel well and need to just lay on the couch and be taken care of. Nobody can fix a tray of comfort food like Nana can. Makes me think maybe she loves us or something.

Then there’s Papa. I know he said just 3 minutes, but since I’m the only grandkid getting to actually speak today, I figure I can take at least 5 (one for each of us), and if I go over, I’ll blame it on the spouses and the great-grandkids. In fact, at the rate this family’s multiplying, we could be here a while! ;-)

Papa, when we started thinking about things we wanted to share about you, we had a whole other set of memories. I’ve already mentioned your love for kittens, and your love for airplanes and flying is no secret. I think Steven, Travis, or one of our dads would have to talk about you love for all things remote control. But today, it’s the yearly trips to Wal-Mart we have to talk about. Every year before school started, Papa would load us up in his car and drive us into Harlingen to shop. Jaclyn and I tried coming up with a list of the things we brought home with us from those trips. We named everything from video games, watches, baby dolls, and camouflage pants to parakeets and hamsters! Ha! You should have seen our shock when those two “female” hamsters started multiplying! It was Steven and Travis who always pushed the limit. Jaclyn, Gina, and I, of course, have always been angels. ;-) Sometimes, I still have dreams about the five of us being kids and making our way through the mall in Harlingen, shopping with Papa. I’m not sure any of those gifts survived our childhoods, but I am certain the memories of those times with him and knowing that he loves us enough to brave such an outing – more than once! – will stick with us forever.

I wish I had time to tell you about gathering around the fireplace to read the Christmas story each year before we opened presents, quoting the familiar passages of Luke 2 together and being reminded what we really celebrate each December. I’d tell you about loading up in the old Suburban to go looking at Christmas lights, about airplane rides where we got to handle the controls for a time, and about our family ski trip to Red River. I’d like to tell you about playing “house” and “King of the Hill” in the storm shelter in their backyard and birthday parties by the pool. And, I wish I had words to tell you about what it means to each and every one of us that we never get off the phone without Papa telling us how much he loves us, how proud he is of us, and that he prays for us every day, that God will keep us safe, provide for all of our needs, and that we will live to please the Lord.

Since I do have the microphone this morning, I am going to take time to tell you one story that is just about me and Papa. It happened when I was a little girl, but the lesson lives on. As you know, my daddy was a football coach here in Rio Hondo. And, many Friday nights, Nana and Papa would drive Mama and me to the games. One Friday night, we were about halfway to Rio Hondo when I realized that I’d forgotten the bobcat paw tattoos that the cheerleaders had given Daddy for my face. I was distraught! Mama and I were in the backseat, and she was trying desperately to keep me quiet about it. But, Papa knew something was wrong. He asked me what was the matter, and I wailed, “I forgot my cat paws!” I don’t think it took him but a minute to decide to turn the car around, go back to the house, and let me get those silly cat paws. To this day, whenever Papa signs anything for me, he includes the tag line, “don’t forget your cat paws!” I asked him a few years ago why he turned around for something so trivial. His answer has stuck with me, and has probably influenced more decisions than I realize. He said, “Baby, I knew you’d get over it if I didn’t turn around, and soon enough, you’d forget about those cat paws. But, I also knew that if I did turn around, you’d remember it for a long, long time.”  There are a million different ways I know my Papa loves me, and the first one I’d point to is the cat paws. I’m so thankful he was wise enough to think beyond the 20 minutes it put us behind that night in order to see the opportunity to leave a lasting impression of his love on me for me and seize it.

This is a farming community. You understand the Law of the Harvest, right? Galatians 6:7-9 says, “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. He who sows to please the flesh, from the flesh reaps destruction, but he who sows to please the Spirit reaps eternal life. Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not give up.” I came to Papa just a few weeks ago with some questions about ministry and some of the difficult people and situations I was seeing. I was weary, I confess, and I think I wanted him to tell me it was okay to wash my hands of it all and walk away. Papa didn’t answer my questions directly. Instead, he told me a series of stories from his own life and ministry. In each story, the conclusion, the result, the fruit of his decisions to love, to serve, to sow in obedience to the Lord was not made evident until many years after the initial seeds were sown. Sometimes as many as 35 years! I can be a slow learner at times, but I eventually got it when he looked me squarely in the eye and said, “Never give up. You don’t know how or when God is going to reward obedience, but you’ll never be sorry you obeyed.”

Deuteronomy 7:9 says, “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” I’m only the second generation removed from this great legacy, but in closing, I have to share a quote with you from one of the letters another of my friends wrote for this occasion. This comes from Erin, a young woman who teaches Bible study in my home each week. She writes, “The influence of Papa’s ministry isn’t going to stop with Kristen, or any of the Horton Clan, because more often than I’d like to admit, I have found myself starting a story with, ‘My friend Kristen’s Papa …” My only hope is that in sharing those stories, I too, would radiate the same passionate, ever-faithful, love of the Lord.”

I’m not much younger today than Papa was when he first came to Rio Hondo. (Steven’s even closer to that age! ;-) I think about that a lot, wondering what, if any, decisions I’m making today as I follow the Lord that will be remembered even five years from now, much less forty. I asked Papa about that not too long ago. How does one come to a town at 32 years of age and stay there, serving faithfully for 40 (and many more to come?)? He smiled, shook his head, and spoke deliberately when he said, “One day at a time, baby, you do it one day at a time.”

Embracing Accusations

For most of the last year, God's been reminding me that the Good News isn't all that good until the bad news really is all that bad. It's difficult to celebrate the Gospel and His provision of Jesus as my Savior until I understand how desperate my need of a Savior is. It's been a tough journey at times. Seeing your own darkness is never easy or pleasant, but recognizing that God knew all of that when He chose to save me has been unbelievably freeing! I think I've told most of you (and some of you have told me!) about the song by Shane & Shane called, "Embracing Accusations" which paints an incredible picture of just that. Today, I heard the following statements from a sermon by Matt Chandler.

"When all the accusations of your heart start stirring up, it all is true, but it shouldn't crush you that you are those things. You have not surprised God with how lazy and lacking you are. God did not die on the cross, but now in 2006 have all this regret, thinking 'If I'd have seen these fools, I'd have never done that.' That's not how it plays out. All sins for all time were covered for those who are being sanctified. Which means, I am a scoundrel, but you know what? Being accused of that sure makes me want to run into Him because Oh the LOVE, of Sweet God, who has loved us enough to lavish upon us grace enough for Today! For right now, for right where you are. It's such a freeing thing!"

"The kindness of God and his grace is what leads the saints to repentance. ... It leads us to press into Him all the more, and not run from Him. That's why accusations actually, eventually become your best friends. It's in those moments when you become aware of how messed up you really are that the fullness of Christ is made aware to you ... You'll never know the fullness of Jesus as long as you think you can bring an offering He likes. You don't bring stuff to his altar, you come lay down on it. You don't bring activity, you bring you, with all that you have, becoming a living sacrifice. He doesn't want your bull; He wants you."


Shane & Shane - Embracing Accusations

Father of lies, coming to steal kill and destroy
All my hopes of being good enough
I hear him saying, “cursed are the ones who can’t abide”

He’s right, halleluia, he’s right
The devil is preaching the song of the redeemed
That I am cursed and gone astray
I cannot gain salvation
Embracing accusation

The devil’s singing over me an age old song
That I am cursed and gone astray
Singing the first verse so conveniently over me
He’s forgotten the refrain.
Jesus Saves!

Comfort from Isaiah 51

1"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
you who seek the LORD:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father
and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
that I might bless him and multiply him.
3 For the LORD comforts Zion;
he comforts all her waste places
and makes her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the LORD;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the voice of song.
4 "Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
for a law will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
5 My righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
the coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;
but my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

7 "Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is my law;
fear not the reproach of man,
nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool;
but my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation to all generations."

9 Awake, awake, put on strength,
O arm of the LORD;
awake, as in days of old,
the generations of long ago.
Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,
who pierced the dragon?
10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made the depths of the sea a way
for the redeemed to pass over?
11 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12"I, I am he who comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made like grass,
13and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14 He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down to the pit,
neither shall his bread be lacking.
15I am the LORD your God,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the LORD of hosts is his name.
16 And I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
establishing[c] the heavens
and laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, 'You are my people.'"

My Redeemer Lives

So, it's the end of the first week of January 2008. Normally, I'm better about getting things written at the very start of the year, but this New Year's came and went without much time to write. I do have a theme for the year though, and I'm excited about how it will unfold. Repeatedly, I have sensed the Lord prompting me to ask Him to show me who He is as Redeemer. What does it mean to be redeemed? How is it that He takes our "stuff" and brings Himself glory from it? I'm so excited about how He's going to answer this prayer. The words "redeemed" and "redeemer" seem to JUMP off the pages of scripture and shout from the lyrics of songs lately, calling out to my heart with great joy. Job, probably the oldest record in scripture, says, "I know that my Redeemer lives and that in the end He will stand upon the earth." Glory! This has been one of those weeks when I have needed to be reminded that my hope and confidence are NOT in this life, NOT in this world. There is a reality much greater than what I can see. God is good ALL the time, in EVERY circumstance. And, today, I am rejoicing because whatever happens here, I KNOW that my Redeemer lives and that He will stand upon the earth. He is the ultimate reality, and He is better than anything I am tempted to hope in here. This week, I have felt as though my faith in the God of Wonders has been put to the test. I have asked myself many times whether or not I really believe that nothing is too difficult for the God of all flesh? Do I really believe that the things that are impossible for man are possible with God? This morning, I heard the song "Never Underestimate My Jesus" by Relient K, and I just had to laugh. Those of you who know me very well know that one of my greatest pet peeves is to be underestimated. How much more disheartening must it be to the God who can do ANYTHING when we begin to doubt his power in our lives or the lives of those we love???

Am I at the point of no improvement?
What are the depths I still dwell in?
I try to excel but I feel no movement
Can I be free of this unreleasable sin?

Never underestimate my Jesus
You're tellin me that there's no hope
I'm tellin you your wrong
Never underestimate my Jesus
When the world around you crumbles
He will be strong; he will be strong

I throw up my hands
Oh the impossibilities!
Frustrated and tired
Where do I go from here?
Now I'm searchin' for
The confidence I lost so willingly
Overcoming these obstacles
Is overcoming my fears

I think I can't
I think I can't
but I think you can
I think you can!
gather my insufficiencies and
place them in your hands
place them in your hands
place them in your hands.

You will be strong (3x)