March Madness

What will you be doing in March? I'll be watching the final moments of the NCAA Championship game not only to see what team wins but mostly to hear one of my favorite songs, One Shining Moment.  This is the highlight of the basketball season for me. (To refresh your memory and hear the song, click here: One Shining Moment 2008, the year KU won the championship.). The words and music are by David Barrett Hodges and some of the lyrics are:

The ball is tipped, and there you are ,  You're running for your life, you're a shooting star
And all the years, no one knows, just how hard you worked but now it shows..
In one shining moment, It's all on the line
In one shining moment, there frozen in time
But time is short and the road is long, in the blinking of an eye, that moment's gone
And when it's done, win or lose, you always did your best, cuz inside you knew
That in one shining moment you reached deep inside, in one shining moment you knew you were alive
Feel the beat of your heart, feel the wind in your face, it's more than a contest, it's more than a race
In one shining moment...

Pictures of the players, cheerleaders, fans, and bands are meshed with the song and the incredible energy, passion and hard work exemplified in the games touches something in me, too. Makes me want to lay it all on the line, to strive and give my all.  

It's a song that makes you want to get up off the couch and get busy doing something amazing.
There's something in all of us that wants to expend ourselves in a noble cause.  I think of how God has a plan and purpose for each of us that will call on all we have and even what we don't have so we have to lean on Him to accomplish His work.

We're reading the book,  When Women Say Yes to God, by Lysa TerKeurst, in our current Lovely Branches Bible Study.  Saying "yes" to the things God asks of us is like playing extreme sports..it gets your heart pumping, gives you an adrenaline rush, stretches your talent and faith, and can scare you to death. It may even seem like "madness" at times.

A 'simple yes' in response to God can also energize you to venture out into some wild territory, clinging only to God and His promises.  This stretches your faith.  Just like in the big games, you may win or think you've lost. The fans, your friends and family, may cheer you on, but often they will not be so encouraging  if you dare big things for God.  His approval and your obedience is the "score" that really matters.

I don't know about you, but I'd like to  have more than one shining moment when I say yes to God.  It may be as simple (!) as biting my tongue to hold back an uncharitable remark. It could mean surrendering my ways or notions of what my life should look like.  Even venturing out on a limb to help someone and putting my faith on the line to accept a challenge only He can get me through are big opportunities to have a "shining moment".  I've had a few of those shining moments.  They are exhilarating and humbling in that the God of the Universe would choose me to help with His plans!
As with Isaiah (chapter 6, verse 8), God may ask any one of us at any given moment, "Whom shall I send?  Who will go for us?"  I pray you and I will respond as Isaiah did, "Here I am, send me."  A 'simple yes' will do.

Other types of March Madness I'm experiencing this month as well-

Cleaning closets and cabinets, trying to let go of more things.  When I got married 33 years ago, all my worldly possessions  fit in my little car--books, clothes, a coat rack, a rocker, and some dishes and pans.  Now I have a house full of things!  How did this happen?  A woman who says "yes to God" recognizes that all this worldliness is but "trash" compared to knowing God and doing His work.    
"This way lies madness"...is a quote I muttered to myself as I sat going through lists of things to do for my daughter's wedding in July.  Yes, my little girl is getting married to a wonderful young man. The "madness" part comes in as they decided to have a simple, country wedding in our country church.  We also decided it should be a DIY wedding, from making some of the reception food, and growing the flowers and making the bouquets ourselves.  I've made 3 wedding dresses to see which is best.  (My friends can attest that while I try to downplay all of this, the tic in my left eye during the wedding dress construction belied my "no big deal" attitude!)  As I talked to Laurie today about some detail, I told her I was using our wedding project as an example of DYI madness for my blog.  Laurie corrected me saying,"Mom, it's DIY..Do It Yourself, not DYI."  To which I replied, "Maybe it is DYI ...for Do Yourself In!!!    Actually, this wedding may be featured as "March Madness" and "April Gladness", next month's theme.
Finally, one last example of March Madness comes from a story of St. Patrick which Lysa TerKeurst uses in her book.  Patrick was an aristocratic young man from Britain who was kidnapped and made a slave in Ireland for six years.  In time, he escaped back to Britain, but then decided to return to Ireland as a missionary to win the country to Christ.  The world would see this as "madness", caring about the people who enslaved you. Christian history is filled with people who made God's love their top priority, despite the cost..Mother Teresa, Corrie ten Boom, Taylor Hudson, and many other heroes of the faith, with Jesus as the supreme example of giving His life for us all which certainly looked like madness..why die for people who reject, scorn and persecute you??
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day by having scones or Blarney Stones(cookies rolled in crushed peanuts, recipe is one internet) and recite with your family the prayer from St. Patrick's breast plate:
Christ, shield me this day:
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, 
Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I arise, 
Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me.
  
May you and your family have a blessed Easter, also.  For ideas to celebrate  Holy Week with children and family, see the Heart and Home blog archives in March/April.