The Crystal Lewis Blog

ever since i was a little girl, my father has encouraged me to read one Proverb a day.  there are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs in the Bible so that makes perfect sense, right?  well, over the years i’ve done pretty well at that. i’ve veered off in different directions from time to time to delve deeper into various books of the Bible, one at a time, but i always come back to this simple daily devotional of one Proverb a day. since yesterday was Sept. 1, i read Proverbs 1.  verses 8 & 9 say,”…listen to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.  they will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.”  now for those of you who did not grow up in a Christian home, this may not seem relevant to you.  (and i hope and pray that you know and find instruction and teaching and wisdom and grace in our Heavenly Father). however for me, this is exactly what i was blessed to be around all throughout my childhood, youth and even now, as an adult, the godly teaching and instruction of Jesus-loving, Bible-believing parents.  i just love the visual of the “garland” and the “chain”.  as someone who adores accessories, i picture the most beautiful Lanvin necklace to adorn my neck and an outrageous Philip Treacy Hat to grace my head. my parents teaching and instruction are that extravagant and valuable.   and what makes this verse even more applicable…my parents had just driven over to Montana from Washington Tuesday evening!  So, to wake up and read that beautiful passage was a lovely start to a new day, a new season…as fall rapidly approaches…and a wonderful visit.  i was once again reminded of God’s infinite wisdom and perfect plan.  here i’ve read the Bible, the book of Proverbs specifically, numerous times, and yet God spoke to me through it afresh once again.  my prayer today is that my children will someday be able to say the same about the teaching and instruction they receive from their parents!

as i look out over the calm, glassy water of the lake where my family and i are vacationing this morning, i’m at peace. i just ate breakfast and watched my church’s service online simultaneously (you gotta love technology), so i’ve been fed both physically and spiritually.  i’m energized, inspired and ready to take on the day, which will include a kayak, a boat ride, reading, swimming, sunshine and possibly rain. most likely rain. i should say ‘more’ rain because we’ve had lots of it lately.  as a matter of fact,  last night we witnessed a true montana thunder storm!  it was quite the epic display of thunder and lightning, hail and rain.  montana was definitely showing off.

as we were driving to the lake last night, we apparently passed some friends on the road.  i know this because my friend texted me later that evening and said, “we passed you on the road tonight…looked like you were heading into the abyss!”  and she was right.  the sky was very dark, and getting darker by the minute.  now, that might sound normal to those of you who’ve never been to montana…or alaska…. but you have to understand: when i say darker, i don’t mean because it’s getting later. you see, it doesn’t get dark here in the summer until 10 pm or so.  earlier in the summer it’s closer to 11!!  it was only 7 or so last night when we were driving. so the darkness was coming not from the time of night, but from the impending storm clearly building in the black clouds hanging directly over the lake.  we were indeed driving straight into what looked like the abyss!  the rain came quickly.  big, fat drops of water that started one at a time and then fell so fast the windshield wipers could barely keep up.  we could see the wind stirring the water on the lake, causing the color to deepen to a dark, dark blue matching the darkness of the sky.  and it was then that i saw it: a rainbow. then another one. 2 rainbows!! they were right next to each other and they seemed to touch the waters edge and reach all the way up beyond the clouds.  it didn’t seem right.  first of all, don’t you usually see one at a time? i mean, if you’re fortunate to see one at all.  and then aren’t rainbows usually in the shape of, well, a rainbow? an arch, right? not a pillar or vertical column of color stretching thru the sky.  and number 3, don’t rainbows usually appear after a storm?  now i’m sure that i am not the first one to ever see rainbows appear in this way.  i’m certain that i have not just made some spectacular scientific discovery that will win me a prize of some kind.  what i am certain of, however, is the fact that this rainbow appeared in the midst of the storm.  and i was immediately made aware of Gods promise to me in the midst of the storms of my life.  he doesn’t wait until i’ve come through it, he doesn’t wait until it’s over to let me know he’s there. he reminds me in the middle of what i’m going through.  his promise is forever true, always faithful, consistently calling to mind his ability to hold me fast in that storm. in spite of the chaos of the lightning lighting up the sky, the thunder crashing and booming, the rain and hail hurling down onto the roof of our car, that double-rainbow just hung there as a beacon of hope and promise.  whatever storm you’re in the middle of in your life today, know that God’s promise of protection hangs and hovers over you.

(psalm after psalm speaks of God’s protection, comfort, rescue, and promise… pick one to read and remember as your own today)

have you ever been bullied?  does the word ‘bully’ conjure up visions of mean, leather-clad hoodlums skulking through high school hallways, intent on finding the nearest unsuspecting freshman to steal a lunch from? or toss into a dumpster? or shove head first into a toilet?  or, are your visions of bullies less movie-scene and more like, well, real-life experience?  maybe even current life-experience… adult life-experience.

i was bullied.  in high school.  it only lasted a couple of months, but those months would remain in my memory for years.  i was a likable kid. a cheerleader, a nice girl.  maybe that was why this other girl had a problem with me? i don’t know, what i DO know is that she made my life a living hell for a while.  it wasn’t that she ever did anything to me… there was never any food throwing or hitting.  it was as simple as a stare.  a mean look can go a long way!  she, along with her posse of persecutors, would walk by, say snide comments…which could almost be threats…a little shoulder bump perhaps, a dirty look…. and voila! fear successfully struck in the heart of a girl.

did you know that you and i are bullied by the devil every single day?  i would even go so far as to say every single minute of every single day.  the Bible says that “your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  he is that mean, leather-clad hoodlum.  he wants to see you utterly humiliated, completely embarrassed, absolutely ashamed.

the other day i was feeling discouraged, and the enemy pounced on that opportunity, pulling me down into a state of self-pity.  ”you’re right, you’re not good enough.  you shouldn’t try, etc…”.   then, a little later, i found myself thinking a little too much of myself…”you are SO good!  no one is better!! etc”.  and therein my victory was found!!! because i recognized his attack!!! it was SO obvious…. discouragement then pride.  even my high school bully tried it… she had the audacity to invite me to a sleep-over/party ’some of the girls’ were having.  please.  i may not have gotten an a in math, but i was smart enough to know what a dumb idea that would be! i knew it was a ploy, not an actual, sincere invitation.  and i’m fully aware of the enemy’s tricks too.  the first part of that verse above says…”be self-controlled and alert”.  be wise, stay attentive and aware.  the enemy lives in the halls of our lives, lurking and skulking at all times!  waiting until we are unsuspecting and then…. bam!!! he hits us right where he hit us last time! same thing every time.  so get hip to his schemes… learn to duck as he swings. anticipate his next move. it shouldn’t be that hard, since he always uses the same tactics.  and then, take your sword and fight back!  hide the word in your heart so that as he attacks you can parry and return the blow with one far more debilitating! for the Word says “greater is HE that is in me, than he that is in the world!” (1 John 4:4)

i’ve always loved Charles Spurgeon. i like to read from his ‘Morning and Evening’ devotional book each day.  i wanted to share the reading for the morning of today, July 3, with you. it really spoke to me today:

“The ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven wellfavoured and fat kine”  Genesis 41:4

Pharaoh’s dream has too often been my waking experience. My days of sloth have ruinously destroyed all that I had achieved in times of zealous industry; my seasons of coldness have frozen all the genial glow of my periods of fervency and enthusiasm; and my fits of worldliness have thrown me back from my advances in the divine life.  I had need to beware of lean prayers, lean praises, lean duties and lean experiences, for these will eat up the fat of my comfort and peace. If I neglect prayer for never so short a time, I lose all the spirituality to which i had attained; if I draw no fresh supplies from heaven, the old corn in my granary is soon consumed by the famine which rages in my soul.  When the caterpillars of indifference, the cankerworms of worldliness, and the palmerworms of self-indulgence, lay my heart completely desolate, and make my soul to languish, all my former fruitfulness and growth in grace avails me nothing whatever.  How anxious should I be to have no lean-fleshed days, no ill-favoured hours! If every day I journeyed towards the goal of my desires I should soon reach it, but backsliding leaves me still far off from the prize of my high calling, and robs me of the advances which I had so laboriously made.  The only way in which all my days can be as the “fat kine” is to feed them in the right meadow, to spend them with the Lord in His service, in His company, in His fear, and in His way.  Why should not every year by richer than the past, in love, and usefulness, and joy?  I am nearer the celestial hills, I have had more experience of my Lord, and should be more like Him.  O Lord, keep far from me the curse of leanness of soul; let me not have to cry, “My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me!”, but may I be well-fed and nourished in the house, that I may praise they name.

read it again…

“How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in HARMONY!                                                      For HARMONY is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head,                                      that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe.

HARMONY is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion.
And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing, even life everlasting.”

I had the privilege and blessing of spending a few hours with a sweet family in Farmington, New Mexico this week.  They are remarkable people.  A family filled with courage and hope.  I was inspired as I watched a family… a really big family… love and encourage and support each other in the midst of what could easily be devastating, discouraging circumstances.  You see, a little girl in the family, Gabrielle, was born with an incurable disease.  One that affects both body and brain.  This little girl is, all at once, daughter, sister, grand-daughter, cousin, niece. She is loved beyond measure. Yet, this birth could quite easily have brouhgt a sense of despair and defeat… and perhaps it did for a time.  But what I witnessed, was a family held together by the love of GOD!  Held together by a true sense of HARMONY!

I was overwhelmed by the fact that this family contacted the Make a Wish foundation and requested me as their daughters wish!!  So i was able, thanks to Make a Wish, to be with the family for a celebration of Gabrielle’s 16th year on this Earth, a miracle the doctors have yet to understand!  I sang a few songs, Gabrielle’s mommy sang a song (one of mine!) and she and I sang Amazing Grace together, along with her cousin accompanying us on the keyboard.  It was a lovely time of celebration with aunties and uncles and cousins and brothers and sisters and grandmas and grandpas….a family united by difficulty, strengthened by hope and fused together in HARMONY!!

Live wisely. Live well.

On a recent trip to Europe with my family, I purchased a British home decor magazine for the flight back to the US. I absolutely love looking through the pretty pages and accumulating ideas for the rooms in my home. As a person that has made a living in a creative industry, I tend to want change and variety in every area of my life…all the time! In this particular publication I cornered several pages that caught my eye, as is my habit. I like to go through a magazine, corner pages of interest, then I typically pull the pages and keep them for future reference. Incidentally, I do this with all magazines. I hate clutter and can’t stand stacks of stuff around the house, so I keep the pages I pull in notebooks that I go through every season and edit. Obviously, i throw away the magazine after I’ve torn out the pages I want to keep, thereby cutting down on the clutter. This all sounds very complicated now, as I read it. I sound rather obsessive. Oh well, it works for me. And I’m now way, way, far away from the subject!

Anyway…in this British home decor magazine, most of the pages I cornered had something in common. They all fell under the heading of ‘Live Well’. Oddly, this is something that I wrote down during my quiet time the other day…Psalm 90:12 “oh! teach us to LIVE WELL! teach us to LIVE WISELY and WELL!” (the Message)
in the NIV version it says it this way…”teach us to number our days aright, that we might gain a heart of wisdom”. As someone who is (clearly) concerned with order and organizing, I’ve always loved this verse. It reminds to think about what I’m doing, how I’m prioritizing my tasks, my days, my time. It reminds me to take into account what is missing, what i’m doing well and what i need to work on. Life in general is so much about choices…how much more the Christian life. The days of a believer are characterized by the decisions we make, whether we obey or disobey, say yes or no, jump in or give up, take the narrow road or the broad one. Living well is not about doing nice things for ourselves, as the pages in my British home magazine would suggest, but it is all about remembering what God has done for us, how far HE has brought us, and the choices we need to make to go further. To go the distance.

So my friend, seek wisdom in the Word, pursue it. As you do, I promise you’ll find it, and with it you’ll find the ability to ‘number your days aright’ and the strength and inspiration you’ll need to Live Wisely and Live Well.

My family and I are basically recreating, or rather creating our own, new and improved version, of the Chevy Chase classic, “European Vacation”.
We are wandering around Paris with wide eyed wonder and taking it all in. No hurry. No rush. No agenda. Just time to be together and play and pretend we’re locals…a tough job considering we don’t speak a lick of French. I’ve spent an enormous amount of time over the years traveling but this trip is different in one, very specific way… We are all older! The toddlers I used to cart around in strollers are now teens with minds (and opinions and computers and phones and desires) of their own. Brian and I also have accumulated some extra years, and that can be summed up in one word: naps. The changes in age not withstanding, we are having a marvelous time just being together. I’ll post some photos when we return, as I’m not tech-savvy enough to accomplish that until we arrive back where there are plugs I understand.

i, like countless others, grew up with the convenience of fast food.  busy parents often rely on the ease of drive-thru’s.  i know i did when my kids were young.  but we’ve been delivered!  have you watched the new show ‘Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution’?  it’s really a great look at food and how we’ve abused it in this country. how we’ve taken the easy way out and sacrificed our well-being in the process.  he (Jamie Oliver) did a really interesting demonstration to show what goes in to the processed food we consume.  he gathered a group of elementary-school age kids together in his  kitchen and took a whole chicken, cut off all the good parts… legs, wings, breast, dark meat, white meat.. showing the kids and teaching them about the yummy parts that we should eat.  then, he chopped up what was left…the carcass with bones, cartilage, fat, skin…and put that in the food processor. none of the good parts.  then, he scooped out balls of the unmentionable goop, forming cookie-cutter shapes with it on a baking sheet.  the kids were totally grossed out! but then he fried the shapes in a frying pan… clearly showing how ‘chicken’ nuggets are prepared. guess what? in spite of the fact that every child there witnessed this, each one raised their hand when asked…”now, who would still eat this?”.  what?!!! are you serious? even though you have been clearly shown the disgusting reality of the inedible ingredients that when in to that so-called food, you’d still eat it?  i was flabbergasted.  and so was poor Jamie. his plan to win these kids over to healthy eating had failed.  but he didn’t give up… if you watch the show, you’ll see his dedication and determination to help kids and parents alike to understand the why’s of healthy eating.

but as i watched his demonstration, i couldn’t help but think about it spiritually.   how many times have i taken the quick and easy way in regard to time with the Lord?  how often have i allowed the harmful distractions of the day interfere with my spiritual health.  rather than truly seek him…taking time to LOOK in his word, be still and LISTEN to him speak, and LEARN something new i can apply to my life… i settle for the convenience of a quick read or hurried prayer.  knowing the effect that not spending time with the Lord has on my heart, why on earth would i knowingly choose to sleep in. or do laundry. or read a magazine. (insert your excuse here). instead of take the the ‘healthy’ approach and seek him first, before i do anything else.  (Psalm 5:3, Psalm 59:16, Psalm 90:14)  now, i’ll be the first to admit that there are times (on the road for instance) when you aren’t able to go to the store and prepare a healthy meal.  fast food is all that is available, and there are choices you can make at a fast food place that are better than nothing at all.   and in a spiritual context, if one Psalm is all you’re able to fit in one day, that’s better than no Psalm.  But i’m referring to the importance of a consistent routine of nutrient-dense, life-giving spiritual truth that will nourish your soul and heal your heart.  yes, it takes a little extra planning and preparation, but it is worth it.  your spiritual health is worth it.  your heart is worth it.

it is Easter week.  i love this time of year for many reasons. having lived in Montana for a few years now, i have had the extreme pleasure and privilege of experiencing the dramatic change in the weather leading up to Easter.  the snow just about gone, the rain, the new green grass, the anticipation of flowers blooming…a beautiful sight.

but of course it’s not just the anticipation of a new season that i love, but the anticipation of Easter Sunday itself.  ever since my early days in my dad’s church in Anaheim, Easter has held such special memories.  from the getting ready for church that morning,  to the days’ festivities that followed with family and friends. those moments always brought joy and a true sense of a what a truly special day Easter was.

later in life, as an adult with a family of my own, Easter held new, but familiar, feelings.  watching as my own children enjoyed the beauty of Easter for themselves brought a new joy to my heart.  realizing, as a parent now myself,  how my parents must have felt… that joy of knowing your children are experiencing EASTER!!  the meaning of it is staggering really!  Jesus.  Savior.  King.   killed for me.  tortured for me.

RISEN for me!!!

please, please, please…. i beg you… keep the meaning of Easter pure.  sure i’ve done the ‘Easter basket’ thing for my kids over the years, but we never gave the baskets on Easter sunday.  they were completely separate things. unrelated, almost.  make sure your family is fully aware of what Easter is.  and what it is not.  it is not simply an opportunity to buy a new dress or suit.  it is not a time for eggs and bunnies.  it is not a time for gluttony and indulging in chocolate and peeps.

it IS a time for celebration.  it IS a time to recognize and remember what Jesus did for you, for me.  think about it. talk about it. meditate on it.  CELEBRATE IT!!

HAPPY EASTER!

‘trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus,  but to trust and obey’

hymn from 1887

i’ve been studying the life of David for the past 6 weeks through a study by Priscilla Shirer, Beth Moore and Kay Arthur.   what i’ve learned…and will keep on learning… is why i LOVE the WORD!!  the fact that new truths in the Bible can come to light and breathe new life into old hearts never ceases to amaze me.  The Word is truly living and active… (Hebrews 4:12).

the core lesson i believe God wants to get across to me through this study is one of obedience.  as a parent….i know what it means to have your child (your treasure, your baby, your precious little thing) obey.  i know the joy that comes with that.  and i also know what it feels like when that same precious one disobeys.  i know for me the range of emotions have gone from anger to disappoint to failure to frustration.  it hurts. to think that your kid, this one that you’ve literally spilled blood for, poured out sweat because of, shed tears over,  doesn’t trust you enough to do exactly what you said, when you said it.  So you can imagine, when talking and learning about obedience in the life of David, and realizing that God was speaking to me as a child that had disobeyed…. oh my.

some time ago, on a vacation i think it was, i remember having a sweet time alone with the Lord.  i remember being so filled with joy at the time.  i wrote a prayer to him in my journal and i said: …”you’ve done so much for me, what can i do for you…”.  and i heard him say, in my heart although it seemed so clear and so loud, ‘obey me’.  1 John 5:3 says..’this is love for God: to obey his commands.  and his commands are not burdensome.’   God is not asking for slave-labor level of difficulty here.  is that what you ask of your children?  NO!  he simply wants us to trust him and let him lead, instead of acting like rebellious and unruly disobedient children.

David paid some very heavy consequences for his sin.  much pain and grief could’ve been avoided had he simply obeyed.  you see, God is merciful, but he is also just.  he will honor our decisions, but we have to know that there are consequences to the decisions we make.

so what area of your life do you need to trust the Lord in?  is there a situation, a circumstance, perhaps a foothold, you need to release? a spot of trouble you’ve gotten yourself into because of disobedience?  oh my friend… please know that God sees you as that precious one!  that treasure!  his own…. you can trust him.