St. Luke's Blogs

It has been three days since we gathered to celebrate Easter.  It was a wonderful day as people gathered in person and online to worship our risen Lord and Savior.  Since that day, people have returned to their busy schedules.  The stores have replaced the candy and baskets with their summer displays.  The demands of life have slowly begun to overshadow that beautiful day of worship.  Easter fades in our memory as we move further and further away from that Sunday.

As quickly as our society moves from one moment to the next, it is easy to see why Easter often becomes just another day on the calendar.  As Christians, Easter is much more than a single day of celebration, a special Sunday on the calendar.  Easter is the defining moment of our faith.  It not only gives us a day of celebration, but Easter also gives us joy, peace, and hope as we see clearly that, “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)  That assurance provides us a foundation for our faith that leads us every day.

William James understood that Easter was far more than just a one-day celebration.

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” – Romans 12:21

I was a freshman in college in 1995. I was on my way to class when I heard the news that there was an explosion in downtown Oklahoma City. Like most of the world, I spent the rest of the day watching the news and learning about this terrible event. I was shocked as we later learned that this was an intentional act. It was one of the most horrific events of terrorism in my lifetime, and it happened in my home state. My heart was broken that day, now 27 years ago. As we watched the amazing first responders and local volunteers work through the destruction, we began to ask ourselves, “What should I do to help?”

The young nation of Israel experienced great trials and pain throughout its early existence. Not long after David and Solomon sat on the throne, Israel truly began to struggle. After Solomon died, the nation split into two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Soon, their internal problems would lead to external pain. In 722 BC the Assyrian army conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. Many of the people of Israel were captured and dispersed throughout the vast Assyrian empire. Others were brought in to occupy the territory, taking land and possessions from families that had been held since the time of Joshua…

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids Him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Charles Wesley, 1739

I love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    so I shall be saved from my enemies.

The cords of death encompassed me;
    the torrents of perdition assailed me;
the cords of Sheol entangled me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry to him reached his ears.

I have seen the love of God through the lives of many wonderful people. One of those special persons is Doyle Bigham. Doyle was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Lawton. Doyle made a great impact on my life. He wasn’t my teacher or my preacher. Doyle was a member of my home church. Decades older than me, Doyle and I did not hang out in the same circles. I did see Doyle every Sunday morning at worship. He was a faithful and active leader in our congregation.

One summer, our youth group was going on a mission trip to Juarez, Mexico. We loaded our bus with tools and luggage and a lot of teenagers. The front seat of the bus was occupied by Doyle. He decided he needed to go with us. I loved getting to know Doyle on that trip. I learned so much about his life and his faith.

As I was entering college, I was also making plans to enter the ministry…

When I think of the love God has for me and His creation, I am blown away. Creating a world and humanity, creating a garden, and sharing daily walks with Adam and Eve. Making a way for redemption from sin when we fail. God’s saving grace is something that we may not be able to fully understand in this world.

I can see this same type of love demonstrated by my mom. She is such a caring and loving person. She has always been there for me and our family. Taking care of me when I was sick or injured as a child. Praying for me constantly, but even more when I was a teenager. She knew just how to help me deal with life’s struggles.

When I was in 3rd grade, we moved from Del City to Kingfisher, Oklahoma. My dad started pastoring a small church there and my mom worked at the Health Department in town. I had to change schools and I remember many nights spent talking to my mom about how I didn’t have any friends in this new town…

God uses many things to reveal grace in our lives. One of the ways I felt the love of God was through my grandparents. Growing up, I spent lots of time at their home. Their love and support was formative in helping me to become the person I am. I tended to be quiet and they gave me a space to simply be.

When I was a young girl and went to their house for a weekend, I’d spend time using my grandmother’s binoculars and pretend I was a spy securing their neighborhood. Or I’d pretend I was a news reporter interviewing my grandfather on their tape recorder. Grandma would have me help her in the kitchen to cook meals and cookies (my favorite) and Grandpa would want my help in running to the store for groceries.

They always involved me in whatever they were doing and helped me to be successful in a variety of areas…

In college, I took private drum set lessons from the Professor of Percussion at Cameron University. I was still fairly new to the intricacies of the instrument and was struggling with a particular style of playing during one session. Jazz did not come natural to me, and I had tried for several days to nail a particular section of a song he had assigned to me. During that lesson with the professor, I was continuing to fail. Frustration had really set in. I had so much doubt in myself and my abilities.

Me and “Doc” had discussed our faith on multiple occasions, and I knew he was a Godly man. But in that moment, I was not prepared for what he did next…

Taking a large group of students skiing is challenging. There are so many things to prepare for, even before you leave for the trip. One of the most important things is making sure you feed them. Active teenagers eat a lot of food! On one particular ski trip, we brought our own cook. She was a mother of one of our youth, and she was happy to go to Colorado with us and was willing to cook for us each day.

It was the second day of our trip and I had just finished skiing that afternoon. When I returned to the condo, she asked if I could go get a few things for dinner that night. We did not need much additional food, but the nearest grocery store was far away. Another leader and I jumped on a shuttle and left for the store. While we were on our way to the store, it began to snow. When the bus stopped, we quickly made our way into the store, collected what we needed and headed back to the bus stop to catch the next shuttle.

We waited and waited and waited and waited… no shuttle…