Category Archives: Lanie Dinecola

Here is the Church, Here is the Steeple

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Lanie| 7 Comments

By: Lanie Dinecola

Have I mentioned much about my church community yet? Have I taken a moment to brag? I think I will.

God is incredible and gracious and loving and generous and has given me so much more than I could ever ask for, hope for, or even have ever dreamt or imagined myself. I don’t remember this every day but occasionally I do and it’s a gentle and sweet nudge that makes me crumble inside and feel all gushy with excitement.

I was born and bred in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. When I was 19 years old I left home for Wales and pretty much lived throughout Britain for the next five years. Most of the time I was there physically, sometimes it was only my heart that was there. After Bible college, I felt a serious release from the Lord and knew that it was time for me to pack my things and move on back to Louisiana. The other times I’d come back home were hard. They felt unsettling and uncomfortable.

This time I was excited.

I wasn’t sure what God had planned. I don’t know that I even particularly cared all that much. I just knew that his peace was laid out before me and it was leading me back “home”. I was very aware of all of the effects of reverse culture shock and the difficulties that lay ahead of me and I wasn’t entirely sure how I would cope.

The very first week I was back I decided to attend a Bible study that some friends of mine were leading. Since that first Thursday night in July I have been faithfully investing my heart into what has now become a tiny expression of the Church.

This journey of watching God orchestrate and create this beautiful something from a bunch of nothing is incredible. There are so many times that I stop for a moment and look around at these people in awe of how I got here and completely humbled that God thought me worthy to be in fellowship with such precious brothers and sisters.

And it all makes me wonder at God’s creativity, his artistic nature, his lovingness. How he seems to sit and ponder over us and how he seems to take his fingers and trace out the lines on which we walk and the paths down which we travel. I’m amazed at his very detailed love for me. I find his grace in the body of believers that he’s allowed me to be joined with.

I encourage you to sit for a moment and to look at even some of the things in your life that seem ordinary and wonder at the hand of God at work there. To marvel at his detail, to fall in love with his reckless passion for you.

 

 

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Girl A vs. Girl B

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Lanie| 3 Comments

This is the tale of two girls I once knew.

A completely anonymous tale.

Both girls needed something.

The first girl, we’ll call her Girl A, only needed a little bit. It wasn’t much. It was a need that could easily be met. She was offered, freely, the means by which to have her need met. But, with sudden repulsion at the very idea of possibly being labelled a person in need, she rejected with great theatrics the offer of help.

The second girl, we’ll call her Girl B, also had a need. A much more complex need. A need that was more roots than tree. An immediate need, yes, but also a tempered, long need. An onion of a need- one with lots of layers. When offered help, her response was quick and desperate. Maybe in an attempt to test the sincerity of the offer she pushed back hard- hands grasping for whatever she could get.

Both needs completely genuine. One steeped in pride- a determination to do it on her own. To make the ends meet herself, even if it meant failure. The other, drenched in brokenness. Completely willing to forego any pretence. Completely willing to lay aside the façade of having it all together. She would take anything you could give and would beg for more.

 

And, reflecting on this tale, this true tale, I wondered at the portrait seen of humanity. The portrait of myself I see in these two girls.

Does God want me to politely decline his offer of help and attempt my own salvation, attempt my own rescue?

Or -does he want me, like Girl B, to be so desperate for his saving arms, for whatever he has to give that I will risk everything- even dignity- to have him?

 

I’m afraid that I am all too often Girl A.

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The King’s Treasury

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Lanie| 6 Comments

Christmas has come and gone. The tree is down, the presents have been unwrapped. By this time we have packed away the story of Jesus’ birth with the bulbs, the lights, and the yearly traditions.  It’s strange to me that we usually only bring out the most human part of Christ’s life for a holiday season and then we shuffle him back into the attic with all of the other Christmas stuff.

This year I spent a little bit of time reading about those first few years of Jesus’ life. I tried to prepare some room in my Christmas season for his presence. I wanted to get to know Jesus from his birth. Instead of having some great insight into Jesus during this season of his life, I couldn’t help but notice his mother.

                                                               A child herself.

We can only speculate but she was probably between the ages of twelve and fourteen. She was unwed but engaged- probably planning the rest of her life with her fiancé. She was probably imagining how she would make her home and how he would build all of this wonderful furniture and her friends would wish they’d married a carpenter instead of a fisherman. Culturally, these were not untimely things for a woman of her age.

                                                    Marriage, children… furniture.

You can tell my Mom something and ten minutes later she’s forgotten it. We regularly make fun of her about this. However… there is one thing she always remembers.

                                                    What people say about her kids.

My Mom loves to keep little sentimental things. She has boxes full of cards, little love notes, finger paintings, drawings. She treasures them.

Some time after the birth of Jesus, the shepherds were visited by angels, told of his birth, and were sent to find the infant king. When they found him, I imagine they had much to say to the parents of this little baby of what had been told them. I’m sure they were ecstatic. I’m certain they were, actually. Luke says that they went all over the place telling everyone what the angels had told them and the sight of Christ that confirmed it.

We see no other verbal interaction between the shepherds and Mary- only that

“Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

One other time Luke uses these words.

Joseph, Mary, and young Jesus are in Jerusalem for Passover. When it’s time to leave, Mary thinks Joseph has Jesus, Joseph thinks Mary does- huge lapse in communication occurs and halfway home the penny drops- Jesus isn’t here. I can only imagine the race back to town. When they find him he’s sitting there with these teachers of the law and he’s answering their questions and he’s teaching them.

                                       Jesus! What on earth were you thinking??

Maybe she doesn’t say it like that to the Son of the Living God… but she’s certainly using a strong, worried, motherly tone!

His reply is that she must have known that he would be in his Father’s house.

I can see her, inquisitive but quiet.

“And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.”

I wonder how many things she kept in her heart’s boxes.

                                                  This treasure trove of precious moments.

I wonder how often she sat and pondered what her son said, prayed, taught.

Do we treasure the words of God up in our hearts? Or do we shuffle him along, packing him away until next Christmas/Easter/Sunday.

May we be a bit like Mary…

May we say little but capture up all that Jesus offers.

May we gather quietly all of the things he gives and treasure them. Ponder them.

 

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Looking So Crazy in Love: A book review

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Lanie| 9 Comments

By Lanie Dinecola

 

I’ve recently been reading a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It’s fantastic in that it doesn’t pat me on the hand and tell me how good I’m doing and how I do enough and there’s no need to push myself to do any more for Jesus. It’s that kind of fantastic. That kind that says, “Are you really in love with Me? Are you really committed to following me? Are you really interested in where I want to take you? In what I want for you? Do you really trust me?” Yeah, that kind of fantastic. That hard fantastic.

Whilst reading this book, God has been pushing me to really confront the reality of his love for me. To explore what it means to be loved passionately by him. It’s not a concept easily grasped, though.

In the book, Francis Chan begins to unwrap not only God’s love for us but also an appropriate response to his love. The book calls for us to truly inspect God. To take a closer look- to observe his ways. He mentions some pretty profound truths about God that we all “know” but then encourages us to really study the enormity of those truths. Francis suggests that we too easily and too often forget the majesty of God.

I’m not going to lie, this book will challenge you. There were some pages that I was reluctant to read. He suggests that maybe some of his readers aren’t actually Christians. Not that we have failed to say the “sinner’s prayer” or “walk the aisle” or even be baptized, spend our lives faithfully attending church service after church service, tithing, and even leading things.  The point he makes is that these are not true marks of Christianity and if by the end of the book you find you’ve been deceiving yourself- you don’t need to do all of these things again. You don’t need to do them because they don’t define deep love for Christ. It is a call for true change. A call to examine God and to fall madly in love with him. This love will transform your life.

I felt very much put in my place by this book. I heard God whisper several times “Don’t point the finger at people you know. Don’t find people that you think this applies to… this one is about you.” Things like:

“When we disagree, let’s not assume it’s His reasoning that needs correction” pg. 34

How often my attitude is just that. How often do I shake my finger and fuss at God for allowing such difficult circumstances, such trials, such uncomfortable situations. I so easily am lead to believe that this is all about me. When, as Chan says, we are only extras in God’s movie. He is the main character. He is who this story is about. Everything, everyday is about him.

Chan explores the enormity of God, the brevity of man, and the importance of a life lived out of fully surrendered love for Him. I would encourage anyone who feels washed out, bored, bewildered, or frustrated with Christianity as it’s being lived out in their own lives and in the church around them to read this book. I would also encourage anyone who thinks they’re doing a pretty good job of getting it right to read it as well. We all need a wake-up call. We all need a check-up.

Lucky for you, we will be giving this book away this month to one lucky reader!
Be sure to subscribe and comment to be eligible to win!

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Hard, But Not Stale.

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Lanie| 15 Comments

By Lanie Dinecola

Thanksgiving, for those of you unfamiliar with it, is that holiday in which we celebrate the bountiful harvest of gifts and blessings that God has graciously given to us. For this reason, Thanksgiving is probably my very favourite holiday. It has yet to be tainted by commercialism. If we didn’t love the holiday so much as a nation, the celebrations would probably cease due to the mere fact that we are not prompted by the media to remember it. The retail stores seem to skip it entirely, moving from Halloween to Christmas. Besides this, there are so many things about Thanksgiving that make it an enjoyable time of the year. It would appear as if the entire premise of Thanksgiving has remained mostly intact. Though, I guess we are guilty of making it a holiday to celebrate our gluttonous tendencies… but that’s a whole different issue!

Most importantly, Thanksgiving marks that time of year when we begin to slow down the unnecessary things of life and focus in on the precious things, the blessings, the graces.

This is easy to do when our blessings are obvious ones. When everything is wonderful. When the coffers are full, the pantry is stocked, the wardrobe displays new clothes to choose from. Sometimes, our visible blessings are positively pouring over the edges. We see a proverbial cornucopia of thanksgiving before us. A table laid with abundance and we easily offer back gratitude for the gifts we’ve been given and the mercy shown us.

Sometimes, though, we have to search hard for those blessings. Sometimes, the table looks bare, the cup is dry, and the weather is harsh on our back. The weight of the world seems to rest heavy on our shoulders. Sometimes, thanksgiving doesn’t flow from the tongue so freely. The search is long and hard for a list of good things and it’s easy to neglect the search altogether. There are times when we stare God in the face and challenge his very authority. Threaten him. Demand him to explain why he would give so little. Why he would hold back so much from us. Doesn’t he love us? Doesn’t he love me?

In her book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, Ann Voskamp explores the power of gratitude. In a moment when she feels that she is on the receiving end of curse, not blessing- she encounters the revelation that:

            “When I realize that it is not God who is in my debt but I who am in His great debt, then doesn’t all become gift? For He might not have.”

 

How true that is! True gratitude comes from a shift in perspective. A shift in our attitude. When we truly realize that all we receive from God is laced with mercy, grace, and gift- we will begin to see our hurt feelings, our anger, our ingratitude transform into true Thanksgiving. Our bad attitude turns to great gratitude!

Ann talks about the hard blessings; the hard bread. How we, like greedy children, snatch good, easy blessings from the hand of God but flinch and snarl when the blessing is harder to swallow. When it’s not so easy to distinguish its goodness. When it seems disguised in curse and difficult times. When the bread is hard.

The bread may be hard, but it is not stale. It is not out of date, it is not expired, it is not bad for your health. It is the broken hearts that experience healing, the empty bank accounts that see provision, the hungry stomachs that are fed.

We see the holiness and humanity of God when we stand in troubled times. For He is often harder to detect when life runs smooth- mostly because we forget to look for him.

“Adversity introduces a man to himself”

…a wise man once said, and it also affords us the opportunity to stand before God and see him for who he is- our Creator, our Deliverer, our Provider, and the most passionate Lover of our soul. He knows our greatest need and our most secret thoughts. We are never far from the listening ear, the healing hand, or the giving heart of God.

All he gives is good and worthy of heartfelt Thanksgiving.

 

 

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With Baited Breath

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Lanie| 14 Comments

By Lanie Dinecola

 

The United States Census Bureau recorded last year that, on average, 361,481 babies are born each day. That’s a lot of babies!

Even more than that, it’s a lot of people waiting for babies! It takes approximately nine months for a baby to grow strong enough to face the big bad world and in that time families prepare and wait. In the USA there are several things that happen before a baby’s arrival; Doctor’s appointments, sonograms (scans), picking out names, preparing the nursery, registering at shops for all of the necessities your baby might need, being the guest of honor at parties where the parents are showered with gifts to help welcome the baby, etc.

And then there is an excruciating amount of waiting. Waiting through the sleepless nights, an unfathomable amount of trips to the bathroom, crazy cravings, and false alarms.

But, finally, the day comes. The day comes when that little baby, though unaware of the difficulties that life will bring, makes the unavoidable decision to leave the safety of her mother’s womb and enter the world. And mommy urges her baby to join her in life. She groans in anticipation of her appearance. She eagerly waits as she is prepared for her grand entrance.

 

As does the world.

“Creation waits in eager expectation for the sons (and daughters!) of God to be revealed.”

 (Romans 8:19)

 

Without much notice, within us and throughout the world, there is a stirring up. There is a yearning. There is a pushing forward. Creation is waiting for those who have been filled with the Spirit of God to take their places. There is a growing within us.

The Message says:

“The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance… We are enlarged in the waiting.” (Romans 8: 22-25)

 

And so, we prepare. We aren’t on bed-rest. We aren’t to sit idly by as we wait for the Kingdom of God to spread across our nations. We are to usher in the Kingdom of God. We are to give the world a sneak peak at the sons and daughters of God. As a mother and father prepare for the arrival of their newborn baby- we are to prepare, with eager expectation, for the revealing of a sanctified, glorified Church and a magnified Christ.

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Less is More

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Abby| 19 Comments

By Lanie Dinecola

“Less is more.” The mantra my Mom has chanted to me for as long as I can remember. But hers was a gentle whisper often crowded out by the shouting masses that easily convinced me that, really, more is more.

Experience has proven that both are true.

The shouting masses were right - more is more. More things means more debt, more work, more stress, more worry, more sleepless nights, more furrowed brows, more tense shoulders.

But the gentle whisper spoke of a greater, deeper truth. Less is more. More time, more energy, more space, more freedom, more laughter, more moments… more Jesus.

Jesus’ call begins and ends with “Follow me”- simple as that and I read through the Gospels and I search out the disciples’ responses to Jesus’ call to discipleship I see a trend that laces through each of their stories – “and he dropped his nets,” “and they left their boats,” “and they followed him.”

These two words “follow me” slip over our tongues and out of our minds as if they hold no significance but they were two words that required an immediate and drastic response.

Many did not respond as enthusiastically as the disciples. There are several instances when the reaction looks a little more like “well let me say goodbye to my parents;” “let me just run home real quick and grab some stuff;” “when I’m finished here.” These are the responses I can relate to a bit better.

Over the past five years I’ve lived in both Wales and England and I have done my fair share of moving from house to house, place to place. Let me tell you - this gets real old, real fast! Over the half a decade I was away I managed to accumulate a lot of stuff. Clothes, jewellery, cameras, books, journals and even furniture! Over that time I became fond of a lot of my things. I had favourite things, precious things. I had sweet cards people had given me, little knick-knacks that maybe didn’t look like much but contained sweet memories. A little over a month ago I finalised my obedient response to God to move back to the place where my life story begins, Louisiana. As I began to pack my things for possibly the last time I felt a strong desire in my heart for less. For less stuff. Less clothes. Less shoes. Less books (well… more books!). Less of me.

It was such a heavy load. Carrying myself around on my journey with Jesus has been heavy. I’ve said, “Sure, I’ll follow you but you should know that I come with four suitcases, seven duffle-bags, five boxes, and that’s not including the emotional baggage!”

My experience of packing up my material things became an eerie illustration of this constant conversation I have with God. He whispered to me some pretty sweet somethings about the spontaneity and adventure of leaving it all behind and following him with reckless passion.

This letting go, this unpacking, this weeding out, this demolition of my life is not easy. But I believe that it is imperative that I emulate simplicity as a key design of discipleship and a journey with Jesus will find its expression first in how I choose to flesh out my discipleship. Will I allow myself to carry into new life all of the baggage of my old life? Or will I drop my proverbial nets and run hard after Jesus – barefoot, bag-less, with faith wild and hope untamed?

 

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