A Present Salvation

- another excerpt (the previous being God Enjoyed) from The Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

A Present Salvation

Creator and Redeemer God,

Author of all existence, source of all blessedness,

I adore thee for making me capable of knowing thee,

     for giving me reason and conscience,

     for leading me to desire thee;

I praise thee for the revelation of thyself in the gospel

     for thy heart as a dwelling place of pity,

     for thy thoughts peace towards me,

     for thy patience and thy graciousness,

     for the vastness of thy mercy.

Thou hast moved my conscience to know how the guilty can be pardoned,

     the unholy sanctified,

     the poor enriched.

May I be always amongst those who not only hear but know thee,

     who walk with and rejoice in thee,

     who take thee at thy word and find life there.

Keep me always longing

     for a present salvation in Holy Spirit comforts and rejoicings,

     for spiritual graces and blessings,

     for help to value my duties as well as my privileges.

May I cherish simplicity and godly sincerity of character.

Help me to be in reality before thee as in appearance I am before men,

     to be religious before I profess religion,

     to leave the world before I enter the church,

     to set my affections on things above,

     to shun forbidden follies and vanities,

     to be a dispenser as well as a partaker of grace,

     to be prepared to bear evil as well as to do good.

O God, make me worthy of this calling, that the name of Jesus may be glorified in me, and I in him.

Living With Eternal Intentionality

May the Lord bring refreshment to your soul as you consider the words of praise held within this prayer. 

Tips for Taking Your Child to College

And Tips for Taking Yourself Back Home... -with Debby Thompson

To have a child is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. (E. Stone) So now August is here, and the calendar affords us no mercy. The time has come for parents to take their children—their hearts—to college. 

My conversations across the lunch table, across the fence, and across social media confirm that the pain is raw and real. Ree Drummond The Pioneer Woman (August 15, 2018) shares her experience this way: "Red nose, trembling chin, tight throat, aching heart. Leaving your child at college is no picnic. I've done it once before and thought maybe this time would be a little easier, I think it's a little harder."

Twenty years have passed since I walked this path myself, yet, in a nanosecond (!) I can return to that day, and recall the unusual ache. After pulling away from the midwestern campus, I phoned my friend from the car to tearfully declare, “This is like heart surgery without the anesthesia!” 

Hands down—whether it is your first child or last—the magnitude of the event is greater than:

"

•    > taking them to get their first immunizations

•   >  helping them pull that first tooth

•    > walking them into a kindergarten classroom

•    > watching them leave to get their driver’s license or waiting up for them to come home from their first date

It is bigger and it is harder. But why?

I believe this threshold is so demanding for two reasons. One, for eighteen years we diligently prepared them for this moment, but we overlooked the need to prepare ourselves. And two, in this situation, change wins. We inherently know our family will never again be the same. 

This dramatic life passage requires navigational skill to negotiate these rough waters. Here are my suggestions.

Ten Tips for Taking Your Child to College

1. Look reality in the face. This is real, rough, raw, and right here. You cannot run away. “In acceptance lies peace.” (Elisabeth Elliot)

2. Allow your emotions to participate in the process. Walk around with the box of Kleenex, but do not walk around with your sunglasses on. Right now, your family needs the real you, so bring your tears to the table. Be comfortable being transparent.

3. Don’t over pack the schedule in the days leading up to leaving. Frenzied activity is not your friend. Goodbyes are exhausting, and everyone under your roof needs adequate sleep.

4. Once on campus, engage with your child’s new environment. Then, when the moment comes, load up and leave. Wave good-by and get gone. Don’t live life looking in the rear view mirror. (Deanna Favre) Stay in touch, but do not smother them.

5. Be intentional in planning your immediate schedule—the next few days, even the next few weeks. Is there a cozy Bed & Breakfast for a restful overnight on your return trip home? Give priority to spending time with friends; focus on lunches, walks, or outings to museums. Consider investing in a few personal perks: a manicure, a massage, or a new book.

6. Communicate. If your job takes you outside the home, let your colleagues at work know what is transpiring. Your professional life is affected by your personal life, and this is one occasion when those around you will appreciate communication.

7. Lean into Jesus. He and He alone is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrew 13:8) He is precious and He is present. He wants to walk with you through this transition.

8. Take the marvelous opportunity to broaden your horizons in private prayer. Fellowship with God will soothe your soul, and specific targeted prayer for you college student will bear both eternal and temporal fruit.

9. Give attention to family members who are still at home. They need you; they too are adjusting, and you must make a concerted effort to keep them from feeling less than important in your life.

10. Be encouraged! And somehow make time to celebrate. You have worked hard to achieve this goal, and you need to savor the accomplishment. Realize there is still a life to be lived.

Embrace the transition and embrace the future. It will be ok. I promise!

Remember:

To look down is to be discouraged.

To look around is to be disappointed.

To look within is to be disillusioned.

To look up is to see Him!

And He says, "I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Jesus means right here, right now, even in the face of leaving your loved one at college. 

Living With Eternal Intentionality™

What Scripture did God use to encourage you when you took your child to college?

What practical advice do you have to offer a parent facing this life change?

If this is not your own situation, who in your life is facing this challege and could benefit greatly from your understanding and encouragement?

A Visit with an Authentic Bibliophile

A bibliophile is a person who has a great appreciation for or collects books.

The warmth of her smile, and the rich aroma of banana bread greet you as you cross the threshold of her home. She graciously welcomes you into her living room. 

She invites you to take a seat on the brown leather sofa. Before turning to pour two mugs of steaming black coffee, she lights a single candle in the brass holder, and you feel enveloped in the gift of her hospitality.

While you wait, you take in your surroundings. Surrounded by antique pine furniture, you can't help but marvel at the exquisite art displayed on the walls. You breathe deeply, relax, and feel you could easily stay here a week.

Then, it happens.

Your eyes land on an empty wingback chair, which stands like a sentinel awaiting the return of its frequent occupant. And beside the chair—piled high—is a daunting stack of books of varied shapes, sizes ages, and colors. Little do you know, but your hostess will likely read aloud from one or two of these volumes in the course of your visit together. This entire encounter holds great promise.

There you have it.

You have just been ushered into the life of my dear friend Diane, an authentic bibliophile. A bibliophile is a person who has a great appreciation for or collects books, and this definition is an apt description of this woman, who is a passionate Follower of Christ and lover of great literature. Furthermore, Diane doesn't just read books, she devours them. Her eagerness to consume the words on a page is matched only by her desire to share what she has learned with others. With a genuine interest in your well-being, my friend relishes the opportunity to quote, discuss, or review literary works. She particularly gains pleasure in actually placing one of her books into your hands for your own perusal.

Here it is.

To broaden our own reading horizons, Diane has provided for us a compilation of her treasured resources. 

Some of My Favorite Books

Diane Parker

I have read many wonderful books over the course of my life... But those listed below have, for one reason or another, deeply impacted my life.

Everything by C. S. Lewis

Everything by Elisabeth Elliot

Everything by Brennan Manning

The series called The Swans Are Not Silent by John Piper

Knowing God by J. I. Packer

The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer

The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer

Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard

Mountains of Spices by Hannah Hurnard

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers (Devotional)

The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitehall Smith

The Spiritual Life by Evelyn Underhill

The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges

The Bondage Breaker by Neil Anderson (Spiritual Warfare)

The Adversary by Mark Bubeck (Spiritual Warfare)

Faith Is Not A Feeling by Ney Bailey

Between Walden and the Whirlwind by Jean Fleming

31 Days of Praise by Ruth Myers (Devotional)

Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster

Prayer - Finding the Hearts True Home by Richard J. Foster

The Song of a Passionate Heart by David Roper

When Heaven Is Silent by Ron Dunn

The Fight by John White

Like Dew Your Youth by Eugene Peterson (on parenting adolescents)

The Gospel According to Job by Mike Mason

The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard

The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard (by far the most significant book I’ve read in the last 25 years) A Praying Life by Paul E. Miller

Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman (Evangelism)

Corner Conversations by Randy Newman (Evangelism)

God Space by Doug Pollock (Evangelism)

Psalm 23, The Song of A Passionate Heart by David Roper

The Reason for God by Tim Keller

The Prodigal God by Tim Keller

Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas

Heaven by Randy Alcorn

Happiness by Randy Alcorn

And...There are certain novels that I read over and over...

Everything by Elizabeth Goudge!

The Scent of Water (my favorite)

The Dean’s Watch

A City of Bells

The Rosemary Tree

The Child from the Sea

Green Dolphin Country

The Elliot Family Trilogy

The Bird in the Tree

Pilgrim’s Inn (first published as The Herb Of Grace in England)

The Heart of the Family

There are others... and I love them all... but if you don’t enjoy the ones listed above
(Elizabeth Goudge at her best), I doubt that you would enjoy the following: Gentian Hill The Little White Horse The White Witch The Blue Hills

Towers in the Mist The Castle on the Hill The Hawk and The Dove Trilogy by Penelope Wilcock (and all of the sequels)

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass by Adrian Plass (My all-time favorite “funny book”!)

The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas

The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C. Douglas

Ben Hur by Lew Wallace

The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain

Below the Salt by Thomas B. Costain

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico

The Zion Covenant & The Zion Chronicles by Bodie Thoene

The Agony & the Ecstasy by Irving Stone

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L’Engle

A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L’Engle

Almost everything by Jane Austin

Most of George MacDonald’s novels edited by Michael Phillips (Especially The Curate’s Awakening)

The Mitford Series by Jan Karon

The Brother Cadfael Series by Ellis Peters

Mister God, This is Anna by Anna Fynn

The Black Knight by Anna Fynn 

Living With Eternal Intentionality™

How has God used books to enrich your walk with Him?

Do you find a personal favorite on the list above?