Am I the only person who falls into a serious stage of ADHD during worship? It's not even that I struggle with Attention Deficit on a regular basis. Just when I'm trying to connect with God! Here's what happens:

• I am singing the song, lead by the worship leader, truly feeling the movement of the Holy Spirit.
• My arms are lifted high, just me and Him.
• I can feel Him working on those dark and sad places.
• I begin to cry just a little.
• As a tear rolls down my face, I remember how I look when I cry. (And it's not pretty, let me tell you!)
• I remember how the Princess in Braveheart looks when she cries.
• Then I remember why she was crying.
• I picture Mel Gibson's death in the movie.
• I wonder what he was recently doing to mess up his life so much.
• I mean, he had such annointing to make The Passion of the Christ.
• That leads to Jim Caviezel.
• Then there's the line of soldiers coming to the Garden.
• Jim, as Jesus, crushing the snake under his foot.
• The actress that played Lucifer was brilliant!
• She looked so weird with out her eyelashes and eyebrows.
• Mel Gibson's idea, I think.
• Man, he did such a good job with that movie!
• The hand holding the nail was actually Mel's.
• He did that just because it was our sin that put Jesus on that Cross.
• Wait, what was I singing?!?!?

There you have it. A snapshot of the mind of Lara Moore. Not a pretty place, I tell you! Similar to how I look when I cry. Katherine Heigl looks pretty when she cries. I used to like her...

Friendships

My sister is my best friend. That should really be in all caps! I can't (& don't want to) imagine my life without her. She had a nightmare the other night. It seemed that I was ready to move on. I was moving out and I told her goodbye. I've had nightmares like this myself and they are totally ridiculous and will never happen. Even if one of us does move away from each other some day. We laugh alike, we talk alike and enjoy doing the same things. Except marathons. I am NOT a marathon fan. But I will cheer her on every one she does!

I have been amazingly blessed to have her. But not just that. Many posts ago, I wrote about The Sistas. They are four women who have become sisters to me. Somehow, my brother happened to find my 'non-biological' sister & marry her. In my multiple moves throughout the South, I have made many friends that I can now reconnect with via FaceBook.

But recently I've been wondering. Are all of these relationships life-long? What about when one life is over, and you're left longing for one last heart to heart? What about the hurts and miscommunications that sever a bond that wasn't meant to be broken. What about the times that time and distance weaken the bond. How do we survive such hurts?

Saying goodbye to a friend is a painful process. Watching them die the burying them is a pain that will never recover. Watching them step back from you and become distant actually rips something vital from your heart. Would we change the past if we knew then what we know now? If we could, think of all we would lose! It would make every tear worth crying. Maybe it wouldn't be any easier to live, but it would change the fabric of our lives.

I just heard an old Tricia Yearwood song that says it beautifully. Now the writer may have meant a different kind of relationship, but it so applies!

"I Would've Loved You Anyway

"If I'd've known the way that this would end

If I'd've read the last page first

If I'd've had the strength to walk away

If I'd've known how this would hurt...

[Chorus 1:]I would've loved you anyway

I'd do it all the same

Not a second I would change

Not a touch that I would trade

Had I known my heart would break

I'd've loved you anyway

It's bittersweet to look back now

At mem'ries withered on the vine

But just to hold you close to me

For a moment in time...

[Repeat chorus 1]

[Bridge:]And even if I'd seen it coming

You'd still've seen me running

Straight into your arms

[Chorus 2:]I would've loved you anyway

I'd do it all the same

Not a second I would change

Not a touch that I would trade

Had I known my heart would break

I would've loved you anyway

I would've loved you anyway

A Baby Changes Everything...

In this year's drama, I wrote for one character to say that he didn't believe that this season was about family or even a Baby. Sounds sacrilegious, doesn't it? It did to me as I wrote it then, and it does today. You see, Christmas has always been an amazing and magical time for my family. It means time together, eating and laughing and loving on each other. It is a time of music, lights and great movies.

But take all that away and what do you have? Remove your loved ones from your picture. Take away the lights and music. Take away all the yummy foods and snacks. It's just a day on the calendar. It's a day that a Baby was born. None of those events are very special are they? They happen all the time.

No, it is what that Baby grew to be. It is about who He became. And what He did for all of mankind. Every breath, every step He made was just to bring Him closer to death. It was ALL about that Cross. Just like Ricky Bobby, that Baby is easy for us to celebrate. What's threatening about a Baby? Not much. But make that Baby a Man. Make Him the Son of God. That's very threatening. To do that we have to accept that there is even a God. And that He cares for us. And that He wants to change our lives. And change is VERY threatening! Even good change.

So, if you're happy or sad; surrounded by loved ones or lonely; full or hungry, celebrate. You have a reason to celebrate. And that reason is that God came to earth. He came for you. He came to change your life. He came to live. To die. To rise again. Just for you.

Merry Christmas!

A New Kind of Normal

As I connect with friends and family, all talk turns to the same subject: Christmas. The lights are up and on. The trees are decorated. Every church has its program scheduled and advertised. Shops are crowded and parking lots are filled. It's the same old same old, isn't it? But what if you're facing a different kind of Christmas this year? What if you're wondering what to do about that empty seat at the dining table? Are you asking who's going to make that special recipe? Is there someone so sick that they can't fill their normal obligations? Because of a medical diagnosis, are you having to completely revise your menu? What if your world was turned upside down this year and you're having to find a 'new kind of normal'? And that includes Christmas?

Don't you wonder how in the world you're supposed to celebrate when you see absolutely no reason to? Growing up I had amazing parents who made Christmas one of the most magical times of the year. Well that changed as I became an adult. Those changes didn't mean anything negative. They were just a new kind of normal. The magic returned when my niece and nephews were born. It may have been different, but it was just as beautiful to be a part of making that magic instead of receiving it.

But I know there are some of you reading this who are wondering. How do I celebrate this year? How can there be any magic when he/she is gone? What's the reason for the decorations if that little one won't be there to enjoy them? Aren't those romantic movies and commercials murder when the romance has disappeared? Who has time for a holiday when life can be counted by the minutes? Do you just pretend? Do we put on that mask and give everyone else the impression that we are alright?

Sometimes what was before will never be that way again. Maybe life is forever changed. We can be living in 'a new kind of normal'. How do we navigate that through a holiday like Christmas? There can be no other answer than carefully. Allow your hand to rest in His. While we try to celebrate His coming in our new way, know that He doesn't expect the old way. He just wants you to acknowledge Him. He just wants your heart this and every other day of the year. Maybe He's carrying you this Christmas, just as Mary carried Him. Let Him. Cry out to Him. And remember that when there are no other answers, when those verses feel empty... There is Jesus. And He's holding you.

Nails

For several years I worked in Christian retail. I realized it was time to leave when I began to dread Christmas. A couple of years before I found other means, a new product came out. It was the beginning of the Christmas season and a new batch of ornaments had just arrived. This new product was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was an ornament. And it was a nail. A huge nail. It was heavy and truth be told, nothing like the beautiful and quirky ornaments around it. Now, I don't know what kind of nails held our Savior on that Cross, but the point is that this new ornament is a moden representation of those nails. The instructions that with it stated that it is too heavy to hang on the outer branches of the Christmas tree. It isn't meant to be decorative. It is meant to be hung before anything else, even the lights. It is the foundation of the decorating of the tree.

Isn't that true of our walk with Christ? Aren't those nails and Cross the foundation of our lives? They are not meant to decorate our lives or make us look good. They are there to remind us that without those nails, our lives would be usless. Without those nails, there would be no reason to celebrate this month. If not for that Cross, we would live without hope.

I just hung that nail on my Christmas tree. Every year I hang it in the same area. And I stop and think every year. And I remember. I remember that without that Baby. Without the miracle of His birth, I would not know Him. But if He had never shed His blood. If He had decided that the Cross would be too hard to endure. If He had just gone fishing with the disciples instead, then all this would be in vain. But He didn't. He died. He rose back to life. Just for me. Just for you.

Remember that as you decorate your own tree. As you put up the lights. As you listen to the Christmas music radio station. All of these things point to the Cross. And those nails.

Merry Christmas!

When You Are Low on Hope

This was waiting in my e-mail box last night. As it has been a particularly trying week, I know that the timing is not a coincedence. Now I'm sure that I'm not the only person who's struggling, so I decided to pass these words of wisdom on to you.

When You Are Low on Hope
by Max Lucado

Water. All Noah can see is water. The evening sun sinks into it. The clouds are reflected in it. His boat is surrounded by it. Water. Water to the north. Water to the south. Water to the east. Water to the west. Water.
He sent a raven on a scouting mission; it never returned. He sent a dove. It came back shivering and spent, having found no place to roost. Then, just this morning, he tried again. With a prayer he let it go and watched until the bird was no bigger than a speck on a window.
All day he looked for the dove’s return.
Now the sun is setting, and the sky is darkening, and he has come to look one final time, but all he sees is water. Water to the north. Water to the south. Water to the east. Water to the …
You know the feeling. You have stood where Noah stood. You’ve known your share of floods. Flooded by sorrow at the cemetery, stress at the office, anger at the disability in your body or the inability of your spouse. You’ve seen the floodwater rise, and you’ve likely seen the sun set on your hopes as well. You’ve been on Noah’s boat.
And you’ve needed what Noah needed; you’ve needed some hope. You’re not asking for a helicopter rescue, but the sound of one would be nice. Hope doesn’t promise an instant solution but rather the possibility of an eventual one. Sometimes all we need is a little hope.
That’s all Noah needed. And that’s all Noah received.
Here is how the Bible describes the moment: “When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf!” (Gen. 8:11 NIV).
An olive leaf. Noah would have been happy to have the bird but to have the leaf! This leaf was more than foliage; this was promise. The bird brought more than a piece of a tree; it brought hope. For isn’t that what hope is? Hope is an olive leaf—evidence of dry land after a flood. Proof to the dreamer that dreaming is worth the risk.
Don’t we love the olive leaves of life? “It appears the cancer may be in remission.” “I can help you with those finances.” “We’ll get through this together.” What’s more, don’t we love the doves that bring them? Perhaps that’s the reason so many loved Jesus.
To all the Noahs of the world, to all who search the horizon for a fleck of hope, he proclaims, “Yes!” And he comes. He comes as a dove. He comes bearing fruit from a distant land, from our future home. He comes with a leaf of hope.
Have you received yours? Don’t think your ark is too isolated. Don’t think your flood is too wide. Receive his hope, won’t you? Receive it because you need it. Receive it so you can share it.
Love always hopes. “Love … bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:4–7 NKJV, emphasis mine).

From A Love Worth GivingCopyright (Thomas Nelson, 2002) Max Lucado

Last night, my sister and I saw a preview for the movie 2012. All I understood was that in December 2012, life as we know it is supposed to be over. New concept, I know. But the special effects of this preview were amazing as the foundation of Los Angeles (and I suppose the rest of the world) begins to buckle. Houses, buildings and bridges were folding over on themselves. Needless to say, it was a very intense preview. And quite fun to watch from the comfort of my recliner in my safe den. Isn't that why we enjoy scary and thrilling entertainment? While we sit comfortable and safe?

But what about when those devastating things happen to us? Much easier when it's fiction isn't it? Jesus' disciples lived through one of those events. Oh, it's easy, when we are sitting in our chairs to criticize them for not waiting three days. For believing that He was actually dead and that all their dreams and hopes were in the tomb with Him. See, we know the rest of the story, but they didn't. It hadn't happened yet and their world had been turned upside down. If you haven't lived through one or more of those moments, you are either very young or you aren't being completely truthful.

I call those moments, Bizarro World moments. When everything you believe and stand upon is suddenly the opposite. When red means go and green means stop. When he walks in and tells you that he doesn't love you. When you are no longer a valued employee and it's time for you to go. When your accountant informs you that you no longer have any money in the bank. When an obedient child has bad news for you. When your pastor decides to begin a new life with the organist. The equator is now the coldest place on earth and gravity no longer applies. And death would seem easier than living in the aftermath.

Did death on a Roman cross change the fact that Jesus was/is the Messiah? No, but it sure seemed that way for His followers. When we stand in the middle of rubble and death, is He still God? Does that verse in Jeremiah still apply? Can this be His plan? Who is He now? He is still God. He still loves us. He still has a plan. I know this because He has stayed by my side through destruction. He has stayed by my side when I have turned away from Him. He has stayed by my side when I shook my fists at Him. Stop looking at the destruction and death. Begin to look for Him. I promise you, He's by your side, too. Just waiting for you to turn to Him. And cry on His shoulder.