Category: Melanie Lenow

Guest Post: How to Embrace a Season of Stillness

~ Evan Lenow ~ 1 Comment

This is a guest post from my wife, Melanie. She originally wrote this post for Biblical Woman, the blog site for the Women’s Programs at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The post originally appeared here.

Everything is still and dead. I look out on my backyard and that is what I see. My ferns are brown and droopy and my trees are bare. Had my husband not raked for endless hours, dead leaves would have created a brown carpet over the ground. In the place where the daffodils bloom is a hard bed of earth. Even the birds are eerily quiet and the bugs save their song for another time.  Now is the time of year where living things go into dormancy. It’s a time to conserve energy and not fight against the harsh conditions on the outside.

God has built into every living thing a cadence or rhythm of life. Solomon describes it in Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under heaven.” He is reminding us that the Lord has a specific time for everything that He has called you to do. During this time of year, there are new ministries to join, new classes to take, New Year’s resolutions to accomplish. The idea of “getting back into the swing of things” thrills us. One more meeting? Sure, I need to be there. A playdate? Of course, my children want to see their friends (and so do I). A party to throw? Yes, a friend deserves it. A task to volunteer for? Absolutely, for if I don’t do it, who will?

We are, by nature, brilliant multi-taskers. God has wired within us the ability to accomplish a great deal for our families, our homes, and our community. We are moms, sisters, daughters, students, professionals, makers of the home, and our gift of nurturing is a vital component of who we are. However, as I look out onto my backyard, I see stillness and quietness and a silent preparation for beautiful things to come.

In God’s divine grace and wisdom, there is a time for activity and a time for rest. Rest brings a conservation of energy. In reading about daffodils, I discovered that you are supposed to remove the dead flowers immediately so energy is not wasted in making new seeds that will not develop before the dormant season. I don’t need to remind you that the activities that God has called you to require large amounts energy. Like the daffodil, we cannot afford to waste energy on unnecessary activity. We are finite beings, and it is arrogant of us to believe that our energy is everlasting. That is not God’s design.

In the life of Elijah, there were times of extreme activity. First Kings 17 begins with him predicting a drought to King Ahab. Then, in the midst of the drought he ministers to and rescues a widow and her son from starvation. Then, on behalf of the widow, God uses Elijah again to show His glory and raise the widow’s son from the dead. In a magnificent climax, Elijah calls out the prophets of Baal and, through him, God proves to hundreds upon hundreds that He is the all-powerful, one true God. And finally afterwards, Elijah is the first to notice the rain clouds that bring an end the horrible drought.

It is obvious that God is not against activity. However, let us read between the events. This is why God’s Word is so precious in its entirety; for between the amazing activities of Elijah’s life are periods of mandatory rest.

After Elijah predicted the drought, God commanded him to go and dwell by a brook. He relied on God for even his basic sustenance. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and again in the evening (1 Kings 17:5-7). He stayed there, trusting God for everything until the brook dried up. Can you see that those lessons of patience, trust, and total obedience were paramount for him grasp in order to perform the miracles that were to come? After the victory over the prophets, Elijah was once again driven into the wilderness as he ran from the threats of Jezebel. When he was exhausted and unable to run any longer, he sat down and slept only to be awakened briefly by an angel to give him nourishment. His unplanned yet God-ordained time of rest in the wilderness brought Elijah to a new level of awareness of who God is, for God spoke to Elijah clearly in a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12).  Elijah accomplished everything God had ordained that he accomplish.

In the same way, God has great plans for us and wants to use us mightily, but we must heed his call to rest. It is during the quiet times where God does a mighty work within our own hearts.

I might not know you personally, but I am almost certain that you are a busy lady. However, it is a challenge to me and, I pray, will be a challenge to you to submit our hearts to God’s calling on us to rest. Throughout the next year there will be seasons of activity and opportunities for rest. When God leads you there, embrace the season of stillness and rest. We never know what God will teach us as we lay dormant and conserve our energy for a period. It is there that we will hear His still, small voice. He will tend to us and nourish us spiritually. And only then can we burst out of the ground in a splendor of colors, praising God for his faithfulness and head back into our ministries for the glory of God.

Guest Post: What’s “Naughty or Nice” Got to Do with It?

~ Evan Lenow

This is a guest post from my wife, Melanie. She originally wrote this post for Biblical Woman, the blog site for the Women’s Programs at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The post originally appeared here.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” (Eph 2:8)

I love this time of year! Love everything about it! If you read my last post, you will understand that my feelings toward the Christmas season are the exact opposite from my thoughts of that last day of October. I love the music, the smells, even the craziness of all the parties. Being a mommy at Christmas time is like being a tour guide at some magnificent destination. I get the privilege of guiding them to experience all the wonderful sights, sounds, smells, and activities of the season. Sometimes we focus on a favorite tradition my husband or I had growing up or sometimes we create our own new traditions. I enjoy the millions of questions that surface in the awestruck mind of a child. However, I have noticed a question arising more and more in the last few years, not necessarily with my own children, but with our culture as a whole. It has nothing to do with “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.” It is the question of “Have you been good this year?”

Oh, I know. It’s just a saying. We’ve all said it without any real meaning behind it. However, through the marketing and merchandise around us, I believe this idea is creeping into our hearts and minds more and more.  Many of you know of a little elf that you can pretend watches your kids to make sure they are being good. Even in the Christian circles, merchandise has been created to encourage our kids to be good this time of year. If not, they will find switches and ashes in their stocking. Of course, many dismiss it as part of the make-believe game we play with our children at Christmas.

However, I would argue it is more dangerous than that. The danger comes from the fact that it preaches a different gospel. In the New Testament, Paul marveled that the church in Galatia was “turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6). Even then, the people of Galatia were turning away from a gospel of grace to a different gospel of works. The Gospel of Christmas is that God loved us so much, He sent his only Son and all we have to do is believe in Him and He will grant us eternal life (John 3:16). Ephesians says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8) The gift of Christ is a gift not based on our works. There is no naughty or nice list in Heaven where, if we have more checks on the nice side, we get the gift. The gift of Christ is given to us simply because God loves us and desires a relationship with us for His glory.

In light of this, I want to challenge myself to remove this false gospel from my vocabulary and most of all from my heart. How do I approach giving gifts this Christmas? Do I do it out of obligation? I truly desire my attitude of gift giving to be one that reflects the same attitude of God. I want to give out of an overflow of the incredible gift that God has already given to me. Most importantly, I want to love this Christmas in an unconditional way, expecting nothing in return, but pointing the object of my love back to my Savior who loved me so. What if my 4-year-old throws a fit that goes 10.0 on the Richter scale because he didn’t get the right color cup on Christmas morning? Am I going to be just as joyful about giving him gifts as I would be if he had been an angel? What about that family member who rubs you the wrong way? Will you buy her a present out of obligation or will you see it as a way to minister to her and show her the unconditional love that comes only from Christ? This Christmas, may we give our loved ones gifts not because they were nice to us, but because the greatest Gift-giver loved us so to give us Jesus.

As we talk with our children, let us make it absolutely clear that receiving gifts has nothing to do with their works, but has everything to do with celebrating the greatest Gift of all. None of us deserve the Gift of Christmas, “but God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,” (Ephesians 2:4) gave us the most wonderful gift of all.

Guest Post: Redeeming Halloween

~ Evan Lenow

This is a guest post from my wife, Melanie. She originally wrote this post for Biblical Woman, the blog site for the Women’s Programs at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The post originally appeared here.

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”  John 8:12

 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”  Matthew 5:14

I admit it. I really do not like October 31. I do not enjoy scary.  Call me 100% wimp, but the scariest thing I have ever willingly sat through is Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video and I had nightmares for days. Therefore, Halloween is my least favorite holiday of the entire calendar year. For me, it is the sharp thorn on the beautiful rose bush named “autumn.”

However, after having our first child, I discovered the innocent, child-like aspect of Halloween.  With her first princess dress at 18 months, our oldest daughter fell in love with playing dress-up. In her mind, Halloween was a time where she could wear her princess dress outside with her princess shoes. All of her friends would join us, wearing their princess dresses too.  Don’t forget the candy! If you are polite and say “please”, people give you lots of candy. This is Halloween through a young child’s eye.

Now, that little 18 month old is almost 9 and we have had to reevaluate how our family handles a holiday that is steeped in evil, yet has the potential to be redeemed for a holy purpose.  That holy purpose is reaching people who live in the darkness and sharing with them the Light.  So how can our families participate Halloween in a way that shares the Light and shuns the dark?

Halloween, by nature, is a dark celebration. But as God’s children, we are to be the light in a dark world. My children always dress up in a way that brings light and smiles to the darkness and scariness. What could break up the darkness, but a cute little preschooler twirling in a ballet costume? Or a little boy dressed as superman ready to fight the bad guys?  Because we are representing the Light, we do not dress in any way that resembles darkness or death. Our home is decorated with the bright red, orange and yellow hues of fall.

As a side note, I do warn my children that there might be others in costumes that make them feel uncomfortable. I am vigilant to watch for scary things where I either distract my children or remove them from the situation entirely. My kids always have the option to stay behind and not approach someone who is dressed up. Aside from saying “thank you for my candy,” this is not a time to work on manners. In other words, if my kids want to run away from someone or climb into my arms, they have full freedom to do this.

As we are on mission to take light into the darkness on Halloween, a wonderful thing happens. Those who are lost and need Jesus actually come to you. This is the reason why I cannot justify sitting inside my home and hiding out the night of Halloween – There are lost parents and children out there, and they are coming to my doorstep. If I would only open my door, I can share with them the precious Light.  This is an area where I am very grateful for the mission mind of my church home.  Our church puts on a “Trunk or Treat” time every year. This is an event where church members line up their cars, raise their trunks, and distribute candy. Our church has the privilege of being surrounded by apartment complexes. Halloween is a great opportunity to reach out to the children within those apartments.  The church members have a chance to talk with them and even put Scripture on the candy that is distributed. We take our children around to receive candy as well, but my kids know the main reason we are there is not to get candy, but to minister to un-churched families who need to know about Jesus.

My goal is to develop within my children a compassion for the lost.  So, the Lenow family gets all dressed up in our happy, cute costumes, packs our candy with Scripture verses on it, and goes to our church where we will meet hundreds of children who do not know Jesus.  During this time, we pray to impact families with the ultimate Light of the World. We also have good friends who are members of our church, but instead of coming to the Trunk or Treat at the church, they stay home and welcome their neighbors on their front door step. They know their neighborhood is full of lost people, so they pray that some will come to their door where they are able to minister to them in a way they haven’t done before.

Even if your church does not do an organized outreach during Halloween, you can have a night of outreach yourself on your doorstep.  Simply entertain trick or treat-ers at your front door and take the opportunity to talk with them or add something about your church or a tract to their candy. The parents and children who come to your door expecting candy can be changed by a loving smile and a friendly attitude that gracefully begins to talk with them about a God who loves them.

My goal for Halloween is to redeem the day to mean something that can be used for God’s glory. Yes, the day has evil roots. But God can still use me and my family to spread light in a dark world. Halloween is not a holiday to be celebrated by believers, but an opportunity that is not to be missed to radiate into a dark, lost world the bright light of the Gospel.

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Once again, this is a guest post from my wife Melanie. In addition to putting up with me, she diligently works to train our four children. If that were not enough, she also leads the One Heart women’s ministry at our church, Birchman Baptist Church. She holds a Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.