Thursday, November 01, 2012 Posted by Debbie Legg

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A couple of years ago I discovered I have a passion and a talent for playing drums.  Why God waited until I was in my 40s to reveal that to me I don’t know.  I also don’t know why He waited until I developed a chronic neck condition that could severely limit my ability to play (and, should it worsen, possibly end whatever “career” I may have). 

It almost seems cruel—give a girl a dream she never could have imagined and then snatch it away before she has a chance to live it.  At least, that’s what it looks like on the surface.  But, that’s not how God works.

This neck condition affects everything that brings me life, from dancing to kayaking to writing to drumming to snuggling with my fellas.  That makes me believe there is a spiritual warfare component to it.  Jesus said, “You shall know them by their fruit,” and this is some rotten fruit.  I do not take kindly to the Enemy messing in my life.  I am fighting to live this dream.

And so, after much prayer, a year-long break from lessons and therapy/pain medicines/ exercises/massages/etc, I have started taking lessons again.  I will be smart and cautious but I WILL continue to follow this God-given dream wherever He takes it.

And if the day comes that I can no longer play?  Am I prepared for that possibility?

I believe I am.  You see, I know that THIS IS NOT ALL THERE IS.  To paraphrase CS Lewis, this life is only the cover and the title page of the Great Story which goes on forever and in which every chapter is better than the one before.*

If I had to give them up tomorrow, yes, I would grieve, but I would also rejoice that this is only a temporary setback.  My dream will come true.  I will be playing drums for eternity.  (Don’t think so?  Read “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn.) 

And be it in this life or the next, I fully intend to praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. (Psalm 150:5)

*From the last paragraph in “The Last Battle: Book Seven in The Chronicles of Narnia”

Thursday, April 12, 2012 Posted by Debbie Legg

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He stood outside the bank that frigid night.  He had sold all he owned, even his coat, to pay his debt, but it was not enough.  He had nowhere to go and no way to get there. 

Across the street, the wealthiest man in town was in his favorite restaurant, savoring his favorite meal.  He noticed the poor man and made a quick phone call to the bank’s president.  Upon learning the man’s story, the wealthy man decided to pay the poor man’s debt in full. 

The bank president immediately found the poor man and explained that the wealthy man had paid his debt, that he was free to live his life with the weight of it lifted from his shoulders.  The poor man relayed his tremendous gratitude.  The bank president drove home in his car, the wealthy man was fulfilled by his charitable act, and the debt-free man wandered the street, his gratitude warming him against the cold night. 

The End.

What?  The ending doesn’t sit right with you?  Me, neither. 

Yes, his debt is erased, bringing his balance to zero, but it doesn’t feel like enough.  There must be more.  He must be taken in, at the very least given a good meal.  To end his story now feels incomplete at best.  Redemption without restoration doesn’t satisfy.  
 
Jesus dying on the cross in our place brings our sin debt to a zero balance.  Oh how thoroughly grateful we are that He did, and it does!  But if we stop at this point in the story, He remains dead and we are stuck wandering the streets.   

That is exactly why the Resurrection is so important.  Jesus’ crucifixion and death mercifully save us from Hell.  His extravagant, exuberant, exultant Grace gives us Heaven.  He takes us in, giving us a banquet, new clothes, a new home, a new life. 

And we all live Happily Ever After.

Now THAT’S an ending I would like to read over and over and over again.  

Wednesday, December 28, 2011 Posted by Debbie Legg

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CONFESSION :  I do a really lousy job with Christmas.  


Oh, I do fairly well at the usual Christmas stuff, the part my family and others tend to see.  It’s the heart of Christmas I really seem to, as my 13 year old son would say, “epically fail.”

I fail at the whole “find time to lovingly reflect on Jesus coming to earth in the most unlikely way” thing. 

Somehow I expect that I will simply “find” the time to reflect, as if the clock will magically stop at the exact moment I feel I have a chance to work it in to my chaotic schedule.  Christmas music and church services and the like help some, but often they are also one more checkmark on my To Do list.

And then it’s gone.  December 25 becomes December 26, and it’s the New Year and resolutions and new school semesters.  And I missed my chance AGAIN.  The heart of Christmas remains out in the cosmos with the Star of Bethlehem instead of swaddled safely in the manger of my heart.  I beat myself up with a handful of Christmas cards in one hand and my new iPod in the other.  AGAIN.

But then an idea dawns, like the weak winter sun over the horizon, showcasing the glisten of frost on the dead grass of my heart.  A gentle voice whispers to my soul, “It is not too late, My daughter.  It is never too late to reflect on Me.    Every time you sang a song of praise to Me this year, every time you read My words, every time you gave a cup of water to a thirsty soul in My name, you were reflecting on Me.  You were reflecting Me.   You will continue to reflect Me.” 

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it. (John 1:5)

​Wednesday, December 07, 2011 Posted by Debbie Legg

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For GOD (not Buddha, not Allah, not Lao Tsu, not The Source, not The Force) 

so LOVED  (not pitied, not judged, not condemned, not ignored, not ridiculed, not gave up on)

the WORLD  (anyone and everyone, each and every last person who ever lived on this planet)

that HE GAVE  (not coerced, not bribed, not conned, not commanded, but willingly)

HIS ONE AND ONLY SON (not his servant, not his slave, not some random person off the street, but His SON)

SO THAT (purposefully, intentionally, with full planning and forethought)

WHOEVER (anyone, everyone, each and every last person who ever lived on this planet)

BELIEVES IN (trusts, hopes in, relies on, calls upon as their Lord and Savior)

HIM (Jesus, The Son, God Incarnate, Creator of The Universe, King of King and Lord of Lords)

shall NOT PERISH (spend eternity in Hell, separated from every good thing Forever.  And Ever.)

but HAVE (possess, claim)

ETERNAL LIFE. (Happily Ever After in Heaven with God and Jesus.  Forever.  And Ever.)

“He became what we are so that he might make us what he is.”
― St. Athanasius of Alexandria

LOVE.