Well, we finally did it: Jim and I took off for that road trip/vacation we've been mentioning to each other for awhile. Wow! If I'd known just what a wonderful 11 days we were going to experience, I would have nagged Jim more often about it over the years.
First of all, the weather graciously blessed us every single day. Moderate temps, cool breezes (okay, sometimes they’d lift your hair straight up), and no downpours obliterating the highway. Just lazy cotton-ball clouds moving slowly across an incredibly blue canopy stretched over us as far as we could see. And speaking of those endless horizons, I had been afraid that Kansas would be boring from the comments of others. Not! Some of the most beautiful skies we enjoyed during our trip were in this state. It's a wonder we didn't wreck, craning our necks so as not to miss one single bit of it. Things at ground level were just as eye-easy: circular fields (hadn’t seen round ones before), some planted in sun-hued wheat, others in green milo (or barley?) with trees in semi-circles around the plantings, seeming to stand guard. Here and there cattle dotted meadows and ponds played with the wind. We couldn’t believe the highway was so vacant; we had it all to ourselves much of the time, producing the narcissistic feeling that this beauty was solely ours!
And then it began. Mountains rising majestically high, silently being, reminded us of the newness of everything else, including ourselves. Why do mountains look wise? Maybe they don’t to anyone else – just to me, with the fanciful imagination. The incredible mounds took center stage at first sight and did not relinquish that position for the next several days. They ringed us ever so long, seeming to move farther away as we drove. Would we never get to them?! Finally, the black, gray, and brown rocky crags and peaks leaned down upon us, taking our breath with their hugeness. We felt diminished, awe-struck, breathless, and humbled before their Maker. In fact that feeling was so strong at one point during our trip that I wrote this in my travel journal:
The mountains … look like old men's faces, leathery and brown, leaning over to gaze at us as we pass by. Do they wonder who we are? Do they wonder if we know the One who made them? Yes, majestic ones, we do.
This article would never end if I told about everything, so here are some snippets and fragments of our journey west: ghostly white, other-worldly windmills clustered together on Kansas prairies – seemingly so out of place; the older lady cashier in financially–depressed Limon, CO, who told us a Readers Digest version of her and her husband’s struggle to raise eight children; the Easter-egg-colored little houses in Idaho Spring, CO, each short street layered higher than the one below, as if on bleachers because of the mountainous terrain. Hair standing on end as the GPS stupidly routed us up a steep, twisty, one-lane logging road –Jim’s hair didn’t recover for the rest of the day.
The names we saw here and there: Gold Diggers High School, Gamble Gulch Rd., Old Stagecoach Trail, Lump Gulch Rd., Phantom Lake, (nothing there!), Wolf Crossing, Knife River, Yellow Bird’s Cafe. A loud-mouthed, lippy crow caught our camera, demanding food from us. A bison ambled inches from our car window, never letting on that he knew we existed. Seeing people and cars clustered on the side of the highway, we stopped and caught the back of a black bear as he or she gobbled berries from a tree. Slipping and sliding down the nearly vertical path to Crawfish Creek to watch kids splashing at the base of the pounding, sparkling waterfall, wishing I could jump in too. Old Faithful burping, sputtering, then spraying; a fat, sleek mama elk munching grass on a church’s lawn (in the middle of town!), stopping for a potty break at a roadside rest stop and reading this sign on the door: Please close the door behind you – snow gets in the restroom.
Open-range cows – loose stock – which we figured might be lunch or supper for a grizzly; presidents’ faces released from the mountain, perpetually staring across rocky terrain (did I hear George ask, Where’s Cary?). Wounded Knee, SD. - desolate, wind-swept grave yard, with two teen boys, a mother and her little girl hopefully displaying trinkets for sale, but then the young men proudly showing us the sign of a warrior with upraised fists as the camera clicked. We drove away with sad hearts.
The trip began to wind down as we crossed into Missouri, sans mountains, and wondered at a sign proclaiming, The St. Joseph Skeptic Society. I decided it had been erected because the members had experienced the local Days Inn and their promise of a pleasant night.
I will carry this trip in my heart forever. Thank You, Lord, for intensifying my wonder and amazement of You, and Your marvelous, marvelous creation.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Me, Me, Me
Why do we spend so much time thinking about ourselves? Maybe you don’t have that problem, but I’m here to tell you I do. I get so frustrated when my thoughts continually slide back into the familiar groove labeled, “Geraldine.” I don’t want to do that! I long to instead busy my mind with the same considerations as the Lord. And before somebody protests, I know it’s impossible and not even healthy to never reflect on ourselves. We have to, at times, make decisions regarding our persons, etc. I’m referring to too much energy and time spent on oneself – revolving my world around me.
I even avoid reading after any author dedicated to exploring himself in nauseous detail. It seems a waste of time to read how someone adores movies and hates the smell of pine sol, or that only certain kinds of sheets are allowed to grace the bed, or that he or she loves squid, but only with the proper type of sauce. I strongly suspect those titillating revelations don’t make much of a difference in my attitudes or behavior. (Actually, I have to repent of a very bad attitude when I do slip up and read such an article.) It isn’t that they’re inadequate writers; the problem is their subject matter. Remember the old saying: if you’re all wrapped up in yourself, you make a mighty small package?
However, one doesn’t have to be a writer to qualify as a little parcel. Constantly focusing on ourselves – for any reason - is a habit that imprisons us in bands of steel. But, wait, if we dwell on our shortcomings and deficiencies (meekly putting ourselves down?), isn’t that humility? The following definition pretty much blows away that reasoning: “Being humble is not thinking lowly of ourselves; it’s simply not thinking of ourselves.” Which, by the way, is easier written than accomplished.
What’s the solution for being the center of our own undivided attention?
The consistent message of Scripture is that we’re not ourselves anymore - not the old self anyway – “Your old sinful self has died” (Col 3:3). Rom. 6:2 says that “We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin?” Chapter 12:2 admonishes that we “be changed within by a new way of thinking.” It’s not enough to merely try and ban sinful thoughts – we must purposefully replace ME with the fullness of God himself!! How?
Eph 3:16-19 has been calling me back to its wisdom often in the past few months. I keep reading it, trying to grasp what the Spirit is saying to me.
I pray that you … will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love – how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. (NCV)
Did you notice that Paul prays we’ll be able to know Christ’s love – even though he just said it’s greater than anyone can ever know? He has to mean knowledge that is more than mere head knowledge – we need that rich and vast knowledge quickened only by experiencing God. Walking with God, proving his love trustworthy in the valley of the shadow, or in the fire, or by stepping out into the unknown on faith. And what will be our reward if we grasp the wonder of the love of Jesus?
“You will be filled with the fullness of God” (verse 19). No room left for that parcel.
I even avoid reading after any author dedicated to exploring himself in nauseous detail. It seems a waste of time to read how someone adores movies and hates the smell of pine sol, or that only certain kinds of sheets are allowed to grace the bed, or that he or she loves squid, but only with the proper type of sauce. I strongly suspect those titillating revelations don’t make much of a difference in my attitudes or behavior. (Actually, I have to repent of a very bad attitude when I do slip up and read such an article.) It isn’t that they’re inadequate writers; the problem is their subject matter. Remember the old saying: if you’re all wrapped up in yourself, you make a mighty small package?
However, one doesn’t have to be a writer to qualify as a little parcel. Constantly focusing on ourselves – for any reason - is a habit that imprisons us in bands of steel. But, wait, if we dwell on our shortcomings and deficiencies (meekly putting ourselves down?), isn’t that humility? The following definition pretty much blows away that reasoning: “Being humble is not thinking lowly of ourselves; it’s simply not thinking of ourselves.” Which, by the way, is easier written than accomplished.
What’s the solution for being the center of our own undivided attention?
The consistent message of Scripture is that we’re not ourselves anymore - not the old self anyway – “Your old sinful self has died” (Col 3:3). Rom. 6:2 says that “We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin?” Chapter 12:2 admonishes that we “be changed within by a new way of thinking.” It’s not enough to merely try and ban sinful thoughts – we must purposefully replace ME with the fullness of God himself!! How?
Eph 3:16-19 has been calling me back to its wisdom often in the past few months. I keep reading it, trying to grasp what the Spirit is saying to me.
I pray that you … will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love – how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. (NCV)
Did you notice that Paul prays we’ll be able to know Christ’s love – even though he just said it’s greater than anyone can ever know? He has to mean knowledge that is more than mere head knowledge – we need that rich and vast knowledge quickened only by experiencing God. Walking with God, proving his love trustworthy in the valley of the shadow, or in the fire, or by stepping out into the unknown on faith. And what will be our reward if we grasp the wonder of the love of Jesus?
“You will be filled with the fullness of God” (verse 19). No room left for that parcel.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Swiftly the Days
I’m disturbed.
Time is passing much too fast
for me to keep up.
My head whirls to keep track
of dates and events I thought
so recent.
Are you sure that was last year?
Two years ago?
I’m getting old – well,
older anyhow.
What I mean to say is
I’m getting older
too fast to be possible!
This isn’t real – how these days
zip by
like soap slipping from wet hands.
I can’t seem to get a grip
on my life.
Lord, please supply some traction!
Can you relate? I can relate all too well. More years have passed since I penned these disquieting thoughts than the number of years I had lived at that time – 34 more years as a matter of fact. And I just thought life was moving on along then! An even more daunting truth: My three older kids are 10 to 15 years older now than I was then. I can’t think about that too long. Messes with my brain.
Nowadays, I’m fortunate if I know the day of the month. I can still pretty well tell you if it’s Monday or Tuesday, but don’t ask me more than that. And by the way, what happened to September and October?
I wish someone had sat me down long ago, looked me straight in the eye and said: “Live TODAY. Do not long for tomorrow, for whatever reason. Do not wish away today! God’s precious gift to you is now, the present, whatever that involves. Give God time to work in this moment.”
As a child, when I complained about time dragging (what kid doesn’t believe time dawdles?), my mother would always remind me that “tomorrow never comes.” The first time she said this I begged to differ with her. With a smile of triumph she pointed out, “What day will it be tomorrow? Will it be called tomorrow, or today?”
Don’t be the mommy who isn’t satisfied very long with her baby’s little feat of rolling over from tummy to back because she wants baby to sit alone. Then sitting alone isn’t enough; it’s time to crawl, baby! So baby crawls, but wait; now walking is the thing! When that golden moment happens, however, our hurry, hurry mother very quickly begins dreaming of pre-school; she had no idea of the mischief one little child would get into after becoming mobile on two legs. Don’t let on-going impatience make your children’s early years only a blur after all of you are older. Don’t rush – savor and enjoy. Before you can turn around good, those children will have spouses and children of their own. Trust me. And I’m not trying to be morose and gloomy. (If I wanted to be morose and gloomy I’d quote that old song about “we are going down the valley one by one, with our faces toward the setting of the sun. That song always gave me the creeps.)
We can be impatient in any stage of our lives – and be robbed and cheated because of it. Wishing away grade school, then high school, followed by the longing to graduate college to dive into the “real world.” What’s next? Watching the clock every day until 5 p.m., (especially on Fridays), to run away from that real world, impatiently enduring the grind of each week until retirement. The sad part is that, after racing through life to attain that prize, many discover it’s not the utopia they’d conjured up in their minds. Gracious, time zooms by like an Amtrak train as it is – why do we insist on accelerating it?!
Could our practice of blurring our way through our days be a form of soul sleep? Perhaps. To which Scripture says,
Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you and give you light. Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people). Making the very most of the time because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is (Eph. 5:14-1).7 Amplified Bible
Time is passing much too fast
for me to keep up.
My head whirls to keep track
of dates and events I thought
so recent.
Are you sure that was last year?
Two years ago?
I’m getting old – well,
older anyhow.
What I mean to say is
I’m getting older
too fast to be possible!
This isn’t real – how these days
zip by
like soap slipping from wet hands.
I can’t seem to get a grip
on my life.
Lord, please supply some traction!
Can you relate? I can relate all too well. More years have passed since I penned these disquieting thoughts than the number of years I had lived at that time – 34 more years as a matter of fact. And I just thought life was moving on along then! An even more daunting truth: My three older kids are 10 to 15 years older now than I was then. I can’t think about that too long. Messes with my brain.
Nowadays, I’m fortunate if I know the day of the month. I can still pretty well tell you if it’s Monday or Tuesday, but don’t ask me more than that. And by the way, what happened to September and October?
I wish someone had sat me down long ago, looked me straight in the eye and said: “Live TODAY. Do not long for tomorrow, for whatever reason. Do not wish away today! God’s precious gift to you is now, the present, whatever that involves. Give God time to work in this moment.”
As a child, when I complained about time dragging (what kid doesn’t believe time dawdles?), my mother would always remind me that “tomorrow never comes.” The first time she said this I begged to differ with her. With a smile of triumph she pointed out, “What day will it be tomorrow? Will it be called tomorrow, or today?”
Don’t be the mommy who isn’t satisfied very long with her baby’s little feat of rolling over from tummy to back because she wants baby to sit alone. Then sitting alone isn’t enough; it’s time to crawl, baby! So baby crawls, but wait; now walking is the thing! When that golden moment happens, however, our hurry, hurry mother very quickly begins dreaming of pre-school; she had no idea of the mischief one little child would get into after becoming mobile on two legs. Don’t let on-going impatience make your children’s early years only a blur after all of you are older. Don’t rush – savor and enjoy. Before you can turn around good, those children will have spouses and children of their own. Trust me. And I’m not trying to be morose and gloomy. (If I wanted to be morose and gloomy I’d quote that old song about “we are going down the valley one by one, with our faces toward the setting of the sun. That song always gave me the creeps.)
We can be impatient in any stage of our lives – and be robbed and cheated because of it. Wishing away grade school, then high school, followed by the longing to graduate college to dive into the “real world.” What’s next? Watching the clock every day until 5 p.m., (especially on Fridays), to run away from that real world, impatiently enduring the grind of each week until retirement. The sad part is that, after racing through life to attain that prize, many discover it’s not the utopia they’d conjured up in their minds. Gracious, time zooms by like an Amtrak train as it is – why do we insist on accelerating it?!
Could our practice of blurring our way through our days be a form of soul sleep? Perhaps. To which Scripture says,
Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you and give you light. Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people). Making the very most of the time because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is (Eph. 5:14-1).7 Amplified Bible
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Six Words or Less
AARP did something right this month – one of the articles in their magazine told of Ernest Hemingway’s being challenged to tell a story in only six words. He came back with, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
That was the introduction to a new feature of the magazine inviting readers to tell their life stories in six words or less, with the best to be published each month.
Got me to thinking. How would I describe my life in six words or less? Maybe this: Sixty-five, Not Through, More Adventures! Or: Daughtering, Wife-ing, Mothering, Granmama-ing, Great-gran-ing, Gone. (The great-grans are only a dream right now, but I hope to have gobs.)
Kind of pares us down to the bare essentials, doesn’t it, trying to cram years of emotions, activities, words and thoughts – LIVING - into a few puny words?
Which expressions would you chose, or make up, to describe your marriage? Mine might be: battle scars, blessings-covered, hilarious, merged. Or I could say: green partners, greener parents, God-rescued!
What about a child of yours?
Your outlook on life would call for what terms? Your habits?
Your housekeeping? (snicker)
Your cooking – or lack thereof? (more snickers)
Describing children should be easier than other subjects; think of them in certain situations that bring out the finer points of their personalities, such as, coaxing him or her into the 2-year-old Bible class. Or saying prayers at bedtime. Of course, there’s always the teen-age years. I would frame one of our off-spring this way: melodramatic, incredibly discerning, artistic, inconsistent, persistent. Another could be, Slightly irreverent, skilled, prankish, compassionate, reserved.
Now for the hard assessment – oneself. My outlook on life? Which day? Sometimes this would describe me: Focused/ unfocused, organized/ disorganized, full/empty. Contradictory. Other days, when I allow more of Jesus in me, I hope these words fit: New nature! God’s power! Jesus’ warrior!
I’m not going into the housekeeping and cooking. I’ve wasted enough of your time already, and I don’t want to resort to even minor falsehoods.
Try this exercise – see what it reveals to you about your life.
That was the introduction to a new feature of the magazine inviting readers to tell their life stories in six words or less, with the best to be published each month.
Got me to thinking. How would I describe my life in six words or less? Maybe this: Sixty-five, Not Through, More Adventures! Or: Daughtering, Wife-ing, Mothering, Granmama-ing, Great-gran-ing, Gone. (The great-grans are only a dream right now, but I hope to have gobs.)
Kind of pares us down to the bare essentials, doesn’t it, trying to cram years of emotions, activities, words and thoughts – LIVING - into a few puny words?
Which expressions would you chose, or make up, to describe your marriage? Mine might be: battle scars, blessings-covered, hilarious, merged. Or I could say: green partners, greener parents, God-rescued!
What about a child of yours?
Your outlook on life would call for what terms? Your habits?
Your housekeeping? (snicker)
Your cooking – or lack thereof? (more snickers)
Describing children should be easier than other subjects; think of them in certain situations that bring out the finer points of their personalities, such as, coaxing him or her into the 2-year-old Bible class. Or saying prayers at bedtime. Of course, there’s always the teen-age years. I would frame one of our off-spring this way: melodramatic, incredibly discerning, artistic, inconsistent, persistent. Another could be, Slightly irreverent, skilled, prankish, compassionate, reserved.
Now for the hard assessment – oneself. My outlook on life? Which day? Sometimes this would describe me: Focused/ unfocused, organized/ disorganized, full/empty. Contradictory. Other days, when I allow more of Jesus in me, I hope these words fit: New nature! God’s power! Jesus’ warrior!
I’m not going into the housekeeping and cooking. I’ve wasted enough of your time already, and I don’t want to resort to even minor falsehoods.
Try this exercise – see what it reveals to you about your life.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Centering on Jesus
How can I, as a woman, find satisfaction and joy in my walk with the Lord?
I can tell you this: the direction and focus of our thoughts have everything to do with living joyfully in Jesus Christ. When we let anything sneak in to steal the place the Lord himself should occupy in our thinking; when our minds are captured and seduced by any issue, person or objective, then we stumble, looking to the right and left, instead of being fastened unswervingly on Jesus. Letting my mind visit, then rent an apartment in the wrong neighborhood can incite discontent, dissatisfaction and resentment. And guess what? I ultimately end up focusing on – yep, ME.
What should I allow to capture me? Not what, ladies, but Whom!! Just as surely as I train my energies on a what, then just as surely I will be distracted from the most important theme of my life: Jesus Christ the Savior. Let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back. Let us look only to Jesus… (Heb 12:1, 2).
Real joy will never result from centering on those things we’re unhappy about. How old were you when you began to suspect the church family wasn’t perfect? Your suspicions were well-founded; we, the church, are most imperfect. How shall we handle that fact? Decide that perceived or even genuine injustices or boundaries will prevent us from growing in the Lord? Withdraw; get interested in something else? Become resentful and lash out at every opportunity? Launch a one-woman campaign to correct those imperfections?
Do you really think our Lord will allow us to go without anything we must have in order to become the people He wants? Was David really serious when, in Ps. 23:1, he declares that our Shepherd will supply our every need? Is Scripture truthful when it says we have every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph 1:3)? Every one, Lord? What could possibly be more wonderful than this fact: God’s mercy is great, and he loved us very much. Though we were spiritually dead because of the things we did against God, he gave us new life with Christ. You have been saved by God’s grace. And he raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavens. He did this for those in Christ Jesus so that for all future time he could show the very great riches of his grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:4-7).
Isn’t the honor given to us of being raised from death and seated with Jesus in heaven awesome enough to make up for the omissions, the glitches, the immaturities in every church family?
The church is imperfect. Does that prevent me from loving the Lord my God with everything I have and loving my neighbor as myself? Does that hold me back from laying down my life for another? Does that seal my lips so that I cannot tell the gospel story?
God’s power to realize his purposes through you and me is not blocked by what other people do or refuse to do. The One who fashioned Eve is not scratching his head, stymied about how to use you beautifully because others won't cooperate. Nobody - nothing - can hinder Jesus putting fruit on my branches if I am ingrafted into him.
I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing … by this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
I can tell you this: the direction and focus of our thoughts have everything to do with living joyfully in Jesus Christ. When we let anything sneak in to steal the place the Lord himself should occupy in our thinking; when our minds are captured and seduced by any issue, person or objective, then we stumble, looking to the right and left, instead of being fastened unswervingly on Jesus. Letting my mind visit, then rent an apartment in the wrong neighborhood can incite discontent, dissatisfaction and resentment. And guess what? I ultimately end up focusing on – yep, ME.
What should I allow to capture me? Not what, ladies, but Whom!! Just as surely as I train my energies on a what, then just as surely I will be distracted from the most important theme of my life: Jesus Christ the Savior. Let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back. Let us look only to Jesus… (Heb 12:1, 2).
Real joy will never result from centering on those things we’re unhappy about. How old were you when you began to suspect the church family wasn’t perfect? Your suspicions were well-founded; we, the church, are most imperfect. How shall we handle that fact? Decide that perceived or even genuine injustices or boundaries will prevent us from growing in the Lord? Withdraw; get interested in something else? Become resentful and lash out at every opportunity? Launch a one-woman campaign to correct those imperfections?
Do you really think our Lord will allow us to go without anything we must have in order to become the people He wants? Was David really serious when, in Ps. 23:1, he declares that our Shepherd will supply our every need? Is Scripture truthful when it says we have every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph 1:3)? Every one, Lord? What could possibly be more wonderful than this fact: God’s mercy is great, and he loved us very much. Though we were spiritually dead because of the things we did against God, he gave us new life with Christ. You have been saved by God’s grace. And he raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavens. He did this for those in Christ Jesus so that for all future time he could show the very great riches of his grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:4-7).
Isn’t the honor given to us of being raised from death and seated with Jesus in heaven awesome enough to make up for the omissions, the glitches, the immaturities in every church family?
The church is imperfect. Does that prevent me from loving the Lord my God with everything I have and loving my neighbor as myself? Does that hold me back from laying down my life for another? Does that seal my lips so that I cannot tell the gospel story?
God’s power to realize his purposes through you and me is not blocked by what other people do or refuse to do. The One who fashioned Eve is not scratching his head, stymied about how to use you beautifully because others won't cooperate. Nobody - nothing - can hinder Jesus putting fruit on my branches if I am ingrafted into him.
I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing … by this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The "Blessed"
O Lord, you are such a blessing! You bless me so abundantly! How easy it is to sit in this comfortable chair, in this very adequate house, sipping hot coffee as I contemplate my faithfulness. How easy to be faithful in this situation! Oh yes I can praise the Lord, knowing we have enough money to meet every need, that we enjoy good health for ourselves, our children, and grandchildren, and that we're surrounded by a loving church family. What about those who aren't as "blessed" as we perceive ourselves to be? Are we favored? Has the Lord withdrawn his favor from them?
Actually, God never withdraws his blessings. It is we who must adjust our glasses (perspective).
Here's what I mean: Lord how blessed and admirable are those who praise you but have few or none of the luxurious blessings I enjoy! They have learned to look to you as a child looks to his parents for survival.
How beautiful are they who struggle every day with serious illness with no trace of bitterness! They have realized that your wisdom is all that counts.
How precious in your sight, the lonely ones who have endured the agonizing loss of dear ones and still lovingly cling to you as the drowning grip a lifeline.
These know you intimately as friend. How honored in your eyes the precious souls who have few worldly treasures, but fill their hearts and homes to overflowing with the needy! They fully experience delicious satisfaction in serving you.
So who is it who's really blessed here? Those with this mindset: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights." Habakkuk 3:17-19
"In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people." 2 Cor. 8:1-4
O Lord, may it never be that troubles - want, pain, betrayal, loss - overcome me, transform me into one who is angry and unbelieving, a grumbling, disenchanted Christian, too paralyzed to serve my God. Strengthen me in my inner woman O Lord, that I may be humbly faithful, trustworthy and uncomplaining - whatever my circumstances.
Make me an "even though" person.
Actually, God never withdraws his blessings. It is we who must adjust our glasses (perspective).
Here's what I mean: Lord how blessed and admirable are those who praise you but have few or none of the luxurious blessings I enjoy! They have learned to look to you as a child looks to his parents for survival.
How beautiful are they who struggle every day with serious illness with no trace of bitterness! They have realized that your wisdom is all that counts.
How precious in your sight, the lonely ones who have endured the agonizing loss of dear ones and still lovingly cling to you as the drowning grip a lifeline.
These know you intimately as friend. How honored in your eyes the precious souls who have few worldly treasures, but fill their hearts and homes to overflowing with the needy! They fully experience delicious satisfaction in serving you.
So who is it who's really blessed here? Those with this mindset: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights." Habakkuk 3:17-19
"In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord's people." 2 Cor. 8:1-4
O Lord, may it never be that troubles - want, pain, betrayal, loss - overcome me, transform me into one who is angry and unbelieving, a grumbling, disenchanted Christian, too paralyzed to serve my God. Strengthen me in my inner woman O Lord, that I may be humbly faithful, trustworthy and uncomplaining - whatever my circumstances.
Make me an "even though" person.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Expiration Date
I’ve been throwing away expired stuff from my pantry. Hurts me to pitch cake mixes, canned frostings, or ground cinnamon I bought in 1989, but I’d sure hate to be the cause of someone expiring from moldy food. Expired milk’s another story – doesn’t matter about the date the fine print proclaims, I drink it as long as it doesn’t smell funky or taste peculiar. Not everyone is as trusting as I; a couple of young houseguests eyed me with suspicion when I tried to convince them that even though the “good by” date was history, the milk was still sweet and safe. “I don’t drink anything expired” were the specific words they used. I sighed and gave up.
What a waste of money it is to discard what could be perfectly okay food! But caution demands that I grit my teeth and dump it. However, I will put a stop to this: From now on I’m gonna shop for items when I need them instead of stockpiling “possibles.” Too many times the “possibles” (say, a can of cream of coconut or a jar of pickled cabbage) became “puzzles” – unfamiliar edibles poised expectantly on the shelf waiting to be utilized – and waiting and waiting and waiting - because I can’t for the life of me remember what I had been so excited to concoct. Can anyone relate?
At times I’ve felt as though I have an expiration date, and it’s coming up close. Don’t start planning my funeral; I’m not talking about passing on. It’s just that I feel - well, moldy and stale from time to time. As though my vigorous years have waned and over-ripeness is around the corner. I felt that way the other day when my body was not cooperating with my mind. So many things I want to do, to participate in, dreams to bring to reality, shopping to do!! Just kidding; shopping does not call my name as it once did. However, this inability to carry through with light-bulb moments does cause me to wonder occasionally if I’ve sat in the frig a bit too long.
Wouldn’t Satan just love to convince me that I am out of date, ready to expire?! Not much use any longer? Wouldn’t he delight to whisper that in your ear too - and make us both believe it?
Take heart! Here’s what the Lord says regarding our usefulness:
“Let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap if we do not loosen and relax our courage, and faint” (Gal. 6:3).
“Be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing and being continuously aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile - it is never wasted or to no purpose” (1 Cor. 15:58).
Never wasted!! How about that?!
“For this I labor, striving with all the superhuman energy which He so mightily enkindles and works within me” (Col. 1:29).
Does it sound as if God can extend our expiration dates through His mighty power within us?
And this marvelous promise: “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree - be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon - majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible. Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God. [Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap –of spiritual vitality – and rich in trust, love, and contentment. They are living memorials to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises; He is my Rock, and there is not unrighteousness in Him” Psa. 92:12-15).
Maybe I don’t have an expiration date after all – ever.
What a waste of money it is to discard what could be perfectly okay food! But caution demands that I grit my teeth and dump it. However, I will put a stop to this: From now on I’m gonna shop for items when I need them instead of stockpiling “possibles.” Too many times the “possibles” (say, a can of cream of coconut or a jar of pickled cabbage) became “puzzles” – unfamiliar edibles poised expectantly on the shelf waiting to be utilized – and waiting and waiting and waiting - because I can’t for the life of me remember what I had been so excited to concoct. Can anyone relate?
At times I’ve felt as though I have an expiration date, and it’s coming up close. Don’t start planning my funeral; I’m not talking about passing on. It’s just that I feel - well, moldy and stale from time to time. As though my vigorous years have waned and over-ripeness is around the corner. I felt that way the other day when my body was not cooperating with my mind. So many things I want to do, to participate in, dreams to bring to reality, shopping to do!! Just kidding; shopping does not call my name as it once did. However, this inability to carry through with light-bulb moments does cause me to wonder occasionally if I’ve sat in the frig a bit too long.
Wouldn’t Satan just love to convince me that I am out of date, ready to expire?! Not much use any longer? Wouldn’t he delight to whisper that in your ear too - and make us both believe it?
Take heart! Here’s what the Lord says regarding our usefulness:
“Let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap if we do not loosen and relax our courage, and faint” (Gal. 6:3).
“Be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing and being continuously aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile - it is never wasted or to no purpose” (1 Cor. 15:58).
Never wasted!! How about that?!
“For this I labor, striving with all the superhuman energy which He so mightily enkindles and works within me” (Col. 1:29).
Does it sound as if God can extend our expiration dates through His mighty power within us?
And this marvelous promise: “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree - be long-lived, stately, upright, useful, and fruitful; they shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon - majestic, stable, durable, and incorruptible. Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God. [Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap –of spiritual vitality – and rich in trust, love, and contentment. They are living memorials to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises; He is my Rock, and there is not unrighteousness in Him” Psa. 92:12-15).
Maybe I don’t have an expiration date after all – ever.
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