Childlike Trust

                Trust is a funny thing.  We are born programmed to trust.  Babies depend wholly on their parents to meet their needs.  As children grow, they become more independent and can do things for themselves.  Young children take pride in doing things without help.  My three year old glowed when I discovered she could help while I cooked supper by winding the swing when the baby cried.  “That is wonderful!  You did it yourself!”  I would praise.  While we praise self-sufficiency and independence, we can’t neglect the importance of trust in God.  As people grow, they grow from trusting others to trusting themselves.  God’s plan for us isn’t one of self-sufficiency, but trusting in His sufficiency.   God is teaching me and re-teaching me the trust lesson. I’ve been searching for a job; I trust one day and panic the next.  God came pretty close to hitting me with a hammer recently.

A couple of weeks ago I was teaching my class of six year olds in Sunday school.  The lesson was on trust.  Abram and Sarai had begun their journey, they had no idea where they were going, and they trusted God to lead them.  God met all their needs on the way.  He led them to the land He had promised them.  It was all unknown, it must have been scary, but they trusted.  The memory verse was Proverbs 3:5, Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Oh yes, God does have a sense of humour. “I wonder if these kids know that this lesson is really meant for me.”  I thought.  I taught the lesson to myself that Sunday. 

The next day, Monday, I was on the computer doing my daily search on job sites.  Nothing found.  Frustrated, I checked my email.  I have subscribed to Daily Hope, a daily email devotional from Rick Warren. http://purposedriven.com/blogs/dailyhope/index.html?contentid=9072   The topic that day was trust.  “If you will trust God and keep on moving in faith, even when you don’t see a way, he will make a way.” The verse Proverbs 3:5-6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight. Perhaps God was trying to say something?  I was beginning to see a pattern. 

On Tuesday I was talking with my Mom on the phone, she had just returned that day from a trip.  We were discussing job leads and interviews, which jobs would work well with our family, which wouldn’t.  Was there a job that would be a good fit?  This was when my mother said, “Oh, I meant to tell you. I found a decal for your wall while I was away.  I think you’ll really like it.  It says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart.”  I laughed out loud. “You’re kidding, right?  Let me tell you about the past few days.” 

I’ve heard poor Gideon beat up for his lack of trust; he experienced three miracles before he believed and obeyed.  Three seemed to be my magic number too.  Sometimes in a fearful state it can be hard to see the forest for the trees. I am so thankful that God is patient and keeps repeating the lesson until we hear what He is saying.  This is my lesson: It’s not my job to fix this; it’s my job to trust. Our needs are met, God is in control. My prayer is that my spiritual attitude will become more and more childlike, wholly dependent on my Heavenly Father.  

               

     

Reminded to Trust

Last spring I knew my job was going to end for the summer.  I had looked forward to time home to spend with my family.   Money would be tight, but experience had taught me that God would meet our needs.  As a proclamation of faith I cut a memory verse out my daughters Sunday school paper and stuck it up on the fridge.  “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19)   To be honest, I had a few rough moments when I said “Please do it, don’t mock my faith.”  Yet again and again I had the opportunity to look at the verse on the fridge and say “Yes, you did say you would, didn’t you.”  During this time I leisurely looked for a summer job, only to find out that the job I expected to return to was gone. This was when the not so leisurely, somewhat panicked job search began. While working, I felt pretty self-sufficient.  I met needs and wants too.  Now God was teaching me an important lesson about trust, and His ability to meet my needs.  Trust is not an easy lesson to learn, it looks simple on paper, but it is hard not to panic when the fridge is getting bare and kids are outgrowing clothes. 

At the grocery store near our home, you have to put a quarter in the cart to unlock it from the rest in the corral.  Recently, I arrived at the store only to realise I had left my quarter on the dresser.  What a pain, I had no other change, and without a quarter I’d have to carry my groceries in the shopping baskets the store provides.  I don’t mind using baskets when I only need a couple of items, but I needed a full grocery order.  As I walked toward the store feeling a sense of defeat, I looked and there was a cart sitting with a quarter in it.  Someone had left it behind.  That just doesn’t happen.  It is a discount store, and people who shop at discount stores always take their cart back to get the quarter.  It's in their nature, I know, because I am one.   Yes, the cart was a need, the need  was met.  As I went through the store I thought how again and again over the summer God had met our needs.  I didn’t always see it at the time in my uptight state, but needs were met.  Friends had passed on their kid’s out-grown clothes, odd jobs had come up, and an unknown person had even left a gift card in the mailbox to help with back to school.  The cart was another gentle reminder that God was faithful to His promise. 

My lesson during this has certainly been trust.  I am definitely a work in progress.  I have also had many opportunities to teach my children about the difference between a need and a want.  Much of what we think we need is really what we want.  We are teaching our kids to see things on a bigger scale.  Since the food crisis in the Horn of Africa has been drawn to our attention we have had many discussions in our home.  Comparatively, my job crisis is insignificant.  

I am still faithfully searching for a job; the sense of panic is growing less, and I am trusting a little more.  The uptight feeling comes back here and there, but I am learning to say, as the boy’s father said in Mark 9:24 “I do believe; help me to overcome my unbelief!”  
    

Yarn Potential

                 My experience as a Mom has taught me that it's good to find activities that are relaxing outlets to preserve good mental health. When I am stressed or need a mental break from meeting the needs of children, I knit and crochet.  Almost daily I find time to spend with yarn for one project or another.  It is a good way to relax before bed so I can clear my mind of the day’s activities.  That way when I do my before bed Bible reading, I can make sense of what I am reading and even remember what I have read.  Being creative with yarn is a wonderful stress buster.

                Yarn is a great medium to work with.  There are oodles of different types.  Different colours, weights, some are self- striping, some are furry.  A ball of yarn is so much more than just a ball of yarn.  It has so much potential; it can be anything.  Mind you, sock yarn will never make up into a big bulky sweater, but would make a lovely light sweater.  Bulky furry yarn would make horrible socks.  There are purposes that fit the type of yarn better, but the possibilities are still endless.

                I was recently working with some pretty wool self-striping yarn. It was bulky and warm and perfect for a scarf pattern I wanted to try.  It was sold in bulk in bags of 10, and although the balls were from the same dye lot, they all looked remarkably different from each other.  As I began working with the yarn, I realised there were colours hidden in the middle of the balls I didn’t know were there.  Originally I thought it was purples and pinks, but as the colours changed there were blues, browns, greys, and orange.  I began to knit faster and faster so I could see how the stripes changed from one shade to the next. I desperately wanted to get to the end so I could see how it would all turn out.  What I thought would be a scarf that was striped pink and purple turned out to have shades of every colour.

                So much like life, isn’t it?  We have a tendency to want to speed through certain stages of life to see how it all turns out.  Will things be OK?  Will I ever get a job? Will this child ever sleep through the night?  Unlike my approach, God doesn’t knit faster and faster.  He doesn’t share my impatient, anxious, foot-tapping response.  He keeps on at His pace, doing things in His time.  Just like my scarf that turned out so different than I had expected, our lives often turn out much different than we imagine.   The pink and purple scarf I had imagined would have been pretty, but not nearly as interesting as the scarf with the surprise stripe of orange or vivid blue.  God colours our lives with unexpected events and friendships.  His way of knitting together our experiences often have much better outcomes than we expect.

              God see’s each of us like those balls of yarn; such great potential, each with a purpose they are suited for.   “ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) Our response to His invitation to follow Him needs to be accompanied with trust and willingness to allow Him to “knit the yarn of our life” into the pattern He chooses.   I’ve heard it said, “If you don’t know what God wants you to do, keep doing the 80% you know He wants you to do, the rest will take care of itself.”  Looking back over my life, I see again and again how God has orchestrated events and seasons to accomplish His purposes. At the time it usually wasn’t that clear, just a step of trust in the middle of uncertainty.  Reading through a knitting pattern it is hard to imagine what the end product will be, but as it is knitted the garment takes shape into something unique with a special purpose.  Continue to trust God as you follow Him; remember He is making your life into a beautiful creation.

Growing Pains

I am discovering that crabs are wonderful teachers.  On a recent excursion to the beach, a crab was discovered in a pool.  It had just molted and its shell was still quite soft.  “Don’t try to pick it up,” my son said “Crabs are easily hurt while their shell is soft, they have very little protection.”  I decided to do a little research and learned that molting takes a lot of energy for the crabs.  They have to store up energy, and at the end are left depleted.  Some aren’t able to survive the process.  The crabs absorb water and swell, this causes the shell to split, and then they gradually back out their old shell exposing the new soft shell underneath.   The soft shell expands to allow room for the crab to grow.   After molting, it takes from a few hours to a few days for their shells to harden depending on what type of crab it is.   During this time the crab is extremely vulnerable since their only protection is their exoskeleton, which at this point is soft.   Sounds like risky business, doesn’t it?   The thing is, unless a crab molts, it can’t grow.

Growth isn’t easy.  Most of us remember having growing pains as children.  Waking to leg pains is quite common for children going through a growth spurt.   As parents we are familiar with the adjustments that come with a growing family.  Older siblings rarely want to hear that Mommy can’t cuddle now because she is busy with the new baby.  Much of a baby’s day is spent sleeping, especially during a growth spurt.  Growing is tiring business.   Spiritual growth is no different.  I can’t ever recall hearing anyone say, “I am so thankful God has allowed this challenge, I feel that I am growing so much.” I have heard people say, “I’ve learned my lesson, enough already!” The times we experience uncertainty, difficulty,  and challenging circumstances push us to grow in our faith.   These difficult periods can often leave us depleted, exhausted, and feeling vulnerable.  It would be much easier if God would just let us read about difficulties, but it is the experience that develops character and prepares us for His purposes.

     What do crabs have to teach about growth?  Soft shell Crabs are reclusive, they hide for protection.  Run to Jesus, hide in Him.  It can be tempting to run away, but run to Him. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Times of Bible reading and prayer can help you to regain perspective. Seek out a trusted Christian friend who will support you through the process.  Usually after crabs molt, they regain their strength and then reproduce. Molting serves a very important purpose in their lifecycle. The season of molting and growth does not last forever.   There is a purpose God wants to accomplish by this period of growth.  It is a season in the cycle.  Knowing that doesn’t always make it easier, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.   “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith……may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:6 7)   It is said that hindsight is twenty /twenty; it is easy to look back at things and to see the purpose.  Then, of course, there are times when looking back it doesn’t make sense, and probably never will.  Still, all these things mould us and shape our characters. 

For the Body of Christ there is also a lesson to be learned.  Those facing rough situations are left vulnerable, weak and exhausted.   How can we encourage a friend during a difficult season? Something as simple as a hot cup of coffee and a listening ear can be a great comfort.  Respond to the hurting with compassion, patience, tenderness and love.  Knowing how to respond is sometimes just as hard for the Body as the experience is for the person having it.  Pray for wisdom.  A little encouragement can go a long way.   “…. your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. ⁴ Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. (2Thessalonians 1:3,4)

 Just like people, challenges come in all shapes and sizes:  grief, dissapointment, poor health, strained relationships, or maybe dealing with that annoying co-worker. The list is endless.    Do you know a friend who is in the process of growth?  Do you feel yourself swelling so your shell can pop open ready to be stretched again?  Has your experience left you exhausted?    “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children….. God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:7,10,11)

Back to those crazy crabs; older crabs may only molt every year or so, young crabs can molt as often as every three days.  Sounds awful!  Here we grow again..    

     

Get Out of the Boat

 the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.

                                                                                                                    Matthew 14:24-32  

At bedtime tonight we read the story of Jesus walking on the water.  I was reminded of time I spent working in a small church in a rural community.  One Sunday I preached on this same passage.  I talked about Jesus’ faithful presence in times of storms, and His power over the storms we face.  At one point I chastised Peter for his lack of trust in Jesus when he looked away.  I found it difficult to understand how he could have spent so much time with Jesus and yet could still doubt.  I don’t remember much more of the sermon, but I do remember a very patient man in the congregation who spoke to me after the service.  He had occasionally worked with his son in law as a lobster fisherman.  He had experienced the Atlantic Ocean, and probably the occasional storm.  As far as “life’s storms”, he had experienced much more than I had at 25.  He had raised a family, and had grandchildren, and had probably faced more than I could understand. 

“I appreciated your sermon today,” he said, “You had a lot of good points.   I’m a fisherman, though, and I understand the story as a fisherman.  These men were always on the water, they knew what to expect, they also had respect for the water, and they knew how deadly it could be.  They understood the potential, the strength, and what the water was capable of.  That is why they were terrified, they understood the water.”   Often people say “ignorance is bliss”, and in this case it was.  I had no idea of the dangers associated with stormy seas.  My only experience was with large ferries that travel to Grand Manan and used to cross to P.E.I., not the small fishing boats used by lobster fisherman.  The big boats were bad enough in bad weather, growing up I had spent more than one crossing lying on a bench trying to forget about the awful nauseous feeling I had.  He helped me look at the passage in a whole new light. 

These men had struggled and strained against the waves until dawn.   They had been up all night and were exhausted.  Enter Jesus, walking on the water.  This is when I realize Peter’s incredible faith.  He was exhausted, scared, probably frustrated from rowing all night and going nowhere, and still he got out of that boat.  He understood the danger, he knew the deadly power of the waves, and still he walked toward Jesus.  He did get distracted by the wind, but immediately his eyes went back to Jesus. 

This is when I have to ask myself a hard question; “Would I get out of the boat?”   Honestly, I don’t know.  I’m sure in life’s difficult situations I have missed more than one opportunity to “get out of the boat”.  I haven’t always been a shining example of incredible faith.  The beauty of this story is that while Peter is demonstrating his amazing faith, the rest of the disciples sit in the boat too dumbfounded to speak.  Jesus rescues Peter and then returns with him to the boat to join the others. 

Each of us faces our struggles differently.  Some very gracefully take the giant step of faith, falter, focus on Jesus and carry on.  Others, paralyzed by fear can’t move. Still, Jesus is there riding out the storm with us.  He remains the one in control.  I love it that He didn’t say to them “What’s wrong? Why didn’t you get out and walk out to meet me too?  He seemed to save the gentle rebuke for the disciple with the greater faith.   He comforted them with His presence and quieted the storm.  He allows us to experience difficulties according to our faith to help us grow. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. “  James 1:2,3 

Here and there I have felt a little beat up from being tossed around in the boat.  I’m still working on considering it “pure joy”, but I am learning that again and again He is the one that quiets the storm; it is completely out of my hands.  My prayer is that when Jesus says “Come”, He gives me the faith to get out of the boat. 

      

Crabby Christians

                One of my favourite things to do in the Summer time is to explore with my children at the beach.  Things that seem every day to me are fascinating to them.  They love to search the tidal pools for sea creatures at low tide.  On one occasion we found a large tidal pool with quite a few crabs in it.  Some were average size, but many of them were very small.  We made a game out of seeing who could find the smallest crab.  Some had shells the size of quarters, some the size of pennies.  My daughter was enjoying a little crab that was crawling on her hand.  Its shell was just a little larger than a quarter.  It was so tiny it couldn’t pinch her and it tickled as is crawled around.

                “Oh look,” I said, “here is the tiniest one yet today.”  I had never seen such a small crab, its shell was about the size of a pinkie finger nail, so tiny.  “I’d like to hold that one too,” my daughter said, so I gently placed it on her hand next to the larger one.  We began to walk to another part of the pool to see what other interesting sea life we could find when my daughter stopped fast. “The big one just ate the little one!” she said, somewhat horrified.  I hadn’t expected that!  I didn’t think it was big enough for that, or that it would want to.  I guess in the animal world, the grown-ups aren’t necessarily interested in protecting the smaller, weaker creatures.

                Instinctively, people protect their young.   Babies are cuddled close; toddlers are watched with an attentive eye.  Out of habit I have often caught myself at the playground warning other people’s children to “hold tight” as they climb the monkey bars.  It is so natural, so instinctive to protect, and yet with Christians it isn’t always the case.  Well-meaning Christians can often leave new, immature Christians feeling condemned, discouraged, and like they have been devoured.

                It is important for us to remember that each Christian has a beginning point in their faith walk.  None of us made a decision to follow Christ and was immediately all grown up spiritually.  Growth is gradual, with Jesus as our goal.  All of us are in the process of becoming, and yet in this life none of us will ever reach perfection.  The body of Christ can provide a wonderful place for Christians to grow together.  Unfortunately, it can sometimes be a place of discouragement and condemnation.  Growth takes place best in an environment of love, encouragement, and patience.  Everyone needs to have the freedom to tell a fellow Christian “this week, I blew it,” because often we do. 

                Galatians 5:15 paints a horrible picture, “If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”  Sounds like those crabs, doesn’t it?  That poor little crab had no idea what hit it.  Let’s not be “crabby Christians” harming each other with discouraging words.  Rather,” we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak.”  (Romans 15:1) The body of Christ is meant to be a safe haven for growth.  As Ephesians 4:15, 16 tells us;

¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

                We can take a lesson from the little crabs on what not to be.  With love, let’s make our church a place where baby Christians can grow and bloom.  Together, let’s learn from our failures and push on in our faith aiming toward our goal, Jesus.  

 

              

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up,    1 Thessalonians 5:11

     

The Balloon Fix

At our house, balloons are always a source of disappointment.  I cringe whenever one comes home; it never has a happy ending.  Once, after a frilly fairy princess party, a lovely balloon came home.  It had three pretty smiling princesses on it.  It was a favourite and managed to survive for quite a few days.  Then, oh unfortunate accident, my daughter stepped on her sister’s balloon.  No, I’m not completely sure how that happened, but the disappointment was a little unbearable.  There was great sobbing and cries of “fix it, fix it!”  “Oh Dear,” I said, “I know you are upset, but you really have to stop yelling, you know it can’t be fixed.”  I expected more crying and then comforting, but the determined little girl said, “Fine, I’ll have to fix it myself,”  and off she went.

I had no idea what was coming next.  I figured she must know something I didn’t.  A few minutes later she returned with a new freshly blown up balloon and was in the process of drawing on it with a magic marker.   She then presented me with her version of a perfect replacement for the broken balloon.  There was her new balloon with three smiling stick figures drawn on it.  “There,” she said, “I fixed it, good as new.”  In her determination to be right she would never have admitted that it was less than perfect.

It is a familiar story, isn’t it?  So often in my prayer life I have cried out, “Fix it, fix it!”  That, however, doesn’t always seem to be God’s answer to our problems.   When the instant fix doesn’t happen, I become frustrated.   I can’t count the times I’ve imagined up wonderful solutions for God so He could fix situations.  I have come up with some pretty “perfect” plans.   The times I’ve forced my way the result has been less than perfect, though I haven’t always been quick to admit it.  There are, of course, the times that not even my imagination can come up with a solution.   Not surprisingly, the resolutions God has given to my problems are usually very different than the solutions I thought up.  God has a way of providing an unexpected and much better answer than could be imagined.

 Sarah, in the Bible, is the great example of how wrong things can go when we try to fix things on our own.  I can’t imagine the frustration of waiting years and years for the baby God had promised.  Taking things into her own hands, Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to have a child by her.  Her solution was heartbreak for her and Hagar both.  God had every intention of fulfilling His promise, just not the way she had expected, and Sarah found herself to be a mom at ninety.

 Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Not easy is it?  Lamentations 3:26 also says, “It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” I’m pretty sure “wait quietly” means without screaming “fix it, fix it!”    God has a plan; He doesn’t want us to fall for the old lie “God helps those who help themselves”.   Wait quietly for God to do His work.  Finally, Philippians 4:6 tells us:

 ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Just like I can’t fix a broken balloon, there are struggles and circumstances that are beyond me, only God can fix them.   I’m thankful I don’t have to solve my life with my less than perfect answers.  Give me your peace, Jesus, while I wait quietly for you.

The Purple Pansy

               Last summer I had hanging baskets of flowers at the front of the house.  Among the various flowers were purple pansies.  By early October it was time for the baskets to come down, their season of beauty was over.  They had been touched by frost and didn’t have much life left in them.   I dumped them into the compost to get ready to put up fall decorations.   A couple of weeks later I noticed a purple pansy growing in the mulch under the front steps.  Some seeds must have dropped from the basket.

  It was a surprising time of year for a new plant to start to grow.  I expected it to wilt and die, but as the weather grew colder it continued to bloom.  The steps sheltered the plant from the frost, but still allowed the afternoon sun to shine on it.  Snow didn’t seem to bother it.  As December approached the little flower continued to bloom while surrounded with a light dusting of snow.  I knew this little pansy was fearless when it bloomed for me on Christmas day and then to ring in the New Year.   Soon after, when the great mounds of January snow covered everything, I figured that would be the last of the purple pansy.  February continued to overwhelm us with tons of snow.  During March the occasional thaw would allow a glimpse of the pansy through the snow.  The blooms were wilted, but the leaves were still a healthy green.  By mid-April the snow was pretty much gone and the persistent little flower started to bloom again.  I found it hard to believe the pansy had survived the winter, especially since it was one of the stormiest winters we’d seen in a while.  The little pansy had endured hardships and difficulties and still continued to bloom.  The flower had planted itself under a great shelter.  The steps were close to the house and made a perfect place to grow.

 Life quite often brings seasons of storms. No one is untouched by problems and hurts.  The difficulties can be overwhelming, situations can be smothering.  Facing the challenges and difficulties of day to day life can make one want to run and hide.   It can be hard to imagine that “Spring” will ever come.  In Psalm 91 David wrote: 

¹ Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. ² I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.” ³ (Psalm 91:1-2) 

It is important to remember that this Psalm was written during a very difficult time for David; his life was in danger.  He then went on to say:

 ⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. (Psalm 91:4) 

God is our shelter and protector in tough and trying times.   Being a Christian is not an exemption from experiencing difficulties.  It does mean, however, that we don’t have to go it alone.   God is faithful, the problem may not go away, but He remains close giving strength and comfort.  It doesn’t mean we understand why things are happening or that it is easy.  God has a way of giving “unreasonable” peace in the midst of trials.   Like the pansy, plant yourself under His shelter.  Make Him your refuge and fortress.

 This past winter while facing some of my own challenges, the purple pansy was a great source of encouragement to me.  Since it was growing under the front steps I saw it every time I went in the house.  It served as a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness to me.  I am so thankful that I can rest in His shelter.       

Quench Your Thirst

When my husband and I were first married we would often play tricks and pranks on each other.   My tricks usually involved silly gags.  He would delight in tricking me at the supper table.  It wasn’t hard. Usually after a full day I would sit and daydream or I would be so involved in our conversation he could get off with nearly anything.  Once he gradually snuck all his parsnips on to my plate and not even realizing it I ate them all.  This pleased him since he did not want to eat them.  On another occasion we were eating fiddleheads.  I like them plain, but he likes them best dipped in vinegar.  We chatted together as we ate and continued as we cleared away the dishes.  Then he turned to me and said, “Aren’t you going to finish your water?”   I was pretty sure I had, but not thinking I tipped my head back and dumped in the last mouthful.  It came back out pretty quick, what a horrible trick; he had poured vinegar in the bottom of my glass.  I certainly hadn’t expected that!

 Having a mouthful of vinegar is very unsatisfying if you are thirsty; it actually makes your thirst stronger.  A very thirsty person would never grab a glass of vinegar to quench their thirst.  Many times, though, this is how we treat our spiritual thirst.  God created people to have fellowship with Him.  It is a very natural part of our nature to have a longing or a thirsting for “something more”.  David in the Psalms said, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.”  (Psalm 42:1) Often, in an effort to satisfy a nagging spiritual thirst, people will fill their homes with stuff, their time with activities, their lives with people. These things aren’t wrong, but they aren’t what will quench the thirst.  The longing only becomes stronger.   Many people who “have it all” aren’t really satisfied.

When the Samaritan woman came to the well she picked the right person when she asked Jesus to give her water. He didn’t give her the answer she had expected; he offered the answer to her spiritual searching and longing.  Jesus knew her past and He knew He was the answer to her future.    ¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14) The spiritual water Jesus has to offer satisfies a soul like a cool refreshing glass of water satisfies a physical thirst. Just like that horrible glass of vinegar left me with a sour taste in my mouth and a desperate thirst; nothing can substitute Jesus’ living water.  When we try we are only left longing. I am so thankful that God wants me to have fellowship with Him.  Thank you Jesus, that I can be truly satisfied when I have a relationship with you. 

The Purple Sweater

Anyone who has ever done laundry knows the reward of coming to the bottom of the washer   and finding change.  At our house anything found at the bottom of the washer is a tip for the laundry lady.  It helps to make up for those times when I open the washer and find that the contents of someone’s pockets had not been change but a tissue.

Recently, on a particularly full laundry day, I opened the washer to discover that there had been tissues in somebody’s pocket.  I say tissues, because one tissue couldn’t possibly have caused that much havoc.  Every piece of clothing was plastered with white lint.  As I shook the clothes out, the floor became covered.  The lint on the floor billowed around like tumbleweeds as I walked through the laundry room.   What a mess!  The lint came off most of the clothes pretty easily, but one sweater in particular came out looking really rough.  The poor fuzzy purple sweater, it was matted and pilled with tissue lint.   It was going to take more than a shake to clean it off. 

Life can sometimes be so much like laundry.  It can give us wonderful surprises and gifts or it can give us experiences that leave us a little worse for wear, feeling ruined like that poor messed up sweater.    Some experiences can be easy to ‘shake off’ and some we can’t shake it off so easily, we feel like we have been pulled through a knothole.   Like the sweater, we are helpless to get rid of our baggage and hurt on our own.  Imagine someone saying “that sweater is a mess; it should try harder to fix itself.”  Foolish isn’t it?

  Jesus invites us in Matthew 11:28-30 ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” He is telling us,” I’ll take your burden; you don’t need to carry this anymore, rest from your load.”   The yoke he has for us means freedom from the load we are carrying.  It means we are free from striving for perfection, the impossible, and free to allow Him to change us.  We no longer have burden of trying to do it ourselves.  His yoke means we don’t have to carry the burdens and hurt of our past.  We are freed up to rest in His grace. 

Are you exhausted from striving and trying?  Has your past left you a mess?   Give up your burden to Him and let Him do the work.   I am so thankful I don’t have to have the stress of striving and working to fix myself.   Thank you Jesus for your rest, I am helpless without you.

Now, I have to go pull some fuzz balls off a sweater.

    

Garden Gloves

I have always been attracted to clearance tables.  The lure of finding a great bargain  pulls me in.   There are always fantastic deals on items that I might not need now, but that I can always use later.  Once while rummaging through the items on a clearance table I found a pair of gardening gloves marked down to fifty cents.  What a steal!  This is something I’ll use. 

A few weeks later I was digging in the garden when it struck me, I should get those gloves.   I knew they would come in handy.  I was quite pleased with myself as I walked toward the house,” Look at me” I thought, “I’m so prepared.”  Walking back to the garden with the gloves in my hand, I noticed something I hadn’t before.  My wonderful bargain was a pair of two left gloves.  I’m left handed, but not quite that left handed.  If only I had two left hands!   My fabulous deal was pretty useless, but it was a good fifty cent reminder.

The Bible compares the Church to a body. In the body of Christ each part has its purpose.  Although some purposes may seem more important or more prestigious each part is necessary and each job needs to be done.   1 Corinthians 12:18-20 tells us….. 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

 It is easy to look at our positions in the Church and think of them as unimportant.  There is the awful temptation to say “I wish I were more like they are.”  God has given each of us abilities and personalities that are suited to the purposes He has for us.  Each individual is unique and necessary.  Nobody needs two left gloves, and no body needs two left hands.  Christ’s body needs each of us to be complete.   Thank you Jesus, that you have a purpose and a place for me.   

A Lesson From Ladybugs

 The Fall my husband and I moved into our first house there seemed to be an abundance of ladybugs.   As the weather cooled, they settled on the house in nooks and crannies around windows and cedar shingles to hibernate.  The house was covered; I couldn’t get over how many ladybugs there were.

               It was a difficult time.   We had, only a few months before, lost our first baby who had been stillborn.  I was raw with grief, we both were.  Money was tight.  Daily life felt like quite a struggle.  In an effort to stretch funds we kept the heat pretty low, and used a wood stove to try to keep the house warm.

One day around mid-January the house seemed extra cold, so I decided to try to start a fire.  It was an old woodstove and could sometimes be a little tricky to light.  I couldn’t get the fire to light; all it would do is smoke.  In frustration I slammed the stove door.   A panel came out of the door, and now with a hole in it, the door could not contain the smoke.  As basement began to fill with smoke, I quickly ran up the stairs to open windows.   Ladybugs, long forgotten, fell into the house off the window.  What a nuisance, in the middle of this mess I had to clean up a bunch of dead bugs.

I went to get a broom and dustpan.  To my surprise, when I got back, the ladybugs had begun to crawl around.  They hadn’t been dead; they were just too cold to move.   The warmth from the house woke them up from their hibernation, and now they had ‘come to life’.

The truth of it slapped me in the face.  Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  (John 10:10 NIV)  Before experiencing Jesus’ transforming love we aren’t really living, we are like those frozen little ladybugs, alive, but not really living. When we accept Jesus, His love transforms our lives and then we start to experience the life that He really intends for us, life to the full.   In the middle of my grief I had become cold and miserable, forgetting the full life God had intended for me.  God used some little ladybugs to remind me that He loved me too much for me to stay like that.  Thank you, Jesus, that in you I can truly live.