The Role of a Lifetime

I was talking with our oldest daughter who resides with her husband in the “Tar Heel” state of North Carolina the other day.  It is interesting that there are various stories that abound concerning where the nick name of “Tar Heel” came from.  The most popular of these legends centers around the state’s proliferation of tar and pitch that comes from the vast amount of Pine forests within her borders.  During the early colonial days, North Carolina produced an important source of navel stores for the British Navy.  Tar and pitch where used to seal the bottom of their wooden ships and to prevent shipworms from damaging the hulls.  As the US Civil War progressed it was said of the troops from North Carolina that they “Stuck to their ranks like they had tar on their heels!”*

But… back to my phone conversation!  At one point during our 2.5+ hour talk, I was commenting how proud I was of all our kids.  Each of them have been free to follow their dreams and are successfully establishing their lives in various places around the country!  In particular we discussed how Jamie had been a pioneer in leaving the home town and moving first to another city in California where her husband lived and worked, and then after setting and completing the goal of David’s pursuit of an engineering degree with the subsequent job offer in North Carolina, moved across the country!

As I thought on our conversation today, I realized that after being with my wife through five years of dating and courtship and going on 39 years of marriage, that the word “impossible” has not held much of an impact in our lives!  And it is one important trait that we seemed to have successfully transferred into our kids! 

Hebrews 11:1 in the James Murdock Syriac translation of the New Testament states that “Now faith is the persuasion of the things that are in hope, as if they were in act…”  I think that this is especially meaningful to me because of our background writing and directing countess skits, drama productions and musicals throughout the years.  This translation presses the point that real faith is acted out just as if what you are expecting has already come to pass!  It is confidently taking steps to physically prove your faith by acting it out in the play of your life!

I am not sure why, but acting out our faith has always been an exciting challenge to me and my wife.  From that first Folk-Rock opera that I wrote in the early 1970’s to the all church musical holiday productions that we did up until the mid-2000’s, we just never dwelt on the impossibilities and/or potential roadblocks and just stepped out in faith.  James 2:17 in the Good News Bible puts it the best by stating that “I will show you my faith by my actions!”

During the phone call to our daughter, I likened her tenacity to that of her mother.  Like I have mentioned on numerous occasions, in many ways, my wife is quite different than the rest of her family.  And I think that it is more of a difference in attitude than it is of personality types.  From our early days in High School together, Piper just seemed to have the “Let’s Do It!” and never complain attitude!  Difficulties did not stop her, but challenged her to always look for a workable solution.

I mentioned to our daughter a video we recently viewed of the first play I wrote that was filmed during the early beginnings of the last church we served at.  As the production progressed you would catch an occasional glimpse of me as I was sitting in the aisle on my knees directing the children during the play.  Then when the lights dimmed for set changes, you would see my wife as she would jump up and direct the children into their next places.  You would also hear her piano accompaniment when the little actors sang.  I referenced how Piper was never afraid to be a part of any production, large scale dinner or Family Fun Night activity that I dreamed up.  She was always game and jumped in without any thoughts of failure!  I think that is why she actively (and successfully through High School) pursued her dream of Homeschooling our kids even though both our sets of parents (and many others) were against it!  In the mid-1980’s Homeschooling was taboo and not seen as a legitimate alternative like it is today!

Our youngest daughter once confided in me how she recalled that her Mom always encouraged her to follow her dreams of pursuing ballet and writing.  Piper has always been one to simply take God at His Word and trust Him to do what He said He would do!  There was never any hesitation as to her acting out her faith once she believed that she received what God's Word said was hers.

While meditating on all this earlier today, I wrote down that “God’s Word is an adventure book and that it should put such an expectation of God’s favor in you that you are sparked into action!”  2 Corinthians 6:2 says that “Now is the day of salvation.” (KJV)  Murdock puts it even more succinctly as: “Now is the time of life”  Either translation though, comes with a definite sense of urgency.  It goes hand in hand with Hebrews 11:1 where it declares “Now faith is…”  It is all about putting your faith into action right NOW, and not hesitating while you consider all your doubts and/or what others might say!

Remember Mark 10:27 tells us that “with men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” (KJV)  So here’s your chance to star in the production of your life!  Just keep in mind who the director is and in Whom you have placed your trust!  Have a good day today.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself…”What am I expecting today?”

 

*“Carolina Traditions”  www.udc.edu.