PRACTICAL FAITH pt 4

I decided on Saturday that I would give the backyard a chance to dry out before I continued working on my landscaping project.  So, I took the opportunity to go through the back rooms in order to organize them before I contacted my realtor this week.  The guest room was relatively easy except for the fact that it contained most of the left-over medical equipment that we had purchased for Piper’s needs over the last year of her life.

It was a little emotional, but I got her hospital bed and some other accessories ready to be donated and then tossed out three bags of her clothes that were no longer wearable.  From there I moved onto the study.  The first order of business for this room was the mountain of paperwork that was stacked on the corner of my desk.  I had tried to keep on top of it, but with everything going on for the last… okay, okay… since we’ve been here, I was not always current with it!

Most of it was paid bills but there was also lots of information concerning Piper’s insurance policies, Medicare info, and doctor’s reports.  So, I sat on the floor, made three or four new piles next to me and then filed appropriately… either in the file cabinet or trash bin!  With that done I moved to the matching bookcases.

That was kind of fun for as you probably all know by now… Piper and I loved books and along with all my Bible School books, we accumulated quite a few other volumes over the years.  The two bookcases in the study are overflowing and its pretty evident that the new study in Oklahoma will need to be large enough to accommodate another bookcase or maybe even two!  But the real find amongst all the treasures in the cases was another notebook of Piper’s, filled with her literary gems compiled during 1997.

I really didn’t get a chance to peruse the book until yesterday morning.  I took advantage of a rare moment to sit in the quiet of the day before church, sip my coffee and think, pray and dream a little in the warmth of the room we had deemed to be our study.  We had high hopes for that little corner room painted a bright blue with white accents.  Along with the matching bookshelves, desk and file cabinets, we put our second loveseat in it and imagined a TV on the wall with ceiling stereo speakers and envisioned many enjoyable times cuddled on the couch watching a movie, sports or simply reading a good book while enjoying vibrant tunes.

But alas, as Piper’s conditioned worsened it just never happened.  In fact, we never got to spend much time in the room at all!  With Piper’s chair, it was just easier to stay in the front rooms.  But yesterday was a perfect time to enjoy the ambiance of our study!  As I leaned back in the comfortable desk chair, I took Piper’s notebook off one of the filing cabinets and began to go through it page by page.

What I discovered was another example of PRACTICAL FAITH in action.  The first section of the book contained her daily Bible study notes.  I always thought that she had very pretty handwriting and felt myself being captivated by her words.  In my imagination I could see her at the kitchen table with an open Bible, the notebook and a pen in hand.  Then I could hear the quiet “Oh!  I see!” or “Hummmmm…” quietly emitting from between her lips as she nodded her head and then began to write in the book.

I realized that back then, her daily study process included reading and mediating on certain portions of the scriptures and then writing them down in the form of a personalized confession of what she was learning.  She took the actual scripture, made it sound as if it was meant just for her and then wrote it down as if she was stating it as a personal statement of who she was according to the verse(s).  Then throughout the day, she tended to work that confession into her various conversations with others.

For me, reading that book was like looking into her personal diary!  Because, as I read the confessions, I saw who she was becoming.  Those daily confessions written from March through September of 1997 were a picture of the Piper I knew in the following years as she became who the Word says she was through her personal study and daily confession of it.  That folks, is what I would call simple but PRACTICAL FAITH in action!  Piper named our College Career group back in the early 1970’s “Faith Action.”  Who knew that it would be a prophecy of the lifestyle that she would come to be known for!

I confess… That’s the same legacy that I would like to be remembered by.  What about you?  Have a great week, and as you do, continue to confess with me… “I am fully expecting to exemplify a lifestyle of PRACTICAL FAITH in my daily activities!”