Fine Tuning

I am happy to say that I made it through last Friday with flying colors!  The day that celebrated what would have been my wife’s and my 44^th Wedding Anniversary went well although, it didn’t unfold quite as I figured it would.  With Piper’s passing only ten months previous, the feelings and emotions of her loss are still pretty raw… but on Friday I felt… well… I felt nothing!  It’s not even like I was in a fog all day.  I just seemed to have no feeling at all.

I had lunch with our youngest daughter and her family, spent most of the afternoon with them and then went to dinner at an authentic Irish restaurant named Kilkenny’s in the Cherry Street district in mid-town Tulsa.  It’s a fun and busy area filled with great restaurants, antique shops, quirky businesses, unique bookstores and many examples of old Tulsa architecture.

The restaurant had a wonderful, old-world atmosphere, had great food and service, was crowded, dimly lit and a bit noisy… and I loved every moment of it!  It was the perfect remedy for what I was going through.  Throughout the night I couldn’t help but think about my favorite date and the many times throughout the years that we went out to dinner together.  Most times we went alone as we seemed to really relish each other’s company away from the hustle and bustle of our daily life!

When the congregation stood on Sunday morning in order to offer our tithes and offerings unto the Lord and make our giving confession, I couldn’t help but to think again about the one that normally stood at my side at the myriad of church services we attended together.  When it came to giving, Piper seemed to light up like a candle.  Our home church followed the same tradition of holding our offerings up to the Lord while making our confession and I couldn’t help but recall when Piper and I would hold up our giving envelope and pray over our financial gift.

I saw that glow in her eyes that radiated the faith in her heart.  She loved to give and believed with every fiber in her being in scriptures like Luke 6:38 where Jesus said to “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom…” (KJV) or Malachi 3:10 where the prophet declares "Bring one-tenth of your income into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way," says the LORD of Armies. "See if I won't open the windows of heaven for you and flood you with blessings.” (God’s Word ©) 

I’ve stated repeatedly that she subscribed to a very literal understanding of God’s Word.  What the Lord showed me during the giving of our tithes and offerings yesterday was that she also subscribed to a very practical application of God’s Word in her life.  If He said it and she studied it out and found it to be consistent within the context of where it was written and was backed up through multiple witnesses of other such scriptures in the Bible, she believed it and then went a step further to apply it to her daily life.

A few minutes later as the Pastor began his sermon (don’t you just love it when the Lord takes you down a rabbit trail during the message!), I had the further revelation that Piper didn’t just live Jesus in her life, but that she had fully integrated Him into every part of her life and personal being!  She was never one to find a convenient excuse to approve something that she felt was contrary to what the Word of God taught.

I could see the uncomfortable reaction in her when we sat at the table during family gatherings and some of the participants would mention movies that they had recently viewed that contained questionable scenes or language, or when people said less than complementary things about their spouses.

For her… there was NO question about it…  there were movies we just didn’t see, and words we avoided because they were negative, contrary to what we were believing for or vulgar in nature.  And while she normally didn’t say anything about it to the people as she didn’t want to embarrassment them or make a public spectacle of something, she many times talked with me about it in private.

It was easy to see her sensitivity and oneness with Jesus during those discussions as it didn’t just bother her, I believe it that actually hurt her to see people she loved doing things that might be detrimental to the well-being of their faith and families.  For Piper Berruto, there was no separation between her faith, what the Bible said and every aspect of her entire life.  At that point in the rabbit trail, I began to wonder if I still uphold the same convictions in my life without her...

I am so thankful for God’s rabbit trails like those yesterday during church.  It is in those tender moments that He takes the time to readjust and/or fine tune me!  I always feel better when I am tuned up… how about you?

Is it time for you to have a check up with the Master Mechanic of our lives?  Have a great week.  I’ve got a few more Oklahoma residence matters to take care of this week.  I hope any rabbit trails that the Lord leads you on are easy, instructive and successful.  And as you hike on His trails, say with me… “I am expecting God’s rabbit trails to make it easy for the fine tuning of my life today!”