Change and Joy...

Three of the “musts” that Piper and I had when we were looking to purchase a new home out here a few years ago was that it had to have a garage, needed a fenced in backyard and most importantly, had to avail itself for easy access for Piper’s wheelchair.  Our first choice in the countryside near the little town of Fuquay-Varina… and actually our only choice… immediately met the first two qualifications and with a little ingenuity, also was easily set up for Piper’s access into the house. 

The four steps leading up to the large covered front porch wasn’t going to work without the construction of a full-scale ramp, but the entrance from the garage to the kitchen showed a lot more possibility!  Since there was only a single step up I was able to build a platform from which I could maneuver Piper’s chair from any approach being it straight on or from either side.  The garage is also over-sized which gave me the room to make it a permanent fixture, even with the car in the garage!  I built a similar platform from the garage to the backyard as there was also a single step from the threshold to the patio.

So, with the beautiful weather we had yesterday, I decided to take Piper out to the yard so she could watch me toss the ball for the dog as part of his afternoon exercises.  As I was maneuvering Piper around from the house onto the platform, we were listening to a live concert recording of the Gatlin Brothers that was playing on Sirius Radio’s enLighten Southern Gospel channel.  In a pause between songs one of the members of the group began to talk a little about how much things have changed over the years.

He related the time that he and his wife along with other family members were present at the hospital delivery room while their 24-year-old daughter was giving birth to their first-born grandchild.  He began to laugh and detail how different it was from when they had their family saying that back then nobody was allowed in the room and it felt like they had a restraining order that prohibited any family or friends from being within five miles of the delivery room!

That story immediately brought back memories of the birth of our first child… in sort of the opposite manner… In the months previous to Joshua’s birth on May 10, 1980, Piper and I had diligently participated in Lamaze childbirth classes, had prepared the baby’s room and had been praying over our coming child on a regular basis.  We were very excited and looking forward to going through the delivery process together.

Then one day Piper came home from a visit with her folks and with a wrinkled nose informed me that her Mom, Grandmother and who knows who else, were planning on being there during the delivery.  We were both a little stunned after the disclosure and I asked her if that was what she wanted, and she quickly replied in the negative.  We had both wanted this to be a private and meaningful time together and decided that we needed to inform them that… how do I say this nicely… that they weren’t invited!

Well, Piper did have the conversation with her Mom and although a few folks were not very happy with our decision, the introduction of our beautiful baby boy a little while later seemed to soften the blow and bring peace back into the family!

Piper and I had decided very early in our marriage that although we would honor old family traditions from both sides, that it was important to us to establish our own family traditions for our kid’s futures.  So, there were definitely times throughout the years where I am sure that we rocked the family traditions boat more than just a few times!  But we learned quite early in our relationship that the only consistent thing in this life is change… so we took on the mantle of “get over the fear of hanging on to something old and happily embrace something better!”

We’ve also learned along the way though, that there are a few things that are best kept the way they are… While I was preparing dinner last night, I knelt down next to Piper’s chair, looked her square in the face and began to sing and say some funny thoughts to her about some of the humorous times we’ve had together in past years.  At one point she kind of looked at me and then slowly moved her eyes to the other side… giving me the impression that she had had enough of my humor at the moment!

So, with that I sprang to me feet and turned to go into the dining room while I exclaimed: “Oh Piper aren’t you glad that I have such a sense of humor?”  Then I suddenly stopped and in a serious tone declared: “Sometimes I don’t know how I would have made it this far these last few years without it!”  And with that I turned back to her, thought for a moment and proceeded to correct my last statement saying: “It’s not a sense of humor that’s gotten me through it is it?  It was the Spirit of joy inside of me!”

Philippians 4:4 tells us to “Always be joyful IN the Lord…” (God’s Word ©)  As I read that verse this morning the little word “IN” seemed to pop right off the page and it immediately came to light within me that while things may drastically change around us at various times and seasons in our lives, the one constant in our lives can be… should be… our trust and therefore our JOY in the Lord… at all times!

I believe that His JOY has been the one unchangeable constant in our lives that has kept us stable throughout all the changes in life.  With our trust, our confidence and our expectations IN Him and the truth of His Word, we can’t help but have an attitude and demeanor of JOY and thereby stay afloat and strong with any wild pitch that may come our way!

Hummmm… what do you think about that?  We’ll take this subject a little further throughout this week… but until then, I might suggest that you check inside and see IN Whom your JOY is grounded!

Have a good week ahead, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “Where am I expecting my JOY to come from today?”

A State of Mind!

As I pulled open the curtains in the dining room this morning, I could not but break into a comfortable smile as I gazed upon the scene unfolding before me.  Throughout this last week I have been diligently working on sprucing up our yards after the long stretch of brown lawns and leaf-less trees this last winter!  In looking upon the backyard today, I enjoyed the freshly mowed and trimmed green lawn, the new Golden Delicious Apple tree I planted a couple of days ago, the addition of another raised bed garden and the blades of our new green and yellow windmill as they churned in the gentle morning breeze.

I stood there a little mesmerized for a few extended moments as I took in the view.  The sky was blue with a few wisps of clouds and the rising sun was filtering through the two pine trees on the eastern border of our property.  It seemed that all I could see was JOY!  As my eyes traversed across the yard it was like everything outside was smiling back at me.  If I listened closely I swear that I could almost hear the trees singing as their top leaves fluttered with the wind.

A few moments later when I raised the front blinds on the matching windows in our living room, I saw the same exact thing happening right before my eyes with the front lawn I just mowed yesterday afternoon, the tall maples and pines that line our western border and with the bright red Double Knockout rose bush that is in full bloom in front of the porch next to the Rosemary bush and its tiny purple flowers that the bumble bees like to visit throughout the spring. 

Everywhere I looked I saw JOY!

Have you ever experienced something like that before, when you can physically see the definition of a word or expression of praise, encouragement or optimism?  It reminds me of a segment on the PBS show “The History Detectives” that we watched last weekend.  The program which originally aired from 2003 – 2014 centers around a group of researchers who investigate the authenticity and history of, as well as attempt to find answers to any personal questions concerning articles of historic value that are presented to them from individuals all around the USA. 

On this particular segment the group was looking into a piece of abstract art purchased in a nondescript thrift store that was thought to have been painted by American musician, composer, activist and filmmaker Frank Zappa (1940-1993).  While I don’t really know too much about this performer, I was very familiar with his name due to his popularity during my childhood and young adulthood.  What caught my attention in the investigation of the art piece was when they interviewed Frank’s wife about the piece of art.

After examining the painting, she reported that although she was not familiar with that particular work, it did remind her of the sketches that her husband would draw when composing songs.  She stated that it was the way that he saw music.  Many times, he would sit down and draw an abstract picture of the song that was formulating in his mind and then would write the song from the painting!  … And that’s exactly what I experienced this morning when I opened up our drapes!  I vividly saw the JOY of the Lord as a live-stream painting displayed before my eyes!  WOW!

Later on, when I opened my Bible up to Philippians 4:4, I couldn’t help but laugh as God’s vivid picture of JOY unfolded before me.  The Voice translation states: “Most of all friends, always rejoice in the Lord!  I never tire of saying it: Rejoice!”  The God’s Word © version says to be joyful or put another way, to be “full of JOY!”

When I read that command I can’t help but think that Papa God is talking about a state of mind that He wants all Christians to have!  The next verse in The Voice translation gets a little more interesting as it continues the thought from the previous scripture declaring: “Keep your gentle nature so that all people may know what it looks like to walk in His footsteps.  (for) The Lord is ever present with us.” (Philippians 4:5)

That particular transition from verse four to five makes it pretty clear… at least to me… that Paul is directly associating our regular mind set of JOY with having a gentle nature from which people around us can get an accurate picture of what it is like to walk in Christ’s footsteps!  It would seem that JOY therefore, is the catalyst for a gentle, “moderate, mild, or tender temperament.” (Oxford Online dictionaries)

I admit that I had a special bounce in my step as I went in to get my wife up after what I saw happening outside around our property first thing today.  I think that she picked it up right away as she opened he eyes wide and looked right into mine.  We’ve always tended to have a serendipity of hearts and minds when it comes to JOY.  From day one we always found it easy to laugh and smile when we are together.  His JOY has been one of the bonding and foundational rocks in our union throughout all the great times and the not so great times.

We’ve always seemed to feed off each other’s sense of humor, laughter and all-around JOY of heart!  Even today, in the midst of this disease that is attempting to ravish my wife’s body, I still find myself laughing at some of the hard but yet… in a weird sense, funny situations I find us in as I care for her personal needs.  There are times that she will get the funniest look on her face when I am talking to her or helping her to partake of her meals.  It is like she still continues to find opportunities to release the JOY that is deeply set inside of her… even though she cannot communicate in a normal sense right now.  It is just who she is, because it is a state of mind that she purposely developed every day of her life!

I believe that she is a physical picture and application of Paul’s command to us to “Rejoice in the Lord always.” (KJV)  …and you know… She NEVER tires of living it: So “Rejoice!”

Well… I choose to keep following her good example!  How about you?

Have a super-duper, full of JOY weekend!  … and as you do, keep asking yourself… “How much am I expecting to REJOICE today?”

Thankfulness!

I went out on the back deck last evening just before dinner to enjoy the tranquility of the moment.  The weather was perfect, in the mid-seventies with an ever-so-slight breeze, clear blue skies with the setting sun slowly sliding down between the tall trees to the west of our property.  As I looked across the freshly mowed and trimmed lawn, I was taken in by the beauty of the scene projecting before my eyes.

It had been a good day.  I was able to get the riding mower going after not seeing any use for about 5 months, mowed the back, trimmed with the string trimmer and pulled a bunch of weeds growing in the garden area surrounding the deck.  I had decided the day before to put out the new windmill that I actually purchased at the end of last summer.  The original plan was to put it out after I had re-landscaped the area… but, why wait… right!  Why not enjoy it now!  With the weeds gone, the windmill next to the deck looks pretty good to me!

It felt really good to stand on the deck last night and focus on the manicured yard.  But I also couldn’t help but think about the goodness of God toward Piper and I over these last ten years!  The thought came to mind of all the testimonies that I have written of in this blog that center around our lessons learned from unpleasant circumstances and the ill-advised words and actions we’ve had to deal with ON TOP OF the emotional pain of Piper’s physical illness.

But last night in the almost surreal atmosphere of our yard amidst the bursts of spring unfolding 180 degrees around us, all I could think of was how good Papa God has been to us through every step of this journey that Piper and I are traveling in.  Through every new doctor’s report, through the tests and trials of newly prescribed medicines, through every physical change occurring in my sweet wife’s once vibrant body, mind and spirit, through both the positive and the few negative interactions with the people around us and with just about everything else we’ve been through, He has taken us by the hand and walked us through it all in peace with a touch of joy!

Philippians 4:6 reminds us to “Never worry about anything.  But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests WHILE GIVING THANKS.” (God’s Word ©)  At times like last night, I can’t help but become overwhelmed with thanksgiving unto God.

Have you ever experienced that?

Over the last few years I have become a fan of the Canadian television drama “The Murdock Mysteries.”*  We had become familiar with the star of the show Yanick Bisson,  through his involvement with the Sue Thomas F.B.eye series that originally aired on the PAX Network in the early 2000’s.  In the new series he plays the fictional character Detective William Murdock of the Toronto Constabulary at the turn of the 20^th Century.  The character is very dedicated and scientific in coming up with and instituting many of the modern forensic tools that are in use today.

The writers are also very creative by mixing historical characters, facts and events into the plots of their fictional stories.  In one episode, a popular actor from the local Vaudeville Theater is murdered.  All of the actors employed at the theater come under suspicion including a very young juggler named W.C. Fields. 

At the very end of the episode after many twists and turns in the plot, Murdock proves that the theater manager killed the victim who was actually blackmailing the manager over the murder of the manager’s rich mother!  In the last scene one of the regular Constables on the show approaches W.C. Fields who turns to the officer and tells him a joke with a funny accent that he hadn’t used before in the show (which in reality was the trademark voice of the real W.C. Fields).  And with that the Constable tells him that he is really funny but should “drop” the silly accent!

Well, I told you all that to say that on a hunch I went online and looked up the biography of W.C. Fields.  I knew him to be a famous actor and comedian, but knew little of his personal background.  As it turns out, he was actually a very lonely, bitter, satirical and angry man!  He was a staunch atheist and alcoholic and although married for 46 years until his death on Christmas Day in 1946, lived estranged from his wife, although they regularly corresponded and he voluntarily sent her a monthly stipend.   

Here we have an individual who on the outside looked to be living a great and popular life… while on the inside, he was nothing but an empty shell.  I can’t imagine a life like that… can you?

Because we chose to yield our lives and marriage to the Lord Jesus Christ from the very beginning, I feel like Piper and I have lived a charmed life… compared to the man who seemed to have it all, but in reality, had nothing.  Yes, we’ve had to deal with some heart-wrenching experiences over these last ten years… but as I stood on our deck last night, I found myself over-flowing with gratitude and thanksgiving to God who has stood with us… and at times carried us through or over it all!

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ…” (2 Corinthians 2:14 KJV)  YES!  Now and forevermore we give thanks unto Him for His goodness, His grace, His love, His constant encouragement, His strength when we’ve had none and for the ability to walk in an uncanny atmosphere of JOY when the situations of life are yelling the opposite of His Word to us!

What more can I say!

Have a great rest of the week, and as you do, keep asking yourselves… “Why am I expecting to be THANKFUL to God today?”

* The television series is based on characters from the novel series by Maureen Jennings.  It just completed its 11^th season on the CBC network in Canada and had seasons 1-7 available on Net flics.  Seasons 1-10 are available on DVD.

Good Conditioning!

I am writing today’s post a little later than I usually do.  Piper and I spent a good portion of yesterday in the backyard.  First, I pulled the battery off the riding mower so I could charge it and then mow the lawn later this week after the long winter dormancy.  As I opened the double doors of the shed I immediately noticed that our newest resident, a 5’ Rat snake with his shiny black and silver coloring was sitting up on the side wall checking out the disturbance to his afternoon siesta. 

I first spotted him last week and decided that if he didn’t bother me, that I wouldn’t bother him… since they are not poisonous and keep good control of the little varmints around the property.  So, I stepped into the shed, looked him down and let him know that I was coming in and that he needed to move on… and he did!

After getting the battery on the charger I felt ambitious, grabbed my shovel and dug the hole for our new Golden Delicious apple tree which adds to our “orchard” of a Colette Pear, Santa Rosa Plum and also soon to be planted Brown Turkey Fig (to replace the one we Iost last year).  Once that was complete, I pulled out the bare root tree and placed it into a bucket of water in order to hydronate the roots before planting. 

Since I still had some energy left, I then put together the new 4’ X 4’ raised bed planter and lined the bottom with ¼” hardware netting to keep out the moles!  By the time I finished the assembly of the planter and cleaned up, I still had about three hours before the tree was ready for planting so we retired into the house for lunch, figuring that we’d quickly plant the tree afterwards… Well… guess what?  Yep!  By then I ran out of steam and decided to plant the tree the next morning… which brings us back to why I am writing the blog so late in the day!  You shouldn’t keep the tree soaking for over 24 hours so I wanted to get it in right after breakfast!  And here we are…

When I was out back an hour or so ago, I began to think about how much I enjoy gardening.  There I was sitting on my knees on the grass putting up a 3’ chicken wire fence to protect the young tree from any hungry rabbits who might come out looking for new delicacies during the night… and I was having a good old time! 

I grew up in a family that loved to garden.  Planting veggies, flowers, trees and almost any other thing that would grow was a normal part of my childhood and continues in my adult life.  Some folks thought that I was kind of crazy for buying a house with this much property, but in doing so I KNEW that I would be surrounding myself with lots of hours of stress-relieving garden and lawn care!  Some times I have to force myself outside, but I am always thankful for it when I am done with an outdoor project.

After all those years of watching my Grandfather putter around in his beautiful gardens and growing up with parents who spent most of their spare time in the front or back yards, I guess you could say I’ve been conditioned to act and think the way I do when it comes to gardening.  My most enjoyable times when I worked at The Home Depot was the multiple seasons I spent working in the garden department. 

The truth be known… looking back now, I regret making the decision to go into management for the last two years of my career there.  It was much more rewarding for me to be working around the plants, trees, gardening equipment and the happy-to-be-gardening customers than making a few more bucks in supervision.

I received some similar thoughts from reading once again, from Philippians 4:7 in The Message Bible where the translator describes Paul’s thinking in modern vernacular as: “It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”  A couple modern English dictionaries define “worry” as “to allow one’s mind to dwell on difficulties or troubles; to torment oneself with disturbing thoughts” or “to harass by repeated biting, snapping etc…” (Oxford Online Dictionary and Dictionary.com)

I thought that the ideas presented by the words “allow, torment” and “harass” were right on… at least in Piper’s and my experience over the years.  As Pastors we ministered to many individuals who had allowed worry to come in and torment and/or harass them.  With the initial reports coming in from the tests with Piper’s health awhile back, we also saw some individuals who allowed worry to overtake them which resulted in their personal torment and harassment which oftentimes was also projected toward us.

As I meditated on this earlier today, I realized that much of the way we all respond to the various situations in our lives has to do with the way that we have conditioned ourselves to react!  Philippians 4:6-7 describes the one who has been training themselves to respond to life with the peace of God.  The opposite result is found in the ones who have not been practicing peace in their daily lives.

I believe that this repeated practice of peace should take place in everything we do during any given day.  From the stubbed toes… like last night when I wheeled Piper’s chair over my shoeless foot… to the more annoying things like my knocking over a glass of grape juice all over the floor, cabinets, refrigerator and dishwasher… when I was very tiredly preparing dinner on Saturday night. 

My first thought was to scream out, but thank God I have conditioned myself enough to know that this particular reaction would do no good… and I could also hear my wife’s sweet tender voice in my head saying; “Jim, it is time to praise the Lord!”  So, I did… I wasn’t really happy with it at first, but after awhile the joy of the Lord finally took over and I began to laugh at my predicament.

It is all about conditioning!  How you handle the little disturbances in your life will be the same way you handle the tough situations.  Like my mother always said when she was teaching me piano lessons back in my elementary days, “Practice makes perfect!”  Today, I am very regretful that I didn’t realize the importance of her words as I can barely play the scales on the piano.  But on the other side, if you ever heard Piper play the piano you would KNOW that she spent countless hours from about when she was six years old through her college years taking piano and organ lessons and practicing at home.

I have many fond memories of attending her piano recitals when we were dating, picking her up at her piano teacher’s studio, or looking through the tiny window in the practice rooms in the music hall in Junior College and at Chico State University.  She also kept it up throughout our marriage.  In these last few years when she couldn’t figure out the music sheets anymore, she would sit at the piano and just play from the heart… which was funny because she never really could do that when everything was functioning normally.  She could sight read anything, but to just sit down and play without music… well… not so easy!

As I have mentioned many times before, I firmly believe that our three-year saturation-in-the-Word stint at Bible School in Oklahoma really conditioned us for what we are facing today.  Many of the ways we think and act now, are done without much thought.  We have been well-conditioned to think, act and speak like the Word says to!  Like Jesus did!

What about you?  What kind of conditioning have you had… or need to bone up (ie; to try to master necessary information quickly – Merriam Webster Dictionary) on?  In certain situations… it could be the difference between life or death… victory or failure… enjoying the life that God desires for you to live, or barely getting along!

What will it be… for you?

Have a great week ahead, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “How am I expecting to react to life’s situations today?”

PEACE vs Emotions

I am not sure why, but the last few weeks have been exceptionally hard for me.  It seems like everywhere I looked and everything I did reminded me of my wife… and brought back sweet but very emotional memories of her smile, her laugh, her encouragement, her wonderful voice and the uncanny anointing she possessed to make any situation okay and in doing so fill our home, and me in particular, with peace.

For the last 47 plus years she has been my closest confidant in any and every situation that I ever faced.  Whenever my mind was swirling with confusing or frustrating thoughts or pressures, she was always my calming oasis.  A few moments of quiet discussion with her, while holding hands and looking into her bright brown eyes would set the storms in me at peace.

But I realized last night after dinner that her most-important-to-me voice of spiritual discernment and calm is not available to me right now.  That reality suddenly hit me pretty hard.  What do I do?  Where do I go?

Then on the verge of tears I had to stand and place my hands on my wife’s thin shoulder and cry out: “God I need peace!”  And without much other recourse, I sat back down on the couch and began to pray in the Spirit as I knew that my words were not capable of praying for the right concerns and might even prove to be detrimental to our stand of faith for Piper’s healing. (See: Romans 8:26, I Corinthians 14:14-15)

After a while I began to sense a calm coming upon me and felt a distant tinge of expectation building up from within.  The rest of the night went well as Piper went to bed without a hitch and I was relaxed enough to dose off easily and even sleep for most of the night.

After a little rocky start, the morning today began to gain momentum for me when I felt the leading of the Lord to return to my studies where I had left off yesterday in the New Testament book of Philippians chapter four.  Verses 6-7 in The Message Bible encouraged me right away by declaring:

“Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.  Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”

I really needed to hear that last line in this modern paraphrased rendition of this verse.  The idea of “Christ displacing worry at the center of” me immediately brought a vivid and tangible freshness of his love and His care for me and my wife at that very moment in time and place… right in the middle of our dining room as the sun outside was breaking through the overcast skies and the droplets of water from yesterday’s rains glistened in the reflection of the light as it beamed down upon the grass in the yard.

The God’s Word © translation of verse seven declares that “God’s peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.”  On a hunch I looked up the meaning of the word “emotion” and discovered that it is described as “a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one’s circumstances, mood or relationships with others… as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge.” (Oxford online dictionary) At that point I realized that the Lord was showing me that without knowing it, I had been allowing my emotions to guide me more and more over the last few weeks.

That thought gave me a jolt as I instantly recalled our experiences of being on the receiving end of other people who were being led by their emotions that blocked their reason or accurate knowledge of our situation.  Not only was that situation very frustrating and bizarre to us, it also proved very hurtful… and I definitely didn’t want any of that response in Piper’s and my home or in our lives at this critical time in our stand of faith!

A quick peek at the original Greek definition of the “Peace” that our scripture is centered around describes an atmosphere in us that includes: “security, safety, prosperity, and felicity.” (Thayer’s)  It hit really close to home for me when I realized that “felicity” is defined as “the ability to find appropriate expression for one’s thoughts.” (Oxford online dictionary)

Wow… we also experienced the OPPOSITE of that definition when we saw the response of emotion without reason or knowledge leveled at us!  So yea… God taught me somethings today! 

First and most important was to get my mind off of the emotional aspects of what I have been seeing and thinking about in recent weeks and MAKE SURE that I have my thoughts and life CENTERED ON CHRIST.  That direction leaves NO room for a negative response to the rollercoasters of life and thoughtless emotions, words and/or actions!

And in that position… “God’s peace” is well able to guard one’s “thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.”  It would seem that the absence of Godly peace invites fear to take its place and thereby release all kinds of ugly thoughts and wild emotions into the situations of our lives.  YUCK!

I am so thankful for God’s personal teachings to us through the truth of His Word… Aren’t you?

Have a super weekend, and as you do, keep asking yourself…  “Am I expecting God’s PEACE or my EMOTIONS to be my guide today?”

Predetermined!

I had to smile yesterday morning as I was studying the Word when my phone made the familiar sound of “swoosh” telling me that a weather alert was just posted.  I glanced over to my phone and read of the “Weather Alert” that had just been posted for Harnett County until 10:30 that morning.  Potentially dangerous high winds were being predicted for our area and surrounding counties.

Now that forecast would not normally be something to smile about except at that very moment I was reading in my Bible from Luke 6:48 where Jesus taught: “If you do that (come, hear and do – see yesterday’s post “Right in the Middle.”), you’ll be like the man who wanted to build a sturdy house.  He dug down deep and anchored his foundation to solid rock.  During a violent storm, the floodwaters slammed against his house, but they couldn’t shake it because of solid craftsmanship.  (It was built on a rock)” (The Voice)

It had been storming outside since late afternoon of the previous day so the weather alert was not a surprise.  A look outside with the trees bending this way and that in the gusts of wind also confirmed the accuracy of the alert.  My smile came up as I pondered the thought that the Lord must love to take advantage of current events and be able to give a live-action object lesson as I read about the house that didn’t break apart when the storm related floodwaters rose up against it!

As youth and children’s pastors for over 30+ years, I’m sure that He knew that Piper and I would appreciate that.  It seemed like Piper and I were always looking for object lessons that our students could relate to in the study of the Bible.  Piper was a real genius in that department.  She could turn almost any event into a learning experience… Like the time we had gone fishing at our favorite fishing hole up in the Sierra’s and successfully returned to camp with a nice catch.  Well, she and the kids began dissecting and studying the fish’s inner workings right in the middle of the camp picnic table where I was trying to get the rest of dinner ready!  But by the time we ate… let’s just say that I had lost my appetite for fresh trout…

Back home just before dinner the night before, I stood at the dining room window watching the trees blowing and bending in the wind and had commented to Piper that it was amazing to see how much flexibility the tall and sturdy trees surrounding our property had.  That they could sway in the breeze and then bend over under the power of the 35-45 mph gusts and strengthen right back up when things calmed down.  I had to smile then as well and I turned around, faced my wife and stated, “just like those of us who have our lives founded on the solid Rock of Jesus Christ!”

When I continued to study from Jesus’ parable on the Sower from the Voice translation of the Bible, I was awe struck when I read of the man “who wanted to build a sturdy house.”  What came to light was that this individual had predetermined to build a house that was not going to fall apart in a storm.  When he grabbed his shovel, (I doubt that they had backhoes in Bible times…) he already knew that he was going to have to put forth a lot of extra effort and time in order to dig down deep until he hit the solid rock under the top layers of sand and dirt.  Dictionary.com defines “predetermined” as “to settle or decide in advance.”

While I paused and meditated on that revelation, I realized that that was the exact step that Piper and I had taken before we moved home from Oklahoma and faced whatever was going on with her health.  After receiving the initial… kind of confusing report from those first brain scans in Oklahoma, we immediately took hands, prayed and committed the whole process to the Lord.  Even though, we didn’t know exactly what we were facing, we sensed that whatever it was, that God and the power of His Word was the only road to her healing.  At that point we predetermined to trust Him and what we believed to be the truth of His Word… no matter what or who attempted to steal our faith.

Looking back today, I can clearly see how we got bombarded with some totally unexpected hurricane force storms that would have easily destroyed us… if we had not predetermined to trust in the Lord above any of the negative medical reports, or disturbing words and actions of people against us.  Even though those storms hurt and shook us to our very foundations, we continued to stand (although a bit shaky at times) and expect our predetermined faith in Him and His Word to carry us through it all.  We faced the impending storms having already been built up in the Word and full of unshakeable confidence in His loving care, grace and strength.

It is interesting to me, that in those dark hours in the middle of the night when I would sit alone (with the dog!) at the base of the stairs at our rental home in Santa Rosa before we moved out here, and physically shake while I tried to make some sense out of all the medical facts the doctors were giving me and that I was witnessing in my lovely wife’s body and mind… and on top of that shock... also consider the negative words and actions that some were casting against us… and ALWAYS eventually came back to… BUT GOD! 

In the end the truth we had predetermined to trust in and rely on... “God's peace, which goes beyond anything you can imagine, (which) will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7 God’s Word ©)

I may have experienced the sway of the pressure and even bent over and shook in a few of those ugly storms, but it was the predetermination of Him and His way, that ALWAYS prevailed.  And I continue to renew that predetermination first thing every morning and last thing before I turn off the light at night.  How about you?

Have a good rest of the week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… What predetermination are you expecting to see you through the storms of life today?”

Right in the Middle!

Yesterday was one of those days that I think I got more of Piper’s Chocolate Boost Plus, coffee, Ovaltine and vanilla, all topped with marshmallows breakfast drink down her front or on my hands than she actually swallowed!  Thank God for Bounty Quilted napkins!

Growing up my Dad had a favorite saying that he used whenever us kids left a room and didn’t turn the lights out, ate all the peanut butter soon after my Mom went shopping or any other such (what he considered) an extravagant usage of a product… I can see him now calling out down the hall from the kitchen table where he was correcting his student’s papers… “Turn off the lights… we don’t own stock in PG&E* (or in Skippy’s or in whatever the product was) you know!”  After a while that saying got to be a family joke, but you know… I surprised myself a few times when our kids were growing up by saying the same thing to them!  I’ve thought about that saying of his almost every time we go grocery shopping.

Over the last few years since Piper has been on a liquid diet, I have tried just about every brand of napkins sold at Walmart, Target, CVS, Kroger’s or Food Lion (the stores we shop at out here).  Most are too thin while a few others are too thick and are cumbersome to the daily task I endeavor to complete without making a mess.  I finally settled on the Bounty brand of napkins.  They tend to cost a bit more but are well worth it as they seem to have the right consistency, feel and absorbability.  It took awhile with plenty of experimentation, but it is nice to finally have a product that works well with the intended task I need to perform.

Finding the right napkins for Piper may seem like a silly example, but it typifies the way I tend to approach most things in life.  I like to go for it and do my best, using the best tools and process, whenever I accept a responsibility.  Working at Home Depot really opened my eyes to the availability of quality tools to help me to do many of the jobs I fumbled through in the past, by using whatever I had on hand.  I’ve probably bought more new tools or equipment over the three years that we have been in this house than I have in past years combined!  I’ve come to the point that I figure that if I am going to do something, that I might as well do it right… using the right tools for the job.

That is also the way that I have operated within my Christian faith since Piper and I got together in high school.  I don’t necessarily know what drives me, but when I start studying the Word I want to know all I can about the subject that the Spirit is instructing me in.  As most of you know, I love to do word studies back to their original languages, I enjoy investigating multiple commentaries on the Bible verses I am studying, look at Bible dictionaries as well as Biblical maps of the particular time the scriptures were written.  And on top of all that, I have been a student of revivals spanning from the 1400’s to modern times and tend to gobble up autobiographies and teachings of the great Generals of the Christian faith.

Like I have said many times, from day one, Piper and I have not been content to simply hear about the Word, but have desired to be right smack in the middle of what was happening… That’s why we were part of a group that pioneered three different churches in our home town.

If you think about all this, as I was doing last night while preparing dinner, you’ll find out that Jesus was saying the same thing when He shared the parable of the sower sowing the seed of the Word.  In Luke 6:47-48 He said: “Whoever comes to Me and hears My Words, and does them, I will show you to whom he is like.  He is like a man who built a house and dug deep and laid the foundation on a rock; and a flood occurring, the stream burst against that house and could not shake it; for it was founded on a rock.” (World English Bible) 

Jesus makes it pretty clear here that the sincere Christian walk takes WORK!  It takes dedication, consistency and the desire to get out and jump into the middle of the action… God’s action!  In verse 47 He defines three all-important steps.  First you have to COME to Him through prayer and especially in His Word.  Second you have to HEAR and thereby understand the gospel message and thirdly you gotta DO it… by taking action and putting feet to your faith.

Verse 48 highlights the dedication and consistency of the Christian walk.  He likens it to the man who sets out to build a house on the beach near what I would picture as a scenic river countryside.  But to build there, one has to do some extra work by digging down deep through the sand until you hit the bedrock in order to set the foundation upon the solid rock.  Then when the expected storms of life come, the water may beat on your home but when all is said and done, your house will still be standing.

I was telling Piper while thinking on all this as I prepared dinner, that in some respects I should have expected the accusations and what some called persecution against us when we returned from Bible School in Oklahoma.  For it would seem that our being obedient to God and His call to us might have made an unpleasant splash in the face of the enemy of our souls.  It made me smile when I considered that what we did and the way we tried to live our Christian life through the years might have been the basis for the trails and tribulations we have incurred.

COME, HEAR, and DO… well, that’s the way we’ve always done it.  We’ve never liked the idea of being bench warmers!  How about you?

Have a wonderful week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “Have I COME to God, do I really HEAR what His Word is saying to me and am I expecting to DO what it takes to be right in the middle of His action today?”

*It’s funny for after my Dad passed, I could have sworn that I saw some PG&E stock listed in his investment portfolio!  No Skippy Peanut Butter though.  I guess he finally gave in and figured he might as well profit off our habit of not turning off the lights…