Category Archives: Thankfulness

Trying to Communicate

Posted on by

As two-year-old Emerald learns to talk, she often struggles to make us understand. The other day she said, “Ah-bye-ya? Ah-bye-ya?” Three of us stood in front of her making guesses as if we were a panel playing a word game and she was trying to stump us.

“I by you? Go bye-bye? Oh baby?”

On and on we guessed without getting it right as Emerald repeated her question again and again. Finally frustration got the best of her, and she left the room with a knitted brow. It’s tough not to be understood when you know exactly what you’re trying to say. The gap in communication between us must have been much like what happened at the biblical Tower of Babel.

Tower of BabelAlthough the building project had begun with everyone speaking the same language, before it finished workers couldn’t understand or be understood. Because the language barrier happened abruptly, intense frustration must have been the order of that day, too.

Ever since then, citizens of the world have had trouble understanding each other. Existing languages number about 6500, and most of us know only one of them. I often think of Adam and Eve and their family. What language did they speak? Surely it wasn’t English.

I also wonder about the language of heaven, which I’m hoping will be plopped into all our brains in one instant: grammar, usage, vocabulary and all. (If I have to attend language school once I get there, it’ll be a huge disappointment.)

Words are a most valuable possession, particularly those of the Bible. And since God assures us his Word-of-words is eternal, we’ll probably be reading/hearing it in a brand new language.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the Lord decided not only to put a new language inside our brains but to deposit all of Scripture in there at the same time? No more struggling to memorize, or reviewing to keep it fresh, or looking up references. We would know it, understand it, and have it handy for immediate use. I can’t imagine such a gift!

As for Emerald and her frustration over our not grasping the meaning of “ah-bye-ya?”, a few minutes later she reappeared in front of us with…. her little pink umbrella. “Ah-bye-ya!” she announced in triumph, holding it up for all to see.

Ah-bye-ya....Thrilled to connect with her at last, we applauded and said, “Umbrella! Umbrella!” Her broad grin was testimony to the joy of being fully understood. If heaven’s language will make us feel like that, then communicating is going to be great fun indeed!

“You are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

Who, What and When

Posted on by

One of the problems of having 7 children is trying to remember who I told what, when.

(Left to right: Nelson, Hans, Lars, Klaus; Linnea, Louisa, Birgitta)

The brothers

The sistersFor example, I might be planning a trip and tell one of my children about it as we’re conversing in my kitchen: “On such-and-such a date, I’m going to visit so-and-so.”

Then, while texting with another child later that day, I might send a similar message. The next day I might have a phone conversation with another one and say the same. Gradually the word spreads: “On such-and-such a date, Mom’s going to visit so-and-so.”

But then, after I’ve gone, sure as shootin’ one of my grown kids will say, “Where’s Mom? She hasn’t been home for 2 days!” That’s when a sibling will say, “Don’t you remember? She went on a trip.” Then the uninformed will respond with, “She never told me.”

That’s when one of the others will say, “Well, she told me 3 times.”

These days, iPhones make group-informing easier, but for many years remembering to let all 7 adult children know my plans was a chronic problem. Occasionally one of them would actually miss a family gathering because, “No one told me!” It was an awful dilemma.

I failed at communicating like this again recently, and today as I was chastising myself, God comforted me by reminding me of something special: “Remember, I’ll never do that to you.”

One of the Lord’s awesome characteristics is that he relates to each of his children one-on-one every time he wants to communicate something. It’s as if each of us is an only child, his only child. But that isn’t all.

The heavensSimultaneously, while relating to one of us at a time, he’s also keeping track of his personal interactions with every person who lives on the earth. And it doesn’t stop there, because he’s also one-on-one with those who’ve died and are already living in Paradise with him… from the first-ever man and woman through to today.

Thus, the total number of his one-on-one relationships is astronomical, yet he is continually keeping careful track of each one, what he’s told, what he hasn’t.

My 7 children have good reason to wonder if they’re missing out on something I’ve told the others but not them. But God’s children don’t ever have to feel insecure about that. He’ll never fail to let us know everything we need to know.

This is reassuring, especially when I’m waiting to hear from him and don’t. I can be encouraged by picturing my Heavenly Parent looking me straight in the eyes and telling me the important stuff. And if I still have lingering questions or am craving more info, I should remember that I don’t have it only because I don’t yet need it. He’ll tell me when his timetable says he should.

He won’t ever forget to inform me. And if I miss the details, it’ll only be because I didn’t remember what he already said.

“Then I remembered what the Lord had said.” (Acts 11:16)

Traveling Light…. and Light-hearted

Posted on by

Today I dropped Nelson off at a train with a snow-packed underside and steps so ice-encrusted the conductor had to chip and shovel before letting anyone off or on.

Seasoned traveler.A train trip to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport is the first leg of Nelson’s convoluted 3 day journey that will land him in north India. As he walked toward the platform, I said, “You look like a seasoned traveler.” In his cap and carefully-chosen, layered clothes, his expert planning would efficiently make the transition from Michigan’s single-digit cold to India’s warmth. His only luggage for many months was a backpack.

With a double blast from the diesel engine, he was gone.

Though I stood by my car waving till he was out of sight, once behind the wheel again, I burst into tears. My heart is genuinely joyful for Nelson’s departure for one reason: his steps have been specifically directed by God. But my emotions were objecting.

Leaning toward the facts, I reminded myself that the Lord has carefully led Nelson to this day. Here are just two of the many ways we knew that:

1. After having applied for a visa to India and wondering whether or not it would come through, Nelson was cleaning out some old files and came across a folder of foreign paper money. And though he has traveled extensively in more than a dozen countries, the only money in the file was rupees from India.

Rupees

2. He applied for a 10 year, multiple-entry visa but was mentally prepared for something much less, maybe a 90 day visa with limited entry. Or even a 30 day with one entry. But the 10 year visa came through on exactly the day he’d expected it.

There were other indications this was God’s plan for Nelson, too, so as my tears trickled, I reminded myself of the privilege of releasing this son to do the work he’s been called to do. And I pictured my Aunt Joyce sitting next to me in the car telling me to stop crying and thank God for all the blessings of being Nelson’s mother.

His instruction is to give thanks no matter what’s going on around us, plus or minus. A heart of gratitude is to be grounded in the Lord, not in how we feel at any given moment. And his blessing covers everything from eternal salvation to a pair of warm gloves. Not even the saddest circumstances are devoid of something for which to be thankful.

As for counting the blessings of being Nelson’s mother, at the top of my list was having a son whose highest priority is to follow God’s will for his life. That led me to be thankful he boarded the train. Had Nelson seen my tears and then cancelled his trip, I would have been disappointed…. and so would God.

Besides, by the time I got home from the station, my blessing-list was long, and my tears were long-gone.

“A wide door for effective work has opened to me.” (1 Corinthians 16:9)