Slippage

When my sister, brother, and I were teens, Mom used to say, “If I start slipping mentally, I want you to let me know.”

After that open-ended invitation, every time she’d forget something, I’d say, “There you go, Mom. You’re starting to slip.”

Thankfully with Mom it remained just a joke, since she never did slip mentally in her 92 years. She was on top of everything, always, and did much better at remembering stuff than I did at half her age.

I never invited my own teens to let me know if I started to slip, because ignorance has been known to be bliss. But once in a while I get a vague feeling I’m on the way. Like on Thanksgiving Day.

After we’d all assembled at the table but before the meal began, Louisa casually mentioned it was a good thing she’d gone back to the stove for hot gravy, because two of the electric burners had been left on (guess who). And if that wasn’t enough, I’d tossed two potholders on top of them.

OopsThough Louisa got points for not wanting to embarrass her mother (discreetly setting the potholders aside), I jumped from my chair to see if it was true. Yup, burn-marks indicated we had narrowly avoided a Thanksgiving flame-up.

I laughed it off by saying it was a fitting coincidence that I’d just purchased a fire extinguisher the week before. Of course it was in the basement, still sealed in its box, with directions still unread.

Sometimes when we need something in a hurry, we can’t readily access it, whether it’s recalling someone’s name, remembering an appointment, or being prepared in an emergency.

One more instance when accessing information is important is in our claiming God’s promises. This is especially important when we find ourselves in a crisis. For multiple reasons, it’s easy to slip-up here, maybe because we don’t understand what God offers at a time like that. Or we might not remember his promises when we need them. Maybe don’t know how to apply them. Or, saddest of all, we might never have learned of them in the first place.

ReadyFortunately, Scripture is always available to us. We can get into it any time we feel like it. We don’t even need potholders to handle it, though studying God’s promises will definitely warm us. And leaving that kind of “burner” on is always a good idea.

“Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:7-8)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. I’m praising the Lord that my symptoms aren’t bad yet
  2. Pray that I will “…number my days aright, that I may gain a heart of wisdom.”

Keep on Keeping On

Scripture promises that God will watch over his family and “keep them.” (That means us.) But how do these promises of tender care jive with the facts of cancer and other maladies, especially those that resist treatment and then threaten to kill?

I love the word “keep.” It implies being held closely, protectively. In relation to an adult keeping a child, it’s a picture of putting self between the defenseless one and danger.

From the perspective of the one who’s doing the keeping, it means taking on a serious responsibility and implies that the role was assumed willingly without any “have to’s.” From the view of the one being kept, it promises safety.

Many of the Bible’s word pictures show us this kind of “keeping.” God says he will:

  • Keeping.keep us under his feathers.
  • cradle us in his everlasting arms.
  • engrave us on the palms of his hands.

Scripture also shows us what happens if we make a choice to “keep” ourselves rather than letting God do it.

In Matthew 23, Jesus has been teaching in Jerusalem’s temple and suddenly becomes overwhelmed with emotion. He looks out at the city and expresses deep, loving longing toward the Jews living there, speaking especially to those who don’t believe he is the Messiah.

Jesus senses their rebellious hearts and paints a word picture of a mother hen gathering her chicks beneath her to warm them and shelter them from harm. In other words, to keep them. It seems to break his heart when he says, “…but you were not willing.”

The Lord never forces himself on us but waits for an invitation. But he won’t water down his message to make it seem more appealing. He tells the whole truth and challenges people to believe he is who he says he is. If they refuse? Then, he says, “Your house is left to you desolate.” (Matthew 23:37-38)

God is keeping...I’ve been thinking of all this in relation to Mary. Despite her cancer, I believe God is “keeping her.” But how? Jude 1:24 says he’s “keeping her from stumbling,” which I take to mean stumbling spiritually. And it’s that faith in Christ that will carry (keep) her through even the most difficult cancer-days.

Another way God promises to keep her is on those days when she finds herself in great need. He says he’ll “keep the needy safe.” (Psalm 12:7) He also says he’ll “keep her mind and her heart” through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)

For Mary (and really, the rest of us, too), when our time in this world finishes, the Lord promises to keep us from all harm as we “go” from Earth and “come” to Heaven, even if it’s by way of cancer.

“The Lord will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 121:7-8)

Praising and Praying with Mary

Please continue to pray for peace of mind during the night. Pray also that I’ll get better and better at taking just one day at a time.

Wanting to Know?

Yesterday would have been Nate’s and my 45th anniversary, had he lived. It wasn’t a sad day, because I spent time thinking of all the blessings of having been married to him. It was a long list!

???????????????????????????????Young love....Looking back at pictures of the two of us (here while we were dating), I smiled at the blush of new love. Since I met him two years before we decided to get engaged, I figured by that time I knew him pretty well.  But when he died, after 40 years of marriage, I was still learning new things about him.

During those 4 decades I did learn that husbands and wives can never know everything about each other. Even after Nate found out he had cancer and would live only a short time, I discovered new things about him and his responses to life…. and death.

Something similar might be said about our relationship with Jesus. After we’ve first met him, whether as children or adults, we quickly begin thinking we know him pretty well. That is until we learn one more thing… and one more… and one more. Eventually, after decades of being Christians, we conclude there’s always more to discover.

Once in a while we find out something we’d rather not know, for example the high standard God wants us to live by or the humble attitude he wants us to have. We respond by trying to tweak what he said. We tell ourselves, “He didn’t really mean it that way. Surely it’d be ok if we did it just a little differently.”

Husbands and wives do the same thing with each other. After a few years of marriage when a wife learns something she doesn’t like about her husband, she tries to modify him or squeeze him into her definition of who she thinks he should be. He tries to do the same with her. (Nate and I were both guilty of this.)

The question to ask ourselves is, if I get to know who this person really is, will I still be able to love him?

That’s a good question to ask about Jesus, too. As we learn more and more, including things we don’t necessarily want to know, are we still willing to love him and cooperate with him?

A “yes” answer is the best answer, both in marriage and with the Lord, and it’s possible that even in eternity I’m going to learn new things about Nate. As for God, I have a hunch none of us will ever learn it all.

“What about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?” (Luke 9:20)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. I’m praising God for a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with all the kids and grands, and 75 degrees!
  2. Please pray for strength and energy for a busy week ahead.