Category Archives: Aging

Bubble-ology

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Wow...Emerald continues to be fascinated with bubbles, her longest running passion by far. From the time she could follow an image with her baby-eyes, she’s loved bubbles. At her request we blow bubbles together every time she visits my house and haven’t missed a single day.

In little Emerald’s mind, bubbles are ever-captivating, always new. Today she was mesmerized by the barely audible “tih” they made when hitting the ground, bending low to listen.

Wanting to learn more, she stopped her normal never-ending chatter so she could hear the bubbles land, batch after batch. Then she tried to mimic that tiny sound with her lips. I don’t believe she’ll ever tire of bubble-ology.

Last week, though, I was as much in awe as she was over yet another discovery. We were blowing bubbles out on the deck when a gentle breeze ushered them toward a nearby evergreen. But instead of popping as they usually did when hitting the sharp branches, they actually landed, sitting on the needles indefinitely! It was remarkable.

Evergreen bubbles..

I studied Emerald as she studied the bubbles, having wonder written all over her face. Yet I couldn’t help but think of how many more astounding things there are in this world for her still to discover. Though she has absorbed a great deal in her two short years, there’s far more ahead.

And then I suddenly realized the same is true of me. As God was looking down at the two of us that day, ages 2 and 69, our level of knowledge was nearly identical by his standards. Actually, both of us are still like newborns in our learning, which isn’t a criticism of us as much as a compliment to him. Though I’ve learned more than Emerald so far, none of it amounts to more than the quiet “tih” of a popping bubble compared to what both of us are going to know in life after death.

Scripture gives us a word picture for all this. When we adults were Emerald’s age, we absorbed life differently than we do now in later years. (1 Corinthians 13:11) Paul says this vast difference between a child’s learning and a grownup’s is a good picture of the enormous difference between what we know in this world and what we’ll know in the next.

In our human existence we can’t possibly take in all God has for us to discover. But in our “glorified state” after death, we will immediately know completely. That’s Scripture’s promise, and it’s a marvel to eagerly anticipate.

AmazingAs for our pine tree bubble-phenom, I’m sure scientists could offer an explanation: barometric pressure, humidity, dew point, or something else. But Emerald and I don’t have to go after the “why,” because God will give it to us eventually. In the mean time, all we have to do is enjoy our amazing bubbles.

“Now I know in part, but then I shall know fully.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

Timed Right

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This afternoon I made my way to a local eye-care facility to check my vision. It’d been 4 years, and I thought it was the responsible thing to do.

Waiting room boardWalking into the building, I counted 72 chairs in the waiting room, about half of which were occupied. How long would it be before my name was called? But then I saw a big airport-style electronic board that gave me a clue.

As I sat down, it was encouraging to see that my doctor was running “on time.” The reassurance produced by those two words made me wish there was a similar screen I could check in reference to my communications with God. Once I’ve asked for his help through prayer, my next thought always is, “I wonder when he’ll answer.” An electronic board of “wait times” would be a big help.

Through the years I’ve heard countless sermons about the Lord’s timing. I’ve been told he’s never late with his answers to prayer but that he’s seldom early. In other words, he’s always right on time.

I’ve also heard that it’s unacceptable to bargain with God based on what we hope will happen when. In other words, we’re not to pray the calendar: ”Lord, if you’ll do ‘that’ for me by ‘this’ date, then I’ll do ‘the other thing’ for you.”

This is a demand masquerading as a prayer request and displeases God. So our only choice is to spell out the desires of our hearts (which he encourages) and then find a chair in God’s waiting room. Days pass –sometimes years– without anything happening, and we wonder if it’s true that God is never late.

A wise Bible teacher once told me to watch carefully for God’s timing of events, because it’s never without significance. Considering that, it probably isn’t wise to plead with God to act sooner rather than later. Might the end-result be disappointing if he decides to give us what we want by answering “now,” when he had intended something much better for “later?”

Put in that context, impatient waiting comes with a loss. God is in charge of the calendar and controls all of time. We know that from two episodes in Scripture when he (1) made the sun stand still, and (2) caused the sun’s shadow to move backwards on Hezekiah’s 15 steps…. not to mention his involvement “in the beginning” when he created time in the first place.

waiting...So as we’re tempted to wonder what’s keeping him so long, we should weigh all the options. In the end, our best deal is to wait without complaint. And you never know; today I got called from the waiting room well before I thought I would. And sometimes God does that, too.

“From everlasting to everlasting you are God.” (Psalm 90:2)

A Mentor’s Methods

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The TeacherSince I’ll be traveling for a few days, I’m re-posting 3 blogs about mentoring and what a good mentor looks like. Here’s the first:

Mentoring programs are big nowadays, but they’ve existed since ancient times. Elijah mentored Elisha. Moses mentored Joshua. Elizabeth mentored Mary. Paul mentored Timothy. And of course Jesus mentored his 12 disciples.

I’ve had several impactful mentors through the years, my parents among them. But the one who walked me through my adolescent immaturities and stuck with me until I was 60 was my Aunt Joyce (married to Dad’s brother). She let me live with her family three different summers in the 1960’s, gently counseling, instructing, and chiding me as needed.

My respect for her grew as I got older, taking on more common characteristics with her: marriage, motherhood, and other adult ups and downs. Aunt Joyce never preached. Instead she coaxed me into new ways of thinking for myself. She shared examples from her own life and was careful to include failures as well as successes. The fact that she would disclose her personal struggles to me always felt like a gift.

Aunt Joyce, 1Aunt Joyce never labeled herself a mentor, and it wasn’t until we’d been “working together” for years that I realized I was her mentoree. She had others, too, and in her later years complete strangers approached her through church contacts, requesting mentoring. She never turned them away and viewed each relationship as a holy privilege.

One of the reasons Aunt Joyce was effective was that she didn’t say, “You should… do this or that.” Instead she’d say, “Here’s something you might want to try,” or “This approach worked for me in similar circumstances.” She made it seem like the two of us were in it together. And if my steady stream of questions and needs drained her, she never let on.

Of course the ultimate mentor is God, and he’s willing to partner with any of us desiring to be his mentorees. As with all good mentors, though, he leaves it up to us to take advantage of it.

Adam and Eve had it made with their daily mentoring sessions with him in the cool of each Eden evening. But despite their Mentor’s flawless advice, they only agreed with 90% of it. The 10% they tossed aside made a radical difference in their quality of life. We can contradict what our mentors tell us, ignore their counsel, or follow their advice and watch our lives change for the better.

Aunt Joyce lived a long, fruitful life and was a valuable mentor for one reason: her advice was always right-on. That’s because it came down to her from the Lord, which then allowed her to give her opinion with confidence.

I’ve tried to follow Aunt Joyce’s example in lots of ways, but the One she most hoped I would emulate was God himself, the ultimate in Mentors.

“One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” (Psalm 145:4)