Category Archives: God’s plans for us

My Father, in Life and Death

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For nearly 30 years my dad owned a successful engineering firm, operating out of a Chicago high rise in the concrete canyons of the Loop. As a kid I visited him often (often with girlfriends in tow), admiring the thick glass double doors in his reception area and his big office overlooking the skyline.

BlueprintsDad’s drafting room resembled a Disney studio with its 200 tilted drawing tables and men perched atop tall stools working on royal-colored blueprints. To him, though, it was just a way to earn a living. After retirement at 70, he didn’t look back and never missed it.

Dad did well for a little boy who started school without a word of English. His Swedish immigrant parents worked hard and expected him to do the same, which he did, finishing school with two degrees from Northwestern University.

Attending a Swedish Free Church in the city, he heard the Gospel as a child and received Christ into his life, never wavering in his commitment. A quiet man, he didn’t dictate his faith but lived it out in front of us for 92 years. As Mom frequently said, “Your father is the most Christ-like man I’ve ever known.”

The WillWhen Dad died, his last will and testament was more like a last will and testimony. I read the legal document through, no small task with its complicated legalese, but two paragraphs jumped off the pages. They had nothing to do with trusts or assets, and were written in simple language I understood:

Article I – I commit my soul into the hands of my Savior in full confidence that, having redeemed it and washed it in His most precious blood, He will present it faultless before my Heavenly Father.

Article IV – It is my hope that the beneficiaries will remember the words of Our Lord who said, “A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” (Luke 12:15) Let them consider themselves as stewards of their possessions, not forgetting to use them for the welfare of others, particularly with respect to bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those in spiritual darkness. By giving both time and money unselfishly, they will discover the truth of Our Lord’s words: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35) and “Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be the servant of all.” (Matthew 20:27)

Dad and MomDad was ready to die, because he had made the main thing the main thing. He’d led a life of quiet sacrifice, serving the poor, giving a hefty percentage of his income to the Lord’s work, and putting himself after everyone else. He’d given much and, as the Bible says will happen to a giving person, he was then given more.

He also left a legacy of harmony in his family, a large group in which there was no fighting, no anger, no bitterness. I remember hundreds of the words he spoke in life but none more vividly than those he left in death. *

“Freely ye have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)

* Re-posted from June, 2011.

Praising and Praying with Mary

Pray about tomorrow’s time at the hospital: for accurate action on the feeding tube pain, for chemo #5, and against the nausea.

I’m thankful for Bervin, the loving father of my children and grandchildren.

 

Don’t fence me in.

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On the way.Today was a sunshiney day, so 7 of us took advantage and went to the beach. Emerald loves it there, and we had a good time dodging small waves, pouring water, and burying tiny pink toes in the sand. Each time we go to the beach, though, she has a strange ritual. As we’re on the boardwalk headed toward the sand, she stops repeatedly to play with the fence, endlessly fascinated with squeezing the flexible cables.

I have a hard time coaxing her to head for the water and sand. After all, there’s the slow-flowing creek to dabble in, sand cakes to make (and smash), seagulls to chase, and pretty stones to collect. And yet, unable to see all this from the walkway, Emerald gets waylaid by the cables every time.

???????????????????????????????But don’t we all do that now and then? It’s especially true in the spiritual realm. We get excited about spending time on all kinds of temporal things and lose sight of eternal ones. We might devote hours to chatting with good friends but only minutes with the Friend of Scripture. We find chunks of time for pleasure reading but ignore Bible reading when that could be pleasurable, too.

Why is this? Maybe we have good intentions, recognizing the importance of prayer and Bible reading, but are waiting for circumstances to be just right before starting. I’ve done plenty of that in my day. Maybe we think prayer and Bible study need to be done in partnership with other people and no one else is available when we are. Or we may lead lives of continual interruptions, thinking that so many disturbances would be an insult to such lofty spiritual disciplines.

Or we might just feel plain old incompetent.

I don’t think God gets angry with us when we have trouble getting past the “cable fences” of life to get to the wonders of him and his Word, but it’s possible he feels bad for us. He knows we’re missing out and wishes we’d come closer to receive everything he wants to show us and give us.

If I let Emerald play with the cable fence to her heart’s content without insisting we continue on toward the beach, she might enjoy herself there for a while and then turn back toward home, thinking she’d had a great afternoon.

Digging inBut today, for example, as we emerged from the walkway to that great expanse of shoreline, she raised her arm, pointed, and said, “Wa-wa! Wa-wa!” That’s when she realized it had been worthwhile leaving the fence.

Jesus prayed, “O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do. I have revealed you to [my followers], and I will continue to do so.” (John 17:25-26)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Though I haven’t had the vomiting after this week’s chemo as I had before, a mild nausea seems to be hanging on, taking away my appetite. Please pray it will disappear.
  2. I’m thankful for a day in Michigan with several of our grandchildren.

Slow and Sure?

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Today Mary took in chemo infusion #4. With 14 left, progress seems slow and not always sure. It’s tempting to say, “These four and no more.” In a fight against cancer, things sometimes get worse before they get better.

Fiery furnaceBut God is monitoring her situation closely. As Mary goes through the fire of cancer and chemo, the Lord is keeping his hand firmly on the thermostat and won’t let it get hot enough to overwhelm her. He’s right next to her, in the fire with her, exactly as he was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego of Bible times.

No life is without its concentrated heat: diseases, relationship troubles, accidents, distress of all kinds. God’s intention is that our sufferings produce a willingness to endure whatever he allows. 1 Peter 5:10 says, “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:10)

God doesn’t remove suffering the minute it pounces. Instead he lets it come and sometimes stay “a little while” as Paul says, partly to increase our patience to handle hardship. When Nate found out he had cancer that was going to take his life in just a few weeks, we talked about how difficult it was to accept. Finally he said, “I shouldn’t ask, ‘Why me?’ Instead I should ask, ‘Why not me?’ ”

That realization probably didn’t make his suffering any easier, but he found a measure of satisfaction in accepting what he knew was the truth. In Scripture Paul not only listed his own afflictions, he let us know he saw each one as a (gulp) privilege. And just when we’re wondering how he could possibly have seen it that way, he tells us:

“I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) And that strength-to-endure is available to all of us. Jesus waits for us to ask for it, but when we do, he delivers.

Mary's view during chemoMary asked for it today and felt it when he made a special delivery of his strength-to-endure, right into her “little chemo cubicle” during infusion #4. And she’s confident he’ll see her through 14 more. It may go slow, but it will definitely be sure.

“Everywhere and in all things I have learned…. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:12-13)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. So thankful for the prayers of many and the special peace I felt at the hospital today. No nausea so far, at bedtime Monday! Thanks for praying against it for the next 24 hours.
  2. Pray about feeding tube pain, as the expert can’t see me until July 2. Please pray for an earlier appointment.
  3. Praise God from whom all blessings flow, and I counted many blessings today.