A Busy Week

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Margaret

During the final week before a wedding, responsibilities in- crease, especially for the bride and groom. But they aren’t the only ones. Extended family begins cleaning house and changing sheets to ready for company, and airport runs become frequent. Refrigerators are stocked, and wedding clothes are pressed. Excitement mounts, and at the end of it, God unites a man and woman in the amazing partnership of marriage.

Our family is 6 days away from Klaus and Brooke’s ceremony, close enough to be checking our iPhones every hour to see if the rain has been eliminated from Saturday’s forecast yet, since they plan an outdoor wedding. There’s much to do, and our out-of-towners begin arriving today.

“Happy chaos” will be the theme of the week, as it is for every family planning a wedding, but the joining of two individuals and also their families is the delightful reason beneath the hubbub.

All of my children will be on hand to celebrate, as well as son-in-law Adam and half of my grandchildren. Hans will be coming from England without his family, since his 4^th child, little Andrew Kenneth, is only 2 weeks old. But I’m thankful he said “yes” to being his brother’s Best Man and that Katy said “yes” too!

One other family member who will be missing this week is Nate. I know his absence will feel big, but I also know the Lord will provide many reasons for rejoicing throughout Klaus and Brooke’s special day, even if some of it might be done through a tear or two.

Knowing God will be present and active throughout that day will be my greatest joy. After all, marriage is his invention, and when a couple ties the knot, his Spirit is keenly involved in that process. I know the Lord already has some special wedding gifts of a spiritual nature prepared for that day, certainly for the bride and groom, but for the rest of us, too.

Since the week promises to be extra busy, I’m going to do something I haven’t done since starting this blog 4 years ago: I’m going to take the week off.

You readers are always on my mind and in my prayers (and will continue to be this week), and it’s pure pleasure to write these blog posts. But I know my place is with my family this week, particularly since we are rarely together across the many miles between us.

So, thank you for your understanding, and I’ll get back to you in a week with a summary of all that happened, both spiritually and otherwise. As you go into your own busy week, know that I’ll be missing you.

”I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.” (Ecclesiastes 3:14)

Zzzzz

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Margaret

Despite my habit of blogging late at night, I usually don’t fall asleep on the job. Usually. The other night, however, my head dropped and I was gone, fingers resting on the keyboard. Twelve pages of eee’s later, I awoke and laughed at the result of my black-out, glad no one had seen me.

Today on the news I heard the story of a fellow keyboard-sleeper. A bank employee in Germany had arrived at work short on sleep, but his listless condition didn’t keep him from having an exciting day. While making a routine bank transfer of 64.40 Euros ($82.89 in US dollars), he fell asleep mid-transfer with a finger resting on the 2-key. As his brain was in zzzz-mode, his computer made a transfer of $222,222,222.22.

That was one expensive nap. His bogus transaction (which slipped past his wide-awake supervisor) cost his boss his job and the mess that resulted ended up in court.

All of us need to stay alert through our days and years. If we don’t, the consequences will be far more serious than multiple computer screens of letters and numbers. It’s no surprise Scripture details examples of when and why to stay alert. Here are 10 of them:

so we won’t be seduced by money
so we’ll identify God’s answers to our prayers
so we won’t use our tongues in hurtful ways
so we’ll make wise choices when they come to us
so we’ll recognize temptation when it hits
so our hearts won’t become dulled by the world
so we won’t allow bitterness to take root
so we’ll recognize Satan when he gets too close to us
so we’ll notice how God is moving in our lives
so we’ll be ready when Jesus returns to get us

Our lives will look quite different if we swap watchfulness for dozing, and the scriptural David is an example of this. He made all kinds of senseless decisions without being alert to the consequences and had to back-peddle later on. But in a passage from 2 Samuel, he explains his new resolve to stay alert and do things right, from that point on:

“God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I cleaned up my act, he gave me a fresh start. Indeed, I’ve kept alert to God’s ways; I haven’t taken God for granted. Every day I review the ways he works, I try not to miss a trick. I feel put back together, and I’m watching my step. God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.” (22:21-25, The Message)

The good news is that any of us can follow David’s lead by making up our minds to stay alert…. which even includes time in front of a computer screen.

“Make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don’t forget anything of what you’ve seen. Don’t let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live.” (Deuteronomy 4:9, The Message)

Marriage Preparation

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Margaret

When a girl becomes engaged, she starts down a unique path that will never be repeated. After she receives a ring of commitment from her future husband, she moves through her last months as a single, focusing on becoming prepared to marry.

Part of that is the pleasure of receiving gifts for the new home-to-be. Today we had the fun of attending a Chicago bridal shower for our son Klaus’ bride-to-be, Brooke. Over scrumptious chicken salad we watched her open dishes and other items she and Klaus will need as they begin married life on June 22.

Brooke had never met many of those attending today’s shower (friends of mine), which might be tense for some brides. But she smiled through answering many questions as guests happily became acquainted with her. If she was stressed, it didn’t show, and she charmed us all.

When a bride and groom come together in marriage, it’s never just about the two individuals but is the union of two extended families. In recent months as we’ve been celebrating with Brooke and Klaus, our family and friends have been getting to know Brooke’s family and friends, and both groups are finding their worlds expanding to include the other. This phenomenon is one of the enchanting byproducts of doing marriage God’s way.

Today’s devotional thoughts were brought to us through Connie, a friend of mine since we were both in diapers. She compared two weddings: the one that will happen on June 22, and the one God is planning (for those who love him) at the end of the age. Scripture uses the symbolism of a wedding to help us understand the close relationship Jesus longs to have with us. He will be the groom, and we, the church, will be his bride. There will be a wedding feast the likes of which we’ve never seen, and he encourages us to look forward to it, even now, as he is preparing for it.

Connie said, “Brooke, there may be little things that go wrong on your wedding day, but as the Bride of Christ you will one day experience a perfect wedding. Earthly marriage may include set-backs, but marriage to Jesus as “The Lamb of God” will be flawless. It will be everything every bride hopes for in a relationship, without a single misunderstanding or mistake.

These thoughts got us all thinking. No marriage can be perfect. All husbands and wives get frustrated with each other at some point and experience disappointment. But the future bridegroom, Jesus, is already in love with Brooke and Klaus and wants their marriage to succeed so it can be an example of his future marriage to the church. So even before they get started, he has already made himself available for assistance, should their path ever need smoothing.