Category Archives: God’s plans for us

What to wear?

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As a young mother, I worked hard to make sure my children were presentable when they went to school, church or anywhere else. The toddlers got their high white shoes polished every Saturday night, and I ironed all the little girl dresses and little boy shirts.

Outfits on school picture-taking days were especially important, and I tried to coordinate clothing colors with the eventual wall display of 8 x 10’s in mind.

Unfortunately I frequently forgot to look at the school calendar. One year picture day slipped past me completely, and the kids wore a haphazard array of shabby clothes. Klaus, then in his shark phase, had been given a white souvenir t-shirt from Florida with a picture of Jaws on the front and a splattering of fake blood on it. The shirt was a grungy white with a stretched neck, and completely unacceptable for picture day. But I didn’t catch it, and that’s what he wore.

I don’t think Klaus did it for any specific reason other than that he loved his shark shirt. When the picture proofs came back, I took one look and was disappointed, but Klaus saw only his great-looking hair. How could I then say, “I can’t believe you wore that awful shirt!”

This kind of thing is what drives moms crazy. But looking now at Klaus in his blood stained picture, I have to laugh. From today’s perspective, it’s no big deal. Actually, it’s a colorful story.

Buried in there somewhere is an encouraging word for today’s young mommies, not just on school picture day but any day. We mothers can get so caught up in our efforts to make our families look good that we’re swept into a parenting panic when they don’t.

The Bible reminds us that only one thing will matter in 100 years, and it’ll have nothing to do with our clothes. The important issue will be where we are, not how we’re dressed. Will we be spending the umpteen years of eternity with or without the Lord?

In the mean time, we shouldn’t let ourselves get stressed over things that eventually won’t matter. But if we’re into fashion and enjoy thinking about what our children will be “putting on” each day, rather than concentrating on them looking good, we can focus on their character. They put that “on” each day, too. Are they kind, patient, giving?

In the end, after all the polished shoes, ironed dresses and even the shark shirts are no more, character-clothes will still look good.

“Put on then… compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” (Colossians 3:12)

Growth Spurt

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All of us grandmas love our grands. They bring fresh energy into our aging worlds and insist on hope for the future. They also let us squeeze their beautiful baby flesh.

My five grands, age 2 and under, live many miles from me, and while we’re apart they’re growing and changing. This week I received a packet of new pictures from my daughter-in-law, Katy, sent from their home in England.

As I studied each photo, my heart ached to be with these little people. I hardly recognized Thomas and Evelyn, nearly 6 months older than when I saw them last. When you’re only 1 year old, half a year causes dramatic change.

Last night I watched a several-minute video on Facebook of my 2 Florida babies playing in the tub. Listening to Skylar sing “Old McDonald” as she poured water, oblivious to being videoed, made me want to log onto www.cheaptickets.com

If these 5 would stay the same as when I left them last, our separations wouldn’t be so bad. But they continually change in appearance and grow in skills, no matter how badly I want them to stop. Nicholas and Micah have quintupled their vocabulary, and I’ve not been there to talk with them. That hurts! The only way to cope with this disturbing phenomenon is to keep in touch as best we can and schedule times of togetherness.

From the perspective of my 5 grands, I’m not changing much. I probably seem exactly the same to them, each time we’re together, but the truth is I’m changing, too. Steadily and surely I’m accumulating more wrinkles, gaining in forgetfulness and losing in strength. As much as I’d like to halt those changes, I can’t.

So my babies are changing, I’m changing, and then there is Nate.

From an earthly perspective, he’ll be forever 64. In his absence I’ve turned 65 and soon will hit 66. Although we were always 10 days apart in age, today we’ve grown 528 days apart. He’ll stay put, and I’ll keep counting. He’ll never have gray hair or get senile. His life as Nathan Nyman is frozen in time the way I wish my grandchildren would freeze between visits and my aging would come to a screeching halt.

Of course the reality of Nate’s agelessness is that he’s actually changed more dramatically than me or any of my 5 grands. He’s brand new, glorified, radically different. If I could get a glimpse of him, I’d probably gasp in wonder. It’s encouraging to know God has promised that all of us will one day be changed in the same ways Nate has been. The clock will stop, and we’ll be glad.

But there’s a catch: we have to wait until God schedules the change, because even www.cheaptickets.com can’t make it happen.

”In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye… we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52)

In Sync With God

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Yesterday Birgitta was programmed toward her university, excited that the 5 hour drive would reunite her with friends and put her into a summer school course she wanted to take. But as she sped down the center lane of an Illinois toll road headed for Iowa, her life was put on the line.

The sky-blue, 1994 Honda Accord she and Louisa have shared since 2007 has safely transported them over 72,000 miles, most of it at high speed. But yesterday that same car nearly took Birgitta’s life.

A corroded hood latch let loose, sending the hood sailing up and back with such force it smashed the entire windshield, depositing glass shards in her lap and at her feet, cracking the car roof and shaping it into a V.

But worse than that was the terror of hurtling down the highway blind, with the hood cemented to the windshield. Although she doesn’t remember what happened in the next critical seconds, she does remember screaming at the earsplitting bang of the hood impacting the glass.

Somehow she kept her head and swung left (as she said, “without looking”), and landed on the shoulder, heart pounding and tears flowing.

I was in a store 15 miles away without my phone (left in the car), but God was on the scene. Within minutes he placed a helpful policeman and a highway assistance-truck on either side of her, and by the time I arrived, Birgitta was calmer than both men. They were remembering similar accidents with far different outcomes, and they told us so. The situation might easily have included an ambulance, a hospital or a funeral home.

An hour later, sitting in a body shop waiting room, we learned our reliable Accord with 217,000 faithful miles on it would cost double its value to fix. But Joey, the estimator, remembered us (especially Nate) from multiple prior car repairs and kindly waived his tow truck’s fee.

So we shifted Birgitta’s dorm room cargo from her car to mine, said goodbye to her driving independence, and drove to Iowa.

Some might say, “How could God let that happen?” The better question is, “Why did he bless us so lavishly?”

  • Birgitta was unharmed!
  • No other cars or passengers were involved.
  • It occurred before she’d driven too far from home.
  • Help arrived within minutes.
  • Although she’d misplaced her driver’s license last week and couldn’t produce it, the policeman didn’t ticket her.
  • The tow truck happened to come from the body shop of our family’s car history.
  • Joey remembered us and waived the $135 fee.
  • I received one extra day with my daughter.

As we left the body shop, Joey said to Birgitta, “You shouldn’t be here right now. With your kind of luck, I’d go play the lottery!” But of course luck had nothing to do with it.

Although God doesn’t prevent every accident, this time his choice and mine had been in perfect sync.

“The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch…” (Proverbs 15:3a)