Category Archives: God’s plans for us

One Way Love

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Nate and I met in 1966 during our senior years at different colleges. Though we were together only infrequently and usually with others, a friendship quickly developed.

But 1967 saw both of us graduate and move to new pursuits, Nate into law school and me into teaching kindergarten – 156 miles apart. No commitments had been made, but we continued our relationship through letters. Nate, however, began hoping for something more than friendship, and I began dating someone else.

Excerpts from Nate’s 1967 letters:

June 8, 1967 — It would be redundant half a million times to tell you that I’ll miss you this summer. You ought to know it, every time I look in your eyes.                                           Your friend, Nate 

June 27, 1967 — You write very nice letters, and it pleases me to get them.  

Sept. 18, 1967 — img_4416As autumn and law school begin, I think of last year – of you, Bob and Kate – and the memorable times we had together, especially, though, of you. We ought to remain good friends, writing each other occasionally, and if my law studies permit, and if you want, visiting.  

Oct. 24, 1967 — You’re good to write me. I miss you. And I wish I could hug you right now. I remember winter and spring quarters as some of the best times of my life. Margaret Johnson, you are quite a woman.  

img_4418Nov. 1, 1967 —  I want to see you very much but this law doesn’t let up enough to give me a free weekend. At semester break my finals will be over and then I can come to Wilmette to see Meg without any old law books to worry about. Thank you for Proverbs 13:4. I hope to be “the diligent” who “shall be made fat.” 

Nov. 8, 1967 — I always want to be a friend of yours, and often think that you are more than a friend to me. I hesitate to say I “love” you, but wish to indicate very strong feelings for you. As we said last June, the only policy is for both of us to be free to go out with others. 

excerpt

Dec. 29, 1967 — We must learn, as W. Churchill once said, to make virtues of necessities. Being away has hardly changed my feelings for you. To be candid, Meg, law students take their board contracts at Illinois with an undergraduate women’s dining service. Every day I eat with and talk with many co-eds. I have seen few who compare to you in the ways of dress and taste and beauty. And have met only one or two who possibly have your sincerity of faith. In essence, they lack what you have. This is honesty with you; and I expect it to be reciprocated. I don’t judge you at all, nor am I hostile or angry about your seeing [the other boy]. He is a fine fellow. And I never expected you to sit alone while I was in law school. The only thing that ruffled my feelings a little was that you didn’t tell me you were seeing him at first. Frankly, Meg, I consider my relationship with you very special. I know that “man proposes and God disposes;” however, I feel our relationship will become much closer.

And by the end of that year, his signature “Your friend, Nate” had morphed into “Love, Nate.”

(…more to come)

“Love is patient.” (1 Corinthians 13:4)

Jesus in an Apron (Conclusion)

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Yesterday we heard from Mary’s friend Donna as she wrote about Mary’s terminal diagnosis and the sudden return of her cancer. Several days after receiving Donna’s email, Mary responded with some reflective thoughts of her own:

From: Mary Peterson

Date: Mon, Dec 15, 2014 at 4:17 PM.  Subject: Re: My love. To: Donna Baer

donna-bThank you Donna, for your beautiful email. I have read it over and over and so appreciate your clear, honest perspectives about death and dying.

When Nate was dying, I was privileged to be a witness to much of it, my main desire being to help and comfort Margaret. Her children were magnificent with their encouragement of their parents, but God allowed me to be the one with whom she was able to share her deepest concerns and grief… probably a combination of wanting to protect her children as well as have someone of the same generation to talk to.

One of the things we talked about was how similar death and childbirth are.  Nate moved steadily toward heaven, just as labor moves a woman toward delivery. We marveled at the process, as he slowly but surely moved through death to life.   I don’t know about you, but ever since I witnessed my first birth in nurses training, I’ve always considered it a sacred moment when a baby is finally born.

I was recently reminded of that again, as I had the happy privilege of being in the delivery room as our Johanna gave birth to her fourth child.  (“Weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.”) And like birth, death seems a sacred moment as well. As Pastor Lutzer says, God is powerfully present at that moment, when we need Him most, according to His promise to never leave or forsake us. I’m trusting Him for that.

Now, as far as your kind words about being Jesus in an apron…  Margaret thinks that would be a great book title, but I’m sure I would not be a good model for it.  I do agree the small things we do, just in the process of day to day living, can affect others, and especially those coming behind us. Through this cancer journey, I’ve been reminded of that over and over as people tell of something that impacted and encouraged them. The funny thing is, what they relate, I have no recollection of!  Perhaps the little things really are the big things?

Anyway, thank you Donna, for your sweet words.  God used you to bless this old heart!  And yes, I do look forward to serving with you once again, in the Kingdom.  God is good!

With love and gratitude, Mary

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“May we be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” (Romans 1:12)

God’s Sneak-Peeks

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Those of us who follow Christ believe him when he says he’s always with us. He also says he’ll never abandon us or fail us and that he surrounds us with his presence. We believe all of it.

The problem comes in trusting this One we can’t see or feel. In our recent days of missing Mary, people have lovingly said, “Hold tight to Jesus’ hand.” Or, “I’m praying you’ll feel God’s everlasting arms around you.”

Both of these word pictures are sanctioned in Scripture, and we want to trust them as real, but there’s no visible proof – and sometimes it’s hard.

hand-of-god

(Michelangelo tried to visualize the invisible, above.)

God knows of our human limitations and the difficulty of relating to an unseen God. After all, Jesus was human, too, and experienced these same limits. Even during his torturous hours on the cross, his cries were to his invisible Father. So how do we bridge this gap? How do we believe he is truly with us?

The answer? It’s by way of the sneak-peeks he gives.

I believe God sometimes demonstrates that he’s close to us in real-time…. in touchable, visible ways. Our part is to notice and ponder what he shows us, deciding for ourselves whether or not to attribute these things to him.

During Mary’s sudden, short decline, he gave us several of these powerful sneak-peeks that we believe indicated his closeness. For example – Julia had given her mom a gardenia plant for Mother’s Day in May.

flower-potMary had put it in a stone-covered pot, writing a Scripture verse around the rim: “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord Himself, is the Rock eternal.” (Isaiah 26:4)

Through the summer it had bloomed beautifully under Mary’s watchful care. But then her illness escalated, and tending to the gardenia fell by the wayside.

When Julia arrived to care for her mom, she saw that her gardenia-gift was needy. Taking a moment to pluck off the many dead blossoms, she noticed it didn’t have even one promising bud. But then Mary’s illness drew her attention away.

And then Mary went to heaven.

In the painful first hour that followed her death, after Hospice and funeral home personnel had come and gone, none of us knew what to do. Then, as we stood around in the kitchen without a plan, someone said, “Hey! Look at that plant!”

the-gardeniaWe were dumbfounded to see a fully opened, perfectly formed gardenia blossom on Mary’s now-healthy plant.

Some would call that a coincidence or a freak of nature. We’d rather give the credit to our unseen God who uplifted us in a low moment with the assurance that he was close by. And against all logic, we had a sweet-smelling gardenia blossom to prove it.

“Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)