Trying Hard

Earlier this week our late-October weather was perfect. With blue skies and light breezes, it was the day we’d been waiting for to have an evening beach fire where the children could gobble down s’mores, enjoy a sunset, and get tired out before bedtime.

Beach fireBy 6:00 pm the winds had picked up and Lake Michigan was working up a good chop, but we did as planned and had a great time. Emerald, still battling a bad cold, was wrapped snugly, content to sit in Louisa’s lap sucking on a pacifier. (Mama Birgitta was attending her university classes.)

As the 3 children raced across the sand toward the ice-cold water, Adam’s one caution was short and clear: “Don’t get your feet wet!”

But when the sun started to drop toward the horizon, so did the temperatures. That’s when the little ones began to feel the full effect of romping too close to disobedience as their wet feet stung with the cold.

Difficult to obeyBy the time we got home, toes were bright red and throbbing. Maybe a lesson in obedience was learned, but it’s probable they’ll have to relearn it again and again.

Skylar, Micah, and Autumn aren’t the only ones with a bent toward doing their own thing rather than heeding the warnings of an authority figure. All of us are in that camp. As adults, when we arrive at the painful consequences of our own poor decisions, we usually feel badly about them and accept blame for the cost of our disobedience. But when we end up waging the same battle again and again, we get downright disgusted with ourselves.

“Wouldn’t it be nice,” we say, “if we didn’t have this natural bent toward insisting on our own way? Life would be so much easier if we’d just do things right the first time.”

Happily, that day will come. Our sinful natures will be history, which is good news for those of us in a continual struggle to hold selfish pride at bay. It’s interesting that the more diligence we demonstrate as we work to tame our wills this side of eternity, the greater God’s approval in the here-and-now. And when he approves, he rewards…. with an increased capacity to fight our self-wills more effectively.

Despite that help for today, though, I’m really looking forward to God’s tomorrow when we’ll no longer have to battle ourselves. Our sin nature will have completely disappeared, and obeying our Supreme Authority will be pure pleasure.

Beyond the sunset some dayAt long last we’ll know what we ought to do and will actually delight in doing it. And that goes for Skylar, Micah, Autumn, and their wet feet, too.

“When we died with Christ, we were set free from the power of sin.” (Romans 6:7)

Party City

One little candleThis weekend was a birthday triple-header for our family: Jack turned 77 in dog years, Lars turned 39 in human years, and Emerald turned one precious baby-year. And the one with the smallest number was the biggest deal.

Although Emerald won’t remem- ber the fun we had in her honor, the party was important for 3 reasons: (1) her extended family had a good time getting together; (2) birthday photos will someday show her how joyfully we celebrated her life; (3) we celebrated Birgitta’s year-one survival as a single mom.

Our little pumpkinEmerald was battling her first-ever illness (a snotty cold and cough), but Birgitta followed through with her plan to visit a local pumpkin farm. Cold windy weather wasn’t ideal, but her sunny personality shone through anyway, even as she smiled through watery eyes and a runny nose.

First birthdays are always special. Buying toys and mini-clothes for a 12 month old is a happy project for any of us, and watching them finger their first hunk of birthday cake is one of the most photographed events of family life.

Nelson turning oneI remember well our firstborn’s first birthday. It was a double-party with his cousin Julia and a dozen couples with their children. Mary and I cooked two menus: one for the little people and one for their parents. We had games for children and also adults, along with prizes, family photographs, party favors, and 2 homemade cakes. I stayed up till 4:30 am decorating my school bus.

Overkill for sure.

Most of us find it’s easy to get caught up in celebrations. Years ago, we knew a couple that lived from party to party, doing their best to endure regular life in between. We attended one of those, and well after midnight watched the hostess literally tugging on guests who were preparing to leave. “Please don’t go yet!” she said. “Just one more hour!”

Most of life can’t be about merrymaking. That’s because we’re duty-bound to many commitments that aren’t very much fun. That’s especially true for those of us trying to follow biblical guidelines: “May you be completely faithful to the Lord our God. May you always obey his decrees and commands.” (1 Kings 8:61)

Being faithful to the Lord includes things like working steadily on troubled relationships, following through on commitments, reaching toward blameless character, and repeatedly asking God’s forgiveness for personal sin. None of these would fly as good party themes.

That’s not to say there aren’t party times coming. Scripture promises good eating, lots of singing, a spirit of rejoicing, grand adventures, and satisfying relationships…. eventually.

Something newSince God has always been faithful to us, these duty-bound days should be used to be faithful to him as an effective lead-in to the celebratory days ahead. And maybe it’s even ok to make a big deal out of birthdays now, if we’ll just view them as foretastes of the great parties in store for later.

So… Happy Birthday, Emerald, Lars, and Jack!

 

 

Lars and MomMmmm. Cake...“He always stands by his covenant — the commit- ment he made to a thou- sand generations.” (Psalm 105:8)

 

Who knows?

Skylar, Autumn, MicahHaving long-distance relatives isn’t ideal, since our together-time has to be minimal. But this week I’m pleased to be under the same roof with 6 of our out-of-town relatives: daughter Linnea, her husband Adam, Skylar, Micah, Autumn, and their baby brother who’s riding along in his mommy’s tummy. On our next visit, we’ll get to see and hold him, too.

When Nate was still with us, two of our grands had already been born, Skylar in Florida and Nicholas in England. But when he died, those two were still just babies, 15 and 10 months respectively. Nate never got the chance to watch them grow and change or to meet the other 6 (almost 7) that followed.

I consider it a huge blessing to have known them for as long as I have, even though the oldest is only five. But we can carry on conversations, play games, read together, share stories, bake cookies, and go places. Nate has missed out on all of it.

Or has he?

What’s the probability that he knows his 7 additional grands? Randy Alcorn wrote a book (based solely on Scripture) entitled HEAVEN. He makes a powerful case for Nate’s awareness of his grandchildren, citing passages in both the Old and New Testaments to substantiate that those in heaven know what’s transpiring on earth.

The girlsFor example, based on Revelation 19 he writes, “Heaven’s inhabitants are shown praising God for specific events of judgment that have just taken place on Earth. The saints in Heaven are clearly observing what is happening on Earth. Those on Earth may be ignorant of events in Heaven, but those in Heaven are not ignorant of events on Earth, at least some of these events.” (p. 24)

Another passage in Luke 15 refers to rejoicing that goes on “in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” Alcorn writes, “Notice this Scripture does not speak of rejoicing by the angels but in the presence of angels. I believe it logically includes not only God but the saints in Heaven… If they rejoice over conversions happening on Earth, then obviously they must be aware of what’s happening on Earth… down to the details of specific individuals coming to faith in Christ.” (p. 25)

One boyAlcorn cites many other verses on which he bases his conclusions, making a strong case for heavenly minds being far superior to what we now have on Earth. The bottom line, if I believe Scripture, is that Nate does know all of his grands and hasn’t missed a thing. Theologians might debate that into the ground, but as one half of a grandma/grandpa pair, I want to believe it.

As we enjoy each other during these two weeks together in earthly Michigan, I like to think Nate will be having just as much fun watching from his heavenly vantage point.

“This is the plan: At the right time [God] will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.” (Ephesians 1:10)