Category Archives: Heaven

Plumb Crazy

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The big gunsWe’re taking showers again at our house. After losing repeatedly in a war against the elements (i.e. roots and soil in our basement pipes), we finally saw victory. Two drain-clearing experts arrived with their mega-machinery and extensive know-how, and now our floor drain flows freely.

Amazingly, the whole thing was probably my fault.

It turns out that when this house was built in 1938, the city sewer system didn’t exist. Most houses had septic systems. In the 1970’s, sewers arrived, but many homes (ours included) left basement drains emptying into the ground. That worked well until the year 2000… when we arrived.

While doing yard clean-up one day, I noticed a mini-gulley in the back yard beneath the ivy. Each time I raked, swept, or collected debris, I’d throw it into that long, narrow depression in an effort to level off the ground. Unbeknownst to me, that little ditch was the exit route for our basement shower.

Piled debris

By the time the plumbers figured it out last week, they’d dug through four feet of dirt, leaves, and twigs covering the hole where water had always flowed freely. I’d unwittingly made my own compost pile over the opening, facilitating rapid growth of surrounding roots. As the roots searched for water, they moved directly up the pipe, bringing their soil base along with them. Pretty clever on their part. Absolute idiocy on mine.

This saga is a first-rate example of what a tangled mess can result from making decisions based on wrong information. If I’d have taken one minute to look for a reason why that little ditch was there, I might have seen the edge of the pipe. The plumber actually found a rim of bricks in a semi-circle around the opening, which surely would have tipped me off to the reason for the gulley.

Rushing ahead without thinking (like me) isn’t a sensible way to bounce through life, since it leaves the results open to chance. Scripture speaks to that kind of slapdash approach in a disapproving way: “The wise are cautious and avoid danger; fools plunge ahead with reckless confidence.” (Proverbs 14:16)

Thankfully, this time it was only a plumbing problem. There is one category of life, though, where reckless confidence can lead to permanent catastrophe: our relationship to God. Where do we stand with him? Are we confident we’ll be with him after we die? Or are we recklessly leaving it to chance? These are questions we all need to answer for ourselves.

My plumbing problem was a mystery for a long time, but our whereabouts after we die need never be a mystery. If we put our trust and confidence in God according to his Word, we’ll end up in his presence, exactly as he promised.

The rescue vehicle

And I’m sure there’ll be no plumbing problems there.

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise… Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:15,17)

From Good to Groaning

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Garden of EdenI like to think about what life must have been like in the Garden of Eden, not just to wonder what a sin-free world looked like but to get a glimpse into our own futures. Someday we’ll be living on the New Earth, which will probably be much like Eden.

 

Good morning!

This morning, as I was waking up, I looked out my bedroom windows to see an unspoiled snowy landscape here in southwest Michigan. It struck me that Adam and Eve never saw snow when they woke up. They were comfortable living naked, which speaks to warm temps both day and night, probably a steady 72. So apparently snow and freezing weather wasn’t part of God’s original plan for humanity.

But what else wasn’t in the garden? Melting ice caps, oil spills, flooding, drought, forest fires, tsunamis, and super storms.

Has nature run amuck?

Although we humans are endangered by, and sometimes fearful of these climate extremes, God isn’t nervous about them at all. He has complete control over the weather (which includes global warming) by merely a whispered word. His power over our globe is not only unequaled, it’s absolutely sovereign.

So why doesn’t he do something to reign in all the wild extremes?

God knows that every dysfunction in the natural world is a result of the rebellion that got started in his unblemished garden. Our rebellion. If we’d have done things his way, none of nature’s negatives would have come to be. The fact that we’re experiencing them now is just a long-term natural consequence of our flawed behavior. God admits that through Scripture: he originally labeled our planet “good” but has now down-graded it to “groaning.” (Romans 8:22)

He also recognizes that nature isn’t the only thing groaning. We are, too: “We believers also groan… for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope.” (v. 23)

And therein lies God’s reason for not speaking words that will still the storms and save our planet. He wants us to get excited about the future when he’ll re-balance nature and return everything to the way it was in the beginning. He wants us to long for it, hope passionately for it, and get others excited to do the same. He’s hoping we’ll believe the words of Scripture about the New Earth and speak confidently to others about our God’s abilities and his faithfulness to his promises.

Outside my windows

So when I’m tempted to admire the snow blanketing my neighborhood, I should remind myself that running around naked in it wouldn’t be any fun at all. Brrrr.

”Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.” (Romans 8:20-21)

Leaning into Fantasy

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A dear friend from our old Illinois neighborhood called and left a message the other day. “I have some news for you.”

Our old house

Nate and I moved from there 4 years ago this month, selling our home after having had it on the market for over 4 years. But it took us about that long to get used to the idea of moving anyway. After living there nearly 30 years, it was tough to leave, but we loved the much-smaller cottage we were moving to in Michigan, a beach community that had been our family’s gathering place for 3 generations.

When I re-called my neighbor she said, “Would you like to move back to the neighborhood? Your old house is up for sale!”

That was about the last thing I’d expected to hear. The mid-20’s couple who’d bought our 6 bedrooms had planned to fill the rooms with children, and in the last 3 years had had 2 of them. Hearing that they wanted to move was a big surprise.

Our family had loved living in that century-old farmhouse with its secret closet, 2 stairways, strange attic, and other unique features, so my neighbor’s question was tempting. Move back to my old friends? Our beloved church and pastor? Shopping areas that were 1 mile away instead of 25?

It was a delicious thought.

But later, when Birgitta, Nelson, and I talked it through, the reality wasn’t as tasty. For one thing, Nate wouldn’t be there. He and I had done life together in that home, from weathering storms to bringing new babies there. Without him, that houseful of memories would seem empty and sad. And of course I don’t need such big digs.

Our kitchenTheir kitchen

Whether we like it or not, time keeps marching forward, and circumstances change, some for the good, some for the bad. We can’t go backwards hoping to recreate what we had. If what we had wasn’t good, we don’t mind. But if it was, we have to firmly deal with ourselves to make sure we don’t yearn for something that can’t be ours.

God’s counsel on this is to be future-focused, “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.” (Philippians 4:13) In that same passage Paul says, “Our conversation is in heaven.” (v. 20,KJV)

Living and belonging there will be more important than anything we’ve known here, and it’s all still in front of us. Leaning backwards to recapture something that can’t possibly compare with what’s ahead is to set ourselves up for a big letdown.

And so, after we took a visual tour of our old house on Zillow.com, we stopped entertaining the idea of living there again and began listing the many reasons we’re glad God put us exactly where he did.

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)