Booted

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Margaret

Dressing toddlers is tricky. Often they have their own outfit-preferences and make them loudly known. But even when they comply with Mommy’s choices, there’s no guarantee they’ll stay clothed, especially when it comes to shoes.

The other day, Nelson, Birgitta, Emerald, and I were running errands together shortly after a foot-deep snowfall. As we got out of the car at our first stop, we noticed Emerald’s snow boots were missing, and she was in stocking feet. We searched the car but came up empty, leaving us no choice but to carry her… boot-less.

Once we were back at home, we thought surely we’d find her cute little black boots there, but no. This was especially frustrating, since they were new, and the snow was deep.

That’s when Nelson headed out to shovel, and wouldn’t you know, right off the bat he spotted a boot peeking out of the snow from where it must have slipped off Emerald’s foot. Looking for its mate, he poked around, stirred the drifts, and carefully watched each shovel-full of snow as it flew through the air. But #2 never appeared.

Later we scoured the house again, looked once more in the car, and even prayed, but it wasn’t to be. Now we have one lonely boot awaiting its mate, useless without it.

Sometimes that’s exactly the way we are in our relationship to God: We’re off somewhere all by ourselves, unaware that we’re missing something very important. Oh, we can function on our own, just like Emerald could walk in the snow with one boot. But until she’s wearing both, their true purpose can’t be realized.

God wants us to come as close to him as two boots in a pair. When we do, we’ll learn about the exciting plans he has for us. But until we partner with him, our true purposes remain unrealized.

Amazingly, many of us choose that option, to go it alone, because we like the idea of controlling our own destinies. God has a destiny in mind for each of us too, but he’s not going to force it on anyone who doesn’t want it.

Some of us might say, “Because God is God, it’s possible his plans are superior to mine. So I’ll take a look at it, and then I’ll weigh one against the other.” But God doesn’t play that game. It’s either commit or forfeit. We either place our faith in him, or by default, we place it in ourselves.

It’s our choice.

As for me, all I have to do is picture Emerald walking in the snow with one boot on to be reminded that life works better in pairs – especially when one half of it is the Lord himself.

“As for me, it is good to be near God.” (Psalm 73:28)

A Word from Nelson

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Margaret

Mom asked me to fill in for her on the blog tonight, because she’s busy editing her next book; a book of prayers. I hope you can get something out of it.

God bless, Nelson

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So, I’ve been reading this book called, Humility, (Andrew Murray) and a pretty good suggestion is offered as to the meaning of something I’ve wondered for quite a while. There is the verse that says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:10 – NRSV) I think when teaching others, we tell them this is in the same vein as the one where Jesus says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much…” (Luke 16:10)

Taught to a child or a young adult, we use this as a lesson about telling the truth and stewardship. Take care of the little money you have and you’ll get more. You’ll show God you can be trusted with more. Along the same lines, we could think that humbling ourselves means God will exalt us. But what do “much” and “exalt” really mean? In human terms, they mean money and power. But, as offered in the book, Murray says that being exalted before God means,

“The highest glory of the creature is in being only a vessel, to receive and enjoy and show forth the glory of God.”

It’s my belief that God knows we are, by nature, selfish and do things mostly to minimize pain and maximize pleasure. Even offering a kind gesture gives us a good feeling and therein lies some of the payoff. But as we continue down the road to REAL humility, the “more” and the “exalt” are less about me and more about God and others. But do I really believe that letting go of myself and my agenda for everyone else will bring the highest level of fulfillment? Hmm.

Well, I just turned 42, and a question a friend asked a few weeks back still haunts me.

“Are you growing or just growing older?”

Ouch!

But I think humility, and the “growth” he asked about happens when I change my viewpoint and see pain and adversity as opportunities to make God look good. Could this be the “more” Jesus is talking about? What if his answer to my prayer for relief is this?

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Or am I still stuck on the “more” meaning material pleasures and the “being exalted” meaning power and success?

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

― C.S. Lewis

What’s your name?

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Margaret

This winter the Midwest has been short on snow. Though last year we’d had 50″ by this date, so far this year we’ve seen less than 8”…. until today.

Last night a blizzard headed our way, starting to make snowy deposits on our neighborhood exactly when the iPhone weather app predicted: 8:00 pm. Heavy snow fell all night, and as I write, it’s been snowing all day, too. Predictions are for continued snow overnight until we’ve reached a grand total of 15”-18”.

TV’s weather channel tells us this snowstorm has been given a name: Linus. Last week’s severe blizzard in New England also had a name: Juno. So, in addition to naming hurricanes, apparently we’re naming snowstorms now, too. We might as well name earthquakes, tornados, typhoons, and tsunamis. Giving each a name might help us keep them all straight: “Remember Linus? He was a doozy, but wasn’t he gorgeous?”

And then, as long as we’re naming storms, maybe we should name our personal storms, too. That might help us better recall our own histories. We could say, “I remember ‘Ethel.’ Boy, she was a wild one, wasn’t she?” Or, “I’ll never forget that ‘Ichabod.’ He nearly finished us off, but we made it through!”

I think often about the storms of life. All of us know we gain more wisdom during difficult times than easy ones, but living through them is something else again. If given the option, we’d never choose all the trouble that comes to us, despite acknowledging that once we’re on the other side of it, we’ve learned a few things.

I wonder if God names the life-storms he allows to come to us. If he does, their titles are probably something like, “Victory over addiction,” or “Opportunity for Patience,” or “Triumph against Self-centeredness.” Surely if we could see our struggles not just as obstacles-to-get-past but opportunities-to-grow, we could live through them with less fretting and more anticipation.

Meanwhile here in Southwest Michigan, as Linus continues to pour down on us, we’ll try to appreciate his beauty. We can also enjoy the chance to hone our driving skills and build new muscles from lots of extra shoveling.