Category Archives: Learning from our past

Unique Viewpoints

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Snowfall.As I write, a heavy snow is falling outside my windows, reminding me of winters past.

As a little girl growing up in the country (now the Chicago suburbs), a fresh snowfall was an invitation to come out and play. We had snowball fights, built snow forts, rolled snowmen, and deposited snowballs in a nearby creek where we watched them melt in the icy water.

We made snow-nests in a nearby field, then lay back comfortably to catch snowflakes on our tongues. If we were very quiet, we could even hear them land. The cold was never a problem, and we didn’t mind boots with snow packed around our ankles, or hands wet from soggy mittens.

Snowy funI remember being so excited to play in the snow after school that I ran out with my dress still on, (in the ‘50’s, girls wore dresses), playing until the skirt became as soaked as Mom’s dish rag but not minding one bit. When she would ring the cowbell to call us home for dinner, we’d groan in disappointment that our snow-playtime had ended.

These days I don’t think about snow like that, because I’m in a different season: not a weather-season, but a life-season. Each weather-season has its purposes, and though I love to watch the snow fall, playing in it for hours has lost its appeal. I do appreciate today’s beautiful storm but only because I’m seeing it with different eyes.

The same can be said of life-seasons. God hopes we’ll see them with eyes appropriate to each one, never considering the spring of childhood or summer of young adulthood as better than the autumn and winter seasons of older ages. He has affixed positives to every season, and if we look with the right eyes, we’ll see them.

Snowflake sampleToday, if I lift heavy rolled balls of snow in an effort to build a big snowman, my back will complain about it the next day. But if I walk Jack the dog with the proper coat and boots on, we can both enjoy the winter snow.

Sometimes it’s difficult to accept the season we’re in. Children long to get older. Teens reach for adulthood. Older folks wish they were young again. But these off-center views are simply a function of looking with the wrong eyes.

As we age, physical limitations increase, but if we ask God to highlight the positives of whichever season we’re in, he will show us. And though winter snows can be hazardous, each individual snowflake remains one of God’s great marvels, unique in its created, symmetrical design.

Snowflake sample.And if we stop long enough to appreciate that, we might even hear them land.

“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth….’ ” (Job 37:6-7)

 

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Please pray for little Anders who is now over 5 pounds but has had a couple of set-backs. Pray for wisdom for the doctors as they make decisions.
  2. I’m thankful still to be feeling good, this week on a getaway to Florida with Bervin.

Clumsy

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January 1st is a great time to begin again. All of us are good at pretending we have a clean slate then, and we love the idea of a fresh start. I determined to begin 2015 right, so in the first hour of the first day I grabbed my prayer clipboard and a new pen. Affixing a stack of notebook paper to it, I sat down to begin writing out a prayer.

OopsAs I plopped onto the couch cushion, however, my mug of coffee bounced and sent its contents up and over, onto the paper, clipboard, and couch, doing away with my clean slate before I even began.

I couldn’t believe I’d been that clumsy right off the bat, spoiling an otherwise perfect moment. But that’s the way life goes. Though I may be clumsier than most, all of us make messes now and again.

Sometimes I wonder about my Christian life, whether or not I’m stumbling through that like a bull in a china shop. Do I handle God’s Word with the utmost of care? Do I take him for granted when life is going well? Do I engage in prayer only when things go wrong? Am I quick to blame him for messes that are my fault?

I know he’s very forgiving of my many blunders and doesn’t hold it against me when I make innocent mistakes. But do I have a teachable heart that learns from them and determines to do better next time? And am I careful about what I believe?

Once my coffee-soaked papers had dried, I decided to use them anyway, as an object lesson, hoping they’d remind me to be careful with my faith and faithful to take care.

“Who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.” (Psalm 18:12)

Praising and Praying with Mary

Thank you for praying for little Anders. He had a crisis with his heart last night that was averted with quick, expert care. Pray for stability and increasing weight gain with each new day.

The Best Resolution

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The year 2014 is in the record books. Whether we used those 365 days wisely or foolishly, the tale’s been told.

At my age, the awareness of time’s passing becomes acute. It no longer seems to go on forever, and the word “fleeting” applies more often. We do what we can to hold onto important moments and special people.

But “holding on” isn’t wisdom. It isn’t even possible. A much wiser plan is to receive what we’re given as the days go by and to be content with that. But how?

Paul of the Bible admitted that contentment didn’t come naturally to him and that he had to learn it. He said, “I have learned to be content.” So how did he do it?

ContentmentIn the same passage he answers our question. The first step is to acknowledge our need for God to supply the ability to do it. (Philippians 4:19) God has a rich storehouse of “can-do” and is willing to share it with those who ask. Second, Paul says, “When I’m tempted to sink into negativity, I can find fresh strength and determination by asking God for strength to continue on.” (v. 13)

In other words, we can’t just say, ”My New Year’s resolution is to be content, no matter what.” That would stick for about 10 minutes.

Paul’s technique is to focus not on how we feel but on who Christ is and what he can do. We’re to count our blessings and then (very important) link them to the One who’s responsible for giving them. That should then cause us to rejoice in our relationship with him, which leads to contentment.

I have a hunch much of our natural discontent is linked to control issues. Most of us know that global fame, massive wealth, or any other “biggie” won’t bring contentment, and so we don’t waste time wishing for those. But we’re champions at wanting something a bit different than what we got.

We say, “Yes, Lord, I’m willing to live this particular life, but could we make a few changes first?” Then we go about tweaking what God has already put in place for us. In other words, we may not want more or better, but we often want different.

It might be a good idea this year to concentrate on receiving the life we’ve been given by asking God for enough of his grace to live in and through it well. (v. 23) When we do that, contentment is bound to follow.

“Let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.” (1 Corinthians 7:17)

Praising and praying with Mary

I haven’t felt this good in a long time, and regardless of what’s ahead, I’m praising God for the safe, festive Christmas and New Years we’ve just shared as a family.