Category Archives: Learning from our past

Sticking With It

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Moody Christmaas concertEvery December I have bulldog determination to do one thing: attend a Christmas concert with a big choir and a full orchestra. Thankfully opportunities abound, and last weekend I was privileged to be at Moody Church to hear an extravaganza of glorious music, everything from “Let it snow!” to the “Hallelujah Chorus.”

We found seats in the balcony, front row, looking straight down on the violin section of the orchestra. Watching those musicians play with vigor made me wish I hadn’t given up violin lessons when I was 13.

ViolinsWhat joy it would have been to play in such a group, but my orchestra experience will always be limited to the one I had in junior high school. Though I never made it to the first violin section, playing in that assortment of “newbies” was still a special pleasure.

Sadly, I stuck with violin lessons for only 2 years and didn’t even learn how to wiggle my fingers into a vibrato. My teacher was as irritated with me as I was with him, probably because every week I pestered him to let me do the wiggling thing. “You’ve got to get better at the basics first!” he’d say, completely exasperated with me.

When it was time to begin my 3rd year of lessons, I told Mom I didn’t want to continue. After too many arguments over skimpy practice time, she was happy to comply, and she sold my violin within a week, a sure sign she’d been as frustrated as I had.

Most adults have a music-regret to match mine. After we begged our parents for weeks, they finally gave in and generously provided funds, transportation, time, and an instrument. We began with gusto, but not long into the commitment, enthusiasm was replaced with practice battles. Eventually the option to quit became everybody’s first choice, though parents didn’t let us give up without a lecture and one last jab: “You’ll be sorry!”

Listening to those violinists at Moody Church, I knew they’d been right.

But middle school kids are still learning accountability for their actions and make lots of mistakes. We older folk know by harsh experience that quitting when commitments get tough becomes an unattractive character trait we’d rather not have. No one wants to be known as a quitter. It’s better to be someone who does what she says she’s going to do.

Violin ornament.God is the ultimate pro at this, doing everything he says he will, and since he’s God, that covers millions of pronouncements, promises, and predictions. If we want to be more like him, we need to practice keeping our commitments. When we feel like quitting, we should ask him for fresh perseverance, because he’s promised to help us cope.

And he keeps all of his promises.

“Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

Threescore and Ten

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Today my sister Mary turned 70. Although she and Bervin were in Minnesota, I was thankful for the phone conversation we were able to have about this special day. Time on the phone was no small favor, since her loving, loyal children all checked in with her, too, making extra chat-time hard to come by.

My only question was, “How do you feel about turning 70?”

MaryBased on Scripture’s verse about a good length of life being threescore and ten years, her immediate response was, “As of today, I’ve had my allotted 70 years, so anything after this is a bonus. My overarching emotion is gratitude for the years I’ve had.”

She talked about the high quality examples in the generation ahead of us, our parents, aunts, and uncles. “They all got old, but none of them got old-and-crotchety. They didn’t complain but instead did a great job modeling how to positively handle aging.”

She talked about the skill of counting blessings. “It isn’t easy when life seems to be falling apart, but the Bible tells us to rejoice always and give thanks in all circumstances. It’s a mandate for us to dwell on the positive. God has been good to me, but he is good to everyone,” she said. “And he wants us to watch for his goodness.”

Mary and I have weathered a number of setbacks together, and I know she’s had reasons to worry during the night. But as she reminded me today, it’s best if we don’t brood too long over the hard times but choose instead to look for marks of God’s involvement. “They’re always there.”

Of course we couldn’t talk about turning 70 without touching on the physical losses. She said, “Yesterday we were watching little kids sled down snowy hills with abandon. I had to admit those days are over for me. But we oldsters get nearly as much pleasure from watching them as they get from sledding.” In other words, it’s not a bad thing to act our age. “I’ve decided I’m not going to dwell on all the things I can’t do, but all the things I still can.”

Then she added, “As the years go by, I know the aches and pains will begin piling up, and we have all that ahead of us. But we also have God’s promise that we won’t go through any of it alone. I agree with that blog post back in 2009 (Flashlight or Floodlight?) that it’s best if we don’t know what’s coming,” she said. “Worrying about tomorrow can subtract the happiness from today. It’s not wise to look too far down the road.”

Happy Birthday!Amen to that.

“All glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.” (Jude 1:24)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARY!

Too cold!

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An early ThanksgivingThanksgiving is “my” holiday, the one where everybody comes to our house. It began back in 1969 when Nate and I got married on Thanksgiving weekend, and friends of our parents put on a lavish spread the day before our rehearsal dinner.

In November of 1970 (when Nate was still in law school) we decided to host Thanksgiving in our small apartment far from home, and were thrilled when extended family agreed to make the drive.

Forty Thanksgivings later, I’ve learned that the hardest part about the meal is making sure the turkey is thawed in time. (I’ve also learned that if it isn’t, the giblet bag inside will go through the baking process without a problem, though it isn’t nearly as tasty as stuffing.)

Some Thanksgivings we’ve had over 40 guests, but this year it will be only 19. Many are bringing food contributions to the meal, and Louisa and Birgitta (currently living with me) are wonderful co-workers. We’ve also got a first-time helper working with us: 13 month old Emerald.

Fooling with frozen turkeyAfter coming home from the grocery store Monday, I deposited 18 bags of food on the kitchen counter and sat her in the middle of them to assist with unloading. A 24 pound bird and several extra turkey breasts were part of the haul, so I put them on the counter to begin thawing.

Emerald was fascinated with the netted bags, plucking at the smaller breasts and laughing as they spun around on the counter.

Too coldEventually she began patting them saying, “Hot… Hot…” (not yet knowing the word “cold”) when all of a sudden she started crying. Since she was still patting the frozen meat, it didn’t take long to figure out her tender hands were hurting from the cold. Though we quickly moved to a warmer project, it was interesting that she hadn’t known enough to stop her patting. She needed me to do it for her.

How many times have I needed God to do something like that for me? It’s happened when I’ve jumped into a project without adequate knowledge or preparation, rushing ahead to do things my way without asking God what he preferred. Or it was that I hadn’t had any experience but thought I could accomplish a task just as well as someone who had. I’ve been burned badly in both situations and needed God to terminate the projects.

Scripture tells us there is safety in the presence of wise counselors, and of course the ultimate adviser is God himself. We ought never to tackle something big without first getting thorough instructions from our superiors. That might mean going all the way to THE superior One to get our marching orders directly from him.

In the mean time, all of us learn pretty well from experience, sometimes painfully so. Just ask Emerald.

“Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” (Proverbs 11:14)