Category Archives: Life’s disappointments

Singing in a Storm

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It’s no secret that much of our nation is enduring peculiar weather this winter, putting most of us in a deep freeze. Though we’ve known winters with occasional sub-zero temps or record snows, we’ve never known such extremes: in snow depths, expressway ice, sub-zero double-digits, and a winter start-date weeks ahead of schedule.

???????????????????????????????Last weekend when my plane made a harrowing landing in a blizzard (yesterday’s post), I saw an impressive sight on the ground: 15 (yes, 15!) plows and trucks waiting on the sidelines to move in for runway cleanup. Some had blades as wide as my living room.

Yet fifteen minutes after landing, we were reloaded and back at the end of the runway, ready to leave Pittsburgh for Chicago. Plows were sidelined but waiting at-the-ready to clear snow again. First, however, we were treated to a de-icing.

Runway de-icingI’d never experienced that, and it was fascinating to watch two tank-style trucks move from plane nose to tail, dowsing us with chemical sprays that would make it impossible for ice to form on our wings (adding drag to take-off).

Our light-hearted flight attendant, already buckled into her jump seat, kept us focused on her one-woman comedy act as de-icing took place, bantering about it being much like a car wash. “But de-icing is better,” she said, “since the chemicals smell like pancake syrup. Enjoy the sweet experience!”

As we positioned for take-off, she surprised us again, belting out a song from start to finish: “Love will keep us together.” It wasn’t lost on her that 28 of us had been through an unnerving landing just a few minutes earlier, and she said she didn’t want us to turn against Southwest Airlines. She also knew that the same blizzard was still raging, and we were headed right back into those potholed skies.

They say attitude is everything, and though that isn’t a quote from Scripture, it is a biblical concept. Our stewardess helped us look on the bright side of a potentially dark situation much like God’s Word recommends we count our blessings no matter what’s happening around us.

???????????????????????????????But how do we maintain a sunny disposition when a storm looms? The only way is to stay close to the Lord throughout each day. It may sound Pollyanna-ish but is actually God’s specific instruction. Scripture says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13)

He doesn’t ever want us to stop hoping for positive outcomes. Because he’s the God of hope, we can “abound” in it, if we partner with him. So when we’re threatened with an internal blizzard, we should think of that flight attendant singing her song as we headed into a storm, a reminder that we can face adversity with joy.

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” (James 1:2)

Back to Zero

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ZeroMost of us think of zero as a big nothing. Emptiness. A non-entity. Blank. But in the last two weeks of staying with my daughter Linnea and her family, I’ve seen the immense value of zero.

Each night, just before the 3 older children (ages 5, 3, 1) had their baths, Linnea and Adam orchestrated a major overhaul of the house. Phase One included dinnertime clean-up of dishes, high chair, table, under-the-table, leftovers, and kitchen.

Phase Two incorporated the living room play area, sorting toys and putting them into their proper containers. It also meant vacuuming the carpet which somehow became cluttered with all manner of debris during a busy day.

???????????????????????????????Phase Three took place in the children’s bedroom where they all bunk together. Wall-to-wall toys, evidence of a day of creative play, had to be “binned” and lined up beneath the bed. Stuffed animals were gathered into a big plastic tub in the corner, and clean laundry was put into the proper drawers.

These 3 Phases sound complicated, especially since tired children are difficult to motivate, but the process is usually complete in 15 minutes. I watch and marvel as the whole house “gets back to zero.” It’s that magnificent zone of neat-and-tidy.

The people-parallel is obvious. Our lives can quickly get cluttered with debris of all sorts: the burdens of others we’re not meant to carry, unrealistic expectations of what we can accomplish in one day, over-commitment of our limited time or resources, anxiety over circumstances we can’t change. Everywhere we look we see disorder, and it can overwhelm us.

That’s when we need to initiate our own Phases One, Two, and Three. We can focus on the situation that bothers us most and start by tidying it up in small ways. We should think of it as working from the edges in, rather than redoing everything at once. By slowly tackling one area and then another and another, as time passes we can get back to zero-order in all the disorderly areas of our lives, freshening up our perspective.

???????????????????????????????At Linnea and Adam’s house, as we’ve sat together while the children slept, each night we silently appreciated a zero- cluttered house. In those precious moments, no one talked about how 3 imaginative children would be pulling out bins and baskets in a few short hours, leaving our orderly zero far behind. In those quiet, late evening hours, sitting in the midst of back-to-zero was deeply satisfying.

And if anyone tells you that zero amounts to a-lotta-nothin’, don’t you believe it.

“Be sure that everything is done properly and in order.” (1 Corinthians 14:40)

The Flip Side

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45sBack in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s we bought popular music on small black records with big center holes that could only be played on properly equipped hi-fi machines. Because of their rpm speed, they were nicknamed “45’s”, with a Top 40 hit on the A side and a not-so-popular one on the B. We wore out the “good” sides and virtually never played the “bad” ones.

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My 3 year old grandson Micah reminds me of those old 45’s. His A side is tender and sweet, causing him to suddenly stop playing and rush over to me (or someone else) to deliver a kiss and a hug. “I love you,” he’ll say in a lilting voice, and I absolutely melt. With his strawberry blond curls and round face, he resembles a cherub straight from heaven.

But Micah has a B side, too. It can pop up without warning and amaze us with its intensity. For example, when asked to get ready for his bath, he might ask for a longer play time. But very quickly the “please can I…” escalates to “I can’t because…” followed by further resistance at increasing volume, till finally he’s having what I call a hissy-fit.

It’s his flip-side, and he has flipped out.

We adults may inwardly feel much like Micah when we’re told what to do, but we don’t let ourselves show it. It can be especially evident in our relationship with God.

Scripture refers to this problem as our old and new natures warring against each other. Paul explained it well in Romans 7 when he described his repeated failure to live a righteous life. “I want to do what’s right, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what’s wrong, but I do.”

We (and Micah) can all relate to this same miserable struggle, because it’s endemic to mankind. Paul says, “I love God’s law with all my heart. But there’s another power within me that’s at war with my mind.” He defines it as sin. He recognizes, as all of us should, that the trouble is not with God but with us. We’re willfully disobedient and need empowerment from someone other than ourselves if we’re to rise above hissy-fits.

Thankfully, Paul defines that help as the Holy Spirit. He says it’s not necessary to bounce back and forth between our A and B sides. “The power of the life-giving Spirit has freed us from the power of sin.” (8:2) Now that’s good news!

Tender-hearted Micah.And as precious Micah gets to know Jesus better, one day he can live regularly on his A side with only an occasional flip to his B. In the mean time, his grandma Midgee is eating up the hugs and kisses, letting his mommy and daddy deal with his flip side.

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” (1 Peter 1:14-15)