Category Archives: Life’s disappointments

Tending To It

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In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had only one chore: God instructed them to tend the garden. He had already accomplished the planting, and there were no weeds to pull. Garden of EdenGenesis 2 tells us they didn’t even have to water it, since the river took care of that. From the sound of it, all they had to do was decide which “delicious fruit” they felt like eating each day and then eat it.

But then sin and rebellion entered the picture, and everything changed. On that awful day, God approached them in a mindset they’d not seen before. His goal was to have a serious talk with them, describing the demotion they were about to experience. And none of it sounded good.

God used the words “curse, pain, hostility, labor, toil, sweat, thorns, and thistles.” Sadly, this meeting, during which Adam and Eve said nothing, was their last before being ejected from the garden and their perfect lives there.  Immediately afterwards, he sent them away.

NateNelsonNow, thousands of years later, the words of God’s solemn speech to our ancestors still apply to us. We bump into them virtually every day as we tend to our homes, our cars, our bills, our health, our relationships, and yes, the thorns and thistles in our gardens.

Adam and Eve started out with only one tending-chore, and that a pleasant one. But after sin happened, they and the rest of us have had to tend to one thing or another virtually around the clock. Our work never ends. As Mom used to say, “Even when we sleep, the dust is settling, the weeds are growing, and the sheets are getting dirty.”

But God knew that the many new stresses on his first two people might overwhelm them (and us too), so he did something wonderful. Though he subtracted Adam and Eve’s idyllic lifestyle and substituted a list of negatives, he left some important positives in place.

This young couple would still be able to share laughter, enjoy tasty food, experience pleasing aromas, get excited about things, and experience joy, love, contentment, and lots more. Though God did punish them on that fateful day, he also encouraged them by allowing them to keep many of the good gifts he’d given them in Eden. And amazingly, he continues to give those same gifts to us today.

Surely Adam and Eve walked out of their beautiful garden that day feeling miserable and fearful. But God was actually tending to their hearts in a way they almost certainly didn’t realize then: His strong, saving presence was walking right out with them.

And amazingly, he’s still walking with us today.

“The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:13)

The Trouble with Bubbles

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My two-year-old granddaughter Emerald is in love with bubbles. Her fascination with them is her longest-running interest by far, and she never tires of our blowing them for her.

Every time she arrives at my house, without fail her first words are, “Oska bubbles? Oska bubbles?” We still aren’t sure what “oska” means, but when I pull the bubble-stuff from atop the ‘fridge, she begins jumping up and down and waving her arms with joy.

Bubble babyOften she’ll run into a cloud of bubbles with an open mouth, getting bubble-soap on her tongue. “Tasty!” she’ll say, doing it again and again. (Surely she doesn’t know the definition of “tasty.”)

Emerald likes to sit on the floor and let the bubbles float down to her, marveling when they pop in her lap. Or she’ll just poke them with her finger and shout, “Pop! Pop! Pop!”

She’s chased enough bubbles to have seen that each one includes a rainbow of colors, sometimes naming the ones she sees. She’s also learned to identify two bubbles stuck together. “Double bubble! Double bubble!”

Emerald faithfully points out bubbles she sees in unusual places, too, like in freshly poured coffee or milk, or in the wash machine, or even in the water coming from the kitchen faucet.

The trouble with bubbles, though, is how temporary they are. As they form and then drift along, they mesmerize us with their beauty, but with the slightest touch of a toddler’s finger, they’re gone.

Scripture talks about our lives being transient much like bubbles are. God doesn’t use the bubble analogy but does compare a life span to “a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” In another place he notes we have “but a momentary” existence, and also says we “fade like leaves.” Each of us is “but a breath,” he says.*

Believing what God is trying to tell us in these word pictures should put us in right relationship with him, the Lord of eternity. He also hopes we’ll take comfort in remembering that when our struggles increase and life gets hard, it’s all short-lived compared to the joyful bliss he has in store for us.

BubblesHe may not say it directly, but when we look back on our earthly troubles, we’ll probably see them much like Emerald sees bubbles: Pop! Pop! Pop!

 

“O Lord…. Let me know how fleeting I am!” (Psalm 39:4)

*(James 4:14, Psalm 39:5 & 11, Isaiah 64:6)

Freezin’ Fun

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Here in Michigan, our weather is really cold. Freezing, in fact. Actually, below freezing. Tonight we’ll go down to – 8 actual temperature.

Although Jack loves the cold and develops a thick coat much like a bear’s, I’m not a fan. But that wasn’t always true. The authorities in our childhood neighborhood encouraged children to play outdoors regardless of the weather, especially so when it was extra-cold. Once we got a good cold snap, the fire department would bring their high-volume hoses to a steep hill near our home and flood it till it had become a five inch-thick slab of straight-down glare ice.

Ready... set...This kid-magnet was nick-named “Suicide Hill” by firemen and children alike, though no one actually died there. It dropped down to a broad, icy beach that led to Lake Michigan’s shoreline (visible here as we slide down backwards). If we aimed just right, we could sail all the way there. Never mind that we had to dodge trees and concrete-encased bar-b-q grills along the way.

Mom, ever-ready with her camera, encouraged us to head for Suicide Hill often, sometimes taking the whole church youth group with her. Below zero? No matter. Can’t find a good sled? Go down on your rear-end.

Whee!We learned to balance with expertise, standing straight up on our clumsy buckle-galoshes all the way down the hill at high speeds. Yes there were accidents, but nothing with permanent consequences.

Yesterday I stood in my kitchen listening to a repair man describe the bumps and bruises he endured during childhood, ex- pressing gratitude for the freedom to learn by experience. “Today’s kids are stopped at every turn from having good old-fashioned fun,” he said,  “all in the name of safety.”

Immediately I thought of our heavenly Parent and the boundaries he sets for us… or doesn’t. Just as our parents let us freely experiment in the great outdoors, God allows us to do the same, never protecting us with complete safety. He gives us free rein to make decisions and follow desires however we please, opting in and out of wisdom. And he lets us experience all kinds of natural consequences, both good and bad, with the hope we’ll learn from them.

Natural consequences of our own making can be dramatic and life-altering. We’re forced to pick up baggage we might never have had to carry, had we asked our Father which decision to make in the first place. But following our own lead (often an “expensive” process) can teach us quite effectively, too.

Recently my sister, brother, and I took a drive to Suicide Hill to see if kids were still enjoying the same kind of fun we’d known. Despite the winter weather, there was no ice on the hill. Actually, the whole area had been permanently fenced off from the public.

Trudging upThe only glare-ice hills today’s kids get to experience, I’m afraid, are on video games.

“There is hope for your future, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 31:17)