Squeezing It In

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Margaret

Hans and Katy’s house in England was built nearly 50 years ago and has a small one-car garage. When Hans put his work van away each night, he had only 3” of wiggle room front and rear, and only enough side-room to barely squeeze himself out the driver’s door. I watched him back it in, appreciating the expertise it took to hit it just right.

With the purchase of his larger van, pulling in at all is no longer possible, which is both bad news and good. The bad news is having to arrange a secure parking place somewhere else. The good news is acquiring a bunch of new storage space in the empty garage.

One week ago when I was there, Hans and I were standing in the middle of the garage while he explained where new shelves would go, when I looked up and saw words of chalk written on one of the brick walls:

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”

When I pointed to the words and asked about them, Hans said, “It’s the last thing I saw getting into the van to go to work every morning, and the first thing I saw getting out when I got home. Good stuff.” In the midst of a garage full of utilitarian items, this quote from Psalm 91 stood out as something special, a practical promise straight from heaven.

Lots of us complain about not having enough time to focus on God and his Word. Our lives are crowded with other things, good things, and squeezing in Scripture can seem impossible. But chalk and a brick wall offer one way to do it.

The Bible is immensely practical. If we’ll let it, its wisdom will get us through shaky days with steadiness, and squeezing Scripture into our schedules will pay off exponentially. We can write verses on mirrors, index cards, screen savers, refrigerator magnets, laundry walls, bricks, or anything else as a way to partake of God’s supernatural power, the power he offers to send through his Word.

He invites us to creatively squeeze it in.

Seeing the chalked words in Hans’ garage reminded me of another place Scripture was squeezed in. Years ago our house in Illinois had a well worn path just outside the kitchen door that led to the next-door-neighbors’ house. The non-stop footprints between the two houses wore away the grass and left a muddy trail instead.

Wanting to reduce the dirty footprints coming into my kitchen, I pressed a row of concrete stepping stones into the mud, and God provided a squeeze-it-in idea. We wrote one word of a footstep-verse on each stone so that young feet could absorb his wisdom as they ran between the houses: “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him.” (Psalm 37:23)

Like Hans, we were just trying to gain God’s wisdom by squeezing it in.

“Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words.” (Proverbs 4:5)

Growing Pains

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Margaret

This morning Nelson and I set off for the airport by 5:25 AM where he once again boarded a plane back to Youth With A Mission, this time in Montana . As we drove through the dark we enjoyed talking, knowing we wouldn’t have another face-to-face conversation until Christmas.

This morning’s exchange of ideas centered on our usual: God and how he does things. Nelson is facing a new teaching position that has him working diligently on complicated preparations. None of it is easy, and he vacillates between excitement and concern. I know he’ll do an excellent job, but that’s easy for me to say; I’m not in the hot seat.

Yesterday, though, I experienced a similar leap of stress when an email arrived from my publisher describing an assignment he thinks I should take: a webinar on handling grief. My only response was, “What’s a webinar?”

[It’s a seminar online that lets participants see and hear the presenter(s) as they answer interview questions or conduct discussions. By way of the internet, listeners interested in the topic can participate live, if they wish.]

Not only is this foreign to me, it’s scary. My contact assured me I didn’t need to be an expert on grief in general, just on my own grief experience. The goal will be to encourage people who are struggling with sorrow, letting them know they’ll be able to move forward again one day with fresh joy in their lives.

Of course that purpose is valuable, just like Nelson’s teaching is, but for both of us these new challenges are intimidating. It would be easier to dwell in a “comfort zone” and stick with that as the ongoing status quo. Learning new skills and conquering feelings of inadequacy can really take it out of a person.

But as Nelson and I talked this morning, the bottom line always has to be, “What does God want us to do?” If any request comes because he sent it, a “yes” is the only good answer. We ought to acknowledge our own shortfalls and then quickly melt into his capability, knowing that’s the only way these challenging tasks can ever get done well.

Maybe that’s the reason God asks us to do hard things in the first place. He isn’t about setting us in places of comfort or ease but prefers we stretch and grow, not as much for our own benefit as for someone else’s. There’s another possibility, too. The current “new thing” he asks us to do may simply be his chosen way to lead us on to something else, i.e. Step A toward his Step B.

Or C. Or D. Such a thought is unnerving.

But Nelson said yes, and I did too, so we’re both off and running…. straight to God.

“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

Winter in July

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Margaret

When I was growing up in the Chicago suburbs, my home church was Moody Church (45 minutes away). One of the many good memories I have of those years is “Christmas in July” when we would bring Christmas cards and gifts for the many missionaries the church supported all over the world. The Missions Committee informed us it would take every bit of 5 months for our packages to reach their destinations abroad by December, which was why we had to pack them up in July.

As a child I didn’t really believe such long-range planning was necessary, and even now I struggle to plan and prepare far enough ahead. Certain people come equipped with a clock-consciousness that serves them well through life. When deadlines arrive, they’re always ready. Nate had that time-management ability and was never late to a meeting or unprepared when he got there. I’ve seen the same thing in Birgitta, watching her successfully juggle motherhood, full time college, and a job.

And I can get jealous noting how easy it is for these types to be prepared. But of course it really isn’t that easy; they just faithfully work at it.

As I read God’s Word, every so often I bump into a passage that challenges me to work at being prepared. It’s usually couched in a warning: “If you’re not, you’ll regret it for these reasons.” For example, God writes about Christ’s second coming in that way (multiple times), because he wants all of us to be ready when he appears.

He also warns us that death comes to everyone, and before its unpredictable arrival, we should ponder the bottom lines of our lives. He wants us to be sure we’ve made the main thing the main thing so there are no negative surprises after-the-fact. In other words, we’re to thoughtfully prepare.

God instructs us on the importance of being ready for other things, too. We’re to be prepared to have good answers for anyone who asks why we believe what we do. Also, he encourages us to prepare for difficult times by working as diligently as little ants do. And another example is his challenge to be prepared when Satan tempts us with his evil schemes.

We have a lot to work on, and some of us find it easier said than done. Regardless, all of us are to keep at it.

A while ago while babysitting Emerald, I opened her bottom dresser drawer in search of a sun hat, and she was eager to “help” find it. I sat her down in front of the drawer where she ended up playing happily for 15 minutes. In the process we came across her furry winter hat. Despite the hot weather, she wanted to put it on immediately and wear it around the house.