Category Archives: Outdoor world

Funny how that works…

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Jack's delightI absolutely love winter. My heavy black coat thickens into a super-coat, and the panting heat of summer is long gone. Snow is like the frosting on my wintertime cake, and I like to burrow in it, roll in it, and wriggle upsidedown happy-dancing in it. Truth be told, I’d like to live outdoors through the entire winter except for one thing: the people I love are inside.

The newest person inside the house is the baby who arrived last October. I didn’t stress much at the time, figuring her position on center stage would be short-lived. After 3½ months, though, she’s still the main attraction, and I have definitely slipped in the rankings. Most of the sweet-talk is still going her way, and the general public races to greet her first now, instead of me.

But something odd has happened in the last week. Deep inside me I sense the beginning of a strange affection for this mini-human. Unlike me when I was 3 months old, she can’t walk, run, stand, or even sit up. She’s virtually helpless, and my heart goes out to her. She doesn’t even realize she could reach the dog treats if she tried.

So finally I decided to reconcile myself with the fact that she’s here to stay, and along with that, I might as well get in sync with the others in our house. Now when I hear Midge or anyone else cooing or sweet-talking the baby, I no longer push in for my share of the love. Instead I’ve begun a little cooing of my own. Though it sounds more like a squeaky hinge, in my head it’s cooing.

Love

And it’s funny what began happening. Last week when I gently laid down next to the baby on her play mat, both Birgitta and Midge ran for their cameras. “Look how cute he is!” they said, actually referring to me this time. “He wants to be with the baby. What a sweet doggie!” And click-click went the cameras.

Later that day I gave the baby two gentle kisses on her tiny hand, which was a special gift to her, since I give out only about 5 kisses per month. (By the way, she tasted very good.)

You know, sometimes when we want something badly (like I wanted all the attention), it escapes us. No matter how we try, we can’t make it ours. Then when we give up and surrender the thing we wanted most, it somehow comes to us! It doesn’t make sense, but that’s what’s happened to me.

Making a snow angel

And I’m so thrilled about it, I think I’ll go out in the snow right now and celebrate with a nice long happy dance!

“Give, and you will receive…. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” (Luke 6:38)

From Good to Groaning

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Garden of EdenI like to think about what life must have been like in the Garden of Eden, not just to wonder what a sin-free world looked like but to get a glimpse into our own futures. Someday we’ll be living on the New Earth, which will probably be much like Eden.

 

Good morning!

This morning, as I was waking up, I looked out my bedroom windows to see an unspoiled snowy landscape here in southwest Michigan. It struck me that Adam and Eve never saw snow when they woke up. They were comfortable living naked, which speaks to warm temps both day and night, probably a steady 72. So apparently snow and freezing weather wasn’t part of God’s original plan for humanity.

But what else wasn’t in the garden? Melting ice caps, oil spills, flooding, drought, forest fires, tsunamis, and super storms.

Has nature run amuck?

Although we humans are endangered by, and sometimes fearful of these climate extremes, God isn’t nervous about them at all. He has complete control over the weather (which includes global warming) by merely a whispered word. His power over our globe is not only unequaled, it’s absolutely sovereign.

So why doesn’t he do something to reign in all the wild extremes?

God knows that every dysfunction in the natural world is a result of the rebellion that got started in his unblemished garden. Our rebellion. If we’d have done things his way, none of nature’s negatives would have come to be. The fact that we’re experiencing them now is just a long-term natural consequence of our flawed behavior. God admits that through Scripture: he originally labeled our planet “good” but has now down-graded it to “groaning.” (Romans 8:22)

He also recognizes that nature isn’t the only thing groaning. We are, too: “We believers also groan… for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope.” (v. 23)

And therein lies God’s reason for not speaking words that will still the storms and save our planet. He wants us to get excited about the future when he’ll re-balance nature and return everything to the way it was in the beginning. He wants us to long for it, hope passionately for it, and get others excited to do the same. He’s hoping we’ll believe the words of Scripture about the New Earth and speak confidently to others about our God’s abilities and his faithfulness to his promises.

Outside my windows

So when I’m tempted to admire the snow blanketing my neighborhood, I should remind myself that running around naked in it wouldn’t be any fun at all. Brrrr.

”Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.” (Romans 8:20-21)

Trails

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Sky writingWhen driving back to the Chicago area at dusk recently, the trail-marks of O’Hare’s jet planes made a beautiful criss-cross pattern in the sky highlighted by a gold and blue sunset. I could hardly pay attention to the road for wanting to stare at it, so I snapped a photo instead, to study later. The jets that made the trails were nowhere to be seen, but we knew they’d been there because of what they’d left behind.

Baby rattle

 

When I walk through my house and see baby items, I know a baby has been here. Of course they belong to Emerald, and she lives with us, so that makes sense. But even when she’s tucked into her bassinet, out of sight and sound, evidence of her former presence has been left behind.

Gel flower

That’s true even for my other 6 grandchildren. Today I was sweeping when I noticed something cute on one of the heating duct grills. It was a tiny window cling in the shape of a flower. I’d given all the children sheets of the clear, Jello-like decorations, and most of them lasted only long enough for a day’s play. The purple flower, however, had gone astray and became a sweet reminder of the children who had recently stood playing in that place.

God leaves reminders of where he’s been, too, hoping we’ll recognize his activity and think about the fact that he was nearby. If we take the time to notice, we can see his “trails” all around us, for example outdoors every day. They’re visible in large ways (the heavens on a clear night) and small ones (the diligence of a squirrel transporting acorns).

We can also see God’s trails in people, like the testimony of someone whose life has been changed after committing to Christ. We see it when we watch a tiny start-up church flourish and grow, when a girl forgives the one who abused her, and when a terminally ill person dies with a smile on his face. All of these things are trailer-markers letting us know God was there.

One major difference, though, between God’s trails and those of jetliners, babies, and preschoolers is that after he leaves his mark, he doesn’t leave. He stays with the new Christian, the growing church, the girl who forgives, and the dying man.

And about that dying man? When his soul flies away, it’s so quick and complete that not even a wisp of a trail will be left behind him.

[Our lives] ”pass quickly and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10)