Category Archives: Submitting to God

Reaching Up

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Veggie TalesEmerald has discovered TV, and of the few videos she’s seen, Veggie Tales is her favorite. Even if we’re in the kitchen and I begin humming the Veggie Tales theme song far from the television, she immediately goes into a bouncy little dance, pumping clenched fists up and down in a move her Auntie Louisa taught her.

My supply of children’s TV is all on VHS tapes, but thankfully we still have the old VCR, and so far so good. I like Veggie Tales because they focus on teaching character traits, using Bible stories (and vegetables) to flesh them out. Emerald isn’t partial to one tape over another, as long as they all include the music she loves.

photo 3(1)My TV is mounted five feet high in a purposeful move to prevent the 90 curious fingers of 9 grandchildren (ages 5 and under) from reaching the controls. Poor little Emerald has to crane her neck straight up to watch Veggie Tales, but that hasn’t stopped her from bonding with Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber.

Once in a while, when the TV is off and she’s nearby, she’ll reach up, look at the black screen and say, “Bob?” hoping he might appear. I sometimes wonder what’s going on in her head with the complicated reality of television bumping up against her non-existent understanding.

Maybe that’s how it is between us and God. We try to understand everything Scripture says about him, but it’s all fairly complicated and beyond our reach. Certain parts of the Bible have stymied scholars for centuries, and even when all sides of the debate are presented, we still walk away scratching our heads. We’d like to “get it,” but generally the only thing we “get” is confused.

photo 2(3)Maybe it’s enough if we just keep watching and reaching the way Emerald does. She looks at the screen and sees Bob and Larry there, not caring about the how or why.  And when the TV is off, she’s eagerly anticipating the next time she’ll be together with them.

The same holds true for us. We don’t need to understand the how or why behind a complex God who is well beyond our understanding. We just need to keep looking up, keep reaching for him, and eagerly anticipating the next time we’ll be together.

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Thankful tonight for people willing to donate leftover tube feeding formula. At $900 every month, that’s a big savings.
  2. Please continue to pray for an earlier appointment with the tube specialist to ease discomfort. Still scheduled for July 2.

Us Oldsters

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The writer’s conference I’ve been attending this week is full of stories, and not just the ones all of us hope to write. Each attendee comes with a life-story of her/his own, some with longer chapters than others. As I sat in the back row of the auditorium in tonight’s general session, I realized most of the 150 people there were “of retirement age.” Many, like me, were older still.

Wondering why, I settled on several reasons: (1) younger people are running faster in the rat race of life and aren’t free to attend; (2) small children keep families closer to home; (3) tight budgets prohibit spending on conferences.

WritersBut maybe being older just means there are more stories to tell. After all, we’ve witnessed hun- dreds of answered prayers, weathered lots of life-altering chal- lenges, and experienced God’s rescue again and again. As a result, we’re ready to get our stories “out there” to encourage others. But are we too old?

As we’ve been sitting through classes, meetings, and editor-interviews, we’ve learned that no matter how old we get, God always has new plans for us. Many a would-be author has “launched anew” at a writer’s conference such as this, encouraged by speakers and other writers to share what God has taught them over the years.

Red pencilThat’s not to say it’s easy. When editors mark up our manuscripts with red pens, it can be demoralizing. We get tempted to call it quits and spend the rest of the conference in our rooms.

But if we’re willing to accept criticism as help, and follow through on corrections, we’ve moved one step closer to doing what God wants us to do with what he’s taught us.

Many conferees are out of their comfort zones here, enduring stressful meetings with editors, eating unfamiliar foods, sleeping in stripped-down dorm rooms, and struggling to walk the long distances between buildings (several using canes). But they’re here anyway.

Most of us are getting weary now that we’re at the half way point. Our brains have been stretched, and we’re all talked out. Sleep is short, and new experiences are draining. No matter how old or tired we’ve become, though, when God supplies a new beginning, he provides the energy to complete it. Though the devil keeps whispering in our ears (“You’re too tired, too old, too non-professional…”), we have to close him off and keep going, pursuing what God is calling us to.

We may be “of retirement age,” but we’ll never retire from following God’s lead.

“My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 20:24)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. I thank the Lord for a slow-paced day in Michigan today.
  2. Please pray against my rising dread over Monday’s chemo. I get nauseous just thinking about it. Pray I’ll get better at taking one day at a time.

A Concrete Solution

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Deck progressAs the days go by, our new deck grows. Most homes in the neighborhood already own good-looking decks, but this is our first ever, so watching it take shape has been satisfying. In a couple of weeks we’ll be enjoying it much like kids enjoy a tree house.

Our plan is to build a low-ceilinged room beneath the largest part of the deck, fully protected from the weather. Since we have no garage, this under-room will serve as a garage-sized shed while giving double-duty to the yard space already taken by the deck. Last week workmen poured concrete for the floor of this room, partnering it with 50 year old concrete that was already there and still in good shape. Watching the process was fascinating.

The truckWhen the cement truck arrived, it was too big to make the turn into our drive, so the men had to ferry the wet concrete from the street to the back of the house, one wheelbarrow at a time. Thankfully the “pour” wasn’t too big, and they finished quickly.

As they dumped their loads into the rectangular space, I was surprised at how full-of-chunks the cement was. Would our floor be made of sharp rocks? From my perch in the house above them, I watched carefully and finally went out to ask.

“It’s gonna be so bumpy,” I said, bemoaning the stony texture.

Bumpy cementGetting glassy“Just watch,” one guy said. “I’m gonna bring all the cream to the top. It’ll be so smooth it’ll be slippery.” That was hard to believe.

But sure enough, as he manipulated the wet cement with his tools, little by little the sharp rocks disappeared and glassy-smooth began to appear. A final step to put broom-texture on the surface changed slippery to safe.

Watching this transformation reminded me of how God works on us over time to smooth away our rough edges. Scripture calls it “purifying” or “refining” or “perfecting”.  The Lord starts with our coarse state of natural self-focus and prods us with the tools of circumstance toward refinement. No difficult experience is without his spiritual intention, and we’re given lots of opportunity to get the irregularities knocked off of us.

None of it feels good and can include anything from “uncomfortable” to “excruciating”. Mary is currently enduring a long refining process in her fight with cancer and chemo, putting her toward the excruciating end of things. Though she often seems already-refined to us, from God’s perspective every human being (no matter how godly) always needs more.

BumpsAs a reminder of this, I added a couple of “bumps” to the smooth surface of our new concrete: a 2014 penny to mark the date, and a beach stone to remind us that God always has more work to do in smoothing us out toward Christ-like-ness.

“Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. I’m thankful for a sister who faithfully sends out these prayer reaquests and keeps everyone informed about my situation.
  2. Please continue praying about feeding tube pain.