Heroes are made by God.

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Margaret

Jack and I walked to the beach today, or I should say we tried. With all the snow and subsequent plowing, the path down to the shore had become completely impassable, unless of course I wanted to trudge through neck-high drifts with snow-filled boots. Even Jack couldn’t navigate the depth, struggling first to get into it, then to get out.

Lake Michigan was frozen white as far as I could see, and it’ll be months before that icy water becomes swimmable. No one would jump into frozen water like that with the possible exception of the Polar Bear Club. Certainly even they wouldn’t venture where their feet couldn’t touch bottom, since hypothermia can be quick and deadly. Yet last week in Chicago, a man found himself thrashing in deep, ice-filled Lake Michigan water with little hope of survival.

It all started with a routine dog-walking event, the man and his 3 standard poodles. One of them, off a leash, ran around a 10 foot sea-wall at the Monroe Street Harbor, ending up on the ice. Immediately he broke through and was unable to get out, so his owner jumped in after him.

Quickly realizing he’d miscalculated, the man screamed for help, and the other two dogs began barking atop the sea-wall. A lone cross country skier heard the distant commotion and immediately dialed 911. The man and his dog were weakening fast, though, and both seemed doomed.

Enter God…. who brought along our former next door neighbor.

Adam Dominik, physically fit as an experienced climber, was jogging in that remote place near the empty harbor for the very first time. He heard the man’s cries and ran over to find a face peeking out of the broken ice and a dog tangled up with him.

Adam knew the man couldn’t last much longer but stayed calm. He noticed a yellow nylon rope stuck to a nearby sign, just the right length and strength to be of help. That morning he’d been practicing knots used in climbing and had mastered something called the Figure 8, strong enough to pull a man and his wet clothes from the water.

Adam said, “At first I threw the rope over him but the dog was kind of pulling on him with his weight, pushing him under the water. He kept saying, ‘Save the dog first!’ I kept saying, ‘No, we’re going to save your life first and then the dog; your life is more important,’ but he insisted on pulling up the dog first.”

Then at a crucial moment, when Adam had the dog out and the man half way up the sea-wall, the 911 team arrived to finish the rescue. (View the 1 minute NBC news video below.)

Jogger-Rescues-Man-Dog-From-Montrose-Harbor-243596711

So, how was God involved? Tomorrow we’ll find out.

“Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from the deep waters. Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up.” (Psalm 69:14-15)

Parcels of Love

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Margaret

When my brother, sister, and I grew up and got married, all three of us settled fairly close to home. We didn’t plan it that way but landed within quick driving distance of our old stomping grounds and also of our mom and dad. The 17 children between us had the benefit of nearby grandparents who loved spending time with them, and we parents took advantage of every opportunity to be together.

My children, however, have taken a different approach, and 8 of my 9 grands live far, far away. People have said, “Isn’t that hard?”

Yes.

But I can’t do much to change it. Although I visit England annually and get to Florida a couple of times each year, I’m a long-distance granny more than a hands-on one. I’m thankful for our local post office, though, and love sending trinkets to my young relatives thousands of miles away.

Most often the padded mailers I send are packed with inexpensive trinkets that aren’t worth as much as the postage to mail them. But all children like to receive mail, especially chunky mail, and it’s one more way I can feel lovingly connected to my grands.

Interestingly, God is in the business of love-mail, too. That’s one of several things he had in mind when he inspired the authors of Scripture to write what he told them. And because the Bible has been accurately preserved for thousands of years, we can “check our mail” and receive his “chunky love” by way of countless biblical promises.

But it’s up to us to open the package.

Our world bombards us with lots of attractive alternatives to opening our Bibles. There are colorful magazines, cable TV programs, and that great gobbler-of-time, the internet. If we’re going to enjoy God’s love, we have to be intentional about using the love-gift he’s given us. Without steady determination, we’ll set it aside unopened.

Years ago on another Florida trip, our family visited The Holy Land Experience. Part of that biblical theme park was a walk through an animated time line of the Bible’s history and how it’s been accurately preserved. I’ll never forget looking at an actual Bible someone had protected by using his body as a shield, losing his life in the process. His blood still marked the pages.

The fact that we have access to all the Bibles we want shouldn’t cheapen the treasure each one is. Even when God seems thousands of miles away, his loving promises are close-by daily, hundreds of them. And as Scripture says, none has ever failed.

As for my love-parcels to grandchildren, Skylar inadvertently let me know today how eagerly she receives them. While playing in the Florida sunshine she suddenly said, “Midgee! Let’s see if the mail came!” Jumping up and down she said, “Maybe you sent something!”

“God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us.” (2 Peter 1:4)

One Fine Day

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Margaret

Here in Florida, we’re all getting to know our new little relative, Isaac. Linnea and Adam decided to give him a strong biblical name just like his brother Micah, but since he’s their 4^th child in 5 years, a little joyful laughter seemed appropriate too, and Isaac means laughter. He represents the opposite of sadness, and all of us are thrilled to be in that happy place with him today.

Of course there are strenuous days ahead, especially for a mommy managing so many young ones. I recall reading a book by the Duggar family (19 children) in which the mother wrote that her most difficult year was when her children were aged 5 and under. The oldest wasn’t old enough to give more than nominal help, and running errands, keeping house, and making sure everyone was fed and rested was the challenge of a lifetime.

Today, though, as we study little Isaac and watch his siblings begin to shape relationships with him, giggles and laughter punctuate his home. This is the day the Lord has made, and we are rejoicing with gladness in it. (Psalm 118:24) Today it’s all good: no sibling rivalry, no burdensome errands, and no pre-dinner meltdowns. Not today.

Instead Isaac is giving us a lesson in loving the here-and-now.

As I hold him and look into his brand new little face, I see how miraculously he’s been put together and sense how grand it is that we get to be part of his life story.

On this glad day, Birgitta texted me a wonderful quote from Charles Dickens: “It is not a slight thing when those so fresh from God love us.”

And as I’ve marveled over Isaac, that thought has been exactly what’s been rolling around in my mind but couldn’t assemble itself into a sentence. His relatives already love him dearly, but when a baby joins a family, something else is born too: the potential that he will love others one day too, which is, as Dickens wrote, not a slight thing. It’s something fresh from God.

Although I’m unsure of where a soul is before God begins the work of knitting a baby together within a womb, Dickens may have had it right.

Scripture tells us love initiates with God, so it makes sense that as he “handled” the minuscule beginnings of little Isaac, he steadily infused love into his young heart and soul all along the way. Isaac will be able to both give and receive love in unlimited ways, and in God’s manner of math, that will mean a steady increase in the love surrounding him.

It’ll be love, love, and more love, exactly as God intended. And so on this day, I’m thankful to have been lovingly tutored by someone who’s only 2 days old.