Fresh Start (More on Mary tomorrow)

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Back in the 1940’s, housewives began using brand new products called laundry detergents in their wringer wash machines. These chemical compounds promised to clean clothes better than traditional soap ever had, even in hard water, and women were thrilled with the results on laundry day. All the detergents came in powdered or beaded form and were easy to use.

Fresh Start, late 1970'sIn the 1970’s, Colgate-Palmolive came out with the first laundry detergent sold in a bottle rather than a box, though it was still in powder form. They named it Fresh Start and promoted it as the first “highly concentrated” detergent on the market. Each full load needed only one-fourth of a cup rather than a whole one.

This morning in church, our Pastor Jay delivered a fascinating children’s sermon with a bottle of Fresh Start in his hand. The vintage bottle no longer contained detergent but had something far more interesting inside: water from the Jordan River in Israel. A pastor friend of Jay’s had given it to him after a visit there, and this water and the bottle it was in were the focal point of today’s message to the children.

Earlier in the service, Jay had baptized two babies. (Our church baptizes or dedicates, according to the wishes of the parents.) The detergent bottle and river water was meant as a visual to help youngsters understand the symbolism of baptism, the washing of our lives by the Living Water that is Jesus. Jesus himself was baptized in the Jordan River, and ever since, he wants us to see baptism as symbolic of being cleansed from sin.

Fresh StartAmazingly, the Fresh Start bottle with its bit of the Jordan in it was aptly named. It said, “Heavy Duty Fresh Start.” Who wouldn’t want one of those?

Our God is the champion of heavy duty fresh starts, and the bottle put it well: “Cleans your family’s deepest dirt and many tough stains.” That’s exactly what Jesus does for us when we repent of our sins. The Fresh Start label says, “Extra stain-fighting power! Concentrated for strength!” Jesus says the same about himself, though he deals with stains more difficult to clean than those on our clothes. He cleans the invisible ones on our insides.

All of us have been stained by sin, and we spend lots of time working to remove that dirt from our lives. Coming clean doesn’t happen, though, unless we ask God to wash us. After that he’ll give us a heavy duty fresh start!

Pastor JayJay’s detergent bottle even tells us what our lives can be like after we’ve been cleansed by Jesus. Wherever we go, it says, we’ll leave a “clean fresh scent.”

The Lord’s cleansing will smell good to us and to others. And even to Him.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Praise for a weekend in Michigan making wedding plans with daughter Stina, and for time with 3 grandchildren
  2. Praise for feeling good, though very tired
  3. Pray for enough stamina to meet the many demands of this week. (More about this tomorrow)

In the Classroom

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Mary has learned, as many of us have, that a health crisis can be the best of teachers. In her case, the instructor’s name is “CANCER” and the lesson plan is “WISDOM”.

mobile phoneTonight Mary and I shared a rich conversation on the phone. As always, I had pen and paper handy, ready to write down her prayer requests for tonight’s blog. But by the time we said goodbye, I’d taken two pages of notes. Her insights (below) poured forth without stopping, complete with appropriate Scriptures to back them up. I wish I’d had a recorder!

 

Here’s some of what she said:

  1. Doctors work with statistics, and God works with hearts.
  2. Good endings can come from bad beginnings.
  3. Irregular days cause us to value regular ones.
  4. Taking one day at a time isn’t just a cliché but a good philosophy.
  5. When God doesn’t withdraw a crisis, he partners with us through it.
  6. Future plans must be held loosely.
  7. Hospitals and doctor’s offices are great places to plant seeds of hope in hopeless people.
  8. No matter how serious the crisis, there’s always something to praise God for.

She revealed her new heart as she talked about #6 above, describing her changed point of view. “I used to think if I wrote something on my calendar, it was a definite. Whatever it said, would get done. Once cancer hit, I had to back away from all kinds of obligations I had been sure I was going to keep.”

ContentShe went on. “Now when I write something on the calendar, I can’t be sure it’ll happen. It’s all up to God. If I can meet my commitments, it will be because he willed it that way. If I can’t, it’s also because he willed it. It’s all up to him.”

We talked about the Scripture passage in James that says something like this: “Don’t say, ‘Today or tomorrow we’ll go here or there’ when you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Instead you should say, ‘If it’s the Lord’s will, we’ll do this or that’.” (4:13-15)

She explained how she “gets that” now in a way she never had before and wants to hold everything loosely in the future. Applying it to her choice of hospital and chemotherapy team, any of the 3 would have been fine, she said, because wherever she landed, God would still be in charge. “So the choice was really between good, good, and good.”

She and Bervin chose the University of Chicago Hospital, and whatever is accomplished there will be because God accomplishes it through the chemo team. Such thinking lifts what could have been a heavy burden before going into treatment, which will begin on May 12, and last for 6 months.

I loved being in Mary’s cancer-classroom tonight, listening to all she’s learned. And as incongruous as it may seem, because of her cancer, she’s better than ever.

“The things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Praise for the chemo decision having been made
  2. Praise for a “regular” day, participating at the Mom-to-Mom Ministry at church
  3. Pray that God will guard my heart when I can’t sleep and fears try to creep back in

Hoping for Happiness

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???????????????????????????????Every young girl dreams of one day doing and wearing everything they see adult women doing and wearing in front of them. The other day I came around the corner and found Emerald happily fingering my stash of bracelets and broaches. She knew just what to do with each item, having watched the rest of us.

When Emerald gets a bit older, her biggest fashion fantasy will be to one day choose a wedding gown and be a bride. It’s the grandest of mysteries to a young girl, tantamount to becoming a princess. The more elaborate the gown, the greater the aspiration.

Surrounded by childrenAt every wedding celebration the bride will eventually end up encircled by young girls wanting to touch her dress, peek through her veil, and receive her blessing. They aren’t that interested in the groom, simply because his outfit can’t possibly compare.

Of course as time passes, a little girl grows up and becomes intensely interested in one specific groom, someone she can walk down the aisle to meet while wearing her fairy-tale finery adorned with pearls, or sparkles, or lace.

IMG_3880Today Mary and her daughter Stina had the delight of turning away from cancer concerns and moving into the magical world of shopping for a wedding gown. Stina has something very specific in mind, and she didn’t find it today, but continuing the hunt is half the fun. (See sample try-on at right.) The shopping trip held special meaning for Mary, who fully intends to be present on that important day some months down the road. Several weeks ago, she wasn’t so sure, but today, hope is alive and strong.

Scripture uses a bridal metaphor repeatedly:

  • the church as a bride readying herself for her groom, Jesus Christ;
  • the covering of salvation paralleling beautiful bridal clothes;
  • God rejoicing over us as a bridegroom does over his bride;
  • the New Heaven prepared for us as a bride prepares to meet her groom;
  • a bride receiving her groom’s perfect love, mirroring how Christ loves us;
  • the feasting at a bridal banquet in the New Heaven.

Earthly marriage is meant to be a mini-version of the relationship Jesus wants to have with believers, a microcosm of successful unconditional love. Every bride and groom hope for that kind of bond, and Stina and Evan are no exception. Because God is the Originator of marriage and is himself love personified, their best bet will be to use him as their marriage consultant all the way along. If they do, he’ll see to it that their hope for a happy union will not be disappointed.

Meanwhile, Stina and the women closest to her will continue on a happy hunt for the perfect wedding gown.

“I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like…. a bride with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Praise for God providing periods of rest and joy between times of stress and physical challenge
  2. Praise for 3 good Chicago hospital choices
  3. Pray for continued discernment on choosing which one
  4. Praise for today… another good day!