Who do you trust?

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Years ago I read the story of a medical doctor who donated his time once a week to trim the toenails of elderly folks, because they couldn’t get the job done themselves. Some had neck or back troubles and couldn’t bend. Others had toenails that were so calcified and thick, they needed professional equipment to cut them.

For toenailsAs I remember the story, his service took place at a local library, and the doctor refused any payment. Surely handling one pair of old feet after another wasn’t pleasant, but week after week he showed up with his clippers, helping just because he wanted to, no strings attached. He was both dependable and trustworthy.

After thinking about this man and his honorable undertaking, I tried to remember the last time I did something quietly righteous like that. I came up empty. I did remember a couple of times when I offered to help strangers but received negative responses: “That’s ok. I can handle it. Thanks anyway.” The general rule of thumb is, strangers can’t be trusted.

Ruth Buzzi and her purseIt’s interesting that today’s general public is suspect of anyone offering help. Most will walk away as if they didn’t hear the offer, careful not to make eye contact. It reminds me of a vignette from the sixties TV show “Laugh In” when a stranger offered to help Ruth Buzzi (dressed as an old lady). She beat him back with her handbag.

That was funny 45 years ago, mostly because it was the opposite of what people usually did back then. Believe it or not, most accepted help from strangers. These days, rejecting acts of kindness is the norm. For example, if you volunteer to help someone load groceries into her car or even ask if you can take her empty cart back for her, typically she’ll say, “No thanks.”

When I was growing up, a stranger might ask to hold a baby while her mother checked out at the grocery store, and the mother would smile and say, “Oh, thank you so much!” Today that’s unthinkable. Our trust in each other has been eroded by too many experiences of broken trust and its painful consequences.

Maybe that’s why some people find it difficult to trust God. If they’ve never known a trustworthy relationship, then trusting him seems like just one more risk they don’t want to take. If they got to know him, however, they would discover he is trustworthy to the nth degree.

When he offers to help, he means it and will always follow through. Of course we have to give him the chance. If we say, “No thanks. I can handle it myself,” he’ll probably let us. But if we accept his help, we can completely trust him without reason to fear. All the proof we need is in his flawless track record.

To put it in practical terms, we can trust him to help us much like the toenail-cutting doctor helped those oldsters, without asking for payment, and doing it just because he wants to.

“The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.” (Psalm 145:13)

Waiting Patiently?

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Patiently waitingOne of my favorite family photos is this one of Klaus and Hans, our children #4 and #5. We were on a family trip to Florida in 1985 when these two little guys, ages 3 and 4, were demonstrating patience. They were waiting for the perfect wave to lift their mini- surfboards off the sand and take them on a smooth, danger-free ride atop the ocean. They’d done everything they knew to do and were waiting for the water to do what they could not.

It’s a perfect picture of faith. We wait; God acts.

Today is the 4th anniversary of Nate’s death. Although I don’t know if he’s marking time the way we are, sometimes I get impatient to find out. Whether he’s looking forward to our reunion or not, there are days I long for it with everything in me, just like the boys longed to ride an ocean wave. It’s not that I have a death wish; life holds many good reasons to go on living. I’d just like to be with him again.

My children don’t like it when I talk about joining their father, but my desire isn’t to leave them. It’s that we all leave. In other words, my longing is for Jesus to come and scoop us up for an exit from this world and an entrance into the next. And it’s difficult to be patient.

Last family photoNo matter how hard any of us wishes for that day, however, we can’t hurry it along any more than a gardener can force a seedling to sprout. These things are up to God.

Today a handful of my children and I talked about their father at lunchtime. Their spoken memories of him were like gifts to me, and we shared our feelings about this anniversary day. Talking about how difficult it was to be in Nate’s presence when he died didn’t make us regret being there. It was deeply meaningful to experience those holy moments as a family, expressing love to the one who was dying as well as to each other.

My Spurgeon daily devotional book has a simple note written on this day, November 3rd.  It says, “Nate died today,” a bare-bones statement of fact. Maybe I should have written, “Nate went to heaven today,” or something more positive. But when he died, my heart was so swamped with loss, those were the only words I could come up with.

That November 3rd devotional happens to be about waiting for God’s timing. Spurgeon wrote, “We are in a hurry, but God’s time is the best time.” The last paragraph is a note to himself: ”Come, my soul, canst thou not wait for thy God? Rest in him, and be still in unutterable peacefulness.”

M&NMy little boys waited peacefully at the shoreline, hoping for the best, and since I can’t do anything to hasten my reunion with Nate, I can only do the same.

“Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.” (Psalm 37:7)

A Proud Day

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The Disney cartoon “Dumbo” about a baby elephant is actually a story of mother-love. When Mrs. Jumbo receives a stork-delivered bundle, the elephant matrons admire little Jumbo Junior saying, “This is a proud, proud day!”

Mother-loveThe plot line goes downhill from there as they discover the little guy has massive, flag-like ears, which is when the older elephants nickname him Dumbo. But his mother continues in passionate love for her offspring, and every day is a proud, proud day for her. When Dumbo figures out how to use his oversized ears to fly, his mother is nearly bursting with pride.

Children bring big bundles of happiness to their parents, and when they accomplish something wonderful or make an excellent decision, we parents get a thrill just watching from the sidelines.

Taking an oathIt was a “proud, proud day” for me this week because of something my daughter Birgitta did. She was officially sworn in with 10 others in a courtroom ceremony, all of whom have been through 6 weeks of intensive training. Their preparation has been done through the local C.A.S.A. program, which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate.

Beginning next week, these 11 volunteers will walk alongside one child in the foster care system, becoming a friend and a familiar face through the different stages of that youngster’s time away from his or her parents. This might mean visits to the home, testimony to a judge concerning the child’s welfare, interviews of relevant parties, courtroom observations, time spent paired with a social worker, and other moments when they’ll partner with “their” child.

None of it will be easy, because each “case” is a sad one, and some involve the physical suffering of children. Trying not to get overwhelmed with the enormity of the needs will be part of the challenge for each C.A.S.A. volunteer, and several of them dropped out of the program even before the training period was over.

The after-partyFamilies were invited to witness the swearing-in ceremony this week, after which a celebration was hosted by their teacher. And as I listened to two judges challenge the new Special Advocates and thank them for their willingness to serve, it was a proud, proud day.

Today Birgitta was assigned her first case. Of course she’s nervous, wanting badly to do a good job, despite never having done anything like this before. But Scripture says, “God blesses those who work for peace.” (Matthew 5:9) I admire her greatly in her willingness to step out and do something that will be very difficult. She doesn’t have to do it but simply wants to…. with a passion.

Birgitta and the judgeIt defies logic, and for that reason, I know it is God who has called her to “fly” into this task, and my prayer for her is:

“May the God of peace…. equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you,   through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him.” (Hebrews 13:20)