Oh deer…

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When our family was young, we came to the Michigan cottage and its beach often. Something else we did was visit a small amusement park and petting zoo nearby called Deer Forest. We could ride a Ferris wheel, a small train and a miniature roller coaster, but our favorite was mingling with the animals.

It was at Deer Forest that I saw my first peacock. There were also foxes, goats, rams, wild turkeys, massive rabbits and plenty of deer. One quarter bought a Dixie cup of pellets, and I’ll never forget the soft noses that snoofed into my palm to get their treats.

Back then, it was difficult to see these animals in the wild, but today the tables have turned. Instead of paying an entrance fee to get close to a deer, most of us are trying to figure out how to co-exist with them as they boldly search for food in our yards.

One morning Jack and I came across six deer drinking at the creek, and I couldn’t hold him against his desire to give chase. Of course he couldn’t catch them. Each deer-leap equates to 20 Jacks-steps, and his thick body was no match. He even ran into a tree once, in his effort to zig-zag behind a nimble deer.

The abundance of deer has become a cause for people-frustration. They boldly square off with cars on country roads and cause accidents, some with serious consequences. Homeowners have put up electric fences, hung nuggets of soap or garlic, or put up chicken-wire barriers to protect their gardens. They’ve researched and planted flowers that have a bitter taste, in their efforts to keep landscaping in tact. Although the deer used to eat only the blossoms, now they consume the stems and leaves, too. Even hosta plants, never of interest before this year, are being chewed into sticks.

Yesterday while driving on an expressway, I spotted a beautiful buck (similar to the picture below) walking slowly across a railroad bridge over the highway. Every driver looked up as he flew under the concrete at 70 mph, and I nearly rear-ended a truck while staring at the deer in my rearview mirror. He was sporting a giant set of antlers and although he was in danger, didn’t seem to have a care in the world.

Of course the only reason he was on the bridge was a growling stomach, the fate of most citified deer. Except for occasional deer-hunting days in local forest preserves, their numbers continue to increase while food supplies dwindle.

I talked to God about this today, not asking how to help the deer as much as what he wanted me to learn from the situation. And tonight I think I’ve heard from him. Though there is a limit to the resources of the earth, there’s no “bottom” to who God is, how he works, or what he can do. His wherewithal is unbounded, and his power is inexhaustible.

Although watching hungry deer is disturbing, they, too, are within the scope of God’s control. If he wants me to do something for them, he’ll let me know what that is. Until then, my clear instructions are to meditate on his limitlessness and to give thanks for it.


”Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” (Psalm 147:5)

Don’t blow it.

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Although I graduated from a Christian college that demanded careful attention to academics, my friends and I never let studying get in the way of a good time. During junior year we put together a country fair with baked goods, crafts and contests. When asked if I would set up a contest booth, I told them the only skill I had was blowing giant bubbles with bubble gum.

Apparently that was good enough. During the fair I sat in my station on a stool with a bowl of Bazooka gum next to me, selling chances to bubble-blowing challengers. Jocks, geeks, good students, flunkies, faculty members and even the dean of women all squared off with me, but at the end of the fair, I remained triumphant. My bubble was always bigger.

I still love bubble gum. My girls bought me a giant bucket of Double Bubble for my birthday, and I quickly divided the pieces into baggies so I’d have some in my beach bag, in the car, in my dresser and in the kitchen cabinet.

Over the weekend, however, my penchant for gum got the best of me. A dental crown and bridge, glued into my mouth in 1974, broke lose while I was chewing. Today I finally got myself glued back together.

But before the dentist could fill my mouth with a cotton roll, the saliva sucker, a mirror and a glue gun, I explained that in the last five days since the bridge came off, slowly that side of my mouth began to ache, then my jaw began to throb, and finally the whole side of my face hurt. Looking for sympathy I said, “Stabbing cheek pains woke me three times last night!”

“Facial muscles,” he said. “The tooth at the back, standing alone, has lost its support. Because of the other tooth’s absence, the whole dynamic of the line-up has changed.”

I was glad he began working in my mouth right then, because I could close my eyes and think… about Nate.

My lone tooth-left-standing did keep standing. It did its best to chew as always, but apparently the surrounding muscles had to pick up the slack. In time, they began to hurt. When a spouse dies, a wife remains standing under the new burden of widowhood, muscling through the necessary adjustments. She’s well aware that the line-up has dramatically changed. In time, though, the initial ache begins to hurt badly. Eventually it becomes sharp pain.

Today, with a little cement, the dentist reestablished my original tooth line-up, and although my jaw still hurts, he promised me time would make it feel better.

God is in the process of establishing a new line-up for me, too. It’s far more complicated than re-cementing a bridge, because Nate won’t be returning to the line-up. Nevertheless, somehow, some way, the Lord will close the gap he left, and I know with time, I’ll feel better.

For now, though, the dentist told me there is one thing I can do. “Lay off the gum for a while.”

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)

Food for Thoughts

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It’s a rare person that doesn’t love to eat. As a kid I remember Mom ringing her big cow bell with its deep bonks to call us in from playing in the fields and woods around our home out in the country. We hated to hear it. It meant we had to stop what we were doing and run home for dinner.

But somewhere between sixth grade and college, I got turned on to food. Once the switch was thrown, the problem no longer was forcing myself to come to the dinner table but forcing myself to push away from it.

Today, for example, a group of girlfriends surprised me with a birthday luncheon that was completely unexpected. We feasted at a waterfront restaurant, after which they surprised me a second time with a gorgeous bakery-made cake and a song, “You light up my life.” The cake had my name written on it in lavender and had four layers with lemon in between each luscious one. The frosting was melt-in-your-mouth yummy, including the pastel flowers, as smooth as silk.

Despite having high cholesterol that refuses to go away, I enjoyed a great-big piece.

I love food. And I’m sure God is happy about that. He went to the trouble of making a wide variety of flavors and consistencies, all delicious and most visually attractive.

For those who like salty, he made sea salt. For those who like sweet, he made sugar cane. He created something for everyone, and most likely he smiles as we “mmmm” over tasting something good. The key is to use food as fuel for our bodies and in that process, to enjoy eating it.

The Bible frequently references food, but the most interesting mention has to do with tasting of the Lord himself! Psalm 34 invites us to taste and see that he’s good. It’s as if the smallest sample of him is all we need to be convinced that following him is a good thing.

God refers to himself as “the Word” in Scripture, and of further food interest is the many references he makes to eating his words. Hebrews compares scripture to both milk and meat, the first being Christian basics, and the second being a deeper wisdom.

Erwin Lutzer put it well when he said, “What food is to the body, the Bible is to the soul.”

From this we can conclude that reading and studying the Bible provides needed life-fuel. It offers milk to the thirsty person during a dry, wilderness experience and meat to the one needing fresh vigor and strength. The promises of the Bible are scrumptious, and its doctrine brings satisfaction as we “eat it up.”

Because I have a sweet tooth, I can’t think of anything tastier than the birthday cake and frosting I ate today. But because I’ve also grown to love God’s Word, I can also smack my lips over Psalm 119:103: “How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey.”

And that sweet treat doesn’t even require a trip to the bakery!

”Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by your name, O Lord God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16)