The Morning After

It's a beautiful morning on our mountain.  A light breeze is blowing.  The sun is shining.

Last night, however, was a completely different story.  As we settled in our comfy chairs to watch Jeopardy, we noticed a weather warning scrolling across the TV screen.  Tornado watch.  Severe thunderstorm warning.  We noticed that the wind was starting to howl.  Then the furniture on the porch started "relocating".  And then all that intensified, so we decided to head for the basement.

Molly was actually the first down the stairs!  She hates storms!

From that "down under" perspective, the sound of the furniture moving around on the porch was really creepy!  The wind howled.  Torrents of rain fell.  The folded-up folding chairs were unfolded by the wind.  The unfolded folding chairs were folded up!  A table was turned upside down.  Rainwater came under the basement garage door, which has never happened in all the years we have lived here.  All that lasted for about an hour.

This morning, things are back to "normal".  The furniture has been returned to its proper place.  Except for all the twigs and branches on the ground, you would never know a storm had passed through.  I can't see any damage, except for a broken wind chime on the carport.  And for that, I am most thankful.

Last night was one of those occasions which make me so very thankful for parents and teachers who encouraged me to memorize Scripture when I was a little girl.  I'm thankful I can call those verses to mind.  Verses like Psalm 56:3:  "What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee."

As I was drifting off to sleep last night, the verses of an old gospel hymn came to mind as well.......

" 'Til the storm passes over,

'til the thunder sounds no more,

'Til the clouds roll forever from the skies.

Hold me fast, let me stand,

In the hollow of Your hand.

Keep me safe 'til the storm passes by."

(-Mosie Lister)

It's the Little Things

I'm back home again after two weeks in Florida.  It's a cold, beautiful morning here with a dusting of snow on the ground......quite different from what I have experienced over the last couple of weeks!!  As I'm going about my morning tasks, including conquering a mountain of laundry, I'm reflecting with gratitude on my experiences of the last two weeks.

Some of the things I'm grateful for this morning:

• family time with Brian, Emily and Christopher.
• that really big Christopher hug when we picked him up from school.
• fresh strawberries straight from the strawberry patch.
• strawberry milkshakes.
• reconnecting with friends I haven't seen for a while.
• sunshine and warm temperatures.
• relaxing by the pool with a good book.
• strawberries from the Ghiaradelli store on Valentine's Day.
• a good visit with Al's parents.
• a dear friend who took care of Molly so I could travel with Al.
• a great day of worship and fellowship at FBS yesterday.
• a safe trip home last night.

But......and don't laugh.....one of the things I'm most grateful for this morning is a good night's sleep last night.  With my own pillow.  We stayed in some really nice hotels.  But they did not have great pillows!  I missed my pillow!!  A lot!!  So this morning, I'm really grateful to be reunited with that pillow.  Smile.  Contented sigh.

It's the little things, isn't it??!!

What "little things" are you grateful for this morning?

"In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 
                                              (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB)

With All My Heart

My earliest Valentine memories are of red construction paper hearts and white paper doilies and heart-shaped candies with messages like "Be Mine".  Back in elementary school (way back in the 1950s!!) we made our valentine "mailboxes" out of construction paper, or by decorating brown paper bags with construction paper hearts.

As I grew older, Valentine's Day came to be less about construction paper and more about flowers and chocolates that came in heart-shaped boxes.

Fast-forward to 1971, when I was a college student and was invited by a friend to attend a Valentine party at her church.  There I met a young man who had just been discharged from his military service and had returned home.  A little more than a year later, on a warm summer evening, I married that young man!  We drove away from the church that evening singing along with Karen Carpenter......"We've only just begun....".
For the nearly 40 years that we have been married, that has remained "our song".

But today, I have another song ringing in my heart.   On this day when all the world is thinking about hearts and flowers and chocolates and love, my thoughts have turned to what love is really all about.  To that greatest expression of love.  To the Savior who gave His life that I might have life eternal.  Today, this is the song I'm singing......

With all my heart

I want to love you, Lord,

And live my life

Each day to know you more.

All that is in me

Is yours completely.

I'll serve you only

With all my heart.

(--Babbie Mason)

On this Valentine's Day, yes, I love my husband.......my sweetheart for all these years......and I'm so grateful for that party invitation all those years ago.  He really is my Knight in Shining Armour, my very own Prince Charming!!

But even more than that, I am so very grateful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who loved me, not because I was worthy of His love, but even though I am not.  Who loved me enough to die for me!  That's the best Valentine ever!!

"We love because He first loved us."  (1 John 4:19 NASB)

Out of Control

"Nana, I'm out of control!"  So began a conversation with my grandson Christopher a couple of weeks ago.  I've been chuckling about it ever since!

Christopher turned 5 a couple of weeks ago.  His actual birthday was on Monday, so the party was held on the prior Saturday.  On that particular Saturday morning, I was on the phone with Christopher's dad, my older son Brian, and could sense that Christopher's excitement about the coming party was causing a little stress for his parents!!  The same child who, just a few weeks earlier, had said to his mother something like "when it's my birthday and all my friends come to my house, can we clean this place up a little bit?" was now being most unhelpful when it came to party preparations!!  And when Brian handed the phone off to Christopher, those were the first words I heard......"Nana, I'm out of control!"  Made me wonder just how many times he had already heard that phrase that morning :)

I had a good laugh about that on that Saturday.  As I related the conversation to Al, we had a good laugh.  In the weeks since, I have smiled a lot as I considered Christopher being "out of control".

However.......thinking about that phrase has also caused me to stop and consider my own life.  To get serious about the times I am out of control.  The times I eat too much.  Or the times I eat the wrong things.  Or the times I spend too much.  Or when I waste time. Or........

And, without meaning to be the least irreverent or sacreligious, I wonder how often my Heavenly Father is shaking His head at me and saying, "Susan, you're out of control." 

There are the times I have "done my own thing" rather than waiting on God.  The times I have made decisions and then just expected that God would approve and bless them.  The times I have forgotten to say "thank You".  The times I have tried to lead rather than follow.

So, while it was cute to hear a 5-year old "confess" to me that he was out of control, it isn't nearly as cute when I, many decades older, must confess to my Heavenly Father that I have been out of control!

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control....."  (Galatians 5:22-23 NASB)

Standing Still Is Hard to Do

Have you ever tried to stand absolutely still?  Did you find yourself wobbling maybe just a little bit?  Or tempted to fidget?

Have you ever told your child to "just be still"?  And how successful was that?  Not very, would be my guess!!

Several years ago, in the torture of physical therapy (PT stands for "pure torture") following a broken ankle, one of the tasks I was assigned by my therapist was standing still, on one foot no less!  I think it was supposed to improve my balance or something like that.  But since balance was never my strong suit, I did not excel at the task.  And standing absolutely still on one foot was misery for me! 

While standing still, in a physical sense, is a challenge, I think standing still in the spiritual sense may be even more difficult.  Waiting is hard.

It was hard for us as children to wait for birthdays and Christmas.  We wanted to open those packages.  We wanted to celebrate!

It was hard for us as children, and still is for us as adults, to wait for a special event or a long-anticipated vacation.

We're conditioned to an instant-gratification society.  We have our instant-on TVs and our microwaves and instant coffee, instant oatmeal, instant grits (and I say a resounding YUCK to all those "instants").  We have 24 hour news channels and the internet and Facebook and all the know-all-about-it-as-soon-as-it-happens media.

All that makes it hard for us to wait for anything.  When we read the words of Psalm 46:  "Be still and know that I am God," that is a foreign concept to us in our culture.  Literally, that verse means "cease striving".  In other words, we need to stop our worrying and let God be God.

But that's hard for us, isn't it?  We want what we want when we want it.  We're conditioned in our culture to believe that we have a right to expect that.  But do we really have that right?  As I search the Scriptures, I find nothing that leads me to believe that to be true.  And I find nothing that promises living life God's way will be easy.  In spite of what the prosperity-gospel proponents would lead us to believe, the Scripture does not promise health and wealth and happiness and that every day will be Friday or that every day will be our best day.  In fact, a careful reading of the Scriptures will point you in a different direction altogether.  There may be tough times.  There may be times when we cry out to God for answers, but we have to wait.  Which leads me back to standing still.

Perhaps you are in a "waiting" period.  I understand.  I'm right there with you.  Asking questions for which I have no answer yet.  Wondering why not.  Still waiting.  And it's hard.

In many ways, I'm a patient person.  Like with my grandchildren :)  In other ways, not so much.  Maybe it's a personality "flaw".  Or it's my personality "type".  Whatever.  I typically am not good at dragging things out.  I want to make a decision, based on the best information I have available at the time, and move on.  Often, when in conversation with someone, or when sitting in a class or some type of training, my thought (which I hope I don't actually verbalize!) is......will you get to the point??!!  So, while I'm patient with my grandchildren, I probably wouldn't be described as patient otherwise!

In a spiritual sense, that is a real problem for me.  I want to know everything I'm supposed to know right now.  I want answers to my questions right now.  I have trouble "standing still".  Sometimes it's hard for me to wait and just let God be God.  It's hard for me to be a good student and let God teach me what He wants to teach me in His time.  It's just hard.

So today, as I'm confessing that to God (and to you!), I have the words of a song by The Isaacs (written by Sonja and Becky) running through my mind.  You can check it out on YouTube if you aren't familiar with it.....it's a great song.  Here are the lyrics:

The Father has a plan,

 Though it's hard to see it now.

You feel you're walking all alone,

 But He is there no doubt.

When the storm around you rages,

And you're tossed to and fro,

When you're faced with life's decisions,

Not sure which way to go,

Stand still and let God move.

Standing still is hard to do.

When you feel you have reached the end,

 He'll make a way for you.

Stand still and let God move.

(Rebecca and Sonja Isaacs, David Marshall)



Press On

Many years ago, when I was a young church pianist, our church called a new Minister of Music.  That's when I first met Rev. Lloyd Brewer.  Over the years I served that church, Lloyd was such an encourager to me!  I learned so much from him during those years, and in later years as I was serving other churches and when I would call him with a question or to borrow music, he continued to offer encouragement and support.

A couple of weeks ago Lloyd was hospitalized.  So many of us had been praying for him to get better, to open his eyes.  Yesterday he opened his eyes in the presence of His Savior.  Lloyd loved the Lord, he loved his family, and he loved people.  As I have followed the FB posts of his family and friends over the last couple of weeks, I have seen that he was still the loving, encouraging person I first met all those years ago.

Lloyd was one of the most gifted musicians I have ever known.  I loved to listen to - and watch - him play the piano.  Years ago at Trinity Baptist Church, before the construction of the current sanctuary, when our services were held in the original sanctuary, the piano was in a "box" at the end of the choir loft and behind the pastor's pulpit.  When Lloyd would play, I would move from the piano bench to my chair in the corner and watch with delight as his fingers ran up and down the keyboard!

I have so many wonderful memories from those years, but one of my favorites is from early in our years working together.  The church was celebrating an anniversary, and Lloyd was leading the choir in presenting the musical "Press On".  I can still see Lloyd...with great joy on his face.....with his arms in motion as he directed us.....occasionally pushing his glasses back up after they slid down his nose.  To this day, "Press On" remains one of my favorite songs!

So many of my favorite choral anthems date back to those days......especially one of my all-time favorites ("Holy Is He") and the anthem we often used to begin the service...."Come, Praise the Lord with Me!" which became the basis for my later ministry as a church music minister......"O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together (Psalm 34:3 NASB).

Today I'm remembering Lloyd.  I'm grieving with and for his dear family.  And I'm thankful that we who belong to Jesus do not grieve as those who have no hope, "for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus......then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus shall we always be with the Lord."  (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NASB).

But.....we still grieve.  Lloyd's family......his wife, his children, his precious grandson, his extended family.....and all of us who knew and loved him, are grieving.  We mourn his passing.  He will be greatly missed in this life.  All of us who have lost loved ones know this all too well.  So I ask you to join me - whether you knew Lloyd or not - in lifting his dear family to our loving Heavenly Father, asking that He will comfort and strengthen them during these difficult days and in the days to come, as they adjust to life without Lloyd.

In the meantime......we "press on".......

When the valley is deep,

When the mountain is steep,

When the body is weary,

When we stumble and fall,

When the choices are hard,

When we're battered and scarred,

When we've spent our resources,

When we've given our all....

Chorus:

In Jesus' name, we press on.

In Jesus' name, we press on.

Dear Lord, with the prize

Clear before our eyes

We find the strength to press on.

(Dan Burgess)

 



A Fresh Start

The holidays are behind us.  2011 is but a memory.  Our "staycation" is over.  And so it's time to move on!  Even though it's Tuesday, for practical purposes, it's a new week.  We're in a new month.  A new year.  So.......time to get with it!! 

I love the holidays.  I really do.  I love the decorations.  And the music.  And the extra time with family and friends.  And the food.  The food!!  I think I may have loved a little too much of it this year!

But I also love getting back to "normal".  Back to a routine.  And I love the "clean slate" that is a new year.  I love that, no matter how miserably I may have failed at the goals I set for last year or how much I wish I had done some things differently, I get to start fresh.

And so today, as Al gets back to work and I get back to my normal routines, I'm thankful for the fresh start.  I loved these last two weeks when he was on vacation from his job.  I loved the spontaneous day trips and the extra time together and watching movies and sleeping in and going out to breakfast and all the fun things we did......and the times we just did nothing!  But now I'm ready to get back to "normal"!

I'm looking forward to this new year.  I'm excited about what lies ahead.  And I'm filled with a sense of anticipation as I watch and wait for whatever God has in store for us this year!

"Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."                (Philippians 4:12b-13 NASB)