Thinking on these things . . .

My son was sleeping by himself out in the woods last night. So...I wasn't sleeping at all. He's at Boy Scout Camp and this is part of a Wilderness survival merit badge. They're taken to a spot in the woods with their sleeping bag, they construct a shelter and then spend part of the night until they're awakened at 3 am to find their way back to the main camping area. I lay in bed praying that he wouldn't be scared, and if he was that he would pray; that he wouldn't be cold, or scared, or eaten by mosquitoes, or scared... Did I want him sleeping out under a tree somewhere? Well no...and yes... I want him to be prepared so that he'll be comfortable in the woods and on his own and to gain the skills he needs to get through life and that covers many areas doesn't it? It's remembering the first day of school where they were tentative and we were tearful - how would they ever make it all day without us? How would we? Fast forward a mere thirteen years and ...

I transplanted some flowers today to a new location and they are not happy. They were very happy where they were and then their root system was attacked, they were dug up with just a bit of their accustomed soil and traveled for a day without a home. Now they're in new soil, where they will grow and thrive and bring beauty to an area that was barren but at this moment, they don't know that; all they know is that they are no longer established. Sometimes we find the same thing has happened to us. We've been transplanted into a new job, church, location, health condition, family dynamic, friendship situation, or economic state and we're cut off from how things used to be; where we were rooted and thriving. Nothing is familiar, or comfortable. We're in foreign soil. We don't see how this is going to work out. How will we deal with the grief, the pain, the antagonism, the demands, the weakness, or the awkwardness of our new place? Will we ever feel again like we...

Every good television drama has them; little hints, seeds, foreshadowing dropped into episodes that will come to fruition later in the series. The problem is that a network television season is so long! First of all it’s on just once a week and then there are is special programming around the holidays, and then all those awards shows, and then the occasional rerun inserted for no apparent reason in the middle of the season (!) and let’s not even talk about how the “season” ends in early May and resumes in late October… So I usually find myself asking, “What was going on in this show?” Not to mention the fact of course that you’re actually living your real life while attempting to follow this fictitious reality. I’m not sure if it’s a cable thing or a summer thing but I find that in the summer there’s usually some channel running network dramas every day and sometimes two back-to-back episodes a day. And, yes, I do get pulled into them, I admit. In two weeks I can see the entir...

The world is full of frauds. Two bookcases stand side by side both with seemingly solid construction in gleaming oak. These are beautiful bookcases that will hold volumes of information. But distress them, scratch or chip them and the truth is revealed- one has only an oak veneer; hardwood over particleboard, symbol over substance. You who represent yourself as a follower of Christ, if you get a little dented up, what is revealed as your underlying support structure? And you especially, whose lives serve as a repository of God's truth, you who are leaders in your churches, are you genuine or merely a veneer? We've witnessed it, sadly, way too often; the televangelist with the penchant for fine things and therefore creative bookkeeping, clergy involved in sex scandals, and those who say it's all about worship and God's glory but their actions reveal it's really about their ego as author, artist or performer. I can entrust the keeping of mindless paperback drivel to t...

I glance at the speedometer and it says I'm going 70 mph. The odometer is increasing and the miles to destination on the GPS is decreasing yet I feel as though I'm barely moving. It's a strange traveling phenomenon isn't it? When everything says "You're moving!" yet you feel so stationary. Although the mileage said it'd been a hundred miles, it all looked the same; the same trees, cars, road, more trees, more cars... I look at the calender and the months keep flying by, my children are growing taller, my age has increased as have the number of non-brown hairs on my head but I feel like I'm not progressing and am in essentially in the same place I was last year and five year before that. Am I moving forward? When I arrive at my destination then I both know and feel that I have indeed moved from where I was to where I am now. Perhaps it is the same way in life. When I'm "there" I'll know it and "there" could mean many thin...

I wrote the date and realized this is the day my dad died, 28 years ago, at the age of 54. 54. My husband and I were talking about other people this morning, a classmate who was in a car accident in his early 20's and is no longer the genius he'd been to that point, a friend who's had a stroke and will live the rest of his life without the use of his left side and will be unable to take himself where he wants to go, an elderly relative who spent the last year of her life unable to speak, the ravages of Alzheimers in which the mind leaves before the body... I was making my son's bed this morning and suddenly clearly remembered my mom making my bed the day she drove me to college... This month I'm attending my 25th high school reunion... Life, as we know it, is short. And in saying that I mean not only our physical life but life, as we currently know it , is short. How many times have you not realized that the last conversation/coffee/dinner/meeting you had with som...

The weeds have been pulled. The overgrowth has been pruned back or away and now what is left is a patch of prepared soil, ready for a transformation ; for things to be planted in it and to flourish. I’ ve addressed the known sin in my heart and I’ ve purged from my life those attitudes and distractions that are adding nothing to the landscape of my life and now my heart waits as prepared soil for what God is going to plant in it. I think God plants two things in our lives; truth and opportunities . God takes His truth, most often revealed through His word, by reading or the hearing it in word or song and plants these simple but eternal truths that transform our lives, deep into the soil of our hearts. These are truths such as “Jesus loves me”, “I am always in the presence of God”, “God is faithful”, and “God is in control”; seemingly simple phrases that make a world of difference in how we live. One day at church I heard Renee Bondi and her remarkable testimony...

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) I have a new pruning tool and there is simply no stopping me now! This thing is incredible; it has these two sharp blades which make no stalk under two inches in diameter able to withstand it's cutting power. I'm like Tim "the tool man" Taylor let loose in the landscaping! Suddenly the overwhelming shrubbery is not guaranteed to retain it's current location. It's not that the scraggly bushes are bad but that the whole area would be better without them. I have plans for that space that will make it far superior to the overgrown mess it is now. And so does God. For my life. There are elements that have just always been there. Attitudes, speech patterns, preferences that aren't bad but they could be better. And God, the creat...

I was out pulling weeds today – BIG weeds – taller than me in most places. And there I was, allergic girl as I am, in the middle of the bed trying to pull out undesirable intruders. There were so many I wasn’t even sure which was what but I went after the biggest, most obvious ones and as they were cleared away I could see the small ones that were in there hiding among the foliage. Feet firmly planted in the dirt I tugged on each stem, close to the bottom, trying to pull it out root and all. Pulling with all my strength I sometimes came away with a stalk with the roots still attached! Other times I heard a snap and pulled up only part of the problem. Where did these all come from? But that really wasn’t the question. The question was what was I going to do to get rid of them? In Mark 4 Jesus shares the parable of the seed. A man was sowing seed - which represents God's Word - and it fell in various places and "other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants...

I got up early this morning and made a special breakfast... I found the shoes my son was frantically searching for before he had to run out the door... I shopped for three hours getting groceries and then spent over an hour making lunch for people and putting them away when I got home... I taught my son how to cook a dinner meal tonight, cleared the table, and washed and put away all the dishes... I made several beds, picked up a bunch of clothes left on the floors, and folded scattered blankets and towels... All of this I did today and there was not a single "thank you". I had the ability to get out of bed this morning and a kitchen with electricity to make breakfast in... I have children who are able to run out the door with or without the lost shoes... I have the finances to buy food to put on the table and transporation to get it home... I have a family to feed, the ability to teach, hot water, and a house to live in... I have active children who dirty clothes, towels tha...