A box to hold the promises...

I am currently working on a "crafty" type of project. I do occasionally find time to do something like this for fun, but this time it is for a definite purpose. I am making a gift for a special young lady who is going through a really hard time. I wanted to give her something that might bring a little comfort and discovered a list of Bible promises in a format that allowed me to insert her name in each one. I hoped it would help in some small way. 

I worked diligently on inserting her name in each promise and prayed for her as I worked. Now all I needed was something to put them in. Finally I decided on the idea of a box. I pretty much knew what I had in mind, but I also knew it would take some time to find the perfect one. It had to be just the right size to hold the promises, not too big nor too small. I wanted it to be ordinary, but kind of special, too. I knew it would have her name on it. 

I made a trip to the local craft store and looked at a number of boxes that were almost right before I found my way over to the unfinished wood section. Truthfully, I had hoped to find one that was already just what I needed, that only required adding her name, but nothing was quite right.  Then there, on the top shelf was a small box with a tiny gold latch that was just right. Well, I say just right. It was totally unfinished.

I walked around until I found embellishments that I could add to the box. Tiny little plaques that represented things she loved. They would fit nicely on the sides. The top would still hold, simply, her name. I came home with my treasures ready to begin the process.

After a call to a friend to find out what her favorite color is, I started the sanding process. Now anyone who knows me knows I don't like the "prep" work. I wanted to get right into the creative part of this. Still, I knew without the sanding, the box would be rough and not at all what I wanted.

I sanded, at times with a really course sand paper, and at times with a fine steel wool. It took a bit of work, but the wood started to feel smooth to the touch. Next I added the first coat of paint, inside and out, trying to get just the right look and shade. Time to sand again. I wanted the box to look old and so that it almost begged to be touched. After each "sanding" I would take a soft cloth and wipe the wood, clearing away the dust. I added a coat of sealer and went to bed.

In the morning, I picked up the box to discover the sealer had actually made the wood rough in spots. Okay, so it hadn't made it rough - it had revealed what I couldn't feel before. Again I got out my steel wool to make the surface touchable again. I added her name to the top and waited for that to dry so that it could also be sanded slightly. Of course, I didn't wait long enough and when I sanded it smeared a bit, requiring touch-ups. Now I sit here waiting for all this to completely dry so that I can add a final seal and the embellishments that will make her smile.

That's when it hit me. I am really doing a lot to make the box special, when the real treasure is inside. I am sanding and painting and smoothing and painting and adding - all so that this box will make her want to reach out and pick it up so that she can find what is inside.

Isn't that a lot like what God does with us for a hurting world around us? He has the promises to deposit in us, but first there is a lot of sanding that has to take place. I have laughed that in my teaching career I find God gives me either the students who need me or the ones that I need; unfortunately what I seem to need most is someone to sand away my rough spots. 

As I sanded that little box, I thought about that process. It was tougher in some places than others - especially those tucked away in a corner and hard to reach. But after each sanding, I rubbed the wood with the softest cloth I could find and then felt the wood to make sure it was smooth. I know I've been through times when I have felt God "sand" me, but immediately after I have felt His touch, His precious touch.

We may have gifts added to our box that make us special to someone, but mostly what makes us special is that our wood is worn and soft to the touch. The edges have been rounded by time, the surface looks worse for wear but at the same time you know that the box will be smooth, ready to be opened to find what treasure lies inside.

I'm taking a lot of time on this box, so that those who see it will want to open it and look inside. Truthfully, it's just a ordinary wooden box, nothing all that special except for the time and love that I've tried to put into it. 

Doesn't that sound like us? The truth is, God allows us to go through things so that others will be drawn to us to find the treasure inside, for that is what is truly important. That is what truly brings comfort to our wounded souls. God is making us into a box to hold His promises to a hurting world...I want to be one that is soft and worn and that begs to be opened. How about you? 

Happy sanding, my friends.

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

The Message (MSG)

^7-12 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

My Easter basket is so full....

This morning I was overwhelmed with a thought - my Easter basket is so full.

Maybe it was because I was thinking, here it is two days before Easter and I haven't even done one thing about putting together a basket for my kids. Of course, since they are both now bigger than me and their thoughts go more toward i-phones and cars than toward chocolate bunnies and peeps, perhaps I can get a pass. Still, I'm not sure I'm ready to let go filling a basket with little goodies for them to wake up to on Easter morning. The question is, what do you fill a basket with for someone who has "everything"?

Somewhere in all this, my mind took a detour. One of the many benefits of being slightly ADD I guess. I got to thinking about, well, EVERYTHING.

My mind wandered to a few years ago after Hurricane Katrina when I lost all my clothes when a tree crashed into my closet. I could choose between my jacket that had pink insulation filling the pockets or the one covered in pine sap and bits of tree bark. Nothing could be salvaged - especially since we were without power and water for over a week. (No way to wash what might remain.) I went to church that week wearing a shift dress I kept in a drawer to use as a beach coverup. That afternoon, two dear friends came driving up to our house, the one with the delightful pine tree decorations plunging through the roof, and brought me clothes. Not just old stuff - some of their best stuff. They shared what they had and suddenly I had an entire wardrobe that was nicer than what I had lost!

My mind flashed to a more recent event when one of those same friends saw me at church and could see the hurt in my eyes. I was feeling overwhelmed at the loss of one of my student's parent. I just didn't really know what to do with the pain. She was there. The next day I got a text letting me know she had been praying for me and my students as we tried to process it all. She is that friend that just somehow senses when you need someone to walk along side you. This isn't the first time I have realized that thanks to her, I don't have to try and do it all on my own. 

Immediately my mind shifted to an event from this week. I was waiting on my son to arrive home from a track meet, and I sat in the school parking lot dealing with thoughts and emotions that threatened to overwhelm. "Who did I think I was?" "You really have nothing to give." "Why do you keep writing that blog? You're not really saying anything anyone needs or wants to hear." "You are old. Anything that you might have once been able to do is past." These thoughts and similar ones kept stinging me like mosquitoes on a hot summer day. They came from no where without warning and left their mark. Just then, my phone lit up. It was a message from another friend who now lives far away sent just to encourage. I cannot tell you how perfect the words were at that moment. It was if she had sat and listened to my thoughts and sent a salve that took the sting and itch out of everyone of those "bites. "

Last night, I sat and looked at facebook and instead of the negative messages that can so often find their way to those pages, I saw faces of families I have been blessed to know through the years. I saw children I once taught who are now adults or close to it. No longer are they in the "larva" stage but they move forward as adults making their mark in the world for God. 

I see my own children who, despite all the mistakes I have made, still tell me they love me. They are gifts I truly do not deserve.

Through all this, I realize, my "basket" is so full to overflowing with gifts, not material ones, but gifts from God. His Grace overflows all around me. 

My eyes are spilling over with tears as I attempt to write this simply because I cannot believe I have been so blessed. 

Now, if I could just figure out a way to fit those same blessings into a basket a teenager will understand, I'd have it made. Somehow, however, I think this kind of basket is best appreciated by one who has lived a while longer than them. I guess I'll just have to go out and find a chocolate bunny...and a gift card they can use with friends so that they can build a basket of their own.

Ecclesiastes 4: 9 - 12
Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 
 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

A lesson learned in language class...

Teaching writing can be one of the most rewarding and most frustrating exercises of a teacher's day. The events depicted here represent the type of things teachers go through every day. No need to try and figure out which students I might be talking about, because it represents classes throughout the years and at one time or another it represents us all!

I stood there trying to explain for about the sixth time how my student could improve his introduction to his essay. Every time I tried to explain, he would answer immediately and tell me what he needed to do. "No," I'd shake my head, "that's not what I'm saying." Again I would point out what needed to be corrected only to have him argue with me why what he had was correct. I tried to help him see that he had parts that took away from what he was trying to communicate, to which he argued with me again. Patiently - at least on the outside - I tried to explain again. Nothing seemed to get through. Finally I resorted to writing his sentences on the board and adding corrections so that he could see. I'm certain he was not convinced, but he started to make the necessary changes to his work. 

All I could do was inwardly shake my head. What should have taken only a moment took almost 5 minutes before progress was made. (Honestly - it seemed like it took about 30!)

In another group, students would show me their work and ask me to read it but they wouldn't stop talking! I'd managed to get through about half a sentence and they would start explaining what they had done. I finally had to stop them and help them see I could either listen to them or read their work but I really couldn't do both. We would laugh and muddle through. 

Later in the day, in yet another class, students were calling my name, asking would I read what they had written...they wanted my approval so much that they asked me to read every sentence as they wrote them. I finally got them to understand they needed to write at least a few sentences and then we could check their progress. 

One student who was really dragging his heels in the process finally completed enough that we could check what he had done. I said, "This is pretty good, we just need to look at this one part," to which he hung his head and almost at the point of pouting said, "but I worked really hard on this!" I took a step back, smiled and replied, "I didn't say it wasn't good. You just need to change the word 'buy' to 'bought' because it needs to be past tense." I guess he really didn't want my help, just my approval. He wasn't interested in getting better, just in getting done. He didn't want a teacher; he wanted a cheerleader.

By the end of the day I was exhausted and asking God, "What's the deal? I was very careful to be kind in all my correction. Why was this so difficult?" 

You know where this is going. Through the question and my students, God helped me see myself.

I saw my own life and the way I react to God. He tries to show me what I am doing that is derailing my purpose and I start to argue with Him why what I've added is needed! I start to answer Him with my own reasoning before He even finishes what He has to say. I fix in my mind what needs to be done and then try to convince Him why my way is better than what He is trying to help me see.

Or I go to God and ask Him what He wants me to do but I never stop talking long enough to listen. I'm far too busy explaining to Him what I'm asking - as if He doesn't have a clue.

Or I work "as unto the Lord" and then ask how I've done and when any correction comes I start to pout and complain - "but I worked so hard!" I never hear the words that would make my work stronger because I really don't want to hear anything other than how amazing it is.

In other words, I'm just like my students.

I wonder if I frustrate God. Does He shake His head and wonder why I won't listen to Him when He tries to show me the way...His way. 

Am I so wrapped up in doing things "my way" that I am not listening? Do I pray and talk right through His answer? Do I call Him Master and Lord and yet continue to do things "my way" because the truth is I think I know best?

I learn a lot from my students...and for that I am thankful.

Luke 6:46 (NIV)

 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

Luke 6:46-47 (MSG)

^46-47 “Why are you so polite with me, always saying ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘That’s right, sir,’ but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (MSG)

^5-6 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
    he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.

Proverbs 14:12 (MSG)

^12-13 There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough;
    look again—it leads straight to hell.
Sure, those people appear to be having a good time,
    but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.

The lost onion, revisited

The following is a post from quite a few years ago. Thankfully, I haven't had any more "lost onions," but it came to mind again today after about the third devotional today that mentioned "smells," both good and bad. Today my prayer is that my life will be a pleasant aroma to my Father in heaven and to those around me.....
 Ephesians 5:2 (NIV)
"and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

 By now my dirty little secret is out. I am NOT a good housekeeper. I know, this shocks some of you. Okay, so it shocks NONE of you, still, even I didn't think I was this bad.

It all started about a month ago when I got this idea that I should take some time and reorganize my pantry. I'm out of school, so now would be a great time. Of course, I persuaded myself that I could do it later. I didn't really "feel" like doing it right then. I don't know if I was waiting on some great inspiration....not that pantries are all that inspiring anyway, but for whatever reason, I didn't "feel" like tackling this project. It could wait till later.

Life kept right on rolling by and occasionally I'd think, "I really do need to get to that pantry while I have time", but of course something else would always take precedence....something like taking my kids somewhere, doing the laundry, watching the news, taking a nap...I'd take just about anything as a viable excuse to put off doing what I knew I really should do. I still just didn't "feel" like doing it.

A couple of days ago, I came in my kitchen door and was greeted by a rather unpleasant odor. "What is that smell?" I asked, to which my son replied..."It's the dogs. They need a bath." The dogs may have needed a bath, but something told me that wasn't what I smelled. I checked the trash and the fridge (since we all know I let things grow in there) but found nothing. Oh well, I'd find it later....when I felt like it.

Today, I went into my pantry to grab a pack of gum before I went to the gym...there was that smell again. Something told me this time I'd better stop and find the source because now I recognized that smell...it was an onion that was past its prime. I looked everywhere in that pantry....moved everything - twice! Finally, I happened to look into a back corner behind some graham cracker pie shells...and I found it. Because I care about the those who might read this before a meal, I'll skip the yucky details. Let's just leave it that this onion had seen its better days a long, long time ago.

To my defense, that onion had been hidden. My daughter sometimes helps "clean" up the kitchen and has a habit of stuffing EVERYTHING into the pantry. Those who have children who help clean may understand this. Sometimes she puts things away and it takes me weeks to find them. Since I wasn't really looking for this onion, it just slipped quietly and pungently into oblivion. It took quite a bit of cleaning to get rid of the "remains".

What's the point in sharing my culinary and housekeeping fiascoes? It has something to do with a quote I read this morning. It was by Thomas Huxley and it was a principle of success. "Do what you need to do, when you need to do it, whether you feel like it or not." If I had gone ahead and cleaned that pantry weeks ago, I could have saved myself a real mess (and a stinky one at that!) I simply put it off....and if my procrastination only affected my pantry, it probably wouldn't be any big deal. Unfortunately, I could name a lot of different things I have "put off" till I felt like it, only to find myself looking at a real mess or worse, finding that it was too late. I don't know if others deal with the bad onions of procrastination, but I have a feeling we all do. One author stated that procrastination isn't really just being lazy, it's being rebellious. Ouch!

Proverbs 27:1 says, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth." Saying I'll do it later is acting as though I've been promised tomorrow. I may say I'll get around to it, but what am I waiting for? What's worse, every time I "Put it off" till later, the task becomes more of a weight around my neck. If I put off enough things, I can eventually become so weighted down that I can't seem to move. Why not just obey quickly and be done with it? Truthfully, it always takes less time than I feared it would and it feels so good to have it done! 

 

The onion is gone now, and the house smells much better...but the lesson remains. "Do what you need to do, when you need to do it, whether you feel like it or not." Procrastination has a way of stinking up your life, like an onion pushed back in the corner....eventually it will make its self known. I think I've had enough of that.

Cross training...

This topic has been on my mind for a while now. I'd wonder, "What about an article on 'cross' training?" Then I'd think, naw - it's probably been done to death already.

Today I decided to look it up and find an article on the kind of cross training I meant and post it to my face book wall, which is what I do when I am trying to avoid doing actual work - I either "pin" the idea or post it and give the illusion of productivity.

I typed cross training into Google and came up with 331,000,000 results (in .31 seconds!) 

The first one that came close to what I was looking for was about training to share the gospel "across cultures." Not quite what I was looking for. I looked on and the post that followed that one was for a company that recycles computers. Seriously? Finally on page seven I found a link to a group called Men at the Cross with a series on training men to share Christ...still not quite what I was looking for, (even though I did bookmark it to read later.)

After getting to page 15 of my search without finding what I was looking for, I finally stopped. Seems there is a LOT out there about getting our bodies into shape through training "across" the disciplines, but there is very little about doing the same for our souls. 

I get it. One is a WHOLE lot easier to discuss than the other. Interdisciplinary training physically yields results the world can see. We get better at our sport, look better physically, and of course get the benefit of bragging about how much we work out...and the world likes that. The other "cross" training, however, isn't quite as accepted by the world. It is the training that says to follow Christ we must, "take up our cross and follow..." We don't like to follow. 

In America, we pride ourselves on pulling up by our own bootstraps. We are tough! We are leaders! We do things "our way." We even dare to want our sandwiches prepared, "our way." One of my favorite quotes from a movie is "My way, no highway option." We are strong, we are invincible, we are....sorry, almost broke into a song from the 70's there. Still you get the point.

But Jesus gave another command. He said to take up our cross and follow Him. Give up our dreams, our desires, our plans for life and lose everything that we might think is important. To follow Him? Where? What does He have planned? 

I'm not sure this is the "cross" training I want. Where are the motivational posters? Where is the blaring music in the gym? Where are the cute outfits that I just KNOW I will one day fit in without looking like a partially popped can of biscuits? This kind of "cross" training looks HARD!

I kind of like the world's cross training, mainly because it's all about ME. This cross training is about GIVING UP me. It's all about HIM. 

That "cross" looks uncomfortable. It looks hard. It looks rough. It doesn't look fun at all! 

But the thing is, Christ hasn't asked me to take up HIS cross - that is one I could never have carried. He simply tells me to take up MY cross...the one I already have. It may seem larger to me than that of someone else, but then again I don't really know what theirs looks like. Each day, I get the chance to "cross" train by picking up my cross and following Him. I get to choose what to do - follow or not. THAT is real cross training.

There are no motivational posters on the wall (well, I guess all those scriptures I post on my facebook wall might count...) There are no "competitions" to prepare for....except the ones against the enemy and those are not really that much fun. As for cute clothes, well, I guess you could print yourself up a t-shirt if that helps, but that's not really what it's all about. 

This "cross" training isn't the kind that pops up in a Google search, but it does pop up in God's search. The Bible says His eyes go to and fro looking for those totally committed to Him. (2 Chron. 16:9) 

I have a feeling there is a LOT more to this "cross" training than any Google search could ever record...and I'm just starting to scratch the surface. For now, I'm doing my best to figure out how to "grab" this cross of mine - where to even start trying to pick it up. 

Thankfully I have a patient "Trainer" who never condemns, always encourages, and knows just how to motivate me when I want to quit....and a "high-five" from Him means more than anything else in the world.

Cross training....it's just not what I thought it would be.

Matthew 16:24-26 (ESV)

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
 Matthew 16:24-26

The Message (MSG)

^24-26 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?

No need to know my name....

I used to say, I don't care so much what you call me as long as you call me to supper. Yeah, I know it's an old joke, but I'm kind of old too. Anyway, the subject of names has been on my mind.

Today on my run I got to thinking about a family I know. I've seen them on and off for years at the races, and I'd seen the kids at school, but I didn't really know them. In fact, I didn't even know the parents' first names! I always knew them as D.'s mom and dad or K's mom and dad...and from what I could tell, they were fine with that. I understand. I'm fine with being known as Samantha and Levi's mom. I love being their mom...well - most days anyway.

Lately, however, I've gotten to know this family just a little better and I see another side of them. It's at this point that you expect me to say I'm getting to know them by their name...uh - no. I still have problems remembering names. I have gotten to know them by something else. I've had the chance to see them as one of God's kids! I have had the chance to see them a bit closer and see that not only do they love their kids and do everything in their power to launch them in the right direction and develop their gifts, they do it because they truly love God!

Now, to some that might be a "duh" kind of statement, but we all know those parents who do what they do for THEMSELVES. They want the kids to looks good for THEIR sake. They want them to succeed for THEIR sake. Don't embarrass THEM. That's not them impression I get from these guys. Everything they do is because they love their kids and want what's best for the kids! 

I once heard a speaker, Joe McGee, say we shouldn't discipline our kids when we've "had enough" but that instead we keep all the discipline about them...it's supposed to be whatever will help them grow in the Lord and who they are meant to be. It's really not about us. These parents seem to reflect that precept.

Now that I'm getting to know them better, I can also see that these parents do all that they do because they truly love God! They are GOD'S kids! It's like they live their lives not focused on themselves but instead focus on God and on launching their kids toward what God has called them to be.

I get the feeling these parents are quite fine being known by their kids' names and even MORE fine being known by God's name. They don't care if they ever gain fame or fortune, but that they reflect Christ and His name in all that they do.

I want to live my life that way. When people say, "I've heard of you," I want it to be because I've reflected God's name. I want it to be because my children are living a life that brings honor and glory to Him. I want it to be that we are known not so much for our name, but for Whose we are.

So, there's no need to know my name...doesn't really matter what you call me as long as you call me His. Oh, and don't forget to call me for supper!

John 13:34-35 (MSG)

“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”

The difference a verb makes

Today as I went for my run, I passed a neighbor working in her garden, admiring how well the flowers were blooming - at least that's what I imagined she was doing. I called out as I passed, "Your flowers look beautiful!" and then ran on down the road. As my feet pounded the pavement, I heard in my head - "Wrong word." 

What? Beautiful? 

"No, wrong verb."

Looked? Then what?

"Are."

The difference in a verb. They looked beautiful versus they ARE beautiful. Those flowers ARE beautiful because God made them. 

I wondered how often do I make the same mistake when I look at life? I decide what is beautiful by how things LOOK, when God sees them as they ARE. 

The flowers that I passed truly are beautiful, but they were just as beautiful when buried in the ground, waiting to push past the dirt into the sun. They were just as beautiful when the buds were forming in awkward fashion, wondering what it might be like to spread out and show their colors. They will be just as beautiful once those same colors start to fade and wilt, and they will be just as beautiful when they droop their heads at the end of summer and wait to bloom again. Every stage, every moment, is a part of what God created and it is beautiful.

This time of year we have Japanese Magnolias that bloom and brighten the corner where they are. I always worry that we'll get our characteristic Spring freeze that will destroy the blooms, but they don't. They just bloom. They simply do what they are created to do.

Can I look at my life, myself even, and think "beautiful"? Can I realize that there will be times of waiting and wondering what is to come? Can I enjoy the moments when everything seems right and full of color and light without focusing on the past or worrying about the future? Can I recognize that the winter can be just as much a part of God's plan as the spring? Can I trust in Him?

No matter what stage of life you find yourself in - the winter, the spring, the summer or fall - life is beautiful. You are beautiful because God made you.

Happy Spring, my friends!

Matthew 6: 30-34
“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.