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Learn of Him
I held the Bible open in my hands and looked at the faces of the children gathered around the table in the Sunday School room. These 4th and 5th grade students are a delightful mix of extroverts and introverts, and I’m always charmed at their love and care for one another and how they interact. Today we were talking about God’s long story, how we are in the middle of it, and how we can get to know Him by paying attention to how He relates to His people. The Bible tells us a great deal about some of the people in His story, but it tells us even more…
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Renewed
The house is hushed. The gentle thrum of the air conditioner seems like the slow-paced breathing of repose. Outside there is no movement among the trees, and the windchime is silent. A quiet evening. A gentle entry into the week of days ahead. I am grateful for the stillness and the chance to reflect on God’s faithful goodness. Remembering Him and all He has done fortifies my soul with gratitude and brings to mind the ones He has used at different times in my journey. As representatives of His kindness and agents of His mercy and grace, they are precious to me. Indeed, when I needed Him most, they were…
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Expressions of Love
I walked around the tables observing the artistic expression of the ladies as they applied paint to paper. There were various degrees of skill, but all were equally engaged with hope and delight. The meeting room had a wall of windows overlooking the large stone patio and the lush valley with tree-topped hills beyond. We were mid-way through a ministry retreat in a mountain lodge, and this activity had been scheduled as a break from meetings and small group discussions. They chatted happily among themselves, a group of old and new friends intent upon sharing this time with God and with each other. I had been asked to facilitate the…
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Focus
“Better? Or, worse?” If you wear glasses or contact lenses, you understand immediately that I am referring to focus. Optometrists ask these two questions over and over again as they refine a prescription for vision remediation. Having gone through this process many times since I was in my twenties, it still amazes me that it can take several tries to get it right. The end result is worth the effort, though. Clear vision is a breath-taking gift. The human eye will focus and refocus, depending on the distance of each object of attention and the available light. After I’ve spent a number of hours working at my computer, it always…
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Part of Something
The week ahead looms. After all these months of planning and preparing, after a multitude of meetings and conversations, after hours and hours of reading manuals and puzzling solutions, the testing and validating of parameters and mapped data will begin. Having climbed the mountain to get to this point, this next bit is steeper than any terrain traversed thus far. As a group, my co-workers and I are mostly excited to see how it will go, but there’s quite a bit of nervousness, too. So much is riding on this part going well. Converting core data systems is not for the faint of heart. In addition to customizing the parameters…
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Stillness in the Storm
The wind sounded like a freight train as it roared through the valleys on either side of the mountain. We had already lived through three days of torrential rain, and the backside of the storms had brought 40 mph winds. As I lay next to my husband in our shivering tent, I wondered what it would be like not to hear either the rain pounding or the wind howling. It seemed an age since a time of quiet. I pondered our relative equanimity in the face of these mighty elements and gave up a prayer of thanksgiving for the Lord’s care and protection. We both believed He had sheltered us,…
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Camping Buddies
We’ve got some dear friends. Dear enough and brave enough to go camping with us. So here we are, the four of us pretty far into our golden years, sleeping in tents, cooking over an open fire, and carrying around upon our persons that unique fragrance, eau de campfire. It is a precious gift to have such friends, with whom you can share the mundane and frivolous as well as the hardships of life and the deep and rich things of God. And being confined to a small campsite, we find there are good number of hours in which to pursue many and varied topics. As we relax together and…
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The Good Shepherd
My family had been invited to stay at a sheep farm in the northern island of New Zealand. My father’s pastoral duties had brought us to the country a year or so before, and this brief holiday was the result of friendship that had sparked between him and the owner of the farm. My sister and I had been given a small room set under the eaves of the old house, complete with hand-crafted twin beds and stacks and stacks of home-made quilts in brilliant jewel tones. We each sat on a bed, pulled our knees up under our chins and grinned. Without saying a word, we were already sharing…
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Rivers of Life
We’ve had a weekend of friends and fellowship. Brunch with two other couples yesterday, Church this morning, and lunch with another couple in their lovely home today. It was a delight to share about the things of God and speak to one another in “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:19) that never fail to energize and encourage. Like a dancing waterfall, surging through the mountains from one plateau to the next, full of life and sound and destiny, so is the Spirit-inspired conversation of the children of God. The stories of these friends we love and care for are rife with trials and suffering of all kinds, and yet…
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Care Giving
The cherry trees are in full bloom. They are early bloomers of the flora in this area and herald the coming of Spring. They have opened their beautiful flowers in praise of the Creator, and I am grateful to add my praise to theirs. As I witness the glory of His creation in this season of new beginnings, I am mindful of His care and the capacity that He forms in us to care. I remember countless times when others have cared for me. Tender moments of shared experience, practical help in times of need, and understanding of what a circumstance has cost me. Those precious ones who have stood…