Memorial Day

Last night, on the eve of Memorial Day, I watched my Dad getting ready for the Memorial Day Parade. He collects and restores military vehicles from the Korean Conflict, the time when he was a young buck in the Marine Corps. As he walked around each of his trucks, now lined up in his driveway and ready to roll, I noticed the 70 plus years on my Daddy. Instead of the man that would have done a quick squat to check the tire pressure, this man let himself down painfully onto one knee. From my vantage point on my porch across the street, I could see him pull his weight off that knee, using the truck for support. It took him many minutes to circle all the trucks and I had a while to reflect on this man that raised me.

At the age of 16, he lost first his mother, then his father. His sister took him in and he finished high school and entered the Marine Corps. He'd dated my mother since they were both very young and he came home and married her when he was only 20 years old. I was born that year and my brother followed the next. He had a trade as a cabinet maker from high school vocational training, but when it came down to keeping food on the table for all of us, it was the trade of his father that fed us. Dad worked as a mechanic for several years until he was offered a position managing a corporate fleet. Those years were the worst because Daddy worked long, crazy hours and the stress of the job tore at his very fabric. But I was a kid. I didn't see all that. What I saw was my Daddy coming home from work and having his "alone time" with Mom. We kids knew that the hour before supper was for them to talk while Mom finished getting supper on. Then Daddy was there for every meal, not just supper, but breakfast and lunch, too! Daddy went to choir rehearsal with Mom every Thursday night and Daddy was there to take us to church every Sunday. Dad was the one that turned over the dirt for the garden in the spring, kept the lawn mowed, painted things, and fixed things. He weeded the garden, brought in the vegetables and even helped Mom can and freeze them. We kids helped out in our "kid" way, but now I think a lot of our help was only for us to learn what it meant to work together for the family good. I was ten when my sister was born and it was my required participation in her care that taught me just what kind of miracles little babies are! I think, as most kids do, I took it all for granted that all kids lived like this. We did our chores but we had the freedom to play and run and grow.

That was a long time ago now, and this morning, Dad's wearing the uniform of the Marine Corps League. He will march with those that bore arms with him as well as beside those that bore arms before him. The League also has members from Viet Nam and they will be there, too. The uniform he wears today isn't the same as the dress blues that he used to keep in the closet, but there's still pride in the Corps and country. And I know there's a lot of respect and sadness for those that didn't come home. I can see him making one last round of the trucks that he will drive today, walking stiffly and painfully (his knees always bother him in the morning). Other men from the League have arrived to drive with him. They will go to the cemeteries and to the graves of the men that fell so long ago and they will remember what they did so that kids like me could have the lives that we did. Today, they will honor those that still serve and protect our country. Not just the military, deployed on foreign shores, but those that are here, protecting our borders and the fire fighters that protect our homes and the police that protect our neighborhoods. May God bless them all! Not just for the work they are doing now, but the work that was done before, and the examples that they become for all of us. Simple men of principle that gave what was required.

Daddy's climbing into the lead vehicle now. It's a really big truck (he calls it a 'deuce', but I really don't know what that means) and the cab's a long way above the ground. After a couple minutes, the engine roars to life and I can see my Daddy smiling behind the wheel. It's going to be a good day.

Blues

Today, I woke up in a "blue funk" that I couldn't seem to shake. I was on the verge of tears for no discernible reason and it clung to me like greasy kitchen dirt on a range hood -- until I sat down with my second cup of tea and my Bible.

I started reading, and I have to admit that it seemed like a chore, at first. I was so depressed and blue that I didn't really feel like opening the book, but I did it because that's what I do every day and it's a routine and a habit. Honestly, I wasn't really focusing and I really struggled to bring the words into my conscious mind. I couldn't seem to push past the huge 'To Do' list that I'd created for myself or the overwhelming sense of frustration I felt at knowing that I wouldn't be able to accomplish it all today. What, with church taking up half the day and having to play taxi this afternoon, I couldn't see how everything was going to work. Then I stopped. I closed my Bible and prayed, "Father, you have brought me to Your word again, but I'm not seeing it. I'm not getting past my frustration and my sadness. You know my heart, Lord. Help me! I beg you, Father, to open Your word to my mind this morning. In the name of Jesus, I come to You this day, amen." And then I began again. This time, the words flew off the page and I couldn't absorb enough, fast enough! What joy I felt in the clarity of His message and my ability to sweep all the junk to the side to really feed on His word! The bigger surprise was that when I looked at the clock and realized I had to dress for church, I was eager to go! Where earlier, it'd seemed such a chore, now I knew I needed to be there. Then, walking out of church, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. What a blessing to be in the company of my brothers and sisters!

No, I won't get through all the things on my 'To Do' list today, but now I know that it's not important. I'll get some things done, but the rest will wait -- and none of it matters as much as that time I had this morning with my Lord! Accomplishing even everything on the list and having time to put my feet up with a glass of iced tea would not bring even a miniscule portion of the joy that I felt at having my depression yanked away and peace filling me as I read His word.

And so today, I pray for those who are hurting for all sorts of reasons, for those who are sad for cause and for those who just have the blues. May God remind me every day of the week that my purpose here on earth is to serve Him and to worship Him, and not to worry about some list of things that will eventually get done, or to cry because I don't seem to be able to accomplish what I want or to worry because other people don't think the same way I do about all sorts of things. I pray that He will keep me a true witness to His power and glory and love. He is in control of the sun's rising and the wind's blowing, so I'm sure He's not wringing His hands over the things I'll let slide until tomorrow -- as long as I focus on Him today.

Email

No matter what kind of filter or spam blocker you put on emails, dumb stuff always get through, but this one was one that I thought was rather clever....

"A win-win-win solution:

1.) Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border
2.) Take the dirt and raise the levies in New Orleans
3.) Put the Florida alligators in the moat.

Simple as 1-2-3... any questions?"

Now if we can figure out what to do about Avian flu, Iranian nuclear weapons and Dan Brown's heresy we'd have a real winner!

A Cause for Praise!

This'll be a really quick post, but I have to share one of the neatest things that's happened to me in a long time.

I work in an office full of unbelievers and sometimes I have to quietly retreat from conversations that take a rather "seedy" turn. I am fairly quiet about what I believe, but at various times throughout the years, I've let it be known that I love the Lord Jesus. Well, today, without warning, a fairly new employee called me a "Bible Freak", saying that she bet I could quote from the Bible, like that was something weird! I hadn't thought that He showed very brightly through my life and I've had to ask Him each night to make me a better witness tomorrow.

Apparently, He has! Praise God!

I'll probably be tarred & feathered for these thoughts...

5/13/06

Another Saturday that I'm up early, but due to the rain, there are no spectacular sunrises to watch this morning. My lawn's greening up and growing tall! I have no idea how I'm going to get the lawnmower through that mess once the weather clears. This week has been full of introspection. I have been thinking about what I have done (and not done) to serve God. I'm not talking about attending church or tithing. I'm talking about the visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the poor-type service. I always chalk up my dropped ball to the old “too busy” excuse. I praise God that Jesus wasn’t “too busy” for me!

I will have to pick this up and post it another day since duty calls and my family needs….

5/15/06

Since I started writing this, I had a chance to attend a new Sunday School class at our church. It is a discussion about the DaVinci Code. Now that it will be a movie, Jesus is water cooler discussion and we, as Christians, have an opportunity and duty to defend the name of Jesus. I have found the discussion fascinating and insightful! (I go to church with some very profound thinkers!) I am now of the opinion that the book is a wild story of murder, clues and mystery but none of it is fact. So why, if it’s just a novel, are people so passionate about it? I think it’s because someone is telling dirty stories about someone we love. We, as Christians and scholars of God’s word, have come to know Jesus in a very personal way. We love Him and we are offended when someone tries to say anything that’s not true about Him. So here are a couple points about all this that I just wanted to throw out as musings.

Number one, I believe in the deity of Jesus Christ. He was and is God. No one declared Him to be God. He IS God, like it or not. He was also completely man. So would it make Him any less God if, while He lived among us in an age of arranged marriages, He honored the wishes of His earthly parents and married a girl that they picked for Him when He reached His age of majority? The Bible says He was tempted in all ways. I don’t think that He is any less my Lord for loving a woman. The Bible also tells us that He was without sin. A lawful marriage is not sin, nor is the consummation of it! I also believe that the time that we last hear of our Lord’s youth is around age 12 and we hear nothing else until He’s around 30. A lot can happen in those years, and while I think that it’s unlikely that He married, knowing the course His life would take, God is sovereign enough to work all that out too. Maybe by the time He was 30 He was a widower? Whatever happened in those silent years, they are silent years for a reason. God in the person of Jesus Christ chose to keep that time private and for us not to know what happened in those 18 years. If there been a marriage of any sort and He wanted us to know about it, the Bible would have told us. That all said, though, I doubt that it could have been Mary Magdalene because she never followed Him until after He cast demons out of her AFTER He began His earthly ministry. He was already solidly on the road to the cross and with His capacity to love, I am very sure He would not subject her or anyone else to the kind of pain that would have been inflicted by the crucifixion of a spouse (and we know there was no casual relationship because, remember? -- the Bible says He was without sin). My gut feeling is that God’s sovereignty was at work from the time of His birth. Why did Mary conceive long enough before her marriage to Joseph that a good chunk of the community knew she was pregnant before they married? Maybe, because He was thought to be Mary’s illegitimate child, Joseph was unable to arrange a marriage for Him? Perhaps He was thought to be ineligible to inherit? Would He even be treated as the firstborn? I don’t know. I’m not scholar enough to know all these details. Whatever the case, God didn’t think it was important enough to include in His word and that’s good enough for me!

Number two, the book seems to imply that women are somehow inferior and oppressed by men of the church and that there is some long-lost female supreme power or goddess. I guess if there were a ‘goddess’ that was ‘equal’ with Christ she’d be pretty powerful and allowing herself to disappear from human literature would not be something she would permit. Therefore, another “DIDN’T HAPPEN!” As for female oppression? Personally, I feel honored to serve my husband as a wife and my children as a mother. In return, they rise up and call me blessed. My husband strives to love me after the model Jesus gave us of loving the Church. I don’t think I need anything more in life than that! Yes, women have been suppressed, but so have men. It’s a huge duty to provide for a family and lead as Jesus did. They die to their own wishes and pleasures daily. What my husband gives up for me every day is a picture of self-sacrifice and service. What more could a woman want? No, we should not be preachers, but men shouldn’t be mothers, either! They don’t do half the job that we do when it comes to nurturing and growing the next generation. It is women that teach their daughters and granddaughters what it means to suckle a child and how to raise it to become a viable human. All the self-help books in the world put together would never come up to a mother’s example. In spite of what we vow when we are young, we do end up doing things just like our mothers!

Finally, the book implies that the Bible is rife with error and that it’s just the fabrication of men. I won’t even address that point because it is so ridiculous it doesn’t even merit my attention. The attack on the Catholic Church and Opus Dei? Let’s be fair. The Catholic Church has made some VERY big booboos throughout history (The Inquisition comes to mind) but for the most part I believe that the majority of clerics are just simple priests that are trying to serve God in what they feel He has called them to do. Have there been some bad apples? Yup! Has there been some doctrine that I can’t get my brain around? You betcha! That’s why I’m not a Catholic. But to imply there was a massive conspiracy to suppress truth and make up things as they went along? Eh-h… There’s a lot of that stuff that was designed to simply keep an unruly lot of uneducated peasants from doing what unruly, uneducated peasants would do without ritual and repetition and retribution and fear of punishment. The Church brought order and civilization to places where there was none. Before we tear them apart, let’s give them credit for the good they did to further the Kingdom of God. Yes, we can find a thousand examples of abuse of power and prestige in 2,000 years. But you could probably find a million examples of love and care and concern for His sheep.

This is simply my poor female mind rambling on, and I submit to the authority and teaching of my Brothers. I pray that I have not offended my believing Brothers with my speculations, because that’s all these ramblings are. The long and the short of it is that God put everything we NEED to know in His word and anything else is inconsequential trivia and drivel. But I hope, as Jesus’ name is bantered around the water cooler, that we can defend the name of our Lord Jesus with some sanity and rational thinking. After years of serving Him, I now feel I would defend His name with my life if necessary, but I don’t believe that He is wringing His hands in frustration because some idiots choose to believe the contents of a fictional murder mystery! I do believe that He will condemn anyone that does not acknowledge that He was, is, and always will be sovereign God and worship Him as such. For them, I pray that they will come to see the folly of that thinking before it is too late. It would be indefensible if we allowed these poor souls to proceed to their demise, believing the words of a novel over the living Word of God!

Prayer for Mommys

It’s Saturday morning and my house is still sleeping. I’m on my second cup o’ tea and it’s rather cool. We slept with the windows open last night and I awoke to cloudy sunshine, the birds singing and the dog whining to go outside at 5:00 am! Doesn’t she understand Saturdays? Doesn’t she know I want to sleep??? OK, I get up, put her out and 4-5 minutes later she’s barking to come back in! “Shhh, Puppy”, I whisper to her through the open window, “You’ll wake up the neighbors!” She wags her tail while I go get my shoes back on to bring her in. OK, back to bed. Now I can sleep… Wa-a-h? Kitty, don’t throw up on the…. rug! Got her to the linoleum… I find the cleaner and the paper towels and clean up the mess… back to bed again (now it’s about 20 before 6:00) and maybe I can sleep for another hour? Surely the kids won’t be up for a while, after all, they’re teenagers and don’t ALL teenagers sleep ‘til noon? Thunk! Slam! The bathroom door closes (loudly). I look at the clock. 6:10 it glows in ugly green. The dog runs up the stairs to see who’ll come out of the bathroom and play with her. Then she runs back down the stairs ahead of my daughter. She’s up early to go to prayer meeting! I guess I’ll just get up and get it over with. I make tea and cuddle with my baby girl (now nearly 18) while she tells me about her night last night and the Christian band she went to see. Now she’s off and I’m here writing while the rest of the house still sleeps.

I read Psalm 121 this morning. It was nice to know that the Mommy that has to get up and tend to the dog and tend to the cat and tend to the kids and (later) the other kids and the hubby, has protection and help and strength from a never-sleeping God. Even though my sleep was disturbed, my life is such a full and blessed one! So many women live lives that have no hubby or kids or even dog or cat to disturb them. So many have their sleep disturbed by pain or sickness or worry. So many millions live in regions of war or violence. So many millions live in the path of flood or earthquake or fire. Father, for all these women, trying to raise families in horrible conditions, I pray for strength and protection and help. Sustain them today, and give them peace where ever they are, Father, whether on the run or in their homes. I pray that just 10 would know the joy of watching the majesty of Your sunrise, feel the warmth as the sun overcomes the clouds, hear the giggle in the birds’ songs and taste the comfort of a cup of tea. Maybe tomorrow, You will bless 100 and maybe the next day, 1,000!!

OK, time to get down to the business of the day… another set of footsteps on the stairs…

Thank You, God…

Iran

I've watched Middle East news for years and the one thing it's taught me is that the whole situation there is far more complicated than anything I would even care to understand. But over the last few weeks, my interest has been really piqued by the posturing that's happening in Iran. It looks like they will continue to enrich uranium until they have a workable nuclear warhead and their war games in the Gulf proved that they will have the means to deliver it. At the end of the day, all I can say is, "Praise God!" because He is sovereign and He is in control. Maybe, instead of blowing up Israel, God will cause somebody to make a mistake that blows up their whole nuclear program. No matter what happens in this dangerous situation, though, God will work it out for His glory. Keep praying with me that those you love will come to Christ before He returns for His own -- cause it looks like He's coming soon!!

Blessings to all!