Monthly Archives: April 2012

A Million Tiny Losses

30 Monday Apr 2012

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“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” ~ Job 1:9-11

As I was struggling with something I found disappointing this week, I got to thinking about what it is that breaks us in this life.

This disappointment was small, but it was something I had really hoped for.  Not getting it doesn’t really change my life in the slightest, but it does make me sad.  And it was in addition to not having heard back from a friend in some time, along with other things, and all in all, really had me feeling pretty low.

I think so often we assume our breaking point will come after a Job-like situation: the loss of everything we hold dear, home, family, livelihood.  Job lost everything in one feel swoop.  Everything.  And he still held on to God.

But most of us never experience a firestorm situation like that.  Our lives tend to go the way we expect them to: grow up, get a job, find a place to live, maybe have a family, grow old.  Yet the world is filled with broken people, people who are sad and lost.  Why is that, then, if they were never dealt the crushing blows Job was?

While all-consuming destruction may be the most obvious way to break a person down, I think that we also have to be aware of the small, slight, more subtle version: being broken through a million tiny losses.  This is the kind of broken that doesn’t happen all at once, but rather over time – a disappointment here, a lost friendship there, a promotion missed out on, a dream not realized.  The kind of losses that seem bearable individually, but add them all up and it can be altogether too much.

As bad as that may seem, don’t lose heart!  While yes, left to weather the storm alone, we would easily be beaten down by the howling rages of life.  But as believers, we haven’t been left alone.  Christ came and gave His life, and sent the Holy Spirit to stay with us, helping us along, guiding us every step of the way.  Troubles are guaranteed in this life, but so is the promise that Christ has overcome everything we face.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” ~ John 16:33

On the Road of the Broken

29 Sunday Apr 2012

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God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” ~ Hebrews 13:5b

Often when asked how I describe where I’m at with things following my husband’s death, I reply, “In between.”

I feel as though there is a definitely “before” period in my life – basically birth up until his death.  But I also don’t feel like I’ve reached “after” quite yet.  I feel more like the point I’m at right now is the intermission between act one and act two.  And most days, I feel like I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve got; trying my darndest to make good use of my time.

But there are other days where I don’t feel quite as upbeat about things.

Those days, I feel like God is some wild-haired bus driver, who brought the bus of life to a screeching halt, flung open the doors, handed me a few twenties and barked out a gruff, “Good luck, kid,” before peeling away in a cloud of dust.  I feel like I’ve been stranded in the middle of nowhere, with my suitcase in hand, squinting after Him as He sped away along a dirt road, with nothing around me but wheat fields and sky (apparently, in this scenario, God left me in Kansas).

Yet I know that isn’t true.  God has brought me to the situation that I am in, and I know He will carry me through it.  I’m not sure when intermission will be over and act two will begin – maybe in this lifetime, maybe in eternity.  But either way, God has promised to never, ever leave me.  So regardless of my feelings from day to day, I know He right beside me, holding my hand, walking me through.

Undeserving

28 Saturday Apr 2012

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“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” ~ Isaiah 53:6

Too often, the thought of Jesus dying for us is almost too unbelievable to believe.

A person might consider giving their life in the place of a loved one or dear friend, but to sacrifice yourself for people who don’t care or even want to acknowledge that you have done so?  That is greater love than I can even imagine.

Humans are stubborn; set in their ways.  Our culture celebrates living life for no one but yourself.  And so we do.

Yet, Jesus gave His life so that we wouldn’t have to.  Isn’t it about time we lived as He lived, putting others before ourselves?

Go, Go Gadget

27 Friday Apr 2012

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“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” ~ James 1:5

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” ~ I Corinthians 10:31

When I was a kid, my all-time favorite cartoon was Inspector Gadget.  My hero from the show was the brainiac little girl, Penny, who solved all the crimes for her bumbling, cyborg-esque uncle.

One of the things that Penny had at her disposal was a computer “book” – a super powerful computer that looked, on the outside, just like a regular book.  She also had a watch that allowed her to video chat with her sidekick dog.  She was a gadget girl before our culture had gadgets to be obsessed with.

And yet, it wasn’t until the other day when my little boy picked up my iPad (with it’s green, book-like cover) and brought it to me, asking to play with my “book,” that it really hit me – twenty short years later, we have arrived at the technology that in my childhood was only available through the magic of cartoons.  I’m not the first person to come to this conclusion – after a little bit of Googling, I was able to find iPad wallpaper that was designed to look just like Penny’s computer book had.

It’s mindboggling to think about how far and fast technology has come in the past few decades.  It’s an explosion moving at a rate that’s almost impossible to track – and difficult to predict where the trajectory will take us.  But it’s so important that we remember that wisdom in anything comes from God – and that all we do, even with our gadgets (or, more often, especially with our gadgets) should be done for His glory, not our own.

Even though you may not be a Steve Jobs-type creative genius – I know I’m sure not – you still have super powers at your disposal that were unheard of fifty years ago.  The power to gain knowledge and communicate in the blink of an eye.  To share, say and do things almost faster than you can think.  In all that you do, whatever you do, be sure you use that power for good, to glorify God.

Flights of Fancy

26 Thursday Apr 2012

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“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” ~ II Corinthians 10:5

Typical window-shopping has never really held my interest.  Wandering around stores just to look seems kind of like a waste of time.  My personal tendency is toward very purposeful shopping – have a list, get in, get home.

However, “window-shopping” on the internet is a totally different story.

I can browse store sites that sell expensive clothing, jewelry, look at ridiculously large houses, and movie-star-level skin care products, all without leaving my living room.  However, I have discovered that too much of this leads to something weirdly stressful – mentally spending money.

Even though I could never possibly buy all the things that I’m looking at when I internet window-shop, there is apparently part of my brain that doesn’t realize this.  And like a little calculator that has gone on the fritz, it panics a bit over money flying out the window, when nothing has gone anywhere.

All of this leads me back to today’s verse in II Corinthians.  Taking every thought captive can be important, not just in reigning in temptation, but also because it helps alleviate stress.  As a mental discipline, taking our thoughts captive eliminates the temptation to spend money we don’t have, because we know it would cause stress.  It also prevents us from retreating from the world, when reality gets difficult.

So whatever your mental struggles are, don’t forget to work in some thought exercise today!

Little Children

25 Wednesday Apr 2012

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And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” ~ Matthew 18:3

Now that I have a child of my own, the wisdom in this verse never ceases to amaze me.  There is so much that we grown ups who have it all together (haha) can learn from the little ones in our world.

There is one lesson that I have been learning from my son in particularly.  And that is to be determined in all that you do.  I never really thought about what a challenge childhood really is, but I can see from a toddler’s standpoint that a lot of things in this world are quite difficult.  And yet my little boy never gives up.  He may be halfway falling off a piece of furniture and near tears, but he sticks with it until he gets where he wants to go.

As an adult, too often I am tempted to quit when something gets too hard.  I can decide that it isn’t very important, and convince myself that sticking with it is unnecessary.  Yet that seems to go against the verse that states we should work at everything as we are working for the Lord.  Quitting when things get tough doesn’t seem like a very noble way to behave.

So in situations that seem to present a challenge, I will continue to look to my son to set the example.  Because, as Jesus says, we have a lot to learn from the little children around us.

Fruitful

24 Tuesday Apr 2012

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“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” ~ John 15:2

This morning at MOPS, our speaker was from a local nursery.  She spent 45 minutes teaching us about different kinds of plants and how we can best take care of and maintain our gardens.  It was interesting to me, because without the help of my mother-in-law, my poor yard would be a disaster.  So it’s always good for me to learn more about the subject.

What struck me from her talk was her description of why it’s important to prune your flowers.  I had always known that pinching off things like petunias was what made them blossom even more (although, I did learn today that I’ve been doing it wrong), but she explained that if you don’t do this, the plant keeps expending energy on the spent bloom.  By pruning these away, you are giving the plant a chance to send energy into creating more growth, instead of just spinning its wheels on finished flowers.

This was interesting to me, in light of today’s verse in John.  I always put this verse in the context of cutting off fruitless branches, but in terms of horticulture, it could also be construed that one may need to prune branches that have already produced something.

To me that tells me that sometimes we have to let go and move beyond moments in our lives that may have been fruitful.  It can be easy to sink all of our time and energy into something that was once an ideal situation, when in reality God has used us in that situation and now He wants us to move on.  It is important that we keep this verse in mind, so that we can always be in a place for Him to produce more fruit for His kingdom.

Security & Joy

23 Monday Apr 2012

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Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ~ Hebrews 13:5

My little boy and I took a trip to Target today to pick up a random assortment of things we need for our week.  He loves going places, and going to a store like Target is no exception.

While we were checking out, the cheerful lady ringing our purchases up gave my little guy a sticker.  Well, you would have thought she gave him the most incredible present in the world, because his whole face lit up with a huge smile.  He was so pleased to be thought big enough to get a sticker.

It was a humbling lesson for me, to be reminded that something so little can bring so much joy.  Yet I don’t take for granted the deeper reason for my son’s joy in something small – he knows that all of his other needs are being met, so in that security he can be joyful with the things that surround him.

When your life seems to lack joy, remember the security that you have in the promises of Christ.  He has promised to always be with us and has given His very life so that we can spend eternity with Him.  It is exactly that kind of security that allows us to take joy in our everyday lives.

Hiatus

09 Monday Apr 2012

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“He said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’” ~ Mark 6:31b

After writing a new post every day for the past fifteen months, I have decided that the time has come for me to take a much-needed rest from my blog.

This is something that I struggle with doing, because I am a very type-A person.  I like the consistent challenge of writing every day.  However, I know I need a break and the time has come to take one.

My goal is to take a two week “holiday” from writing, resuming my posts on April 23rd.  To all the folks who read my musings every day: thank you.  I look forward to talking to you again soon.

Because He Lives

08 Sunday Apr 2012

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“He is not here; He has risen, just as He said.” ~ Matthew 28:6a

My little boy learned to say the word, “daddy,” today.

It seemed like a fitting day to learn it.

He said it while looking at a picture of his dad he found in our living room, his little face beaming a smile back at the captured one in the photo.

And I am extra thankful Jesus lives today, because I know one day my little boy will be able to meet his dad.  Not through memories or photos, but face to face, surrounded by a heavenly crowd, who have been praying for him since before he was born.

And that hope right there, my friends, is what gets me through when it doesn’t seem like I can take another step.  Because Jesus lives, I know that everything will be okay.

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