The Times...they are A-changing (ITWW)

                                
Into the Word Wednesday was created by these inspirational women.  Check out their links and join in if you'd like!                       

Laura and Falen at  Upward not Inward
Sarah at Fontenot Four

Kelly at The Houtz House Party

Becky at Tales For Ashes

Kelly at Exceptionalistic

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Here in Florida, people voted for local officials yesterday.  As I filled out my ballot, of course I thought about the presidential election in November.  Leaders change every few years, whether we like it or not.  People move in and out of Washington.  Taxes go up and then down.  Wall Street thrives and then sinks.  Some days it rains; some days it doesn't.

Gasoline used to be a buck a gallon, and stamps were a nickle.  We used to actually need stamps.   

Jennifer Aniston is getting married for the second time.  Tom Cruise is divorcing for the third time.  Michael Phelps is retiring.

As an Air Force wife, I moved eight times.  I grew up hating garbanzo beans; now I love them.  Chrysler is going to stop making the PT Cruiser, my favorite car.  For a short period of time in my adult life, I was a size 12.  (How sweet it was.)  

Stuff changes.  Every day.  Sometimes we like things better; sometimes we don't.  (I still miss Lost.)  This life is a series of transitions.  Elbert Hubbard said, "Life is just one damn thing after another." 

All this change is hard on the human heart, because people like comfort and familiarity.  It's easier when things go as expected.  We feel safer.  Unfortunately, we're often disappointed, because circumstances, even people, are not permanent. 

Luckily, as I was reminded in my morning devotional today....our loving God is unchanging.  He doesn't pause, waver, or renege.  What He says, will be.  One way or another.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.    Heb.13:8

Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.  They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment....and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end.    Ps. 102:25-27

My heart rejoices in this.  It gives me a place to land when nothing else seems solid.

The older I get, the more tenuous life seems.  I see my mom and dad (92 and 89) decline almost weekly, and I know the time is coming when they will be gone.  In all of eternity, we are on this planet a very short time.  From plump, baby flesh to loose, delicate skin, we move from phase to phase until our time here is finished.   There are a lifetime of transitions - losses and gains - in between.

If we let Him, God guides and shelters and provides along the journey.   His life force is steady and strong and permanent.  Everything else is fluid and eventually fades.

I used to jog.  Then, I needed back surgery, so now it's walking for me.  I used to teach; now I write.  My blood used to be thin and fat-free.  Now, it's thicker and clumpy, so I take a pill that helps. 

Mom used to help me bathe.  Now, I help her. 

Nothing stays the same.

Except God.

What changes/transitions in life have you found difficult?  What transitions have been rewarding?

In and Out (ITWW #5)

                                       

Into the Word Wednesday was created by these inspirational women.  Check out their links and join in if you'd like! 
                        
                                   Falen and Laura at Upward, not Inward

Sarah at Fontenot Four

Kelly at The Houtz House Party

Becky at Tales For Ashes

Kelly at Exceptionalistic

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I took my 89 year-old dad to the ER this morning.  He fell out of his wheel chair Sunday afternoon and landed on his left side.  He rested yesterday, but this morning, his shoulder was really hurting.  I tried to get an appointment with his primary care doc, so we could get an order for an X-ray.

No go.  It's a policy of Dad's doc that when an elderly person in an ALF falls, they have to go to the ER.   Neither Dad nor I wanted to go through the ER, as it takes hours to get seen, and Dad almost always ends up being admitted.  He has several health issues, and I think the ER docs are understandably cautious.

But, it was our only option, so I grabbed several issues of Time magazine, and we drove to the ER.  

Amazingly, Dad was placed in a room within ten minutes.   Before the nurse had completed her paperwork, a physician walked in.  She got Dad's story, examined him and ordered some X-rays.  I hadn't even opened my first magazine.

As soon as the doc left, a tech appeared to take blood and then wheeled Dad to radiology.  I thought, are we at the right hospital?  Am I dreaming?

While Dad was gone, I read two articles in Time - a story on the economy, and a Gabby Douglas profile.  What a darling young woman. 

Within twenty minutes, the doc returned with good news - no broken bones, no head trauma.  Coumadin was a little low.  Follow up with the primary physician on that.  Thanks for stopping in, good luck, and see ya.

Dad was wheeled back in, and I helped him redress.   We chatted for ten minutes before the discharge nurse appeared.  Dad signed two papers, and we were ready to go.

As I walked outside to pull the car up to the entrance, I thought, it's only been two hours from start to finish.  In and out of the ER in two hours.  In the history of the universe, this has never happened.  A news team should be here. 

On the ride home, Dad and I marveled at the experience. 

1.  A two-hour ER visit; no broken bones (just a contusion); no internal bleed; no admission papers; no hospital food.  
2.  Kind, efficient medical personnel; no waiting, no waiting, no waiting.

Dad and I decided Tuesday morning was the ideal time to visit the ER.

On this Into the Word Wednesday, I wanted to share my perfect ER experience and thank God for the ride.  Two Wednesdays ago, I was in the dumps and wrote a gripey post.

But, I know this - God wasn't with us any less two weeks ago than He was today.  He wasn't blessing me any more today than He was two weeks ago.   His love and guidance are constant.  They are not based on circumstances.  I just lose sight of that when the world throws me a curve ball.  Because, in the flesh, I'm wobbly and easily distracted.  Life can knock me over like a twig.  And Dad, too, apparently.

This morning, for whatever reason, there were no curve balls.   And I thank God for that.

Dad and me last year

Into the Word 3

Into the Word Wednesday was created by these inspirational women.  Check out their links and join in if you'd like!                              
                                   Falen and Laura at Upward, not Inward

Sarah at Fontenot Four

Kelly at The Houtz House Party

Becky at Tales For Ashes

Kelly at Exceptionalistic

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I'm a little bummed today.  Here's why:

1.  I've gained ten pounds this past year.  My cholesterol is way up, and I have to go on niacin therapy.   I have a tender, swollen thumb joint that's probably arthritis or bursitis, or some other "itis" that I'm likely going to have to live with.  I know all this good news because I had my annual check-up yesterday. 

2.  The upkeep on our house is a getting the better of me this month, and lately, I don't care.

3.  I have to finish writing my book, and I'm dragging my feet, because once I'm done...I have to find a publisher.  That's when the real work begins.

4.  My birthday is next month, and I tell ya', I'm feeling my age.  And older.

5.  I'm always tired, and I'm tired of being tired.

In light of the latest Colorado tragedy, these are piddly things.  I know this.  But, in reality, I can't do anything about the victims in Colorado, except pray for all involved (which I'm doing.)

In my life, with my issues, I have to do stuff.  Like take more pills, put up with side effects, stop eating cupcakes (probably stop baking them), deep clean, discipline my writing self, and reconcile fatigue and aging.

For whatever reason - today, it's all discouraging.

Then, I read this verse in my daily devotional:

In everything, give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  1 Thes. 5:18

Hmm.  Well, then. 

This is not a new verse in my life.  I know we are to be grateful for everything.  But, initially, I just gripe about negative/burdensome/painful things.  It always takes me a while to remember God is the healer of all ailments/problems/tragedies.  He does not cause afflictions (that's the free will thing), but He can use them for good in our lives. That's what He calls us to be grateful for.  The fact that, in His loving, sovereign hands, nothing is wasted. 

In my reworded God-speak, He's saying "Your human condition is just one piece of the operation. The project is not complete until I weave it all together.  Trust me. I'm working on one spectacular tapestry."

So, while God weaves, I'll keep plugging along, trying to eat better and stay on top of things here in the Ballpark.  I'll stay the course on completing my book.  I'll work on accepting lumpy joints and other delights of aging.     

I know there's a cozy, healing blanket in the works.  And for that, I'm thankful.  

Dropping the Backpack

 

Years ago, I attended a youth group meeting with my sister and my nephews.  The youth pastor was talking to the teens about the challenges they were dealing with as emerging adults: peer pressure, difficulties at home, dating drama, academics, self-esteem issues, long-term goals, etc.

I sat there thinking, I'm so glad I'm not a teenager anymore.  The teen years are full of disappointments and angst.

But, then the pastor referenced Matthew 11:30, which reads, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  He went on to say that the world is full of trouble; Jesus told us we'd have trouble.  He also said He has overcome the world.

The pastor reiterated Matthew 11:30 in his own words. "God's burden is light.  That means...if your burden is heavy, it's not from God."

I spent a long time thinking about this.  I didn't have teenage burdens, but I certainly had adult burdens.  My husband and I were still in the throes of raising three children and hoping to get it right; we were always pinching pennies; the Air Force moved us every few years; and we rarely lived close to family.  Not life-threatening stuff, but things about which I was always praying.  The truth is, life often feels burdensome.

This young pastor changed my perspective.  His words made me realize if I was feeling burdened, I had not given God my backpack of concerns.  I needed to let the thing slide off my shoulders.  I needed to - literally - lighten up.  Light is from God; heavy is not.

Our shoulders and hearts are not designed to carry heavy; we're stick people with short-term brains and breakable hearts.  God's shoulders are made of granite; His heart and mind cannot be moved, nor broken.  He alone can lift up the burdens of this world.

Once I processed this, I had a sense of liberation.  God did not create me to be worried and burdened.  He created me to rejoice in His strength and willingly give Him the backpack.  That's my job.  

Just give Him the backpack.

Once it begins to feel heavy, hand it over.

Over the years, I've remembered this at times and forgotten it at others.  We cling to our backpacks because we forget that God is trustworthy.  We simply forget.  Because, we're stick people with distractable brains and fickle hearts.

Luckily, God loves us anyway and keeps reaching for the crippling backpacks.  "Let it go," He whispers.  Sometimes we wrestle Him over it, which is really silly.  Granite vs. sticks.  Solid vs. inconsistent.  Strong vs. weak.

We're so human.  And He's so not.

And, isn't that great? 

 p.s. what's in your backpack today?  What's keeping you from handing it over? 
 

What's Your Idol?

Growing up, I understood idols to be gold cows and silver coins and men lusting after women who were not their wives.  I didn't own any cows (of any color) or silver, and men were just rude, I thought.  So, idols weren't a problem for me.

Thirty-plus years later, I get it.  I still don't have any cows or silver, and I still believe that, yes, men can be rude.  So can women, but that's another post.

But, my, oh my, how God reveals the heart...if we ask Him to.

Years ago, a pastor defined an idol as whatever we can't live without.  Because, the only thing that should have such a hold on us is God.

Under that definition, things look a bit different, don't they? 

This pastor was not saying we can't have things in life we enjoy, cherish, and love - like hobbies, people, and chocolate.   Life is a gift, and we are meant to celebrate it while we're here.  

But, we have to be careful that whatever we're devoted to does not rise above our honoring of and devotion to God, who gave us life itself.  Because, in the end, everything but God will turn to dust.  Even people.  God is the constant.  The only eternal element.

That Gucci bag?  It's temporary.

Those eight pairs of heels?  Temporary. 

Starbucks?  Temporary.

Supple skin, perky breasts, and silky hair?  (Yes, we can be our own god.)  Temporary.  (How well I know this.)

Fettuccine Alfredo, homemade bread, good wine, Nutella?  After spending a few decades on your hips....temporary.  

My house.  My PT Cruiser.  The big screen TV.   The NFL.  The NBA.  The Housewives of Wherever.  Even (sigh) my LOST DVDs.   All temporary.  Future dust.  

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, even (gasp) blogs - in the end, they won't matter.  We won't care.

This pastor offered two questions that generally reveal our idols.

1.  What do we spend our time on?
2.  What do we spend our money on?

Those are the things we value.  If we can't live without them.....well.

Something to ponder.

I know what my idols are, and I swat at them daily.  They're persistent little buggers.  They are highly ingrained desires that are not in themselves bad, I just spend too much time with them. (Beware: on the surface, idols always look attractive and harmless.) 

So, for all us idol worshipers, here's my prayer:

Dear Lord, help me to remember that only You and your love for me can ultimately satisfy my longing, human heart.  The glitter/vices of this world are deceptive and fleeting.  Help me be grateful for all that You provide, but to keep in the forefront of my mind to use my resources wisely.  Help me to keep things in perspective.  Help me to invest in things of eternal value.  Help me to put nothing before my relationship with You.  And, let no one bring home any M&Ms this week.

Amen.