ANTICIPATION

Sunday after church we stopped by the mall to eat lunch on the way home from church. You could tell those of us who had been at church; we were a bit more dressed up than those lugging shopping bags. We got our food and settled down at a table in the middle to eat. I love watching people eat. Not that I enjoy watching people eat, but I enjoy watching people in the process of eating. One family caught my eye. Grandpa was sitting with the baby and the older girls were flitting between grandma, the table and mom. I remember those years. The kids were usually so hungry they thought they would die (we still hear that today but no one has died yet), and if anyone is with me, I get the slowest food line and the cashier who can't take my order and then it's not what I ordered. Eating at the mall has it's advantages which is also the disadvantage; there are many places to choose from. We were only a 2 line family yesterday but there have been times when we are all in 5 different lines.
What caught my eye was the little girl sitting on the end of a table across from us. She had waited for Grandma to get the Subway order and then kept swinging her feet while Grandpa held the baby and looked around for Mom to get back from whatever line she had been They all sat looking at their food until everyone was sitting down and then they bowed their heads to pray. Now about this time, the rebel in me wants to stand up and yell, "Go Jesus", but the sensible part of my Norwegian blood just sat watching. What amused me was the little girls actions. She had her head bowed the entire time but her head was bobbing up and down and her hands, clasped together in the traditional Sunday School prayer format but they were going up and down opposite to her head. I watched as Grandpa prayed. The little girl never quit. I'm not sure if she is a constant motion kid; she didn't really seem like it before then because she was waiting so patiently. Perhaps she was just so excited that she could not keep still. Grandpa obviously didn't say a simple quick prayer. It was a bit more involved because I watched for about 30 seconds as she bobbed, nodded, bobbed, nodded, shook her hands, bobbed, nodded, etc. With the same motion she was bobbing and nodding as soon as the prayer was ended, the wrap came up into her hands and a big bite and the nodding and bobbing quit.
There is something about anticipation that makes us bob and nod. We used to stand by the kitchen door and watch when company was coming. More than a few times we have driven up to Aaron and Kristin's house in Peoria, and seen little faces pressed to the glass waiting for the family. When we know something is going to happen we anticipate excitement or perhaps fear.
Yesterday morning in church I invited the congregation to kneel and pray with me. I pulled the microphone off the stand, knelt by the piano and begin to pray. I wasn't watching but I didn't think a lot of people were bobbing and nodding and hopping around during prayer. Why not? Because we forget what it's like to let the thrill of excitement go through every vein in our body. Shouldn't we anticipate talking to the creator of the universe with excitement and fear? We should be chomping at the bit to tell him everything in our heart and give him our fears. We should be bopping our hands in excitement thinking we can hardly make it through praying to get a bite out of whatever he's laid in front of us as our blessing. We should be so excited to pray that we anticipate the moment that we simply say, "God, it's me and you won't believe what I've got to tell you." I'm not sure I anticipate prayer with that excitement. Sometimes I anticipate the answers to the prayers I am putting up to God. Often, I anticipate my reaction to the answers I think I'll get before I've even said "amen" but do I anticipate praying? Do I sit on the edge of my seat waiting to pray? Is talking to God so exciting that I am bobbing, nodding and shaking just because of the thrill that speaking to God is?
I watched until we were done eating. That little girl sat and ate every bit of her wrap. She seemed so content and happy with her tummy full and her grandma and grandpa there to share not only love but the moments of simply praying for a Subway lunch. It reminded me of how simple God wants the relationship with me to be and how complicated I often times make it become. Marette

Now I lay me down to sleep

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, and if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."
We heard an old fashioned evangelist last night. It was my night to lead worship at the Union Gospel Mission so Tyler went with to run powerpoint and a traveling minister was there to preach. I led worship using old camp songs; he preached about camping in the wilderness. God uses all things to make it look like it was planned. He reminded us of old prayers; especially the lay me down to sleep prayer. How often we say things we don't really mean; well perhaps not that we don't mean but when things change, we change. Let me explain.
Most of us say some kind of a prayer as we are drifting off to sleep. For me it's the end of the day, refresher with God; kind of like a reviewal of the events, analyzing the good and figuring out how to handle the bumps in the road. But there are days when I do the "now I lay me down to sleep" kind of prayer. I like the prayer; I have nothing against it except it's meaning get's lost when we wake up. "Now I lay me down to sleep. " Sometimes going to bed is relief. Sometimes going to bed is because of exhaustion. Sometimes going to bed is because there is nothing left in the day. We lay ourselves down to sleep. We totally rely on God to handle putting us to sleep.
"I pray the Lord my soul to keep" If we have a living faith in God, this is a no brainer. If we really believe that He is keeping us 24/7 then praying that he keeps our soul during the night reminds us that God's work is pretty simple right now because we aren't fighting him. We pray that he keeps our soul when it's not active; are we praying that he keeps our soul when we wake up and are getting ready to do "our thing" for the day? Not always. It's more that we worry about what might happen during the night when we aren't conscious. We think that if we are not aware, God needs to be on call because we can't handle the situation. The reality of life is, we can't handle any situations regardless of our consciousness. We need God to keep our soul more during the awake hours because that's when we have the ability to really mess things up big time.
"If I did before I wake"... usually when we go to sleep it's dark. I never did like the dark. I'm not sure who told me there were boogy men under the bed, probably my older brothers, but it worked. I didn't like whoever or whatever was hiding under my bed ready to come out and grab me when it was dark. It I don't wake up, I definately need a little help;
"I pray the Lord my soul to take." If I don't wake up, heaven is the next best thing because in my mind it's dark in hell. Remember I don't like dark. I don't want to be somewhere in the dark if I die. I want to be where there is light. I want to be where there is peace. I want to be where there is God. The problem with the prayer is that in the morning when we wake up, it's not dark, the boogy man didn't get us, we take the reins back from God and say, "Okay- since I didn't die, I'm back in control for the day."
When in life do we actually begin praying what we believe?
Perhaps it would be better if we prayed,
"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, and If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. And in the morning, when I rise, I won't attempt to run my life, The God who made me knows my needs, I'll simply pray and let Him lead."

Father's Day

We had a wonderful Father's Day weekend up at the cabin. Addlea called on her way to church to tell her dad Happy Father's Day. We had two Jim's and an Aaron at the cabin who were fathers. Kristin's father is named Jim and so all three opened their presents right after a nice breakfast of pancakes; with designs and chocolate chips. The kids bought their grown father a small toy remote control boat. It has been the joke a few times and Addlea asked me if he was serious? I said it didn't matter, it would make a fun gift for the cabin. They took it out on the water and had a great time with it; we haven't tried to how far across the lake it will be yet but I'm sure there is time for that. When we got home last night we had family Bible study in the living room and after it was all over, Addlea came over to her dad and thanked him for being such a great dad and then in return he said, "Thanks for the boat." Addlea didn't miss a beat. "You're welcome, you paid for it." She then went on to add, "you paid for the orange slices too." One of Jim's favorites is orange slices.
I was reading on Facebook this morning and saw Michelle's comments about her dad and his picture. Our dad's were good friends and both are in heaven. Both dad's would do just about anything for their kids. Both dads, well, I'm pretty sure Mike did too, paid for their own Father's day gifts in a round about way.
If I were to buy a gift for my father, now that I'm older, it would be probably more common sense than when I was younger. But there is something refreshing about the gifts children buy their fathers. I really thought my dad needed a new saw. I had $5 and bought a beautiful wood handled saw. I still have hanging in my garage the velvet picture of a bull I bought my father for his last Father's day. We know what everyone got him because he wrote it on the back of the picture. I wasn't living at home then, so it my dad really didn't buy that gift. Why he would have wanted a velvet painted bull I have no idea, but it was a good idea at the time.
Life down here usually means someone has to pay for the gift. Sometimes when you're the parent, you buy your own gift in a round about way. As a parent, it's fun because the gifts coming through the love eyes of children say love like nothing else can; often good for nothing except the "I love you Daddy" that they bring.
Many times I say thank you to God for what he gives me and in the very same breath I have to say, "you paid for it." I thank him for the freedom to worship; God paid for it with the life of his son. I thank him for forgiveness; only made possible through the blood. I thank him for second chances; once again only made possible because Jesus rose again. We are thankful for the gifts we cannot purchase regardless of the amount of money we have. I have been blessed so much; God provided it. I have so many talents; God equipped me. I have so many life long friends; God directed our paths to cross. I have been pulled up the mountain by God's hand and kept from falling down the other side by his arm around me. I have struggled to get across the river and been thrown a life jacket of mercy. How can I say thank you when I know the price God paid, but then again how can I not say thank you when I know how much it cost God? I am forever grateful for a heavenly father who not only knows the gifts I need but also has unlimited funds to provide them. I need to quit worrying about the 'stuff' in life and just start opening the gifts that lie with my name on them. My gift to God in return cannot be bought with an earthly price. No matter what I do, I cannot bargain enough to offset what God's done for me. Those are the times when you simply step back and say "let me live for you." For all the blessings, all the gifts, all the angels of protection flying above me, all God wants me to do is simply "live for him." Don't make it harder than it is, don't make it complicated, don't try to sugar coat or understand, just live for God and let him give, give and give. For those of you with Father's Day piles in the closet of unique gifts that have no good use here on earth, remember it's the thought that counts... and perhaps you have a life time supply of white elephant gifts!!!!

Get used to saying Goodbye

We heard an incredible sermon today- Mother's Day. Although it wasn't exactly about Mothers, it was about the church and their plans, vision statement and mission statement. In short it was about making more disciples and making better disciples. The one comment that stood out for me was near the end of the sermon when the minister began to share that we should get used to saying goodbye because we aren't supposed to get be comfortable sitting in the pew beside the same people every week. We are to grow, expand, move on, serve, bless and grow... and that will mean that you will be saying goodbye and hello!!!! Wow- that means we are supposed to quit saving a seat for our friends in church and welcome that new family with the little kid that colors on the hymnal. That means we are supposed to get out of our comfort zone and invite someone out to lunch we don't know very well... so we get to know them better and help them grow. That's a tough one- get used to saying goodbye!

Why can't I just bring a salad?

I learned several years ago that if you say, "Whatever need me to do, just give me a holler" can come back to haunt you. Well, perhaps not haunt, but definately change your life. I casually said that to my Bass guitar player in my worship band. Then, he called and for 9 months I babysat tripletts. It was a wonderful, but tiring experience. So the other day when I said, "Just let me know if you need me to do anything", I did mean it, just not that. My friend from growing up years was losing her earthly fight with cancer. I went down to visit and had a wonderful 90 minutes of bonding, praying and left knowing it would be the last time I saw her on this earth. I said the "whatever" bit and then they called. The "whatever" they needed was a bit more than my heart wanted. I'd really just have preferred, "can you bring a salad or babysit during the funeral", but no it was, "Can you sing a song you wrote in 1979 at the funeral?" My memory is poor, and I could only remember about the first 2 lines and went through all my music in vain. Then I remembered that I recorded a whole bunch of songs and they were in the basement on cassette tapes. Thanksfully, that song was there. So Tuesday I will go and give honor to someone who battled breast cancer. I will go and share from the heart and this time it will be a bit more painful than babysitting the tripletts. It will cost more than bringing potatoe salad, but it will warm the heart a lot longer. For you see, God taught me years ago to make the offer and let Him give me the power to fufill my promise. That for God is a piece of cake; for me it will be a faith building, character walking to the piano experience but also a time to bless dear friends. And the song... It's called Sunny Side of the Mountain. It was written after my second cousin was killed and my uncle died the next day. I don't think I have ever sung it since I sang it in church in Owatonna in 1979. I will sing it again; it's now recorded and God will be honored and Sherill remembered with love and devotion and we are living not for what we see on this side of the mountain but for what's on the Sunny Side of the Mountain.

God's plans

GOD'S ACCURACY How lovely to think about the way our Creator God plannedeverything socarefully and perfectly, everything with a plan. As Hishighest creation, we are fearfully and wonderfully made.' God's accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs.For example, the eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days; Those of the canary in 14 days; Those of the barnyard hen in 21 days.The eggs of ducks and geese hatch in 28 days;The eggs of the parrot and the ostrich hatch in 42 days. (Notice, they are all divisible by seven). God's wisdom is seen in the making of an elephant. Thefour legs of thisgreat beast all bend forward in the same direction. Noother Quadruped is somade. God planned that this animal would have a huge body,too large to liveon two legs. For this reason He gave it four fulcrums sothat it can risefrom the ground easily. The horse rises from the ground onits two frontlegs first. A cow rises from the ground with its two hindlegs first. How wise the Lord is in all His works of creation!God's wisdom is revealedin His arrangement of sections and segments, as well as inthe number of grains. Each watermelon has an even number of stripes on the rind. Each orange has an even number of segments. Each ear of corn has an even number of rows. Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains. Every bunch of bananas has, on its lowest row, an even number of bananas,and each row decreases by one, so that one row has an evennumber and the next row an odd number.The waves of the sea roll in on shore twenty-six to theminute in all kinds of weather.All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks. The Lord specified thirty fold, sixty fold,and a hundredfold - all even numbers. God has caused the flowers to blossom at certain specifiedtimes during theday, so that Linneus, the great botanist, once said thatif he had aconservatory containing the right kind of soil, moistureand temperature,he could tell the time of day or night by the flowers thatwere open and those that were closed!Thus the Lord in His wonderful grace can arrange the lifethat is entrustedto His care in such a way that it will carry out Hispurposes and plans,and will be fragrant with His presence. Only theGod-planned life issuccessful. Only the life given over to the care of theLord is safe.

Hymns never leave the heart

We took off this past weekend and headed for Illinois and the chance to play with my brothers three darling daughters. On the way, one of our goals was to stop in Iowa City and visit Bro. Dale. I've known Bro. Dale since probably about age 15. He has always been this quiet, unassuming gentlemen and as a minister he lived with a heart of gold and a faith that radiated. We've kept in contact through the years of changes in my life but in the past about 10 years we have kept better contact and many times traveled to Iowa to visit. One time we went up the road to Herbert Hoovers birthplace, other times hit McDonalds for lunch and spent lots of time visiting. One time I took Baihley out of school, made a pot of soup and headed for a 7 hours of driving and 3 hours of visiting. Lately, Bro. Dale has had a few set-backs, starting with a broken hip and then pneumonia. Our goal was to stop and visit at the Rehab Care Center where he has been staying. We found him excited to see us and after moving him into a wheelchair we went for a tour of the center. Talking was a bit of a challenge due to his cough. What does one do when one visits? One usually talks. I knew we needed to come up with plan B or it would be us wearing him out even more. We sat in the hallway for a bit, then as the activity room cleared out we went down the hall and I sat down at up the piano. There was Tyler, Baihley, Dale and I and a piano. What a great alternative to conversation. I'd play a hymn and Dale would tell us the name of it. There were more than a few times when I had to play through to the chorus before he came up with the title but most of the time he had the words on the tip of his tongue. I noticed a few more voices behind me and then someone called out, "Can you play Whispering Hope?" There were several more people in wheelchairs and the aides were pushing more people in all the time. I played; they clapped and called out more titles. I could play them all except I'm sure I didn't do Maple Leaf Rag justice; but no one seemed to care I heard, "Greensleeves" and after that I played "Oh Danny Boy". By this time we had quite a large crowd gathered. These elderly people weren't shy; they just kept calling out names of hymns. What is it about a hymn that never leaves the heart? Some of these people probably have dementia challenges but when it comes to hymns, they would begin humming, singing and words seemed to come to mind. There is something about how a hymn is written that it's form has the kind of structure that is easy to remember musically and soothing. Bach understood form. Beethoven understood form. Mozart understood form and how to write a melody so that it is etched in the mind. The words of the Wesley's, Philip Bliss and others in the early years of hymnal sharing painted pictures that are written in the heart in a way that they don't go away even though the mind may wander and the memory may fade. I wouldn't have played more than three notes of "The Old Rugged Cross" and I could hear the humming behind me. The first five notes of Amazing Grace had the lips singing and the tears starting. There is something about a Hymn that it never leaves the heart. Years of living, troubles, struggles and disappointments can be forgotten in a phrase that starts out so simple, "Oh, Lord My God." I played for over 40 minutes. More wheelchairs came and parked along the edges. No music, no books, no notes; it was just me at the piano playing from memory, from the gift that God gave me and the favorite hymns and songs that came to the minds of the hearts sitting at the Greenwood Care Center in Iowa City.
Today we stopped on the way back home to say hi once again. I had knit a scarf on the way from Peoria to Iowa City this morning and I took it into the Care Home with me.. As we left, one lady was getting ready to leave for the day and I asked her if she would like a scarf? She smiled and tried to talk to me. M.S. had taken most of her ability to communicate but I understood somewhat. As I wrapped the scarf around her coat, she said haltingly, "I loved the music. I loved to hear you play," She was one of those sitting in the room Friday when I played. A few minutes sitting at a piano bench sharing from the heart, had made us friends. I tucked the scarf around her smiling face and marvelled that as I had knit the scarf on the way from Peoria to Iowa City, I prayed that whoever needed a scarf would be put in my way. She was so much in my way we couldn't walk without moving her wheelchair! That was an easy sign to recognize. Blessing others has to be one of the funnest things we're told to do in our daily walk. This is what Jesus meant by giving a cup of cold water. Just be who God created you to be, wherever you find yourself. It was so simple; a piano, hymns and hearts just waiting to be blessed. And the scarf; well that was just the ribbon on the package. Live each day so that you always have a scarf to wrap around someone's neckor a hymn to leave in their heart.

The Wounded Tree

I took my college daughter and flew to Florida for a week with my sister and parents. Normally it's good to take a break in the middle of winter, but when it's below zero and blizzards, it's even better to go to Florida. We would call home and the wind-chill would be quite below zero and we were trying hard not to rub it in sitting in the sun on the beach. Mother and Dick live in a retirement community and one day we went to Shalom Park which is a part of the development. It's designed to be a peaceful place for thought, beauty and toward the south side of the park they had a mediation walkway; I believe it's called a Labyrinth. You go in one way and continue the entire walk. This walk had little signs with different sayings about nature, peace, thoughts of the heart and statements to make you think about your life. We weren't taking it too seriously because we were just having too much fun, but I did take pictures and one of the parts really hit home; the wounded tree. The first sign was right below a tree with a very ugly knot and growth on the side.
The sign said,

" The wounded heart tree. What may have caused such a wound? All of us are wounded, even the greatest among us. Notice how this tree still stands strong. How did this tree learn to deal with his hard times?"

Looking at the tree you see the huge trunk and then about 10 feet up is the gnarled knot and beyond that the tree resumed it's growth and was at least 40 feet tall. As you walked past the tree on the other side there was another sign. This one was what touched me the most. As you looked at the tree from where the sign was placed it was as if nothing had happened to the tree. You could not see even a small difference from that side. The sign said,

"Can you position yourself in such a way as to not see the wound? Is that how we as people choose to show the world our wounds? In so doing are we not withholding the lessons of life from them? Isn't it in overcoming our adversities from which our strength and resolve drives roots deeper into the ground?"

Two thoughts come to mind; number one is he is right and number two is he is wrong. How he is right is that we need to learn from our wounds. We need to grow through it and keep growing. The wounds teach us about our selves, our hearts and our relationship with God.
How he is wrong is though we need to let others know of the wounds in our lives and show them how we have overcome them, so many times we are proud of our wounds and position ourselves so that others see only the wounds and not the growth. We want sympathy, special treatment, attention, spotlights and pats on the back. Using our wounds to teach others how to grow is healthy. Using our wounds to benefit ourselves is self centered. I would much rather meet someone who is growing tall and strong, the other side of the tree and then find out later after I have learned to love and respect their walk with God that they had a wound that made them grow through it rather than meet someone with a walking wound and that's all I see is the wound. God wants us to persevere. That doesn't mean ignore the wounds, that means grow through them. That means when people see us, they see a strong, tall tree. Eventually there will come a time when hearts open up and we show others our wounds.

Romans 5:3
"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations (wounds) knowing that tribulation (wounds) produce perseverance;
and perseverance, character; and character hope."

So when you look at people, I pray that you see where God has led them and what God has done in their lives; eventually they may share the wounds and the valleys along the way that God has led them through. And always be willing to show your wounds when it's appropriate to those who can benefit from them. It's a great feeling to be struggling and someone you love comes along side and shares that they too have been there and God led them to be stronger in their faith.