Author: marettej

It was one of those irresistible photo’s! But the story behind the photo was far from as cute as the little boy holding the dog all dressed up. This is my nephew, and he was, well, some days a handful. He spent much of his summers at our house and we had a few times where we had to redirect his attention, focus, attitude and behavior. It’s called parenting, but since I was the aunt, then maybe it was called “aunting”.

That day he had been mouthy and a bit disrespectful, I think! That’s 34 years ago so I really don’t know but Aunt Marette decided he needed a “time out”. Now mind you I wasn’t a parent- yet but I figured he needed time upstairs to “think about what he said”. Now as a parent, I realize no one ever sent to “time-out” ever thought about what they said they just thought about what to say to get out of more punishment, but at the time it sounded like a good idea. The puppy went with him. It wasn’t long before I heard the quiet voice, “Aunt Marette” and went to the stairs and saw this. Of course I did what any good aunt would do- took a picture.

God puts us in time out many times. Something happens and we end up somewhere we don’t necessarily want to be, for an undisclosed amount of time, with nothing to do but think. There- I defined “time-out” the best I knew how. We didn’t get time outs as a kid- we got a whooping! However, God has placed me in many time outs and I wonder if I am as productive as Marty. Sorry- I said his name. He found something to do that wasn’t just whining, waiting and worrying or even worse, planning more mischief!

When God puts me in time out I whine, worry, walk in circles and wait for the “have you learned your lesson yet speech” from God. God’s time outs aren’t for us to think about what we have done as much as it is to think about what He has done. Slow down the world, change what you are looking at, see things from another angle and mostly quit running like a hamster on a wheel. God gives us some time to rest, refresh and renew: a spiritual time out. We wonder what we have done wrong, work on a defense of why we are where we are, write a novel on how we have been mistreated and then work up a lather because we don’t know what’s coming next. Spiritual time outs, remember the definition, “we don’t necessarily want to be, for an undisclosed amount of time, with nothing to do but think.” recenter our eyes to focus, our heart to love and our words to be intentional. That is, if we let that time out be productive God wants us to take our moments in time-out, the times “where we are places we don’t want to be, for an undisclosed period of time with nothing to do but think,” for us to draw closer to Him . Psalm 73:28

But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

That I may tell of all Your works”

Don’t waste a time out directed by God or others. Find a way to make it productive to draw closer to God, or like Marty just make someone else smile!

Last night one song came to my head in the oddest , really cool way: and it had nothing to do with the price of beans in China. We use those phrases to emphasize a point, but here it actually had nothing to do with anything I was doing and was “random” in the most wonderful way.

Page 180- It wasn’t just the alto lead on the chorus, or the Bass walking down the scale to hit the Bb, it was something about the song I loved. The song, “On the Jericho Road.” It’s amazing how quick I forget today the things I need to remember, but I can sing every verse of that song from over 60 years ago. It ends with the phrase, “There’s never a care, for Jesus is there.”

So fast forward 60 plus years after I began singing the song, 94 years after the song was written, in the middle of a lake my eyes were opened once again like Blind Bartimaeus. Let me remind you about the song, as some of you may be in the dark. (pun indented- he was healed of his blindness)

Jesus didn’t randomly walk; On the Jericho Road was a place he would walked: a lot. It was a road between, yes you guessed it- Jericho and Jerusalem. It’s a 15 mile walk about but don’t let that deceive you- the elevation goes from 878 feet below sea level to 2472 in those miles. In between the two places. Bethany is on that road, that Jericho Road. Jesus is found on that road in Mark 10.

“ Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”

Our eyes are opened at different times in our lives. Sometimes Jesus heals our emotional blindness, sometimes it is blindness we have chosen, sometimes it is blinders others have put on us, and other times it’s just like, “duh, why haven’t I seen that before?” Jesus healed Bartimaeus but he before he did, he asked him what he wanted him to do. Actually, he didn’t say I want you to heal me, he said, “I want to see.” Jesus asks me what I want him to do. I either make a list and highlight, or I hem and haw and try to make it sound spiritual. This man spit it out: “I want to see”. I want to watch the birds fly, see a child run, see the waves dance on the shore that I can hear, and know what the voice speaking to me looks like. I want to see. He didn’t say that, but I imagine he thought it.

In the past year or so, God has opened my eyes. I am getting older. What is my life worth? How am I really making a difference, what if the best years are over? Those are questions I don’t think I am alone in asking inside my heart. But lately God has opened my eyes to answers that I hadn’t asked for. I have been thrown into a basket of others who are teaching me about love in a way I haven’t “seen” and definitely experienced. Many times, God answers our prayers with what we need rather than what is on our list because he knows what we need to “see” not what we want to “see.”

So, on a boat in the middle of the lake God opened my eyes. It wasn’t on the Jericho Road, it wasn’t anywhere near a road and it wasn’t in Israel, it was actually in Northern Wisconsin. I was driving the boat. The kids were trying to stand in the middle of the pontoon while I switched directions and threw them off balance. Yes, the mothers were there, and it was actually very safe! Well, maybe kind of safe. But the bigger thing I “saw” was the way I could actually throw them to the side of the boat, yes, it is kind of fun, was to pull back on the throttle quickly, halting the forward progress. That would send them all over the boat staggering and laughing. It was like a light bulb going off: my Bartimaeus moment in the middle of a lake not on a road. God changes the speeds of my life not to throw me off, but to laugh and enjoy each speed. I love my sabbaticals: they renew refresh and bring new ideas to my already bursting cranium. The reminder of the song and the last phrase, “There’s never a care, for Jesus is there” was all the blind man on the road needed. My Jericho roads, the places I frequent, the places I go by and don’t see anymore because I have seen them so much are the places Jesus wants to open my eyes. On a boat in the middle of the lake, having fun was an eye opener and a gentle reminder that Jesus opens eyes for a purpose. Jesus gives us people to invest in us, love us, dote on us, spoil us simply so our eyes can be opened. What are you looking at but not seeing? Maybe you need to start walking the Jericho Road, or better yet, come on up to the lake! I will take you for a spin. If you aren’t dizzy when we get done, maybe you will have a “I want to see” moment. God seems to show me a lot of them at the lake.

If I could, but I probably would not. Because if I could, I usually do. I hear people say, if I could do this or that, I would change the world and I think, no you wouldn’t or you would have already tried. It seems valiant our efforts when we are outside the gate looking at the bucking bronco, but things change slightly when we get on the saddle and they open the gate.

If I could, I would think more before I speak. Remember Nehemiah, chapter one we read,

“4When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

5Then I said:.”

I don’t think, if I am honest, I have sat down and wept and mourned for days fasting and praying before I did the saying! What if I did? Then, if I could, I would with wisdom and perhaps counsel from God!