Category: Devotions

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-9pr9a-f25ac4

I am sitting on an almost 70 degree day in the cemetery on a bench. Not what I planned- I planned to ride my bike and enjoy the day and stop here on my ride. Through a series’s of unfortunate events, the bike had to be carried back to the car. so with the bike ride gone, I went and got my comfort food, a Diet Coke and came to cemetery to be still. A year ago today we baptized my friend, her husband and daughter. Ten days later he died. Oh we knew he was dying- we all are terminal but he had a brain tumor. Time was running out on the proverbial clock. Hence why I am sitting on a bench in the cemetery talking to Mark. Actually I haven’t talked as much as I have listened. I have learned to listen. To God, to others, to my kids and to strangers in the checkout line at Hy-Vee. Listening makes you aware of things. Things like the sun : you can hear the sun. And the breeze and the dead leaves crunching under my feet. There are things to hear when you are quiet. The traffic on the road reminds me that life goes on. The sun weaving its way through the trees is a gentle reminder that time stands still for no one. I tune in some music to think with and God was ready. The song was called, Stand still. “ When you feel you have reached the end he’ll make a way for you- stand still and let God move.” So many times I want to be the one moving cuz that means something is happening. I need to be reminded that moving doesn’t bring me any closer to what God wants of me, and sometimes I am just moving in circles. God moves when I don’t have the strength or don’t know which direction. So in the quiet of the oddest place to find inspiration I just listen to God move. I watch the shadows fall and am thankful for where I am sitting. The shadows bring the trees alive with movement even though I knows it’s only a shadow, it’s just kind of neat. I am sitting on a memory of the sweetest kind. Sometimes God wants us to just stand still long enough to let the world around us move and bring beauty we don’t see moving! So here I sit, a few tears but lots of thankfulness that God allowed me the chance to be here, in this place with memories that are sweet enough to shed a tear over! Some people never have the blessing of being missed by others.

Actually, it cost more than that. That was just the price of the card. Add 55 cents for postage and a bit of time and some ink to write on the inside and then it cost some time to walk and put it in the mailbox.

How do we value the things we do in life? Why do we do what we do? I hate to admit it, but I have gone card shopping, picked one out and then looked at the price! I am cheap, however, I prefer the word, “Frugal”. I think “frugal” sounds more “Christian”. And I have bought way too expensive cards because I had to buy a card. I have also bought cards that were probably a bit on the ornery side because, well, I could. I have bought a lot of cards in my day and I still believe in the Pony Express. There is something about getting a card in the mail. It’s a moment when your heart skips a beat as you look through the mail and at this time of year, it’s not a political advertisement. It’s a handwritten note. It’s handwriting you recognize. Most of the time the reason you recognize the handwriting is because of the relationship. The reason why you value the relationship is the time invested. The reason you invested time is because someone reached a hand out, and one of you reached back. The point of reaching the hand out was the desire for a friend. The desire for a friend comes from the longing God put in our hearts to be a community, created for a herd mentality and the desire of our heart. Proverbs reminds us of that. “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.”

It all boils down to, you don’t get the card without time committed to be a friend. In fact I have never gotten a card from just “someone” mailed to me. Well, I get letters to “resident at” or even more inventive, “household presiding at” but the letters and cards that steal my heart say in cursive handwriting, my name! But that relationship didn’t come overnight and if not cultivated and cared for relationships just grow without direction and full of weeds: kind of like my garden I attempt every year. Grows well, just not the things I thought I planted because, well, I just walked by it and said, “There is my garden” rather than spending time in it. Being a friend takes a step from both sides to meet. Sometimes it’s in the middle, sometimes one has to walk a bit farther but it’s all about the relationship.

Ironically, I had bought a card to send, and hadn’t mailed it yet. Call it harvest in Minnesota and just it’s still sitting on my desk but I had bought the card. I will mail it! Not because it’s tit for tat, you send me a card, I sent you a card, but because of the pleasantness of a friend that Proverbs talks about. It just does the heart good. But more importantly, it’s encouragement and in this world we are living in, we need encouragement. “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11. Paul saw the merit of cards! Perhaps they didn’t have Hallmark back then, or Dayspring, or Leanin’ Tree but they had ways of encouraging one another. It was expected, it was being done and it was being encouraged to keep doing. Paul wasn’t just speaking in the first century, he was intending it to be something that whoever reads that section of Scripture grips with both hands and holds on to… and then does what it says! So go spend $3.29, or $3.50, or $5.00 or just fold a piece of paper two ways and make your own card. And you can afford it- that’s less than a Frappe Cappuccino Express. (Like I actually know what that is- NOT). Go love someone. Go send a card! For no reason. For a reason. Because the leaves are falling. Because it’s Monday. Because a card regardless of it’s cost, is priceless to the heart.

It’s one of my life verses- actually that’s the end of the verse. “For your Heavenly Father knows that you need these things… But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” come before that part of the verse. I don’t need much. I live pretty simply. My closet of clothes is pretty small. In fact I own more violins than I do blue jeans. Goodwill and savers are more preferred shopping than a Target or Kohl’s. Those seem to be the “things “ that our culture stops at. The things we need or think we need.

This week I needed different things and I had them added to me. A long visit with a friend, a beautiful day to plant bulbs, rain falling, a card in the mail, three Bible studies in a 10 hour time period, two meals made for grandpa J, and that doesn’t even count the hours on the lake with a crossword puzzle book, watching Jim cut down trees and grilling by the dock. Those are the needs that meet my heart. I need people, quiet, Gods word, friends and maybe even a chipotle that was open, a rice bowl and a coke Diet Coke. Not big things but things that move my heart to see God in the everyday moments as I seek his kingdom and attempt to live a life of righteousness. For me that’s better than stuff!

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