Category: Devotions

Normally, funerals aren’t fun. Normally funerals are short. We had this little debate driving to the cemetery. Someone mentioned one of the speakers spoke too long. I said, nay nay. I would have felt cheated if I had worked to get all the way out to Atlanta and it been a ten minute funeral, my kids went to docs funeral a few years ago. It was 92 minutes long. The kids kept track. But they also said it was one of the coolest things. We learned so much. We laughed a lot. We cried a bit. We lived almost 93 years. A life well lived should take awhile to remember. Friday was a day of mixed emotions. It was a day of chaos in some ways…all the work that it takes to live and get around depending on rental cars and friends. But the hugs, the bugs we got from the hugs, the memories, the eyes of an old friend and the hearts that bonded were priceless. Sitting and sharing with friends their faith walk, their present life, their goals, their dream; perhaps it was Gods way of saying slow down and listen to others hearts for awhile.

The celebration service was what challenged me to live a life worth the days Gods given me. Live; don’t be stagnant. Find people to mentor where you are at. Invest in others. Love people even if it means you may love them wrong or hurt their feelings. Love people. Love God. Be passionate about knowing what you believe. Sacrifice to help others take a step to improve themselves. See hearts not skin, see the gleam in their eye not fear. Possess what God has given you. Don’t just own it, possess it. Care for your talents, developed them and give em to others. See in people potential and help develop it. Introduce others to the great physician and let him make something of their lives. Watch others grow and be the fertilizer so they grow strong and healthy. Call. Send letters. Stay in touch. Love much. When we were at the cemetery one of the things we were challenged to bury with the body of the man we so highly respected was grudges, unforgiveness, complaining, hatred and ill will. Be a man/women of God who is to all people, all things. Be to the child, an example to follow. Be to the teenager a mentor, be to the young mom, an encourager, be to the poor, a helping hand but one who rises them up not puts them down. To the lonely, be a friend, to the ones on the edges, be an included. But most of all what I heard on Friday was to life your life worthy of the days God gives you in is earth. If he gives you many, be worth many things of which to glorify God, if he gives you a few, make every moment count so that others see Gods glory in you. We have a saying in the horse world, ride like you stole it. In the spiritual world, Love like you don’t have tomorrow. Live a life worthy of the breaths you will be given. And live them full speed ahead with heaven on your gps.

Simple they said. Just fly thru Chicago. Yes, friends are flying on that flight; we will be together and have a fun time. Simple they said. That’s what plans are. Simply that; plans. And yet as I sit and wait for another flight as I would have missed my connecting flight, I marvel that it all actually works . Plans that is. We make plans and assume that they actually are going to work out like we think. As I ponder the thins going through my head, it’s the amusement of the situation that has the smiles coming. Fred…my friend I am going to honor his life at his celebration service would have said, bring it on. What’s life with a few ruts gravel road and potholes on the side. What’s life without plans going totally amuck and having to rearrange your life. What’s life without an adventure? We all tend to think we want life to go by…neatly and without a wrinkle in our apron. And what is the basic essence of memories? What went wrong, and what we learned to laugh at along the way. We make plans and God smoothly rearranges our plans so we look for the sweet giggles and treasure the moments of chaos. We will treasure them. Maybe not today. I have been sitting in an airport for many hours now. I will go to Houston. I didn’t know I wanted to go to Houston. I will then hopefully hop on another flight for Atlanta. Such a simple plan… such a different outcome. So obviously God didn’t want our simple plan to work. He could have just said that earlier. This weekend could be an adventure. Hearts forgotten about, friends lost in the midst of lives that went different directions and memories… many many memories. God blesses out hearts and sometimes he works in unique ways. If I only look for the beauty along the sidewalks I am walking instead of tripping over the broken concrete. If only I smile at the mom and her baby. If only I spend a few minutes just resting in him and not worrying about me…

It’s beginning to always seem to happen when we are at the cabin. In October I got a phone call that started with, “are you alone and are you sitting down?” I remember where we were driving on the road when that phone call came.

The other night, I was sitting on the couch, keeping warm by the fire when the phone beeped and I saw a note, “just to let you know my father passed away an hour ago.”

Several years ago,  fulfilled something on my bucket list. To go spend time with the people who helped shape my heart about a lot of things when I was younger. I went with them to England as a missionary, lived on the east coast for a year with them, traveled and did concerts, listened to sermon upon sermon and then as the years went by we stopped to see them in Florida and Georgia, kept track of their lives as easy as it is from afar and my bucket list was to spend time with them.  That’s a long run on sentence; it has been a long run-on experience.

Some people enter your lives. Some people you experience. Some people give you challenges. Some people encourage you to move on. Some people remind you why you should stay. God usually puts people in our lives so we are honed; sharpened, rough edges removed and shined up. God can do it without people, but our best times in life are when God puts people in our lives to give us those little learning lessons.

I knew Fred; he was a good friend of my fathers. My father went to Israel with him, traveled to spend time with him, encouraged him in his ministry so when Fred suggested when he as at our house my senior year that I go to England, I was all for it and my dad thought it was a good experience. That opened my eyes to a different kind of world that the farm in the Midwest.

You learned a lot when you were with Fred. He was an incredible scholar. I sat under him in Greek class. I did pass, but  not sure how much I learned. He oozed learning. When he taught you had to listen because he had so much to say that sometimes you got lost in what you should remember… and for once the saying, “it’s all Greek to me” could apply in it’s context.  You learned about loving people who were different than you. I remember walking into a storefront church in Hartford, Conn. and feeling like an Oreo. There were 5 pale skinned people and about 300 dark skinned people. I never felt the pale and dark- I felt other people. And when I had the honor of playing the piano the biggest compliment ever given to me was, “I didn’t know a white girl could play with soul.”  I loved going to worship in Hartford. Of course I loved the Postalia’s. (i have no clue how to spell it). It was an Indian flatbread with a meat pocket in it. We walked up to some hole in the wall, ordered and out they came; wrapped up in a paper towel. They were dripping with grease and one of the best things I have ever eaten.  I loved worship partly because it was in the afternoon. We would walk around and get kids to come to church.  I learned a lot sitting on the front porch with Sister Johnson and when she sat down to play the piano, it talked a language I had never learned growing up.

Fred came to visit my father right before he died. I eavesdropped on a conversation of theirs about the matters of the heart. Listening to men talk about God, life, what changed, why we do what we do and what faith means was something I will never forget.  The last time I saw Fred is also something I will never forget. Waving me from the front porch as I drove away in my boys black jeep, waving, still grunting about the Valentines I had left on the counter. He probably was still grunting about me making us pose for a photo. Photo’s weren’t really Fred’s thing. They were mine. As I grow older, photo’s have become more important to me. Fred didn’t care, but he did play along. Getting him to smile- well that was a different inning of the ballgame he didn’t want to play.  I learned staying with them that my words didn’t need a dictionary when we played Scrabble. Theirs were a bit more complex. I learned that the meal made in love though wasn’t the best tasting, was what fellowship was all about. And then I took them out to eat! Maybe that was the driving force behind Ramen noodles for supper. And, you didn’t tell Fred what to do. I had a feeling you could cook Ramen noodles for three in one pot. No, we had three pots on the stove-top with a package of Ramen noodles in each pot. I learned that as Fred aged his driving didn’t improve and add a cell phone in his hand, I once again learned that praying while riding in the front seat was totally acceptable. Oh and might I add it was during one of the ice storms in Atlanta.  His love for his wife was what kept him calling to see if she was OK. He didn’t seem to think my white knuckles and quick breaths on the other side of the front seat were of any concerns. Fred had everything under control.  When he introduced me to his friends, the ones I just had to meet, there was a bragging I didn’t think I quite deserved but then again, I made time out of my life, to come and be a part of theirs once again. And if you were a friend, you were a lifetime friend. Fred loved his friends…

I learned that snoring would become a comforting sound. That watching TV didn’t mean watching TV but a new place to take a nap.  I listened as he talked with a Jewish Rabbi and discussed in length the latest topic they were discussing. Of course, we only hear Fred’s part of the telephone conversation so it was rather one sided.  I was driven around to meet their friends.  I was bragged about, shown off and loved upon in the way Fred did best. And we talked a lot about God.

And now, he is walking on the streets he longed to see. Plans are changed and this week we will be sharing in a tribute every missionary, child of God and pastor needs to hear while they are alive. They need to hear how much we love, appreciate and are thankful at the input they had in the filling up of our lives with God stuff. About everything Fred did had God stuff somewhere. It might be him asking for forgiveness as he charged around like a bull in a china store, or me asking for clarification when nothing he said made sense and I got my feelings a bit miffed. I learned about repentance from his preaching, how God loves me regardless, nothing matters in life if you don’t love those who are the ‘least of these’.   Will my life change because of one person’s influence? Yes- things I will not do, things I will do. Reasons why I believe, reasons why I should re-evaluate what I think I believe. And mostly, to open the Bible and let it come to life in your heart… oh yes, and treat your friends like they are the most important things on earth.

There are times when I feel like just looking at something and saying, “huh”?  Or better yet, “duh”?  There are times when the foolishness of the question doesn’t seem to merit an answer of intelligence. Leaders who don’t know how to lead turning and asking why people aren’t following. Teachers who ask if there are any questions and the entire class raises their hands; some of them both hands. There are times in life when the best is answer is a blank look. A “huh” and a “duh” look are more than appropriate, they are essential.

I love Ephesians. It is quickly becoming my favorite book. Ephesians 2:10 specifically. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. ”  My paraphrase of this would be that God created us. He made us in a special way. He created us to have little nuances, little gifts, talents, creative juices that are specific to us. If he took the time to put them inside of us, it wasn’t to hide (duh) but to use. What a cool things to do- to use them to love on people like Jesus loved on people. (another duh). When someone looks like they are having the time of their life, serving and loving others, remind yourself that God made them to do that kind of stuff. When you feel yourself lacking in the “doing” department, don’t just say “huh”, look in your back pocket and figure out what are the things that God made you do to. I don’t do math-  but I do piano. I don’t do crocheting; well I don’t do it good enough to give away to anyone, but there are some people I know that can crochet and watch a movie and keep a conversation going all at the same time. That’s because God created them; that’s their  he instilled in their brain. Paul is encouraging people to use what God put in them. For some it’s hospitality. If that’s your workmanship, then entertain and glorify God. If your workmanship is to love on people; duh- go love people.

Valentine’s day is coming. It isn’t a day for romance, it’s a day for workmanship to take shape. Go take a flower to a shut in, bring a bowl of soup to a lonely elderly person, grab a Dairy Queen blizzard if that’s what it takes to  let your workmanship come leaping out and grab people’s hearts. I spend $18.50 on sending Valentines today. Well, rephrase; I spent $18.50 of Jim’s money sending out Valentines. Some will laugh- some will wonder what it’s all about, some will cry and some will simply go ‘duh’.  Their response or anticipation of response won’t limit my moments that God’s workmanship comes barreling out in form of something different. That’s the good works He has put in me. So, open up Ephesians. Read it and pray about the good works He has already set in your heart to do…. Then, go make someone’s heart break with happiness… and God’s heart swell with pride!

I am going another date. Not with my husband; not that he doesn’t know already. My mother passed away not quite a year ago. Yesterday was her birthday. I have tried to keep up with my stepfather; he stepped into the role for almost 28 years and made my mother very happy… So it’s another date. I try to do something with him once a month sometimes it works out to be more. It has become very fun and interesting. He likes to eat; so we are trying out all sorts of new places and the good old tried and true places.

Why don’t we date anymore? My husband and I have tried to make Wednesday night our date night. His love language is eating also; perhaps it’s that way with all men. Not that I don’t like to eat,but I enjoy experiencing life doing other things.

Jesus left us an example to love people. For me, that means going on dates. Grandpa Frank and I used to go out all the time. He always found someone he knew regardless of where we would adventure in southern Minnesota. Jesus didn’t seem to care what you did, but he did care that you “did something in his name” A cup of cold water, a chocolate chip cookie, a walk in the park, a listening moment or a package of M & M’s. Loving means doing something.