Category Archives: Stray thoughts

31 Days of Inspirational Biography: Young Mother Trying to Find Time For Bible Reading

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The following is another excerpt from Climbing by Rosalind Goforth, which I have mentioned the last couple of days and  many times before. This book shares a very human view of a woman after God’s own heart who also was “of like passions” as we are.

A devoted Christian missionary, Mrs. S, was holding a series of special meetings for our Christian women at Changte. On one occasion, this dear woman, who had no children, told me that I could never have the peace and joy I longed for unless I rose early and spent from one to two hours with the Lord in prayer and Bible study.

I longed intensely for God’s best — for all He could give me, not only to help me live the true Christian life but also for peace and rest of soul. So I determined to do what Mrs. S. had advised.

The following morning, about half-past five o’clock, I slipped as noiselessly as possible out of bed. (My husband had already gone to his study.) I had taken only a step or two when first one and then another little head bobbed up; then came calls of, “Mother is it time to get up?”

“Hush, hush, no, no,” I whispered as I went back, but too late; the baby had wakened! So, of course, the morning circus began an hour too soon.

But I did not give up easily. Morning after morning I tried rising early for the morning watch, but always with the same result. So I went back to the old way of just praying quietly — too often just sleeping! Oh, how I envied my husband, who could have an hour or more of uninterrupted Bible study while I could not. This led me to form the habit of memorizing Scripture, which became an untold blessing to me. I took advantage of odd opportunities on cart, train, or when dressing, always to have a Bible or Testament at hand so that in the early mornings I could recall precious promises and passages of Scripture.

In another place she writes of finding at the last minute that the woman who was supposed to speak at a certain function couldn’t, and she was asked to. She nursed the baby with one arm while looking through her Bible and jotting notes as she could with the other. When Jonathan came through and saw her, he wondered how she could possible get ready for a meeting under such conditions in so short a time. She replied that if she’d had hours to work on it, she would have taken it, but she trusted God would give her just what she needed in the time available.

A few pages later she writes that sometimes she got out a concordance and her Bible to study out something which she needed help on at the time. She ended up with forty outlines resulting from her studies which the Lord used first in her own life, and then in talks to other ladies.

I expanded on this theme of trying to have devotions with young children in the house in an earlier post titled Encouragement For Mothers of Young Children. I went through quite a spiritual slump at one point due to a lack of spending time with God, and He showed me some ways to do so at that super-busy time of having little ones that wasn’t my usual routine, wasn’t even a setting where I would normally “get anything” from his Word, but He enabled me in those times. I hope perhaps it will be an encouragement to some of you in that stage of life – or any stage.

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For the 31 Days writing challenge, I am sharing 31 Days of Inspirational Biography. You can find others in the series here.

My Ebenezers

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Some of you might recall the line in the hymn “Come Thou Fount” which says, “Here I raise mine Ebenezer — hither by Thy help I’m come,” and you might know that it echoes 1 Samuel 7:12: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, ‘Till now the Lord has helped us.’” “Ebenezer” means “stone of help,” and it was not uncommon in Old Testament times for Israelites to set up a pile of stones for a monument marking God’s help. You can read more of the background on this story here.

A couple of years ago, Do Not Depart called for some modern day Ebenezer stories: those situations in your life when you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was the Lord who helped you, those seeming “coincidences” that you knew were really evidence of God’s hand at work. I wrote most of this out then and added a little to it. There are numerous encouragements in the Bible to remember what God has done, not only in His Word, but in our own lives: it reminds us of His care, power, and provision, and encourages us to pray, thank Him and trust Him in our current circumstances and for the future.

Here are a few of my Ebenezers:

  • A move during junior high led to a school that was extremely cliquish. Sometimes people toss that word around lightly when they’re feeling a little lonely, but this school had definite, well-defined cliques with very little interaction between them, and I didn’t seem to be accepted in any of them. I’d had a circle of friends before, so I wasn’t sure what the problem was. I had a crush on one guy in the most “cool” group, but of course he and that group were impossible dreams. In later years I found out it was God’s great mercy that kept me from getting “in” with that crowd as they were involved in a number of things that would have been detrimental to me.
  • When I was 15, my parents divorced. It had not been a happy home for years, but the break-up of a family still hurts deeply. Besides that, we were moving from our very small town to the teeming metropolis of Houston, I was leaving my friends and all that was familiar and going into the unknown right in the middle of high school, and I was told I would not be allowed to contact my friends or relatives for a while because my mom was afraid of my father finding us and what he would do if he did. I laid on my bed clinging for dear life to Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Even though I had only a surface understanding of that verse, God honored that faith and fulfilled His Word. As a result of all those changes I began seeking Him earnestly, God led to a Christian school and a good church, I heard about the college where I would one day attend and find my husband.
  • After we moved, when we visited the high school I was to attend, I was convinced I could never go there for various reasons. We didn’t know what the alternatives could be, but we saw an ad for a Christian school. We visited and interviewed, and I wanted to go, but my parents could not afford the tuition. One day we drove to the school to tell them I wouldn’t be able to come. My mom went in, and I stayed in the car. The pastor and his wife drove up, saw me, and came over and told me someone offered to pay my way that year, and someone anonymously did the next year as well. It was through this school and church that I got stabilized in my faith in Christ and grounded in His Word.
  • My parents could not pay for college, either, but through various means God got me through five years at a Christian university. Lots of Ebenezers there! But one stands out: an offering from my Sunday School class at my home church allowed me to buy some necessities like deodorant and toothpaste. Coming back to my dorm room, I heard our hall was having a party and everyone was asked to contribute a dime for ice cream and toppings. I had literally only one dime left. As I gave it, I began to feel panicky about not having any money at all to my name. Then God reminded me of the offering just given. He was taking care of me in big and small ways.
  • One Christmas Eve morning shortly after our first anniversary, we were driving from SC, where we lived, to visit my family in TX. Our car broke down near Biloxi, MS. It was an old German car called an Opel, and when we’d had problems with it before, it took weeks to fix because the parts were hard to find. I wasn’t sure how everything was going to work out now, how we’d get home and then get back to get the car, etc. My husband found a phone booth (no cell phones in those days), and found a random mechanic with a tow truck in the yellow pages. He explained the problem and then said something like, “By the way, it’s an Opel, so it might be a problem to get parts for it.” The mechanic answered, “No problem — we just bought out the local Opel dealership.”
  • I could heap up a whole pile of Ebenezers from my experience with transverse myelitis, but I’ll share just one: when I was scheduled for an MRI, everybody kept asking me if I was claustrophobic. I wasn’t sure (nowadays I would say, “YES!”), but their questions were making me nervous. I was told the day before that I would have to be very still for the procedure, which I think lasted the better part of an hour. The day before, in my Daily Light on the Daily Path devotional book, all the verses were about being still. A few of them: Ruth 3:18: Sit still, my daughter; Psalm 46: 10: Be still, and know that I am God; Psalm 4:4: Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still (more are here). Those verses kept running through my mind while I was in the MRI machine, and God kept me very calm: I even dozed off.
  • For years my husband had to travel quite a bit. At first I was a total basket case beset by fears, but God gradually enabled me to cope. Three years ago I wrote a post about coping when a husband is away, and it has become one of my most viewed posts in 8 years of blogging. Though I inwardly whined and wailed about having to be alone so much at first, I am thankful to be able to testify of God’s grace and help and to be able to encourage other ladies in the same situation.
  • When my son was planning to be married in OK and we were making plans to drive there and back from SC, my husband planned to rent a U-Haul there in OK to bring back our new daughter-in-law’s furniture and the wedding presents. But U-Haul wouldn’t rent to him because someone with his type of car had sued them once before because of some problem. We couldn’t find any other rental options in OK, so we ended up having to rent a trailer from a local business and take it with us there and back. Everything was fine on the return trip until the trailer blew a tire. I don’t even remember where we were at the time — some stretch of Interstate between cities. We tried calling AAA, but they don’t deal with tires on rental trailers. Thankfully my oldest son had a data plan on his phone and looked up local businesses and found a Wal-Mart a few exits up. But we’d have to unhitch the trailer and leave it while we went for the tire. I remember looking out the window and praying that my kids would see God’s hand in this. We were nervous about leaving the trailer there alone, but we also didn’t want to leave any one of us alone to guard it while everyone else went to Wal-Mart. I was praying fervently that no one would break into it and steal any of my son’s and daughter-in-law’s things. When we went to Wal-Mart, they were just closing their tire service center and didn’t really want to let us in, but we explained the situation, and they did. Meanwhile we got a call from our newly-married son, on his way East on his honeymoon trip: “Dad…did you leave the trailer on the side of the road?” They were passing by just at that time and saw it. We explained what had happened, and they circled back to stay with the trailer while we got the new tire, then we went back, put the new tire on, and went to get something to eat together. Though it’s a bit unconventional to go out to eat with one’s parents on one’s honeymoon, there were so many evidences on God’s hand at work in this situation: if we had rented a generic trailer, Jason would not have recognized it as the one we had and wouldn’t have called about it; if they hadn’t been passing that way at that time, they wouldn’t have seen it; if we had been even a few minutes later, we wouldn’t have gotten into Wal-Mart, and as our other calls hadn’t led to any other options, we would have had to spend the night in town and leave the trailer out on the Interstate all night.

There have been so many other situations…wrecks narrowly averted, running late and coming upon the scene of an accident that might have been mine if I’d been on time, financial needs met right at the needed time, finding something that was lost after earnest prayer about it, praying for wisdom and receiving it, a word of encouragement at just the right moment, help for a task that was too big for me, something from the Word that was just exactly what I needed for the day. I am so thankful for His loving, intimate, wonderful care!!

 Help me, O Lord my God: O save me according to thy mercy:
That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, Lord, hast done it.
Psalm 109:26-27

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
    and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
 when I remember you upon my bed,
    and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
 for you have been my help,
    and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
 My soul clings to you;
    your right hand upholds me.
Psalm 63:5-8

I Could Not Do Without Thee

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The first time I heard this hymn was from an ensemble visiting our church, and I was riveted. I thought it was a new hymn, but looking it up after I got home, I saw it was written by Frances Ridley Havergal in1873. I like the newer melody better, but I don’t know who wrote it.

I have usually only heard it sung with these four stanzas, but cyberhymnal.org lists several more.

I could not do without Thee
O Savior of the lost,
Whose precious blood redeemed me
At such tremendous cost.
Thy righteousness, thy pardon
Thy precious blood, must be
My only hope and comfort,
My glory and my plea.

I could not do without Thee,
I cannot stand alone,
I have no strength or goodness,
No wisdom of my own;
But Thou, beloved Savior,
Art all in all to me,
And weakness will be power
If leaning hard on Thee.

I could not do without Thee,
O Jesus, Savior dear;
E’en when my eyes are holden,
I know that Thou art near.
How dreary and how lonely
This changeful life would be,
Without the sweet communion,
The secret rest with Thee!

I could not do without Thee,
For years are fleeting fast,
And soon in solemn loneness
The river must be passed;
But Thou wilt never leave me,
And though the waves roll high,
I know Thou wilt be near me,
And whisper, “It is I.”

The first time I heard it I was struck with the repetition of “lone,” “alone,” and “loneness.” I was feeling very much alone at the time because Jim was traveling a lot, and I was reminded that I am never alone with Christ, and that’s not just a trite saying but a meaningful reality. And then the second stanza has been a help to me so many times. We truly have no strength, goodness, or wisdom of our own, but because of the redemption mentioned in the first stanza, we can experience the strength in the second stanza.

Checking in…

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Wow, last week was a crazy one. I feel like I’ve been pretty scarce around here even though I posted more than I thought I would.

First, Jim’s mom’s caregiver left before lunchtime on Monday due to some sleet and snow, so I had care of Grandma that afternoon. I think her caregiver has been pretty antsy about the weather since her accident during our big snowfall a few weeks ago, understandably. Then one day I just HAD to catch up on some neglected housecleaning and wasn’t on the computer much at all that day. Then Jim had to go out of town, and this was the first time since we’d brought Grandma home that he had been away overnight, so I slept in her room to turn her at intervals. I don’t know how he does that and still works the next day – I felt like I was in a zombie state until I got a nap in the afternoon. Then his birthday was Thursday, but since he was out of town we put off celebrating til Saturday, and there was shopping and ordering and cake-baking and present-wrapping to get ready for that. Not complaining about any of the above – that’s just life, which takes precedence over blogging. It was a good week though a busy one. But some days I didn’t get to the computer much or was too fuzzy-brained to write much.

So far I am not aware of anything “extra” on the calendar this week, so I hope to be able to sit down and think through some things. I seem to do that best when I’m writing – maybe there’s something about seeing words in black and white that makes them easier to process than when they’re swirling around intangibly. 🙂

An unexpected ER visit

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It’s been another off-kilter week for me. Tuesday afternoon I had another episode of SVTs, supra-ventricular tachycardia, where the heart rate jumps suddenly into an excessively fast and irregular heartbeat. It hadn’t happened in years, so I was hopeful that the medication I am on was keeping it regulated. If you have to have some kind of irregular heartbeat, this is probably the easiest one to deal with. What I’ve been advised to do in the past is to wait a bit and try some different measures to get it to “convert,” as they say, back to a normal rhythm, and if that doesn’t work, to go to the emergency room. That’s what I ended up having to do on Tuesday. Thankfully Grandma’s aide was here to take care of her, and Jesse was here to drive me to the hospital. Jim met us over there, and Jason and Mittu came to our house to stay with Grandma after her aide left, and Mittu made dinner for us.

My sister asked me once, “Isn’t it the same as a panic attack?” No, it is a specific type of rhythm that they can actually diagnose from the EKG. It involves the electrical part of the heart and doesn’t mean there is any blockage or any other heart problems (although they do check blood enzymes to make sure I haven’t had a heart attack when this happens.) If it doesn’t “convert” on its own, they give me (or at least they have in the past) something called adenosine through an iv which, as I understand it, actually stops the heart for a second and acts as kind of a reset button. It feels really awful for just a second, and then usually everything goes back to normal. This time, thankfully, it converted before they got to that point, and the different ones in the room at that time jokingly took credit for “scaring it out of” me. They did still take an EKG, chest x-ray, lots of blood work, and kept me for a few hours. For some reason this time my blood pressure was low, so low that they wouldn’t release me until it came up a little. My poor dear husband’s attitude was, “We’ve done this before, we know how it works; when the heart rate converts, everything is fine and we should be able to go home.” 🙂 I felt that way a little, too, but this was the first time it happened since we moved here and the first time to deal with it at this hospital, plus it hadn’t happened in about 6 years, so I didn’t mind being put through the paces as much.

I’m supposed to follow up with my doctor, which I am doing today, and the ER doctor advised referral to a cardiologist. On the one hand, a cardiologist is probably going to say the same thing the cardiologist said when this first started happening: they usually attribute this to an “extra” nerve on the heart, and they fix it by going up through a blood vessel in the groin to the heart and zapping the offending nerve with a laser. Since this hasn’t happened all that often – maybe half a dozen times in the last 15 years – I haven’t been inclined to do that. (Now I am kind of wishing I had done it while we lived in SC, because the cardiologist I saw there was reputed to be “the” expert in the state on electrical issues of the heart). On the other hand, since it has been a while, it might be a good idea to see one here. Though I hadn’t had a full blown episode of SVTs for a while, I have been having more palpitations lately, so I’d like to ask about that (I had mentioned those to my family doctor last visit, and he just said if it kept up we’d take the next step to deal with it.) We’ll see what my family doctor advises today.

One of my prevailing thoughts when this first started on Tuesday, and it looked like I was going to have to go in to the hospital, was that this really wasn’t what I wanted to do that day. I had been inwardly rejoicing that I didn’t have to go anywhere that day, and didn’t have anything that “had” to be done, so I had been looking forward to getting some other things done. Then later in the day I read of a friend’s dad who fell and hurt his head and had to go to the hospital, so, I was reminded that we all have to deal with unexpected events that we’d rather not have to deal with some times (he was ok and was released the same day.)

I was trying to work on a post yesterday concerning a recent attack someone made on homemakers, but I was too fuzzy-brained and it just wasn’t coming together. I have another post in the works about the process we have gone through with Jim’s mom as she has needed different levels of care. When we were first having to think about what to do, there were a couple of blogs dealing with such issues that were helpful to me at the time. Those blogs have gone silent now, but I thought perhaps sharing our experiences might help others with older parents. It’s turning out to be rather long, though, so I might have to break it up into parts. But hopefully if available time and working brain cells come together at the same time, I’ll be able to finish those posts soon. 🙂

Ponderings

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Random things on my mind lately:

cwleaf1 Why do I love sleep but hate to go to bed? My natural tendency is to be a night owl, but getting up at 6 or 6:30 doesn’t work well with late bed times. Somehow I still have a hard time making myself go to bed when I should.

cwleaf1 When you have a medical procedure or get released from a hospital, they often send you home with prescriptions, and then you (or your driver) have to stop by the drugstore first thing and either wait or come back, all while you are not feeling well. Why don’t they give you your meds as you leave the doctor, dentist, or hospital, eliminating that need to stop by a pharmacy? They could keep a supply on hand and add it to your bill.

cwleaf1 Speaking of drugstores, whose main purpose is selling drugs, why is the pharmacy and drug section of the store all the way in the back so that a sick or injured person has to hobble across the whole store to get what they need?

cwleaf1 I don’t quite get the current fad for chalkboard art. When I think chalkboards, I think dust, but even the non-dusty printables don’t appeal to me.

cwleaf1 Same for chevron patterns. Maybe because I remember from a home interiors class that angles in decorating can be agitating and curves are more pleasing and restful. I guess it depends on one’s preferences – a lot of people use angles in different ways. For a while there it seemed like every decorating article or show I saw advocated setting the furniture at angles rather than following the wall layout. That thoroughly throws me off when I enter a room.

cwleaf1 I am not as inclined to click on a link or Pinterest post for “100 such-and-such” as I would be for maybe 10 or so. 100 sounds very long and cluttered, like it would take a long time to sort through and find what I liked. 10 sounds easily readable.

Looking back over this list, I am afraid it sounds a little curmudgeonly, but I assure you I am feeling quite mellow at the moment. 🙂 Here is a little something to leave you with a smile:

Charlie Brown chevron

Friday’s Fave Five

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FFF delicate leaves

Welcome to Friday’s Fave Five, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, in which we can share five of our favorite things from the last week, a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God blesses us with. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

It’s been quite a nice first few days of October, even though I still can’t believe it is October already. Here are some favorite parts of the last week.

1. Pizza and movie night with the family. It seems like it has been a while since we’ve done that.

2. My Fitness Pal. I especially like the little bar code reader on the iPhone app that inputs all the nutritional information from packaged items. Very handy!

3. Take-out from Cracker Barrel. My dear hubby brought some for me even though he doesn’t like anything from there. Especially loved the Coca Cola Cake. Mmmm…

4. Losing 5 lbs. Woot!! I haven’t been doing anything really drastic yet – walking 30 minutes 4-5 times a week and cutting back on sweets (except for occasional splurges like the Cracker Barrel cake. 🙂 ). There is more I need to work on, but it seems to work better for me to take small measures a little at a time rather than overhauling everything at once.

5. Hope for Jim’s eye. Some of you may remember that my husband had surgery for a detached retina back in April. Unfortunately his vision in that eye has been getting much worse. He saw his eye doctor and was told that he had a wrinkle on his retina now. That may fix itself over time, or it may require additional surgery – for now they advocate waiting on it. But they did say he had a cataract, which he had been told might happen due to the excessive laser work during the retina surgery. Now he is scheduled to have that removed in November, and it’s much less invasive, less recovery time, etc., than the retina surgery. We’re hoping we can get the date moved up, but we’re just glad that there is hope this will improve his vision.

Happy Friday!

Thoughts on being an introvert

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IndoorsyI don’t know if I was taught this somewhere along the way or if it was just a misconception, but as I was growing up I had the idea that an introvert was someone who was indoorsy, not as physically active (and therefore probably a little pudgy), quiet, and didn’t have many friends, whereas an extrovert was more physical, active, outgoing, talkative, and loud.

Evidently I’m not the only one with incorrect ideas of what it means to be an introvert. I was talking with a friend yesterday who said that she has sometimes been accused of being antisocial and once even of being sinful due to her introversion (the latter was said teasingly, but still, that kind of thing stings).

Over the last year I’ve found myself reading a number of books (Quiet; The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain and Introverts in the Church by Adam McHugh, both linked to my thoughts on them) and articles about introverts that helped clarify my own thinking and understanding. But as I was commiserating with my friend yesterday, one problem is that extroverts aren’t likely to read books about introverts, and therefore misunderstanding continues.

No one is completely all introvert or extrovert, but most people do lean strongly one way or another. The differences between the two aren’t just a matter of preference: Cain quotes a number of sources documenting that introverts are neurologically wired differently. So it behooves us (both introvert and extrovert) to understand and accept our differences, to realize that God created people differently and has different ways they can each minister, rather than trying to make each other more like ourselves or make everyone fit into one mold.

One of the main differences between the two are their sources of energy in relation to people. Introverts are drained by much social interaction: extroverts thrive on it. Introverts are not antisocial: they do like to get together with people but usually prefer smaller groups. If they are in a large gathering, they’ll likely be on the sidelines talking with one or two people rather than mixing and mingling with many (and they’ll likely collapse at home afterward).

Introverts also tend to be more analytical and slower to process their thoughts. That’s one thing that makes them lag a bit in group discussions and conversations: by the time they process what is being discussed and what they want to say, the conversation has moved on. That’s also why they can panic or at least strongly dislike being called on in a class or small group, and why they don’t think “on their feet” well and often express themselves better in writing than speaking. Introverts are generally more quiet because they’re thinking and processing (and because they prefer quietness and calmness), whereas extroverts often think things through by talking.

Not all introverts are shy: shyness may involve some of the above but may have the added factor of fear, or may just be habit. I was actually raised with the phrase, “Children are to be seen and not heard,” and it is hard to just flip the switch as an adult and start talking. God has helped me with that a lot (that may be a subject for another post). But even if shyness is due to fear, it isn’t helped by rebuking a person for it. Take whatever you’re most afraid of (public speaking, heights, spiders, etc.), and tell yourself “Just stop it!” and see how far you get. 🙂 Then apply that to a fear of people, and perhaps you’ll understand a bit better. One can learn coping mechanisms to help with shyness (and should, since one needs to learn to interact with people), but understanding and empathy help more than a superior or judgmental attitude.

Few if any introverts want to be total hermits. They do need and want people – just preferably in smaller doses. Some of us can talk a blue streak once we get to know and feel comfortable with people. And we can learn to be more talkative than we are really comfortable with. We do need to reach out and be involved in community – all those Biblical “one anothers” do involve other people. But it is comforting to know that Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).

There are other characteristics of introverts (which is why, after all, whole books have been written about them), but the main point I wanted to make today was just that we need to understand and respect differences. God made people different and as such He has a place and a purpose for each. The church needs both introverts and extroverts both for balance but also so they can minister to those most like themselves as well as to each other. One of my favorite e-mails came from Karla Dornacher, when I had posted a comment on her blog in a post where she had mentioned being a bit of a loner even though she does well at speaking to crowds. She responded that she couldn’t be alone in her studio so much of the time if she couldn’t be content with being alone for long stretches, and God gives us personalities to fit our callings. That was one of those proverbial light bulb moments for me. I’ve appreciated ways that God has opened for me to minister to others that fit in with the personality He has given me.

There are times, though, that He has pushed me out of my comfort zone. Every trait has its good and bad tendencies, and Adam’s book in particular cautions introverts against some of their potential problem tendencies (some of the most helpful quotes are here). We can avoid people sometimes just out of selfishness rather than need, and we need to realize that a lack of interaction can be hurtful and seem rude even if it is not meant to be. Adam also encourages us that when God does call us to make sacrifices or extend ourselves, He will provide the grace to do so.

A good idea…

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One of the standard things I say when Jim and Jesse leave for the day is “Have a good day.” I really do mean it every day, but sometimes we can say routine things without really thinking about it.

One day as Jesse left for school, I absent-mindedly said, “Have a good idea!”

He responded, “Ooookay?”

Then I caught my mistake. “DAY! Have a good day!”

Sometimes a good idea can make for a good day. 🙂 At least we started the day with a laugh, and had another when Jim later quipped that that’s how Steve Jobs’ mom used to send him off to school. 🙂

Then a while back I was using Jim’s car and the keyless remote wasn’t working, probably needing a new battery. I was trying to figure out how to get in the car and asked Jesse if he remembered the code. He did, but he looked pointedly at the keys in my hand.

I don’t know where my mind is lately. 🙂 I do have several “stray thoughts” I’d love to take time to untangle and sort through. Writing is the best way for me to do that, where I can pull them out and lay them side by side and then think about them some more, whereas when I’m just thinking them through they stay jumbled. Maybe next week…

In the meantime, have a good day…and if you have a good idea while you’re at it, all the better. 😉

Themes of My Life

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Sherry at Semicolon commemorated 12/12/12 last year by posting about 12 themes of her life. Though it’s way past that particular unique date, her post got me to thinking about the themes of my own life. Here are some of them, and, as she said, they’re reflected in much of my blogging:

1. God. Even before I knew Him, I thought Him to be kind, loving, and wise, and I had something of an affection for Him. I came to know Him by believing on Jesus (“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3) when I was a teen-ager and have only grown in my appreciation and esteem for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

2. The Bible. I am so glad that the church God led me to when I was a teen-ager had an emphasis on reading the Bible through. That was a vulnerable time in my life, and I could so easily have drifted into who knows what, but God used His Word to ground me not only personally, but in the faith. I took it in like a thirsty man drinks water, like a hungry man eats food: it was my lifeline. It still is. And I am glad for the emphasis on reading all of it, because it is all inspired, and because it keeps one balanced spiritually to read it all and interpret it as it relates to the whole. So many false doctrines come from an emphasis on one part while neglecting or deemphasizing another or taking a text out of context. One of my passions is getting people into the Word of God for themselves: one such post along those lines is Reasons to Read the Bible.

3. Family. My mom was my best friend as I was growing up, and though my relationship with my father wasn’t as close, it was still devastating when my parents divorced. Even before that, in all of the aspirations of what I might want to be when I grew up, a wife and mom was always a part of it, and after I became a Christian I longed to have a Christian family. I’ve been so blessed with a close, loving family, and with my kids almost all grown now, I like to encourage younger moms along the way.

4. Homemaking. I ‘ve always felt that every woman is a homemaker whether she is single, married, whether she has children or not, whether she is working or not, because we all live in some kind of home, and God has given it to us partly as a refuge from the world and partly as a ministry to others. Being a homemaker has not been highly regarded in our culture in the last few decades, and I long to encourage women that homemaking is a high and honorable endeavor.

5. Ministry. Every Christian is given gifts with which to minister to others, and is “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10), whether we’re called to “the” ministry or not. This is probably the area where God has stretched and grown me the most in recent years, drawing me out of my comfort zone and teaching me to depend even more on Him to work through me.

6. Missions. I thought at one time that God might be calling me to be a missionary, but over time I realized my calling is more in assisting missionaries. I’ve gotten to know some of the dearest people through some of the ministries in our churches that have particularly ministered to them. Plus a love of reading missionary biographies and their impact on my life has encouraged me to minister to and learn from these fine folks on “the front lines.”

7. Church. I mentioned the Bible being a lifeline: a good church also was in my early days as a Christian. People who loved me and cared for me and were unwitting examples to me helped me so much. God made us to minister to one another. Though no church is perfect, and though the church at large is fraught with flaws, “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25b-27). If He loved it that much, and we love Him, it follows that we should love the church as well.

8. Books. I’ve loved reading ever since I first learned how. I could write another whole post on why I love reading (maybe some day…), but books have been a major part of my whole life. I have to have one or two books I’m currently reading at any given time, and I have to take a handful when traveling (the Kindle app sure helps with that!) If I go too long without reading I feel like I’m starving. I wrote about the 98 books that have most enriched my life a couple of years ago — I probably need to update that with a few I’ve read since.

9. Music. I am not a musician, but I’ve loved music for years. Christian music was another lifeline in my early Christian life, and so many times God has ministered to my heart with a particular hymn or spiritual song at a particular time. But I also enjoy some classical music, Irish, English, and early American folk music, some songs from musicals, Emile Pandolfi’s piano-playing, and assorted other types. I quite often have music playing while my hands are busy or have a song going around in my head.

10. Beauty. Not the obsession with personal beauty prevalent these days, but the beauty that causes God’s hand to be seen and inspires worship and praise to Him, beauty that reflects truth, beauty manifest in nature, music, art, writing, color, even a lovely table setting.

11. Creativity. I used to think either a person was creative, or they were not, and I didn’t think I was. I used to associate creativity with artsy people. But over the years I came to realize that there are different kinds of creativity. A dear friend was a wiz at coming up with simple yet really neat lunch ideas or activities for her children. Another friend I used to do bulletin boards with used to say she could staple and pin and cut things out for it, but she didn’t want to come up with ideas — but often she’d have an idea while we were working or an adjustment that was just right. I really enjoy other people’s creativity (Pinterest has been a feast for that!) and love to have some type of craft or project going on the side.

12. Writing has been a lifelong outlet. As a child I wrote stories and poems. I don’t have much of that any more except a folder of poems I had written as a teen and one poem from my childhood. I kept a diary as a teen but, sadly, threw it away. I’ve written a few magazine articles, a few newspaper columns, and a few years’ worth of newsletters for the ladies’ group at church. And, of course, there is this blog. 🙂 I think things through by writing and like to encourage people through writing. I think I express myself better through writing than speaking. I don’t know how the Lord may use it in the future, but I am grateful for the outlets He has given so far.

13. Learning. I always loved school. Maybe not every single class or teacher, but I loved school in general. If college hadn’t been so expensive, I could have stayed on another couple of years just taking classes that sounded interesting. I still like to keep the brain percolating by learning new things.

As I was thinking about what to include in this list, I thought that, honestly, overarching themes of my life would have to include “besetting sins.” I try to keep things real here and not hold myself up as some kind of paragon of virtue: I’ve shared some of my faults and failings and struggles here. On the other hand, I don’t think it is necessary or even wise to lay it all out here, either. Let’s just say that most of them involved self in some way — self-indulgence, self-righteousness, self-promotion, self-protection. Be assured God is continually convicting and working on me!

What are some themes of your life?