Michael and Mahler

     Moses and Michael.
     I don't think either of them needs an introduction.
     Both of them starting to show their age.  Maybe a bit worn and a bit worse for the wear.
     But both still treasured members of our family who will give us memories for the rest of our days.  Moses we adopted when he was 5 years old--simply the best Christmas ever for all our children...well, and for us too.
     Michael J.--he came to us in a bit of a different way...
     Twenty-six years ago this August 8th, my husband and I were married on a sunny, hot summer's day.  A day of joy.  A day when God began this little family.  O thank You, Father.  Forgive me for sometimes forgetting, for taking for granted all that You have done in giving me my husband and children and friends and extended family, and, of course, Moses!  Who could have imagined all that God had in mind for us on that steamy August day all those years ago?  All that the years would give-- each precious child.  Each birthday.  Each Christmas morning.  Each homecoming to heaven for greatly beloved and treasured family and friends.  Each moment of heartache.  Each moment of joy.
     And God has been right there with us for every single moment of every single day.  "It is the Lord who goes before you.  He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you.  Do not fear or be dismayed." (Deut.31:8)   Thank You for never ever forsaking us, Lord...not even for a moment.
     So here's how Michael Jordan came to at our wedding:
     Two of our groomsmen--some of my husband's oldest and dearest friends--"borrowed" this life-size Michael Jordan from the hotel where they were staying for the wedding.  I suspect the hotel was not overly thrilled by their actions.  The mischievous groomsmen then secretly hid Michael in the choir stalls behind the alter at the First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro.  I wish I had a picture of the church.  It is beautiful, spectacular.  Maybe not the kind of place you might associate with a life-size cut out of a grinning basketball player.  But you never know.
     So things proceeded smoothly for the ceremony.  Regular old, lovely wedding.  Finally, wonderful Dr. Mullin pronounced us husband and wife, and Richard and I happily turned and began walking down the aisle.  But what's that?  Were we hearing laughter ripple through the congregation?   We just figured everyone was soooo happy for us.  And, well heck, we were mighty happy and felt like laughing too.
    What we didn't realize was that the congregation was indeed happy--to see Michael J. suddenly appear from behind the choir stalls and placed right behind the alter.  There he stood, in all his Chicago Bulls glory--right behind and to the right of the  totally clueless Dr. Mullin.  He, too, was a bit puzzled by the sudden and prolonged laughter...until he turned to leave the sanctuary and glimpsed the Tar Heel hero standing just feet from him.  And what could he do but laugh too?!  I have to say--it was terrific!
     I'm thinking First Presbyterian has never seen the likes of that wedding.
     So who were the culprits?  Mahler Thorp and Jimbo Thorp.
     They made our wedding one none of us will ever forget.  The Michael Jordan wedding is still surely legend in Greensboro.  No one remembers what anyone wore or the food or the flowers...but they remember the joyous hilarity of Michael showing up at just the right time at the front of the sanctuary.
     I share all this with a heavy heart, for our dear friend, Mahler, went home to be with the Lord on Monday when he was killed in a car wreck.  And trust me, the world is a bit darker, a bit less joyous, and surely a bit less fun since Mahler left us.  He will be deeply, deeply missed.
      But, boy, heaven is surely rocking about now.
      I'm betting that he's up there teaching everyone the Tar Heel fight song.  And they are all having a ball...even the Duke fans.
     Thank You, Lord, for the gift of memories.  And of precious old friends.  And thank You for Mahler.  Remind us to live each day to the full and to splash about Your joy to those around us, as Mahler surely did for so many.  You give us one life to live for Your glory.  O help us not to waste it, Lord.  "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10)  Thank You for abundant, eternal life that Jesus came to give us.  Might we live it to the full till we go home to be with You on that glorious day.
     To God be the glory.

   

Attitude!

                      A little food for weekend thought:
     I was just reminded of this wonderful quote from Chuck Swindoll.  It's an old one, but, boy, such a good one:

"Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes."

One of the great old golfers (Bobby Jones maybe?) put it this way, as least as it applies to the game of golf: "Golf is 90% mental... and 10% mental."  Yep, pretty much sums up a lot of life, doesn't it?!  

So, Lord, keep our minds focused upon You and upon Your goodness and grace in our lives.  Not preoccupied with what we lack, or where we're failing, or on the shortcomings of others.  Nope, keep our hearts and minds fastened upon You and Your Truth. The real Truth. The Good Truth.  "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Phil.4:8)

Golf swings and steadfastness

     Okay, Lord, I think we are good with the character development around here.
      I know Your will and Your ways are perfect. But I'm just saying, I think we're good now, so maybe You could let up just a bit.
      It's been another tough round of golf in a tournament today for one of our boys.  He's going through a slump, and sakes alive, this has been a brutal few weeks.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's just a game...that is doesn't matter a hill of beans in the big picture of life...that God is in control...and that He does all things best.  Most of all, I know that He uses the difficulties and disappointments in our lives to build into us rock solid character that is founded upon Him and His grace and goodness and power.
     As James puts it: "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4)
     Absolutely.  We know that we know that we know all those things.
     But goodness gracious, sometimes it's gets mighty wearisome while the Lord is building that steadfastness.  Especially in your children.  How hard it is to see those you love better than your own life, working and trying as hard as they possibly can, and yet seeming to meet nothing but obstacles and setbacks.  Broken bones.  Or broken golf swings.  Or broken hopes.
     But Lord, I also know that You make no mistakes.  And if You're allowing trials in our lives, then You're producing something much greater and more lasting than our temporary success in this passing life.  You're producing that eternal weight of glory in the lives of those we love.
     "Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom.5:3-5)
     I know a golf slump is not true suffering.  Absolutely not.  But I also know that right now, for our son, well, this constitutes suffering.  And I also know that our Heavenly Father sees and cares infinitely about His beloved child's discouragement over whatever difficulty that child is facing.  Aren't you glad God knows about all our struggles--big and small--and that He cares just as much for the insignificant flies in the ointment of our lives as the giant storms that threaten to swamp us?  Nothing's too giant for our Heavenly Father to handle nor too little for Him to notice and ultimately use in our story of redemption.
     So thank You, Lord, that You use the disappointments and sorrows in lives for our ultimate good and Your glory.  Thank You that You are producing--through whatever suffering we are enduring--character and irrepressible hope because it is rooted in Your infinite love.
     So when we cannot feel that love...we trust in You, the Great Lover.  Help us to trust, Lord.  Help us to persevere.  Help us to stay grateful.   And, well... how about a little help with that golf!
     To God be the glory.

Transitory Gifts

     "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation of shadow due to change." (James 1:17)
     Thank You Father for life's simplest, freest gifts.  They are all treasures from Your hand.  As I see how quickly life changes in this wild adventure of life--children growing up and leaving home all too quickly, parents growing older or going home to be with the Lord, heroes of yesterday come and gone, fortunes won and lost, vibrant memories slowly fading--I'm so thankful that You do not change.  Lord. You are the same yesterday, today, and forever.
     So gracious Gift-Giver, I thank You for who You are and what You have done.
     Some of Your gifts are transitory--they must be savored right now...or we miss the opportunity.
     Just a few simple, but passing, gifts for which I give You praise this day--

Red, white, and blue butter bagels--a reminder of this great nation...and of our boys who loved eating every morsel!  O, and thank You, Lord, for bagels and whatever genius came up with the idea of round, chewy, satisfying morsels of bread.  Yum, the gift that keeps on giving!

Peter's cucumber plant.  Who knew we could actually grow something that would produce such an abundant harvest?  Wow!  We may have a brown thumb at our house, but the Lord has more than made up for it!   Cucumbers galore--another gift.

 A fierce Monopoly game--even if I always seem to land on one of the boys' properties with houses on it and get wiped out.  sigh.  Even now the debris from last night's game (to be continued tonight) lies strewn about the den floor.  I'm refusing the urge to fret and fuss, for I know these days will be over all too quickly.  Someday in the not too distant future, our floor will be spotless, the Monopoly pieces will all be snuggly within the box on the shelf...and I will long for this day of messy floors and Monopoly money floating under the sofa.  So thank You, Lord, for this gift.

What can I say?  Sweet old Moses relaxing...and depositing copious amounts of black hair all over the bottom half of the chair.  Again, someday I will find a bit of that hair under a seat cushion and will smile at the memory...and shed a tear at God's goodness in giving us this fine, fine dog.  So we'll take the shedding for the pure joy of having Moses in our lives.
     Just a few simple transitory gifts from the Father's hand.  Lord, You never change or fade or decrease or run low...but Your gifts are to be appreciated and savored now, right now.  You last forever...but many of Your gifts do not.  Lord, keep our eyes open to see, and our hearts soft and grateful for each treasure from You, our Father of lights.  To God be the glory.

Proclaiming, not rehashing!

                           A little food for weekend thought:
          "You have multiplied, O Lord my God, Your wondrous deeds and Your thoughts toward us; none can compare with You!  I  will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told."  Psalm 40:5
      A while back I heard a podcast of John Piper speaking on a panel, and his comment's on this verse really struck a chord with me.  I don't have the exact quote, but he shared very briefly about how he and his wife Noelle went on a date night every week.  During their time together on these dates, they had become experts on parsing their children's problems and discussing all the issues and difficulties and struggles in their lives.
     And then early one morning, John was reading Psalm 40 and came to verse 5--"...I will proclaim and tell of them [the Lord's wondrous deeds], yet they are more than can be told."  He said he was dumbstruck.  Here he was a minister of God's Word and proclaiming the greatness and majesty of God to his congregation and to others all over the world, but he was not proclaiming it in his own home, in  his own marriage. He had not been recalling God's goodness in their own home!
     He said he went to his wife and tearfully confessed how he had failed in this area.  Rather than encouraging one another on those date nights, recounting God's goodness and faithfulness, they had been merely rehearsing all the woes and negatives in their lives.
     Man, that really convicted me, for how easy it is to fall into that pattern--especially in our own homes!  When I heard Piper's words, here is what I wrote to my gracious Father: "Lord, forgive me as I'm so prone to focus on the negative instead of all Your gifts, Your goodness, Your grace towards me and my family.  Did it just this morning when I got discouraged about something.  Forgive me, Father.  Help me to proclaim Your wondrous deeds and thoughts--not just in my blog but in my family!  In my thoughts.  In my everyday life--preoccupy me with proclaiming Your wonders rather than complaining about the weaknesses in my life or the lives of those I love.  In Jesus' powerful and glorious and forever worthy name I pray, Amen."
     No one else may have needed this, but just in case, Psalm 40:5 provides a little ammunition to proclaim His wonders rather than rehashing your woes.  By the way, I've discovered "proclaiming" always leads to joy and hope; "rehashing," well, it inevitably results in irritability and downheartedness.  I choose joy...because I choose Jesus and His greatness and goodness and infinite grace.  Time to proclaim it...with our friends, with our families, with ourselves.
     To God--the Lord of wondrous deeds and thoughts towards us too innumerable to be told (but we will try!)--be all the glory!

Happy Birthday, America!

     Happy birthday, America!  Thank You, Lord, for this great nation and for the incredible gift of being born here, in this place, in this time.  For those of us born here, it's so easy to take all the blessings of our citizenship for granted.  So trite, but so true.  Every one of us who live in this land of the free and  home of brave have been born on third base.  We have been given so much just by the nature of the location of our birth, and it is all simply a reflection of Your grace.
     Yes, our nation is far from perfect.  Yes, injustice and poverty and evil still reside in this land.  But we still live in a place where we can openly worship the Lord we love.   We still live in a place where anyone and everyone, with hard work and determination, can make their lives better for themselves and their families.  We still in a country that cares about the gift of freedom in other nations and is willing to make sacrifices in order that others can enjoy the hope and promise of that freedom.
     So, I'm ready to eat some watermelon and ice cream, wave the flag, marvel at fireworks, laugh with family and friends, and rejoice that God sovereignly placed us in this great nation.  But all the while, might we remember, we are only passing through.  As much as we love this nation--even with all her flaws--we are citizens of an infinitely greater country.  A country without evil.  A country without racism or poverty or tears or failure or fear.  A perfect, eternal, joyous, glorious country.
     I love the words of C.S. Lewis--
          "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.  If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud.  Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.  If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or to be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage.
           I must keep alive in myself the desire for the my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that country and to help others to do the same."
     Amen!  Lord, thank You for this great nation--long may she prosper and reflect Your glory and goodness.  But may we all remember on this, her birthday, that our real country, our real home, is with You.  And that home will be glorious beyond imagining.  Help us to live now as citizens of our eternal country.
     To God be the glory.

Cell phones and other idols!

     Another cell phone bites the dust.  Sigh.
     That's it, submerged in rice.  We're hoping for a miraculous removal of moisture and a revival of service.  So far, it's not looking too promising.  Let me explain--
     Yesterday, I dropped my cell phone in a glass of water.  Yeah, yeah, I know that sounds ridiculously lame, but it's true.  I was intently reading something and not paying attention, and what can I say?  This space cadet put my phone down in a small glass of water I was drinking at the time.  I share this to make everyone else feel great about themselves.  I know what you're thinking right now.  Gee, I may be forgetful, I may be out to lunch sometimes, I may be disorganized, I may even be exhausted... but I'm doing waaaaay better than that nincompoop.
     I'm just all about trying to encourage everyone else here, so I'm glad to make anyone reading this feel enormously better about yourselves.  You're welcome.  Maybe next week I can write about misplacing my car or calling my children by the dog's name or once again forgetting about the tooth fairy for my youngest child.  (By the way, did you know the tooth fairy often likes to put a dollar in the oddest places--mailboxes, microwaves...she's a tricky one, that tooth fairy.  At least in our house.)
     Sure it's funny.  Ha ha.  My husband is really laughing since he relishes the prospect of perhaps having to spend money again replacing my cell phone.
     But here's the thing--it has been, shall we say, a bit of a stressor for me.  You just don't realize how important your cell phone is to you until you have it fly off the hood of your car on the highway (see blog post many months ago) or drop it in a glass of water or maybe just plain old lose it somewhere in the wild blue yonder (not that this has ever happened in our house.  O nooooo.)
     I found myself worrying over who might be calling or texting me and assuming I'm just plain rude since I don't respond to them.  O gracious--that makes me feel wretched.  Or what if one of my children is trying to reach me--by text of course since all young people seem to have lost the art of actually using their voices to talk on the phone.  Or what if I need my contacts or need to call someone on my way to the grocery store or...  Well, the possibilities for disaster are simply endless.
     By the way, please note where we happened to put the cell phone in the rice--right in front of my favorite verse displayed on our kitchen counter.  "Be anxious for nothing, but in all things give thanks."  The Lord has such a sense of humor!  I had been both anxious and ungrateful.  But our forever faithful Father got me back on the right track and had me thanking Him--even for another day of pouring rain and broken cell phones.  He's always teaching us, isn't He?
   Here's what God's Word says: "Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications!  The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him." (Ps. 28:6-7)
     "It is better to trust in the Lord that to put confidence in man.  It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes." (Ps. 118:8-9)
     How prone we (or at least yours truly) are to put our confidence in all these lesser idols in our lives!  Trusting in our cell phones.  Trusting in our abilities.  Trusting in our finances.  Trusting in our healthy lifestyles.  Trusting in our accolades.  Trusting in our children's success.  Trusting in others to make us feel validated.  Trusting in other's opinions of us.  Trusting in our possessions.  
     And it occurred to me: it's easy to identify an idol in your life by how it makes you feel when that possession or person or purpose in life is taken away or threatened in any way.  Yeah, I know a cell phone is a silly example, but boy, we can be so quick to start depending upon all these ultimately lesser and infinitely inferior idols in our lives to provide comfort or worth or wisdom or pleasure.
     But idols do nothing but steal our joy, rob our peace, and most tragically of all, thwart our loving and intimate relationship with the Lord who made us and longs to walk with us.  We throw away the priceless gift of intimacy with and worship of the Almighty for a sham idol that will always, and I mean always, ultimately disappoint and crush us.  It's like trading a piece of chewed-up gum for a priceless pearl.  Or as C.S Lewis so famously put it--trading a splash in a little mud puddle for a spectacular holiday at the beautiful beach.  Time to stop making that trade, don't you think?
     So Lord, thank You that You are the One "who hears the voice of my supplications."   No one else need hear my voice on the cell phone!  If I am heard by You, then that is enough.  That is more than enough--that is glorious!  Help us trust in You, in You alone, and not in all those little idols in our lives that do nothing but rob, steal, and destroy.  You are our strength and shield, and in You, our hearts rejoice.  To God be the glory.