The Consummation of What we Enjoy...

"I think we delight to praise what we enjoy 

because the praise not merely expresses 

but completes the enjoyment; 

it is its appointed consummation."

C. S. Lewis 

For the past week, our family was vacationing in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Though exhausting with five kids, it was a wonderful thing to go to a place so different and so far removed from home and to experience the beauty of Creation in a new way.  Eva saw to it that we were up early...really early...most days of the trip.  But this afforded me many opportunities to watch the sun rise over the ocean.

As we were driving home yesterday I read this C. S. Lewis quote that I felt really epitomized my week at the beach.  We delight to praise what we enjoy....YES!  How could I not praise my Maker for giving me such visual reminders of His love for me, day in and day out?  How could I not see His hand in such astounding beauty that quietly repeats itself, morning after morning.  

I loved that whenever I walked down to the beach in the morning to see the sunrise, there were many other people there for the same purpose.  Some had cameras poised for that first moment of sunbeams, peeking over the watery horizon, some had beach chairs and their cups of coffee in hand.  All were facing east...watching...waiting in expectation.  

How many of us take this pause to enjoy the sunrise when we are not on vacation?  How many of us rush through our days without taking time to appreciate what God has done for us?  To eagerly wait for Him?

 I thank God for these reminders of His wondrous love....for a pause in the rush rush rushing that encapsulates our days all the time.  I breathe deeply of this new day, looking east to that same sunrise that met me every day at the beach, and I wait...I wait to meet Him, knowing He is every bit as much here as He was at the seashore all week.  My enjoyment is certainly completed, consummated, when I stop to praise God for all He has done for me.  He speaks to me, ever so softly, in those first rays of morning light...reminding me that He is near, ever present, caring deeply for me and this great sea of humanity.

Embracing Seasons...

I utter the words.... "Your Will Be Done" but do I really mean them?

Do you?

The season is changing, as much as I don't want to admit it.  Leaves are turning color and falling already, there's a chill in the air at night, I've even seen Christmas decorations on display in stores already and it's only September. 

As much as I try to hang on to these last few days of summer, I know it will soon be Fall...soon be a new season.  The glory of summer will be dying away, bit by bit, piece by piece until it is soon gone. 

Many of us balk at change, especially when it is completely out of our control.  As much as I would will it to be summer here forever, that will never come to pass. 



Do you embrace your seasons?  I sensed that the Lord was asking me this question as we drove home from a local farm tonight after enjoying some enormous pumpkins and other signs the approaching Fall.  Do you accept what I give you?  Do you continue to praise Me, when you are in a season that is difficult?  

Oh God, if it could only be Summer for just a while longer?  Why do things have to be so hard?  This endless cycle of life, ever-changing, is so exhausting at times.  Just when I find myself reaching a point of comfort, I'm thrown into a new season once more, faced with new obstacles to overcome.

But I'm still with you...  He reminds me as I digress.  Oh...yes I did know that God.  Of course, when everything is changing around me, I can always fall back on you, my Rock, my unchanging Fortress. 

What does it mean when I say, "Your Will Be Done"?  Well, I think it has something to do with embracing seasons...with handing the reigns over to God and accepting whatever He gives me.  Not my will, God but YOURS.  Not my personal preference, my comfort, my convenience....not the easy road...

"Your Will Be Done" means that I take each season in stride, that I TRUST in His plan for me, that I make progress, even when everything seems to be working against me.  I embrace my seasons by first embracing an unchanging God, Who cares more about me than I can possibly imagine.  What I lack, He supplies.  Where I struggle, He delivers me.  He turns my darkness into light...my darkest night into brilliant gleaming daylight. 

Psalm 18:1-3; 28-33(NIV)

I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.

As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless;

he shields all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord?

And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength

and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;

he causes me to stand on the heights.

Not My Ways...

"We want to make pancakes!!!" was the first thing my 4 and 6- year-old cried as we made our way into the kitchen yesterday morning.  "OK, we'll make pancakes for breakfast." 

"I want to crack the eggs!"
"I want to stir!"
"I want to get the pans out."
"I want to pour out the batter."
"I want to flip them."
"I want to eat a pancake!!"  (This was Eva)


The requests came steady and demanding.  The task would have been infinitely more efficient if I wasn't trying to reach around three children to ensure that nobody got hurt, and that all pancakes were cooked through and pulled off the scalding hot pans before they burned.  One by one, our plate of pancakes grew until we had a steaming stack, ready to eat. 

******

I could hear footsteps, following me into our backyard shed and then a questioning voice with the sweetest little inflection on the end, "What are you doing, Mama?" 
"I'm filling the bird feeders Eva."
"I do it," she declared
"OK, Eva," I sighed.  What else could I say?  I love her and I want to let her help me.  But often her help is not so helpful, shall we say.

As I took the top of the first bird feeder off, she scooped the birdseed out of the bin we keep it in and was ready with an overflowing cupful.  She tipped the cup over and most of the contents missed the feeder and dumped out all over me.  "Careful, Eva, try to do it again," I urged her.  Painstakingly, we made our way from feeder to feeder, filling all six of them one by one, with much coaching along the way.  We finished the task, but again and again the thought popped into my mind, "I could do this so much faster, so much better, without all of this help."

And then, with a verse, God put me in my place....flipped this right back around and reminded me how I try to go about my days, helping Him.  But He did more than that...He reminded me of how Jesus chose fishermen... a tax collector...to be His disciples... His right-hand men.  He could have done a lot better, I might dare to think...  But He allowed the most unlikely helpers, to walk beside Him, to witness His miracles, to see Him interacting with people every day, to hear His teachings.  I am unworthy to carry out even His most simple tasks, and yet, He chooses to work through a weak and inadequate human being like me.  Is His love for all mankind really this great?  How can this be??  

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)

 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts

My ways are higher than your ways...

But God, I can handle this...  
I know what I'm doing....
If I can just get through this busy day, I promise I'll make some time to read my Bible at the end...

My ways are higher than your ways...

But God, this doesn't make any sense.  You're taking me in the opposite direction of where I should be going.  This can't possibly be the best path.  You can't possibly expect me to do this....

My ways are higher than your ways...

You're right, God.  You know SO much better than me.  Just as the kids wanted to help me and the help wasn't so very helpful, I try to take control of situations all day every day when I need to remember that You are still in charge.  Your ways are so beyond my comprehension.  You've already ordered and numbered my days.  How could I ever forget all of this? 

Psalm 86:11 (NIV)

Teach me your way, Lord,

that I may rely on your faithfulness;

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name.

The Rainbow in the Rain....

 We sat on the driveway two nights ago, large bin of chalk beside us, coloring the pavement.  "Draw me a rainbow," my daughter demanded.  "Draw a BIG one."  I grabbed the necessary colors and set to work, drawing her a giant rainbow that spanned the whole driveway.  Next I drew clouds...a sun...and rain.  "Why is there rain?" she asked me.  "Because you need to have rain in order to have a rainbow," I explained to her.  And then the reality of these words hit home.  How often do I begrudge the rain that brings me my rainbows?

I am a forgetful person.  I take health for granted until someone is sick.  I take my loved ones and friends for granted until I experience a loss.  I take the clear blue sky for granted until the storm clouds are gathering.  I forget...forget to thank God every day from the depths of my soul, for all of my blessings. 

The other night I read this quote by Ann Voskamp, from her book, One Thousand Gifts.  "Is it only when our lives are emptied that we're surprised by how truly full our lives were?"

Well...is that your truth?  It certainly has been mine all too often...

A rainbow wouldn't be quite as glorious if it weren't set in the sky with retreating black clouds in the background....this is what makes the colors truly stand out, what makes it all the more glorious.  You can't have a rainbow without rain, and it's the rain that makes us truly appreciate the beauty of the rainbow.  Perhaps this same truth can be applied to our lives. 

"Why do I have to suffer so much though, God?" 

Hasn't He already given me the answer to this question though?  Hasn't He told me that my suffering produces Hope...Hope that does not disappoint! 

I took my mom for a walk around the neighborhood yesterday.  Walks are our one time to connect, though often we walk in silence these days.  Now when we walk, I take her by the hand, leading her along as I would my two-year-old.  And the rain...it pounds me in the face...it is relentless and cruel and drives me to my knees. 

I know there has to be a rainbow following this driving rain, God.  I am expectantly waiting for it.  I know that You are working, even now, toward the end goal of making ALL things new.  I know there is still hope, a rock-solid hope that I can rely on, not as I hope in the things of this world.

Romans 5:3-4 (NIV) "And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.  And hope does not put us to shame..."


While I am looking for the rainbow, my eyes are diverted from the clouds.  I'm looking for the blessings, seeing the things I take for granted every day.  And they are everywhere...the rainbows in the rain....