Foreign Concept

Foreign languages

are fascinating to hear spoken.

The jumble of syllables

as they flow in confused order

from someone’s mouth

are intriguing.

Unusual guttural sounds,

musical inflections,

tonal expression,

unique tongue rolls or clicks,

even facial appearances;

each lend to various manners of articulation.

If I listen carefully,

I may distinguish a few words

that ring familiar,

bearing similarity to those in my own language.

Yet, even if I were to master a foreign language,

there would be so much more to learn

in order to gain a full understanding

of the culture in which that language

calls home.

In observing others who have lived

immersing themselves for many years

within a foreign land

and mastering the language and culture,

it can be difficult for them to re-enter

the land of their birth

except in the role of visitor.

To redefine home

means to cast their first home in a new light;

the birth home becoming the foreign land.

Refreshment, passion, outlook,

joy, rest, safety,

perspective, discernment,

even the language of dreams

are reestablished

and take root

in the chosen land.

~ae

“So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens,

but you are fellow citizens with the saints,

and are of God’s household,

having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,

Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.” 

~Ephesians 2:19,20

“You once were not a people,

but now you are the people of God;

you had not received mercy,

but now you have received mercy.” 

~I Peter 2:10

Great Physician

A soothing voice,

a gentle touch,

a steady hand,

Each fragile life

completely held

in His command.

And every new little one

ushered into this world

holds a heart to love Him,

feet to walk with Him,

hands to serve Him.

Chorus (1)…

For He is the Great Physician

and all of life is His;

every breath,

every beating heart

is His to give.

And when a heart draws near to Him

His giving heart overflows

with the promise of forever

in the caring Hands

of the Great Physician.

A soothing voice,

a gentle touch,

a steady hand,

He reaches out

to those without

the strength to stand.

And every Beloved one

filled with sorrow and pain

knows the promise of

His gift of love,

And in Jesus’ Name

we cry out,

Chorus (2)...

“Oh Great Physician,

all of life is Yours;

every breath,

every beating heart

is Yours to give.

Our broken hearts

cry out to You,

to Your Heart that overflows,

and to Your promise of forever

in Your caring Hands,

Oh Great Physician!”

… Great Physician......

~ae 

Magic Beans

A boy was sent to town

to sell the family cow in order to buy

some desperately needed food and provisions.

Much to the disappointment of his mother,

he was tricked into giving up their precious cow

in exchange for a handful of Magic Beans.

As a result of his sincere belief,

the young man planted the beans

which grew far into the sky overnight.

The next morning, he ascended the beanstalk,

manipulatively acquired the goose

which produced a never-ending supply of golden eggs,

carried the goose down the beanstalk to his mother,

and they lived happily and wealthily ever after.

This is just a pretend story from a children’s picture book.

No grown up or mature person

would actually believe that

if they could be innovative enough,

and believe sincerely enough,

to reach high enough,

they would have access to everything they want… 

Could they?

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 

And as people migrated from the east,

they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 

And they said to one another,

“Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.”

And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 

Then they said,

“Come, let us build ourselves a city

and a tower with its top in the heavens,

and let us make a name for ourselves,

lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 

~Genesis 11:1-4

But there is no goose

that produces golden eggs…

Is there?

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower,

which the children of man had built. 

And the Lord said,

“Behold, they are one people,

and they have all one language,

and this is only the beginning of what they will do.

And nothing that they propose to do

will now be impossible for them.

~ Genesis 11:5-6

Acknowledging the Creator and Sustainer of life,

Trusting in God’s Omnipotence,

Taking Him at His Word,

Abiding in His Loving Presence,

Waiting courageously for His Voice…

Most often, these are readily verbalized

amid tragic circumstances,

near death experiences,

or bouts of dire neediness.

Yet, in the face of promising opportunities,

endless accessibility of information,

smoothly paved paths of success,

recognition of the need for dependency upon God

may be illusive.

  

So the Lord dispersed them

from there over the face of all the earth,

and they left off building the city. 

Therefore its name was called Babel,

because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth.

And from there

the Lord dispersed them

over the face of all the earth.

~Genesis 11:8,9

Magic beans,
tower to the heavens,
self-sufficiency;
these temporary boosts are deceptive.

God’s loving discipline

is always administered for the purpose

of driving us back into His arms,

to come to the realization 
that only the truth stands firm.


Whether or not we understand it

or acknowledge it, the truth is this;
we are completely reliant 

upon God alone.

~ae

Vacant Stare

I’d like to think

that I do not depend upon the reactions of others

to know acceptance,

that I am not seeking approval to feel loved,

that I have an audience of One.

Still, it was difficult to say good-bye to my brother

and receive a vacant stare in return.

I know that his frontal lobe was injured

and that he is not yet capable of expressing emotion.

I know that what seems like a lifeless gaze

is simply brain synapse that has not yet been rerouted.

I know that he loves me because

he told me so when he called me last month.

Yet somehow, it felt like a knife wound to my heart

when his eyes met mine

and expressed nothing in return.

Jesus may have felt this way.

~ae    

_____        _____

/           \     /            \

/“He came  \/  to His own,\ 

/and those who were His own\ 

 \  did not receive Him.”  /

\  ~John 1:11  /
\         /
\  /

Got Any Johnny Cash?

   A recovering patient is a wonderful thing.  But when the recovering patient is a brother and you are the sister, there is valid reason for rolling of eyes.

   Today, he decided that he wanted to listen to Johnny Cash.  So he asked me to put the music on.  I told him that I didn't have any Johnny Cash music... that it was on his son’s ipod, that his son wasn't here today, and that he would have to wait until his son came back.  

   He asked every warm body that came within hearing distance from his bed, his speech still slurring from his injury, "Hey!  You got Johnny Cash?"

   The CNA that was attending him at that time was a young man originally from Ghana, Africa.  He had only lived in America for a few years, and was unfamiliar with my brother’s request.  He asked me, "What is dees Johnny Cash he keep saying all de time?"

   “It’s music,” I replied.

   "Oh, museec!  I can play da museec for you, my friend!" he told him cheerfully.

   My brother’s shoulders relaxed as he rested contentedly on his pillow and sighed, "Ahh, Johnny Cash."

   The young man found the bed's TV controls and put on some easy listening music, the kind like you might hear in a department store.

   My brother started rolling his head back and forth and groaning.  The young man said, "What is da mattah, my friend?  Ah you alright?"

   More moaning, "Johnny Cash!  Johnny Cash!  Johnny Cash!", then he rolled over (you'd think Johnny Cash was a pacifier).

   The young man looked at me with a huge smile, "I mus look up dees Johnny Cash aftah I feenish my job heah tonight." 

   I grinned back at him and said, "You can look up Johnny Cash and listen to his music if you want to, but you don't have to like it."

   My brother groaned.  
   What a big baby!  

   Looks like he's going to be just fine!  

~ae

An Everlasting Sign

While driving toward the hospital again,

my windshield wipers tried to keep up with the music

blasting, “I love You more than the sun and the moon

and the stars that I taught how to shine; you are Mine… I love you more!”

I began noticing the evidence of Spring;

tree buds beginning to flower,

colorful splashes of California poppies in the fields,

vibrant green beginning to overwhelm the golden hillsides.

Suddenly, I was captivated

as I drove by several signs with the word,

“Jesus”

written in bold handwritten letters.   

“How nice,” I thought. 

“What a creative way to shout His Name for all to see”…

Then I realized

that someone was simply posting directions

to a birthday party

for a little kid named Jesus (hey-soos’).

Well, that’s o.k. 

I’m good with that!

Now each time I drive this same route, 

I look forward to seeing these little signs

which have been a great encouragement for me.

No matter how they were originally intended,

to me these little signs proclaim Jesus, the Christ, my Savior.

As I see daily progress in my brother’s recovery,

as I drink in the joy of our family time,

as I look forward to going home to my mountains,

to my husband, my children, my church, my friends,

… I celebrate His Name!

~ae

“Seek the Lord while He may be found;

call upon him while He is near.

“...For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace;

the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,

and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

“…And it will be a memorial to the Lord,

for an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”

~Isaiah 55

Matters of the Mind

Dreams are like popcorn...

Bits of your life are put into a canister

and the heat of deep REM is applied

making them start to pop around

and get blown out of proportion.

Later, after it cools off a bit,

you take some in a bowl;

they might be good

but they're not the same.

Now and then

you nearly crack your tooth

on a few pieces

that are still much like the way they were

before they ever went into the popper.

Dreams

are precious gifts.

The effects of dreaming

have been likened to

unwinding,

refreshing,

defragging.

If a brain becomes altered

whether it be by substance, injury, or fear,

there is no knowing what outcome

its responses will generate.

From within the limitations of human perspective,

we tend to view these modifications

as irreversible,

even branding the individual

as incompetent or useless.

But who are we,

the created,

to determine what measure of hope has been made available?

The Creator

offers hope to all.

There is no requirement of ability to perform

which must be met

in order to be valuable beyond measure;

only to believe Him

to trust Him completely,

to rest in Who He Is.

Purpose in life

is established by the Creator of life.

Stewardship of abilities

is a heart response of thankfulness.

Responsibility is the ability to respond.

When we are no longer able to respond to previous abilities,

we are given a different set of abilities

to which we may respond.

But when all the fluff of life blows away,

when the only thing left to do

is to breathe each breath

one at a time,

the raw Truth stands firm.

…and with it, the ability

to believe Jesus,

to trust Him completely,

to rest in Who He Is.

The challenge is

to not let abilities

stand in the way

of believing,

of trusting,

of rest in Jesus.

~ae

“…so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men,

but on the power of God…

“A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God,

for they are foolishness to him,

and he cannot understand them…

He who is spiritual appraises all things,

yet he himself is appraised by no one. 

“For who has known the mind of the Lord,

that he will instruct Him? 

But we have the mind of Christ.” 

~I Corinthians 2:5, 14-16

True Rest

My brother opened his eyes this morning,

he searched for my eyes,

connected with me

and remained focused for a good portion of a minute.

I explained to him briefly

what happened,

why he was in the hospital,

that his condition was improving.

I asked him if his head hurt;

he slowly reached up with his hand

and held his forehead.

I told him that his son and daughter

were with him last night;

he inhaled deeply

then his shoulders and head relaxed

more comfortably than before.

Within minutes, his vital signs

all settled down to within normal range

For the first time in days,

he rested.

Prayerful that this quietness

which had offered his body a respite from pain and confusion

would be emulated in his soul,

I sat quietly

absorbed in the Psalms.

“You have the Word!”

The medical technician smiled.

Reveling in this common ground,

he began to speak

of his homeland, Sierra Leone,

of the suffering and oppression there,

of his opportunity in America,

of his joy in knowing Jesus.

As we shared our God-stories

and drew courage from each other

my brother rested,

yet he seemed aware.

Several hours passed.

My brother began trying to talk,

understanding and responding with purpose.

When I told him countless people

were praying for him,

he replied, “Yup… thankful…….. Jesus.”

~ae

“If the Lord had not been my help,

my soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.

If I should say, ‘My foot has slipped,’

Your lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up.

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,

Your consolations delight my soul…

The Lord has been my stronghold,

and my God the rock of my refuge.”

~Psalm 94:17-19,22

Jenny!

Busy people come and go,

not a single one I know,

keeping paces with the flow;

all except for Jenny.

“Jenny!”  

Jenny throws a penny,

dashes among strangers’ legs,

“Come here, Jenny!”

“Go and catch her

quickly, son!”  the mother begs.

“Jenny!”  “Jenny!”

“Where is Jenny?”

“There she is!”

“What did she take?”

“No!  No!  Jenny!”

“Put that back

right now, Jenny, before you break…”

“I’m so sorry,

here’s some money…”

“Jenny!”  “Jenny!

that’s not funny!”

“Jenny-Jen,

where are you, honey?”

*distant screech*

“Oh, there she is!”

Travelers queued

at Gate C-5

increasingly become alive

as mother’s shouts intensify,

“Jenny!”  “Jenny!”  “JENNY!”

This true experience I blog

and cannot help but chuckle

about Bill Cosby’s monolog

as I clip my seat buckle!

~ae

The Sky

“What should I write about, Son?”

“You should write about the sky.”

“O.k.”

Dis guy stopped by;

he was the UPS guy.

Dis guy

handed a package to my young son.

The package was very large and very heavy.

He watched, amazed, as my son

lifted the package and carried it into the house.

He said, “Would ya look at dis guy!”

The end.

“There.

I wrote about the sky.

Now what should I write about?”

"You should take a nap, Mom."

Courage

Courage…

it’s like driving your truck down the road,

running smooth,

humming along,

no worries.

You stop at a rest stop

and shut off the engine,

but when you get back in your truck

and turn the key…

rrrrRrr…………..….rrRr…rrr……....rrRrrr…

…..…nothing.

There’s nobody for miles around.

You get out,

lift the hood,

can’t see the problem,

feel really frustrated,

stomp around a bit,

kick the tire,

get back in your truck,

and turn the key again…

r…rRRrrr………..r……..

……click.

No matter how hard

you try to muster up any amount of courage

in your own strength,

it just isn’t happening.

You sit in your truck cab,

not going anywhere,

feeling useless,

weary,

alone.

So, what can you do?

Pull out your cel phone,

press “2”… “send”,

the speed dial for your best friend.

“Hey there… uh….. hey listen,

I could use a little encouragement over here.

Yah, o.k…  Hey, thanks.”

Sure enough,

along comes your best friend,

pulling up nose to nose with your truck.

You pop both hoods

and attach jumper cables.

As you turn your key,

you draw new courage

from this source of strength and hope.

rrrrrRRRRRRUMMMMMMMbutterbutterbutterbutterbutter

prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr……

You’re good to go.

And so it is with God

just as He promised…        

~ae

“Call to Me

and I will tell you

great and mighty things

which you do not know.”

~Jeremiah 33:3