I Don't Think...

My brother-in-law to his little girl the morning after her slumber party: 

“Come with me.  We’ll rest together.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep, Daddy.”

“It’s o.k.  Just close your eyes…  There, now.  We’ll rest together.”

So she closed her eyes and was instantly asleep.

……

God to me when life happens:

Come with Me.  We’ll rest together (Hebrews 4:9-11)

I don’t think I’ll be able to _________, Lord.

It’s o.k.   Just do what I say…  There, now.  We’ll rest together.

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;

Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.

Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt.”

~Jeremiah 31:3,4

In Flex

Two very moving experiences

in two days...

A conversation with a friend

who is battling cancer,

and a few hours spent 

with a friend in the ER.

Both friends displayed 

immovable faith

and unalterable kindness

in the midst of extremely difficult circumstances.

Both friends had 

every plausible excuse

society has to offer

to toss kindness aside,

to render generic faith useless,

to ride whatever wave felt best

for the moment...

... but they chose another path...

a narrow road

with promise of struggle,

of suffering,

... and each remains completely contented there...

The power of kindness,

the strength of a smile,

the depth of compassion,

the might of an ear,

the steel of steadfastness,

the firmness of faith

all pass through the fire

of unmerciful fear.

Through acts of obedience

rendered in prayer,

the hearts of the faithful

become stronger still.

True strength, though appearing

impartial and tough,

is soft and resilient

in flex with His will.

“Now faith

is the assurance of things hoped for, 

the conviction of things not seen… 

let us run the race that is set before us, 

fixing our eyes on Jesus, 

the author and perfecter 

of faith…”

~Hebrews 11:1 & 12:1,2

Beyond Words

Words captivate me.

Words I see or hear

are constantly being filtered:

Are they flippant, exaggerated, dull,

misspelled, misapplied, inappropriate?

Are they accurate, inspiring, meaningful,

motivating, intentional, sincere…?

Words demand my focus,

their relevance vies for my attention,

their accuracy assumes authority to gauge value…

…perhaps too much so…

What blessing can come through sorrow?

What wisdom can be gained through loss?

What treasure can be found in emptiness?

Jesus,

be my focus

be my relevance worthy of attention,

be my authority to gauge value.

Draw me to

Yourself

…to be content

Beyond Words… 

~ae

Overwhelmed

Absurd...

that someone could actually

forget one's own birthday

or fail to remember the anniversary

of the death of one's child.

I did.

I was completely and entirely
overwhelmed...

...once by unspeakable joy

...once by unbearable sorrow.

Just days after the birth

of our first child,

my mother-in-law presented

a bouquet of flowers

and a small gift tied with a pink bow...

... not for our baby girl...

... for me! 

It was my birthday.

I could not have been more surprised!

"So Peter was kept in the prison,

but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God...

And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared...

and his chains fell off his hands...

"When he knocked at the door of the gate,

a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 

When she recognized Peter's voice,

because of her great joy she did not open the gate,

but ran in and announced

that Peter was standing in front of the gate. 

They said to her, 'You are out of your mind!'" 

~Acts 12:5-15

After a week

of vigilance day and night

by my Dad's bedside,

my body went through the motions

of traveling homeward

while my heart remained there with him.

He breathed his last...

... on the very same day,

only six years ago,

that our baby boy's heart

stopped...

...an entire week went by

before I recalled

that tender memory.

"Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come

for you to be scattered, each to his own home,

and to leave Me alone;

and yet I am not alone,

because the Father is with Me. 

"These things I have spoken to you,

so that in Me

you may [be overwhelmed by] peace. 

"In the world

you have tribulation,

but take courage;

I have overcome the world." 

~John 16:32,33

"When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,

You knew my path." ~Psalm 142:3

"Now to Him

who is able to keep you from stumbling,

and to make you stand

in the presence of His glory

blameless with great joy."

~Jude vs.24

What Do You Say?

Thumbing through the pages
of the Bible that he gave me,
many years of conversations
still so vividly remain.
   For as long as I remember
   he has loved the Word of God,
   and when I asked so many questions,
   he'd explain,


Jesus said,
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life,
no one comes to the Father but through Me.
In this world you will have tribulation
but take courage,
for I have overcome the world,
yes I have overcome the world.

So, what do you say to someone who is dying?
What do you say to comfort
in the sorrow and the pain?
   What to you say to your hero,
   to your Daddy, to your friend?
   And when I asked the Lord these questions,
   He explained,

He said,
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life,
no one comes to the Father but through Me.
In this world you will have tribulation
but take courage,
for I have overcome the world,
yes I have overcome the world.

When heaven and earth have been restored
I'll see him;
he'll be having conversations
with his Savior and his Friend.
   Oh, the joy to see my father
   with our Father there together!
   So, for as long as I have breath,
   I will proclaim,

He is the Way, the Truth and the Life,
no one comes to the Father but through Jesus.
In this world we will have tribulation but take courage;
He has given us His promise and by His Word we take courage;
there is nothing to separate us from this hope
so take courage,
for He has overcome the world,
yes Jesus has overcome the world!
~ae

Sustained

I needed to think beyond my sorrow.
I needed to feel God's comfort.
I needed to be still and worship Him.

Sitting down to the piano
I played several songs
ending with
Great is Thy Faithfulness.

Then without forethought,
I held the sustain pedal with the last chord
and closed the wooden cover over the keyboard.

...and there I sat.

Although I could no longer play
or even see the piano keys,
the sweetness of the melody
lingered within those final notes
as they slowly faded
until my ears
could no longer perceive the tones.

Tomorrow I will be traveling
quite possibly to say good-bye
to my Dad.

The sweetness of God's great faithfulness
is sustained
within Dad's frail body
and confused mind,
for it was refreshed and nourished daily
with God's Word
for as long as I can remember.

"When I came to you, brothers,

I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom

as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you

except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

"I came to you in weakness and fear,

and with much trembling.

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,

but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,

so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom,

but on God's power.

"We do, however, speak a message

of wisdom among the mature,

but not the wisdom of this age or with the rulers of this age,

who are coming to nothing.

No, we speak of God's secret wisdom,

a wisdom that has been hidden

and that God destined for our glory before time began.

"None of the rulers of this age understood it,

for it they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

However, as it is written:

'No eye has seen, no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love Him,'

but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.

"The Spirit searches all things,

even the deep things of God.

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man

except the man's spirit within him?"

~I Corinthians 2:1-11

A Chair

   a chair...

a place of distinction,

a place from which to preside over important meetings,

a place to sit and enjoy a meal,

a place to position myself to put on shoes,

a place from which to observe,

a place to enhance lengthy conversation,

a place to strategically station myself within reach of controls,

a place to be strapped into for potentially unsafe journeys,

a place to be served,

a place to rest.

   a chair...

an object common to nearly every household and occupation,

creatively modified to accommodate specific applications,

easily taken for granted.

   a chair...

an unspoken representation of

confidence,

security,

trust.

   a chair...

pushed off to the corner of the room

labeled with a handwritten note

"Broken",

thus deemed

unreliable,

useless,

unable,

unsafe.

I felt autonomous, 

self-sufficient, 

independent.

I felt strong and praiseworthy.

My will,

my strength,

my heart... came to the end of itself.

I am broken.

I am unreliable, useless, unable, unsafe...

I am completely dependent upon

His gift of life,

His reason to sing,

His wisdom to discern,

His strength to believe, 

His merciful touch.

...and from His immeasurable grace

He gently and tenderly replaces my brokenness,

and becomes

the Perfect, the Eternal, the Unbreakable...

   my place of distinction,

   my place from which to preside over important meetings,

   my place to sit and enjoy a meal,

   my place to position myself to put on shoes,

   my place from which to observe,

   my place to enhance lengthy conversation,

   my place to strategically station myself within reach of controls,

   my place to be strapped into for potentially unsafe journeys,

   my place to be served,

   my place to rest...

"The righteous cry,

and the Lord hears

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

~Psalm 34:17,18

My will,

my strength,

my heart... came to the end of itself, but...

"... His kingdom will have no end." ~Luke 1:33