Canoe-dling

"...Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other."Mark 9:50 NIV)

Yesterday I visited a huge antique mall with friends, and one in particular was taken with a set of vintage green salt and pepper shakers. She was drawn by the lime green glass; it’s her favorite color. For the rest of the morning, we repeatedly saw the same colored glass sets in other booths in the building.

The color was nice, but it was the words “salt” and “pepper” on the shakers that attracted me… maybe because one set of my kids is celebrating their anniversary today, and I love the idea of how two people, as different from each other perhaps as salt and pepper, can in combination make a beautiful pair.

It’s not always easy. The same kids celebrated the day with a trip down a river in a canoe. Early on, the canoe tipped, and they and their belongings were tossed into the water when it overturned.

Similarly, lots of marriages experience rough water when they start to navigate life together. It takes a while to figure out how to paddle together to make for an enjoyable ride. Spills are inevitable, but it’s what happens when you end up in the drink together that decides whether the marriage will sink or swim. In my kids’ case, they both apologized for their part in upsetting the balance, discussed how to better work together, then climbed back into the boat and gave it another go.

When a marriage is seasoned in such a way through the years, a beautiful pairing is the end result.

 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” 

(James 5:16)

(photo credit:Unsplash/RogerStarnesSr) 

 

A Sight to See

“Pull out your binoculars.”

It was an instruction from a devotional I read this morning. The words jumped out at me because I had actually done exactly that two nights before.

Knowing I’d have some time between the early Sunday church service and the opening of local restaurants for lunch options, I planned to visit the great blue heron rookery located along a waterway behind the local IKEA store. I knew I’d need the vision aids to get a really good view, and so I had pulled them off the basement shelf and put them in the car so I wouldn’t forget them in the morning rush to get out the door.

And oh, what a glorious show the herons put on… such big birds to be packed so closely together in the tight quarters of just a few trees. As I watched, they would repeatedly lift off the nests in unison, a flock of thirty or so of them at once, circling in the air a few times before landing together once more on the nests or nearby branches… only to repeat the action a short time later.

Soon after I arrived, I noticed one large bird sitting by itself a couple of trees over from where the others was busy interacting with each other. No nests in that tree, no other herons nearby… I wondered at its isolation and whether it might be sick.

As I was thus watching and wondering, another car pulled up near me in the nearly empty lot. A man exited the vehicle, opened his trunk, and pulled out a camera with a huge lens attached to the front. I understood his passion for the amazing sight we were privileged to see. But I grew perplexed when he seemed to be pointing his camera at the lone bird instead of at the mass of the same performing aerial acrobatics to its left. After just a few minutes he seemed satisfied with the images he had captured, put the camera back in his trunk and drove away.

As I continued to watch the colony, binoculars pinned to my face, suddenly the whole group of birds lifted up into the air again... and just as they did, suddenly the lone bird flew in and landed on the edge of one of the nests in the center of the group. l I gasped when I saw it in flight and realized that it wasn’t a blue heron after all, but instead a gorgeous bald eagle. That’s what had provoked the photographer’s interest!

Once again the blue herons landed back on the trees, but gave the eagle a wide berth, avoiding the nests near where it had landed and perching on branches on the perimeter of the rookery instead. There followed an uneasy standoff – the eagle just seeming to take note of its surroundings while the herons watched it guardedly nearby. Perhaps it was when the group lifted off in unison once more that the eagle took off as well, flying down the length of the waterway and vanishing from sight. The blue herons landed once more, once again occupying all the nests in the trees as they had before.

Later research confirmed that eagles will occasionally invade blue heron nesting sites, looking for eggs or nestlings to make a meal of. Occasionally the blue herons will fight them off, defending their territory; I was surprised that the group I was watching did not do so but instead simply watched from a distance… perhaps because it is yet too early in the nesting season for there to be eggs or chicks in the nests for the eagle to feed on.

To the naked eye from the distance I was at, the big bird sitting alone looked like all the others nearby. It wasn’t until I picked up the binoculars that I could see the details… the white head, the body shape, and the flight pattern that distinguished it from the others. We’ve each been given a pair of spiritual binoculars in the presence of the Holy Spirit that likewise allows us to see beyond what is visible at first glance and recognize the danger in what originally may have seemed harmless. But it’s up to us to pull them out and put them in play… that our homes and our hearts may be guarded, and our children may live to see another day.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

(John 10:10 RSV)

"Car wash... talking about the car wash, yeah"

The road salt and winter grime were thick on my car after weeks of driving on snowy roads, so when a break in the weather arrived, I pulled up in front of the automatic drive-thru car wash, ready to be rid of it. I slid my credit card through the payment kiosk and slowly drove forward on cue once the garage door pulled up. Once I was far enough in to trigger the red stoplight, I heeded the instruction to put my car in park, sat back and waited for the water spray to start …and waited …and waited. Nothing happened – no movement in the mechanical parts, no water spray …nothing. Minutes passed… enough to indicate that something was wrong. With reluctance I called the “emergency” number posted on the wall in front of me, as there was no other choice available – the door had closed behind me, and I was trapped inside the facility.

When a voice came on the line, I explained my predicament. The woman on the other end asked me what color the stoplight was – perhaps I hadn’t pulled in far enough? I told her it was red, and that I had put the car in park as I was told. Apparently, she was sitting in an office building nearby, as she looked out her window and said, “Oh, yes… I see you there.”

And then suddenly, without either of us doing anything else, the water started to spray, the hose rack inched slowly over my car, and I was in business. Everything worked perfectly from that point on, and a couple of minutes later I was on my way with my vehicle beautifully clean.

So was that all it was – a random happening like many we experience in various ways as we go through our days? Just something to laugh about with my kids later that evening? Or was it something more?

So many of today’s problems are simply the result of people feeling invisible in their struggles. Difficulties are bad enough, but dealing with them unseen increases the stress and anxiety levels contained within. There’s no one to consult with, to question… to help. With no other options left, we are forced to take what may seem like drastic action. In my case it was to make an “emergency” call to the number posted on the wall. It didn’t really feel like an emergency… and perhaps your situation doesn’t either… but I didn’t know how to resolve my predicament on my own. I can’t tell you how reassuring it was to hear the office manager that day say, “Oh yes, I see you there.”

Her words didn’t change anything in the physical realm. I don’t know what finally made the mechanical parts start to move, but I don’t think the voice on the other end of the phone had anything to do with it. But they did change something in me. It was so good to be “seen” when I was literally invisible to anyone passing by, enclosed in the car wash as I was. I knew that one way or another, help was on the way.

Truly so many of our heartaches and struggles are likewise invisible to others we come into contact with each day. Nobody else may know that we’re stuck and in need of help, maybe even on the verge of desperation. Who to turn to in that situation? As a last resort we may make an emergency phone call to God. Does He know that we’re struggling here? Does He care?

I don’t always get a physical voice in reply, but one way or another a message is always delivered, be it a sudden peace in my soul, an idea I hadn’t previously considered, or the sudden appearance of another human (possibly with angel wings sprouting from his back?) to help me out of the situation. However it’s expressed, the message is, “Oh yes – I see you there!”… and suddenly I relax, knowing that help is on the way. And most of the time, the problem is resolved as quickly as that day in the car wash. Other times I may have to wait a little longer, but I do so in the knowledge that eventually I’ll be doused in God’s Living Water  and emerge from the difficulty sparkling clean.

“He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.”

(Psalm 91:15 NIV)

(photo credit: Unsplash/ZulfahmiKhani) 

Purposely Smiling

"Wake Up With Purpose."

It's the title of Sister Jean Schmidt's book about her life as a nun and teacher, centering on her time as chaplain to the Loyola basketball team and their trip to the Final Four in 2018. She writes in the book that she has spent her life encouraging young people to follow their dreams.

What a life goal that is for anybody to pursue - to simply encourage others who are running alongside us to Glory awaiting us at the end of the race. Even those (maybe especially those!) who don't believe in Heaven as their ultimate goal need the day by day encouragement that we can perhaps supply.

Funny then, that the motivational picture message for today in the front of my journal was that of a smile painted on a rock. Years ago God inspired a story I wrote in which the word "smile" was an acronym for "Simply Make It a Little Easier." Somehow it all fit together perfectly as an instruction for the day: Wake up with the purpose of making life a little easier for somebody today by encouraging them along their way.

I love that! Looking at the day ahead I pondered the possibilities for encouragement that might exist. I was having breakfast with friends... was the meeting more, perhaps, than just the chance to eat and enjoy each other's company? Maybe one of them needed a word to cheer them on... or the waitress could use a generous tip? Was my plan to stop at the yarn store just to say hi to my needlework friends... or was there something more I could do beyond that door? Was there a small business I could support somehow as I traveled through my day and town?  I found that in looking for ways to put a smile on others' faces I had less reason of my own to frown!

We've each been given another day; let's use it well. 

"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might..."

(Ecclesiastes 9:10 KJV)

(picture credit: Unsplash/Collin Sheffield) 

Let the Games Begin!

 

Are you ready? The 2026 Winter Olympics start in 2 days!

Are you a casual observer, content to tune in to a few evenings of the ice skating competition and watch a bobsled run or a ski jump or two? Or are you fully invested, as am I… planning to make this sporting event the main focus of the month ahead? If you’re the former, I hope you then just enjoy what events you occasionally catch. But if you’re as excited as I am, in what ways do you plan to enjoy these days?

Me? I knit. And every Olympics in recent history I’ve planned a personal Olympic challenge… I’ve picked a sweater pattern to start and complete in that two week time span. It doubles the fun of spending hours in front of the TV, letting dirty laundry, dishes, and dust accumulate around me as my body sits idly on the couch but my hands are working furiously on the goal at hand. Purpose and passion combined are good companions – and they don’t bother me with small talk as I’m counting stitches or rewinding a skating routine I want to see again.

Of course, I’m retired… which gives me extra time to devote to this nonsense. But even so, I block out the two weeks on the calendar, scheduling appointments and lunch dates with friends on either side of this semi-sacred stretch of days.

The fact that the Olympics are in Italy this year magnifies their attraction to me. I’m Italian, and have actually been to Milan, the center of this year’s Olympic experience. I can’t wait to see it again on TV. I plan to eat Italian food all month, double down on my efforts to learn the language, and will even listen to Italian love songs on the car radio should I be forced to leave my home for some reason, as a quiet nod to Valentine’s Day, which hits smack-dab in the middle of the activity and would likely otherwise go unnoticed in the midst of all this fun.

Because that’s what it is: it’s just fun… an easy way to celebrate the days and life that God’s given us.

I’ve been ready for weeks – sweater pattern selected, yarn purchased… I’m ready to go. Let the Games begin!!!

“Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, Drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes – God takes pleasure in your pleasure!... Each day is God’s gift. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it! And heartily!...”

(Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 MSG)

Safety "Tips"

 

I woke up slowly this morning, and as I looked past the edge of the mattress, I could just see the tips of my cats’ tails held high and waving as they walked back and forth in front of the bed, eager for the treats they knew would be dispensed shortly. I had to laugh because the sight reminded me of shark fins circling at the ocean's surface, likewise warning of hungry critters waiting below.

Just then my daughter-in-law called and we chatted about the day she was facing at the senior living facility where she works… state inspectors sure to arrive that morning… the  two vans of wheelchair-bound seniors she was taking out to lunch… and her van driver who was new and inexperienced. Everything she said warned of trouble ahead.

So what do you do when you are about to step into shark-infested water? You don’t go unprepared, that’s for sure! Those who dive with sharks do so in strong metal cages that protect them from attack by the hungry predators they will share the water with.

You my never attempt such a feat (I know I won’t!), but you do have to descend into a day where an enemy lurks, seeking to kill, steal and destroy. No matter how confident we are in our own abilities, none of us can match the craftiness and wickedness that waits for us out in the world. Our only hope is to put on the full armor of God every morning before we let so much as a toe touch the water. Let God equip you with exactly what He knows you need to face your day. When your enemy sees you as shark bait, taking the necessary precautions with God is the only way to come through the day unscathed.

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

(Ephesians 6:11 NIV)

(photo credit: Unsplash/GeraldSchombs) 

A Daily Drink

It’s wintertime again, and the temperatures have plummeted of late, freezing water sources for the birds and other animals, making it so much harder for them to get a drink or a quick bath. Thus, when they find an unfrozen spot, they return to it regularly.

And so it is that the silver lining for a cold and dreary time of year is that the bluebirds have returned to the heated water dish that sits on my deck railing. They gather in numbers, perched on its rim, their blue and orange coloring filling my heart with delight every time I look out the window and spot them there.

“Happiness” has been associated with bluebirds for eons; they are seen as symbols of joy, hope and good fortune. The sight of them certainly brings up such feelings in me.

Yet so many people I know are not feeling happy as we enter this new year, burdened by grief or problems that weigh their souls down and steal their hope. How can they get a positive outlook back?

It’s not by accident that the Lord instructed us in Matthew 6 to look to the birds and their lack of worry. He provides for them, giving them what they need. And so He does for us – His living water is ever available – we just need to drink deeply and fill our spiritual tanks.

It’s not just a one day thing. Daily I tend to the water dish on my railing, dumping out the old water soiled by droppings and leaves, and filling it anew with fresh water. If I let the dish go dry, the birds look elsewhere for their morning drink. Likewise, if I don’t want my happiness to fly, I need to similarly keep my spiritual water levels high.

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

(Matthew 6: 26 NIV)