Feeling the “Nudge”

Yesterday, I had the privilege to host a reception for some dear friends.  Any party is only as good as its participants.  Lucky for me, the participants showed up.

I am deeply appreciative of the lovely ladies who hostessed the shower, as well as the men and women who spoke at the event.  I had a few pre-scheduled to talk, but the rest was organic.  The Holy Spirit moved people, just as He healed people yesterday.  I was blessed to be a part of it. 

We got to prove how many people we could truly hold in our formal dining area, and just how hot our house could get with about 125 people in it.  But the thoughts and wishes were way warmer than how we physically felt in the room.  Love heals, and much healing happened yesterday.  

The honoree spent his career at our church pouring into the lives of young people.  It was extra special to have his former students speak, and one sang a song of which our honoree supported the creation.   

“Even on the coldest night

We still always find the light

We’re singing ‘Hallelujah, I love you Lord.’

We don’t want to see darkness and despair

We just want to see hands in the air

Praising Hallelujah, I love you Lord.

Hallelujah, I love you Lord.”

When we feel a Holy Spirit “nudge” to do something, we should do it.  Several felt that “nudge” yesterday, and it blessed others.  God deserves the praise and honor for all of it. 

Walking Above Old Bones

While my husband and I visited Lima, Peru, we visited the Convento de San Francisco and the catacombs underneath.  It is projected that seventy-five thousand people’s bones are buried beneath the church.  Thus every worship service, wedding, and special event in the church is performed over thousands of dead bodies.  In many ways this is an honorable place for the dead to be—a truly spiritual resting place for the remnants of their earth suit.  Yet as we visited the catacombs on a Sunday, with a Spanish Catholic mass going on above us, something felt a bit strange.  Perhaps we should have been attending the service instead of plodding around the basement looking at old bones. 

I wonder how many people spend their Christian lives focused on “dead bones.”  Paul tells us clearly in his epistles that we are a new creation in Christ, the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor 5:17).  And yet we find ourselves deceived into thinking that the old man still lives somehow, with a strong hold on our lives.  

Please remember—whenever you are tempted to sin as a Christian, you have help.  The devil “prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He will use the old programming in your physical brain to inspire your mind, emotions, and will to serve his needs.  He will make you think it is you, but that is not the real you. The real you has a living spirit, combined inextricably with Jesus, and has the heart of Jesus himself.  It may be hard to believe, but the Bible declares this truth. 

Does this mean that we do not take responsibility for our actions?  Certainly not!  It is every Christian’s duty to stand firm against the enemy, and tune in to the Holy Spirit to hear truth over the lies.  In order to “hear” the Holy Spirit, it helps to have a regular, committed relationship with him.  If you were to build a new human relationship, you would probably spend time together, communicate with each other, and learn each other’s hopes and dreams for the future.  You would want to do this, not feel made to do it.  Similarly, if you want your actions to align more with Jesus’ teachings, then you need to spend time with Him.  This means reading your Bible, praying, worshipping, and usually having regular fellowship with other believers who can help work the truths of the Bible into you.  This you should also do because you want to, not because you have to. 

Stop plodding around looking at dead bones!  Get out of the dirty basement and come up into the light where true life is found. 

Enjoying the “Red Chicken”

Our 2021 post-COVID Thanksgiving was large and wonderful, with all of my husband’s siblings convening on our house for a big gathering.  We also added his parents and mine, so we had a wonderful crowd!  After 1 1/2 years of not seeing each other much, we were ready to get together again.  We did a family Thanksgiving, along with an early family Christmas the following day.  It was wonderful to see each other again!

The last time I saw my youngest nephew he was a baby, and now he is an active toddler full of life and personality.  As he asked for another helping of ham, I was tickled by his request for more “red chicken.”  It is funny how kids process things in a way they can understand.  

I wonder how we do the same?  How often does God look down and chuckle at our feeble attempts to explain His actions and plans with our limited understanding?  What glorious and profound things do we miss?  At times we can still enjoy things, even if we don’t fully understand them, as my nephew enjoyed his meal.  

Perhaps at times we should not aspire to understand God’s plan, but rather should simply enjoy what He offers us.  May we continue to take joy in good things as they are experienced, even if, in our limited understanding, we think of them as “red chicken.”

I Go Where He Takes Me

I am blessed to have a husband with a great sense of direction.  While I am capable of navigating maps, it takes an excessive amount of brain power.  However navigation comes naturally to him.  He can look at the map once and know where he is going.  I much prefer GPS that tells me where to turn.  

Thus when we went on a weekend getaway, he did the driving and I did the riding.  And when we got where we were going, and had to navigate around country roads within a state park, I sat around daydreaming and looking at the scenery, and he took me where we needed to go.  This was my detour to blissful ignorance.  That kind of trust is beautiful.

It made me think about my kids when they were little.  They never asked how to get to the store, church, school, or back home.  They just went where I took them.  Lucky for them I know my way around town, and I don’t need a map for that. Lucky for me, if I need to venture out somewhere else as the driver, I have GPS for that.

The Illusive “Bobber Fruit”

My husband and I took a weekend get-away to Beaver’s Bend State Park in Oklahoma.  While there we had a picnic lunch near a common fishing spot.  As I looked up at the beautiful scenery around me, I saw 3 dark pink, round “fruits” handing from a limb on a tree.  I wondered what kind of fruit they were.  Kumquat?  Apricot?  My husband, who seems to know nearly everything about the outdoors, was certain he knew the answer.  With a matter-of-fact voice he declared confidently that it is the “illusive bobber fruit.”  

I got up from my seat and was certain he had to be wrong.  I have done some fishing in my life, and those fishing bobbers were red and white, not a uniform bright pink color.  Yet with a closer look, the fishing line was clearly dangling from them.  They were, in fact, fishing bobbers. 

My husband went on to explain in greater detail about the “bobber fruits.”  They have a tough outer shell, and there’s usually nothing in them.  I could infer that they are not good eating, and the effort to retrieve them would not be worth it.  I laughed about that for the rest of our trip.  

Sometimes its good to be silly and laugh at your misinterpretation of things, such as fishing bobbers as “fruits.”  I thought I discovered some native fruit tree I had not previously seen.  Nope.  Just the illusive “bobber fruit.”

Sometimes You Can’t Turn the “Mom” Off

My husband and I did a weekend getaway to Beaver’s Bend State Park in Oklahoma, and opted to do a 9.5 mile hike with elevation change on our last day.  I had not previously done a hike that long.  While I was confident in my ability to walk 9.5 miles, the addition of elevation change was another story.  While this trail had a reported elevation change of 1800 feet, our app showed it to be closer to 2900 when all of the “uphills” and “downhills” were added together.   Suffice it to say I was pretty spent during this hike.  

About midway through we were passed by a young man hiking by himself.  He had hiking poles and a backpack, with the appearance of a young but experienced hiker.  He stopped for a break and we passed him.  Then we stopped to take pictures and he passed us.  A couple of miles later we saw him hiking the opposite direction back towards us and sensed something awry.  This hike was longer than he expected, and he was concerned this circular hike might end at a place he was not familiar.  We compared maps and assured him he is much closer to the exit going the original direction rather than doubling back.  We also told him where the trail ends and how to get to his campsite from there.  He was appreciative and headed out ahead of us in the original direction.  

At that point I started to be a bit concerned for him.  He clearly landed on a trial longer than he expected.  Did he have enough water?  Did he have any snacks for energy?  Perhaps he would let us drive him to his campsite when we ended the hike.  In short, I could not turn the “Mom” off. 

He paused for a break and we passed him.  Then we stopped for pictures and he passed us.  Then he stopped for a break, we passed him, and we did not see him again. We climbed another hill giving me a pretty big view of the trail behind us, and I still could not see him.  My husband thought that he abandoned the trail for the road we crossed about a mile back.  That would actually make his hike much longer, but my “Mom” self was satisfied that he would have access to help on the roadway if he needed it.  We finished the hike and headed back to the cabin. 

On our drive out of the park, we saw him walking along the road.  We couldn’t help but turn around and ask him if he wanted a ride, which he gratefully accepted.  He still had another 2 1/2 miles to go on the roadway to his campsite, and he did not seem to know exactly how to get back.  My “Mom” self was satisfied.  He was delivered back to his campsite where he had supplies, security, and rest.  

When I’m on vacation alone with my husband, shouldn’t I turn the “Mom” off?  I think not.  In the end, this is the “love your neighbor” commandment in action, and that is never supposed to be “turned off” or ignored.  I wish I could say I am this receptive all the time.  Those brief encounters along the trail were sufficient to develop enough of a relationship that we offered the ride, and he accepted it.  

Before we saw this kid on the roadway during our drive out of the park, we saw another guy walking along the roadway looking pretty tired.  We did not stop for him, and in fact that idea never crossed my mind until I sat down to write this.  Did he need help?  Probably not.  Unlike the young man, did he have friends or family at the park he could call for help?  Probably so.  His car may have been parked right around the bend.  Yet then again.....

The Search for the White Indian Paintbrush

One of the joys of living in the country is having a springtime meadow!  Every spring the pasture is full with a large assortment of more than 10 types of wildflowers.  This includes my favorite, the Indian Paintbrush.  

Indian Paintbrushes are usually an orange-red color, yet last year we saw one that had white flowers located near the corner of our inside fence. I estimate that we have tens of thousands of standard Indian Paintbrushes, yet last year I found only one white one.  

One of my favorite things to do on the property is to take a walk in the field, and in the spring and summer I will sometimes pick wildflowers to complement a bouquet started with stems from my cut flower garden.  On most days I take a walk past the corner of the inside fence to look for the white Indian Paintbrush.  Did it survive to seed and regrow this year—who knows?  Yet I look for it every time. 

During these days of COVID-19 isolation, I find it useful to begin looking for the unique and good things in my day.  It is too easy to see what is not good, what is not happy, and what is not fun.  Yet intermixed with the maneuvers of the day are flashes of smiles, glimmers of joy, and lessons learned as we figure out how to enjoy our homes and our families a bit more.  Technological advances are occurring with a speed that only a crisis can produce.  Unusual for sure, yet for us it has not been awful. 

Could we weather this crisis better if we looked tangibly for the good in our day?  Would this give us a positive sense of purpose that motivates and inspires?  Like searching for the white Indian Paintbrush in a large field of thousands of wildflowers, we might be fortunate enough to spot something beautiful and unique.