Don’t Sort Your Clean Laundry

Posted on December 12, 2012 by jroesler728

This post could also be called “The Down Side of Personal Organization.”

When you take your personal laundry out of your clothes dryer it is better to stuff things randomly in any drawer with space than it is to have one drawer designated for one particular piece of clothing. If you need validation for this approach just go back and review your experience.

If you are running late and you need a clean pair of underwear it is possible, that if you only have one possible place to find it, you could find the drawer totally empty. In that case, you will have no alternatives.

If, on the other hand, you have placed two or three pair of underwear in three or four different drawers, you will always find the pair you need hidden behind an unlikely camouflage, like maybe a T-shirt.

This philosophy does not only apply to laundry. It has equal validity with filing papers such as credit card bills and insurance premiums.

If you need to find the paper again, it is best to leave it in a random pile on your desk or scattered with other important papers in a way that may look like a desktop collage. If you file it away, you will never find it.

In fact, the only difference between a filing system and a shredder is that the shredder makes noise. I hope this post will bring peace to those of you who are failing in your efforts to organize your life.

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Leaving Footprints

Posted on December 10, 2012 by jroesler728

One of my most memorable learning experiences has been participating in a tracking seminar at a nature center. We looked closely at an area of earth and saw nothing until our instructor taught us what to look for. Then, to my amazement, I begin to observe signs that an animal had walked in this area, recognize the animal and even identify characteristics of the species. Now, when I go for a walk, I find myself looking for evidences of what else has walked on the same path.

One thing that happens at a memorial service is a time when family and friends bring reflections. Could we think of this as a type of tracking seminar? This past week we had a memorial service or, if you like, a tracking seminar for the ninety one year old man who prayed for the 5-day-old baby.  (See Silverstrands post “ A New Baby and An Old Man” Nov 12, 2012.) During my message of encouragement and hope, I invited the parents of this baby to come up and thank God that this man prayed for their child. He had left tracks.

What can be discovered from my “tracks” today?

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Are You Special Enough?

Posted on December 7, 2012 by jroesler728

-by Shirlee Vandegrift

If you are a believer you already know you are special.  God loved you so much he created you. He “knit you together in your mother’s womb.” Isn’t that special?

I venture to guess everyone has had a time, or times, of doubt.  If I am special you tell yourself why do bad things happen to me? Maybe those times of doubt happened in school. You failed a test, you weren’t chosen for the school play, you weren’t asked to the prom, you didn’t get accepted to the college you had your heart set on, you just weren’t special enough. You weren’t special enough to get married, or to have children, or stop your mate from straying, or bring your ‘prodigal’ children back to the fold.

Oh, the tears that have been shed. Oh, the prayers you have prayed. Oh, the questions.  Who hears? Who answers? You pray alone and you pray with others. Impatiently, you await the sound of That Voice responding to your pleas. Are you special then?

And then it comes. That Voice! Not as you imagined, perhaps not as you requested, but That Voice, present nevertheless. It comes when someone tells you that they have been praying for you. You are not some solitary figure standing alone in the presence of God, speaking quietly and hoping He hears. You are now a gathering of two, or maybe even more, comforted by the knowledge that you are so special that others will join in bringing your requests to the Father on your behalf. And you are so special that the Father listens.

Such an unexpected blessing, to know how special you are.

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So, Then, What Child Is This?

Posted on December 5, 2012 by jroesler728

A few days ago I wrote a blog letting you know I was given this title for a talk. I want today to let you know the outline I will use. I really believe God has led me in the preparation of this talk as people have prayed for me. The following thoughts are excerpts from the talk.

So, then, for the question:

What Child is this?  Let’s consider two possible answers.

  • An event that will exhaust you.
  • An encounter that will define you.

Let’s talk first about this baby in the manger being an event that will exhaust you.  A baby. What could be more delightful? What a cute way for God to come. I like thinking of God as a baby in some ways. A baby can be a source of comfort.  Then, I like thinking of Jesus as a baby because I can stay in control. I can dress Him up, put Him in the back room or put Him on display. I decide. But babies are a lot of work. Take, for example, if you need to go somewhere with a baby you can’t travel light. If Jesus is still a baby in your Christian walk you are tired.

But then, when asked, “What Child is this?” am I able to say “an encounter that defines me.” For this, we look not only at the Christmas story but also at the bigger story in which Christmas fits.

We start way back in Genesis where we learn that God made man and woman in His own image. Have you wondered why? Might it be because He planned to come as a man? Did he know, even when he was making us that He would have to become one of us in order to restore us to the original design of living in relationship to Him?

It has been said that God has written two books. One is called His World and the other is called His Word. I love to read both. I see God all over the place in the things He has made but if I were on trial and given only one minute to describe God I would choose a story of Jesus.

God invites you to recognize the Child as God becoming the man who was made in His image and then invites you to be an image bearer for Him.

How will you answer this question this Christmas, “What Child is this?

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Where Will These Boots Go?

Posted on December 3, 2012 by jroesler728

These Boots Were Made for Walking

You see one shoe each of two pair of new hiking boots.

The blue one is a woman’s size 9 ½.

The black one is a man’s size 13.

The woman will be 70 years old when this trip starts.

The man will be 29 years old.

The adventure is a gift from the Aunt’s best friend. “I want to give you something special and I know you will be safe if your nephew goes with you.”

 

My Nephew and Me

 

The woman is 5’4″ tall.

The man is 6’7” tall.

The relationship is Aunt and Nephew.

The hiking trail will be at least 100 km. It is in a European country where neither of them has ever been. There will be no reservation made for meals or sleeping. Every thing they need will be carried on their backs.

The trip will be called a pilgrimage.

I think these boots are planning to write a story. I, for one, will be eager to read it.

The black boot starts the story with “Awesome.” The blue boot responds, “Ahh” (word used by highly intelligent people to replace a wide range of words and emotions).

 

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Created in His Image (Part 2)

Posted on November 30, 2012 by jroesler728

In my first post with this title I talked about the possibility of joy being a shared experience with God because we have been created in His image. I have that same question about our ability to carry the pain of someone we love.

My heart is crushed today because my friend is in a deepening trench of unrelenting pain. This pain has such a grip on her that she is rejecting me. I am finding no welcome for my effort to show compassion.

I know that the depth of my pain could be because I don’t trust God to undertake for my friend.  If this is the case, I need to repent. But is it possible that I am sharing in His sufferings?

Might this be a time when, as the Holy Spirit picks up my inarticulate groaning, my feeble attempts at prayer become a powerful communication between the Spirit within, the Son interceding and the Father attending?

How does being an image bearer affect my view of personal pain?

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Created in His Image

Posted on November 28, 2012 by jroesler728

We have the stunning account from the early bible teachings that we are created in the image of God. We know that image is marred because of sin but we also know that we have been rescued and that we are being restored in His image. I wonder how we know when either joy or pain is felt because we are image bearers?

Last week when my precious six year old adopted granddaughter was getting packed up to leave from her weekly visit with me she interrupted her gathering of stuff and asked, “Besta, if you are still living when I am grown, can I bring my baby to see you? Will you hold her in your arms by the door like you held me when I was a baby?”

These precious words, the impact of her eye contact as she processed memory, story she had been told and dreams of life to come flooded my heart with joy. I told her I would love for her to bring her baby and as I did my love for her grew even more.

Was this response on my part, a reflection of how God feels when we somehow tell Him that spending time with Him is special and we want our children to experience it, too?

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Pastoral Prayer for Thanksgiving Worship Service

Posted on November 26, 2012 by jroesler728

“Be joyful always, pray continuously, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ.”

The God we are worshipping today is the Loving Father who welcomes His children. Today our Father wants us to come home, to His heart, for Thanksgiving.

He has His eye on you, right now, and is excited that you are here. We talk to Him with joy and confidence because we know our Father loves to hear our voice, has something to say to us and is interested in what we have to say.

Some of us could rattle on all day and still not have mentioned everything we are thankful for. For others of us, we want to be thankful, but our lives are in a season of sadness.

Let me risk saying this, if we can think of nothing else to be thankful for we can be thankful that God wants to enter into a conversation with us. We call it prayer.

I will lead us. When I pause, it will be for you to listen quietly to God or quietly tell him what is on your heart. If at any time during the prayer you want to stand up as a way of declaring this is true for me, then do that. At the end I will say Amen, but it won’t be the end of our chance to talk to God. He will be listening for our voice all day.

Pray with me. Father, We want to begin by thanking you that because of Jesus we can claim a family relationship with you. You are our Father, we are your children, and today we want to say, “Thank You.”

Thank you that you are a Father who waits for us children to come home, loves to hear our voices and loves for us to have time with you. We want to tell you right now that we are thankful that Jesus died and rose again so we can run to you with the freedom of a loved child.

We thank you that we are welcome to bring our friends home for Thanksgiving. We want to name those who we long to introduce to you and ask that by your Holy Spirit they will choose to accept your invitation to become family.

Thank you that we can never bring anything to you that is too hard for you. You have power over our fears, our finances, our health, and our relationships. We bring to you now the things that concern us and ask you to help us release these things to you.

We pray that you would open our eyes so that we can see your involvement in our lives, open our ears so we can hear your voice and open our hearts so that we can love.  May our lives be so stunning that people will say, “Look at how those ordinary people love each other. The only explanation can be that they have been with Jesus.” Bring to mind one unexpected act of love that we can do today that will cause our family and friends to recognize you.

We thank you that you are a promise keeping God. We thank you that you finish what you start, that you, who have begun a good work in us and in those we love, will not give up. Thank you that you are waiting at the front door of your home, your heart, waiting to run to us and welcome us home for Thanksgiving.

We acknowledge that all of this is true because of the love of our Heavenly Father, the rescuing work of Jesus and the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

We say, Amen, now, but this is not the end of our prayer. Thank you that you will be listening for our voice all day. Remind us, though the day, to talk to you and listen for you. May you, most Holy God have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day because your family is home and your house is filled with unity and joy.

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The People in the Box

Posted on November 23, 2012 by jroesler728

My childhood friend called me last night and the conversation led to some of the memorable characters that added color to our rural farm life story. She told me of one of her relatives that spent most of the time as a logger in the north woods.

One time when he made the trip out of the woods to visit her family, the timing coincided with her father buying their first TV set. It was a 12-inch black and white. The TV was on when the logger walked into the house.

He took a quick look at it and excused himself. When he came back into the living room he had taken a bath and was wearing a suit.

He looked at the TV again and then explained to the family that he didn’t want the people in that box to see him in his work clothes.

It’s a funny story. I laughed when she told it to me. As I write it now there is something in me that longs for the days when technology just did not fit into our experience of life.

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Prayer Changes Prayer

Posted on November 21, 2012 by jroesler728

I had come to the home of my 91-year-old friend to put the finishing touches on his memorial service. He has been accepted as a hospice patient and, knowing that the health care system has exhausted its resources for treatment, he has chosen quality of life (comfort measures only). His strong faith in the hope of spending eternity with Jesus makes talking about death easy.

In planning the service we discussed favorite hymns, the scripture he would want read, who would bring words of remembrance and what I should talk about when bringing a message of hope.

We laughed together when he said that after the service “we” could take the ashes to Illinois and spread them on a gravesite he owned there. I couldn’t just let that go so I asked if it would be “we” who would take the ashes. Allowing the reality to settle, he said, “No, I won’t be going.”

Having taken care of the details I looked at this man through the eyes of my experience as a registered nurse and said, “I am not at all sure that you can lean hard on the expectation that your death is imminent.”  “Of course you could die before I leave today, but then so could I.”   Pondering this I asked, “I wonder if you need to be prepared to live as well as prepared to die.”

He then acknowledged that the doctors had also thought he may actually be improving. We sat together quietly before he told me he had changed his language of prayer. For two weeks he had begged God to let him die. “Lord, I’ve had enough. I’d like you to help me slip away in the dark of night.” But then he remembered that Jesus Himself had prayed “If possible, take this away from me.”

The memory of Jesus and His trial helped my friend understand that the Lord had not turned His back on him, “it’s just that God wasn’t ready.” So the new prayer language is, “I’m ready when you are. You call me and I will come.” Explaining further he turned to me and said, “There’s no use pushing Him as He’s not a pushover.” He concluded with, “I’ll go when he calls me and not before.”

May that be my prayer, too.

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