Look Forward

"By faith [Abraham] went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God" (Hebrews 11:9-10).

Illness clearly shows the flaws of our bodies. Rather than being a palace of luxury, our bodies display all the inconveniences and discomforts of a tent.

Even for one who likes a good tent camping vacation, the glamor and novelty will eventually wear off. Bones begin to ache from hard ground. Skin ages from exposure. Hair grows hopelessly tangled from wind. Face is scorched from cooking over a fire. We begin to dream of a luxury hotel.

Has the novelty of illness (or whatever your trial may be) worn off? If you (as I have done) focus on the discomfort, you will become disheartened. You will want to give up, and you will cry for an end to it. And while crying out to God in our pain is good, God wishes us to not only turn our hearts to understand our utter helplessness (What a gift to be given true vision!), but also to turn our eyes to hope in and expectancy of the promise. Eternal life. Life made beautiful through the Spirit now. Life more beautiful and grand than we are able to imagine in "the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God."

So in the trial, let's not only cry out, but lift our gaze to the One who has promised a home in His palace.

Photo: bricks torn out of our basement during professional mold remediation

New Plants

Mom came home last week from a day of town errands telling of the beauties of a farm and home improvement store's houseplant selection. She has seen inside plenty of home improvement stores lately as we are currently without one bath. The process of putting it, a closet, and the basement back together after pretty major mold remediation will be just that, a process.

Back to houseplants. On our way to Maren's birthday party a few days later, Dad dropped us women off at Fleet Farm to smell the tires (literally, that store is permeated with the smell of rubber) and pick out a couple new plants. Because we have dozens of houseplants already (a quick, mental walk-through of the house resulted in a count of 35) and two more were definitely needed. Of course I wanted to buy the whole lot (or two more than what we actually came home with, to be precise), but we settled for this Ficus for Mom and a Siam Aurora Aglaonema for the mantle. Now I'm inspired to try my hand at painting some graceful leaf and stem shapes. And find a wet microfiber cloth to wipe the leaves of their hothouse water spots.

A Profusion of Flowers

 

The Party

The lovely birthday girl.

Grandpas at play.

The perfect baby pose, as her mother rightly calls it.

A Happy Fake Birthday

 

Today we get to celebrate Maren's birthday (a few days after the actual date). Happy Fake Birthday to the one who...

...never considered me an inconvenient younger sister.

...inspired me through fun games to work hard and joyfully. ("The inspector is coming!")

...was the guinea pig before me in all sorts of old yet new-to-this-era paths - homeschooling, non-traditional post-highschool studies, stay-at-home-daughterhood

...made me her first tutored student in a highschool study of the United States Constitution.

...showed me how to live all for Jesus from a young age.

...challenged me to get out of my natural talents and comfort zone to help lead Christ following girl's discipleship groups.

...was my right hand woman in bakery days.

...tenderly cared for me when my body was fragile, even moving her bed next to mine to be on call.

...brightens our life with her laugh.

...enriches our life with her insights.

...beautifies our life through her life well lived.

P.S. Yes, we had a snowstorm yesterday, as the snow decorated light fixture shows.

Hold the Phone

Have you ever been on hold? A professionally cadenced voice answers after a few rings with a polite, "Please hold until a representative is available to assist you." Then tinny music (my family would put the word "music" in quotes) crackles loudly over miles of cable setting your leg jiggling or fingers drumming in annoyance and impatience. You try to find something to fill the time but don't want your mind to wander too far from the object of your phone call lest you be caught unready to handle business when the overworked customer service agent picks up your line.

Life sometimes has periods much like this telephone hold. Undesired times of waiting, somewhat annoying, bringing a sense of wasted time to our accomplishment oriented spirits. Yet these holds are necessary to complete the great task slated for us. As I have been reflecting on the last eight years of my life, this idea of being on hold seems an apt analogy. Life up to February of 2014 was full, bustling, full of productivity (and yes, hard, because illness was creeping up on me). Bread baking was my profession. Bringing the love of Christ to the hurting of the world was my passion. Discipling younger women was my satisfaction. Family grocery shopping and mothering my aging yet perpetually young aunt who was graced with an extra chromosome was my loved duty. And then all that came to an abrupt end with two emergency room visits, a brush with "the valley of the shadow of death," and endless diagnoses. Cue the long hold, nerves grated by the ugly realities of an illness ravaged body, impatience with a multitude of questions as yet unanswered, and uncertainty how to steward this unspecified length of time. And yet I have a deep sense that this is a critical holding period, the waiting room into a greater future. The many injunctions in the Bible calling me to wait on the Lord hold my soul secure. "I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." (Psalm 27:13-14).

Are you waiting? Waiting for an answer? Waiting for a promise to be fulfilled? Waiting for hope to dawn? Waiting...? Hold the phone. An answer is on the way. The One who can satisfy all your longings is worth waiting for.

"...wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you" (Proverbs 20:22).

Eight Years

As of today I have been convalescing (a gentle word for a very gritty fight for health) for eight years. Sometimes a niggling thought of "I can't do this anymore," settles over my weary being. Then God gently reminds me that in Him I can. "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). This familiar verse is becoming less cliche every year.

What promises of God do you see being proved true in your life right now?

A Sunday in Winter

So far today I have...

...fought off a significant headache before exiting bed.

...donned a brand new tunic sweater in my favorite color -- white.

...attended virtual church with Hannah.

...washed fruit in a big, metal bowl of lemon oil water.

...eaten as if I haven't for three days. (Some days are like that, and my pants fit just as usual the next day.)

...finished knitting a not fully successful bunny. (Maybe it will look more convincing after its ears are ironed flat. At present they have a Yoda-esque quality, which quite frankly does not appeal to me.)

...continued a new-to-me audio book with cosy characters and a small mystery.

...gone on a refreshing, 1° F walk.