Breaking Chains That Bind

By Charlotte Riegel –

“I wonder when I’m going to make something of myself?” asked my husband after yet another setback in his fight to succeed. I had heard this statement off and on for too many years. He had attempted several careers and always hit a wall, or seemed to climb ladders only to discover they were leaning against the wrong wall, if they were even leaning against any wall at all. He was discouraged and I was tired of hearing the negative put-downs of himself.

I felt as if he had done amazingly well to keep our family of 7 protected from the elements, fed and clothed throughout the many challenges we encountered. It occurred to me that perhaps the power of his words was part of the problem. I confronted him about the phrase he absentmindedly spoke all too frequently.

We agreed to invite a trusted, highly respected friend for dinner to discuss ridding my husband of this bane and then praying for the bondage to be broken. He graciously agreed to participate.

After considerable discussion over dinner about the futility of how life seemed to be treating my husband, we shared various scriptures then placed a piece of plastic chain links around one of his legs and a leg of the chair he was sitting on to symbolize how these words of failure were binding him. After praying for God to break the power of these words over his life, he took scissors and cut the chain to emphasize God’s power to set him free from the bondage he had been in.

I never heard him say those words of failure ever again. He increasingly felt more accomplished and much happier as the years progressed.

“Thank you, Lord, for vividly showing us the power of our words. Help us to choose wisely what we say each day.”

“It is what a man thinks of himself that really determines his fate.” Henry David Thoreau

Jesus Walked by My House Today

By Charlotte Riegel –

I was working in my yard, tending the flowers. A young man walked by on the sidewalk out front of my house and I noticed it was Jesus. He did not look my way so I chose not to greet him, though I pondered for some time what I might have said if I had spoken to Jesus.

“Hi Jesus! How are you today?”

He might have replied, “Fine. And you? Your flowers look lovely.”

“Thank you,” my response.

Trivial stuff. He was obviously on a mission and oddly enough, I did not feel particularly communicative.

It’s peculiar living in a theatre arts community with professional actors/actresses as neighbors and friends. The young man is playing the character of Jesus in this summer’s Canadian Badlands Passion Play. He did indeed walk by my house today and we do often chit-chat as friends.

I wonder how Jesus spoke with people when he was out and about in the community. I suspect there was plenty of trivial chit-chat, but I also ponder how He might have gotten past the trivial and down to the heart of where people were. For instance Zacchaeus, or the woman at the well.

Prayer: God, forgive me in my forgetfulness that You really do walk past my house, in ALL the people, not just the character in this play. I desire to be faithful to minister to You through them as You give me opportunity.

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’” (Matthew 25:37-40 NIV).

Sparrows Fall

By Charlotte Riegel –

A friend was helping us remove a rather large tree stump from our back yard. The tree had died and, prior to its death, had also broken through a fence. My husband was reclaiming some valuable yard space and hankering to repair the broken fence.

While taking a breather, Lois exclaimed, “Oh look, a baby bird has fallen from its nest.” It took a long time until I could find it amongst all the pine cones under the evergreen tree where the nest was secured. The baby bird looked as if it hatched only hours before we saw it squirming for life. It was nearly impossible for us to access it and even if we had, our efforts would have been useless in attempting to preserve its life.

We were reminded of a song learned in Sunday School and encouraged each other to remember the simple truths of this song, by Marcus Tidmarsh, based on Jesus’ words in Matthew 6.

God sees the little sparrow fall, it meets His tender view;
If God so loves the little birds, I know He loves me too.
He loves me too, He loves me too, I know He loves me too.
Because He loves the little things, I know He loves me too.
He paints the lily of the field, Perfumes each lily bell;
If He so loves the little flowers, I know He loves me well.
He loves me too…
God made the little birds and flowers, and all things large and small;
He’ll not forget His little ones, I know He loves them all.

Lois had recently moved to a new province, a new temporary home and completely new circumstances and was still feeling challenged by the upheaval. She felt encouraged by the reminder that God knew all about it and was walking with her into this new life.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:25-27 NIV).

The Rains Came Down

By Charlotte Riegel –

A song I learned as a child about rain coming down and floods coming up came boldly to mind in recent weeks as the skies opened and the rains came down and down and down and down… Thousands of people in Calgary fought for several days to survive the deluge. Nearly 100,000 people were evacuated, some on short notice. Many homes were lost and much private property was destroyed.

A meteorological event that typically would drop some moisture and move along was stalled and rivers rose rapidly. People did their best to move items from basements and areas that might be affected before escaping to shelters in community centers, churches, or the homes of friends or family. It became a bizarre, historic event without precedent in our area, catching everyone by surprise.

As the rains kept falling, I thought about ‘in the days of Noah’. I pondered how the people in that time might have reacted, even as the people here were. First disbelief, then panic, and anger, especially anger towards authorities. Most of the people were cooperative but some rebelled and refused to leave their homes. When the rain finally did stop, these folks who defied authorities had no water, no power, spoiled food and no way to get food. They were also without sewer except in the sewage that backed up into their homes causing desperately dangerous situations for them and emergency personnel sent to rescue them.

Hearing and reading many horror stories made comparison to the ‘days of Noah’ an easy mental journey. I was also reminded that ‘in the days of Noah’ the rain did not stop for a very long time and all the people and their belongings, except Noah and his family, perished. There were a few deaths in this flood but God spared major loss of life. He did allow major devastation, and I wonder how long people will continue to defy His authority, accrediting ‘climate change’ to all the unusual phenomenon the world has been experiencing in recent years. Climate change, yes, but God controls the climate, not man. Do we contribute to it? Perhaps.

May we be diligent about getting our lives in tune with God’s ways and faithful to echo the words of Habakuk, who after describing much destruction and devastation says:
“yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakuk 3:18 NIV).

Deadheading

By Charlotte Riegel –

While working with the Green Thumbs Ministry team at our church, I noticed the west pansy bed looking rather bedraggled. It looked as if it needed water in spite of the recent rains we’d had. Perhaps the building had sheltered this bed and prevented it from getting much of the needed moisture.

However, before watering, I decided to do some deadheading, removing flower heads that are past their prime. It’s a bit like getting a haircut. If spent flowers are not removed, the plant will direct energy into creating seeds, however, if the dead flower heads are removed quickly, the plant will direct energy into creating beautiful new flowers.

An hour later I could hardly believe my eyes. The flower bed looked rejuvenated and quite beautiful. I then realized lack of water had not made this bed look so awful, but rather, the many spent flowers hanging their heads at the end of their normal cycle.

I pondered this miraculous makeover for several days and then wondered if my life is sometimes like that pansy bed. Do I have ‘spent’ flowers drooping from my life? Is it time to prune my activities and commitments because some of them are past their prime and causing me to look bedraggled? By removing areas in my life that are basically ‘dead’ I could freshen up and be rejuvenated. This would free up energy to create new ‘flowers’.

Does your life need some deadheading? Don’t hang onto areas of your life that are spent. Let them go and make room for some new endeavors. You will be amazed at your renewed vigor, creativity, and beauty.

“Thank you, Master Gardener of my life, for pruning me to become more fruitful in Your vineyard.”

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:1- 2 NIV).

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