Nurture, with Neglect

By Robin J. Steinweg –

I had no idea I could actually kill with kindness.

See, I have this thing for blue flowers. Not the bluish-tinted purple color that the seed companies name, as if they really are blue. I prefer the honest-to-goodness, true blue flowers, like a summer sky. Heavenly Blue Morning Glories are just that kind of blue. I’ve tried, off and on ,to grow them from seed, but they’ve never gotten large enough to produce blooms.

This year, the local hardware store had some that were vigorous, already climbing up a skinny stake. I carefully brought one home, surrounded by shopping bags, so it wouldn’t tip over. I gave it the best soil. I rejoiced when it resumed its ascent. I babied it, plucked every threatening weed, and fed it regularly.

That was early June. Now it’s September, and you should see it—twelve feet tall; lush, thick leaves that could screen celebrities from paparazzi—but still, nary a bud nor a bloom.

Experienced gardeners shake their heads, already aware of the problem. I finally looked it up online: Why aren’t my morning glories blooming? What did I neglect?

Neglect!

For Morning Glories to produce bodacious, blue blooms, they require poor soil—harsh conditions. Instead, I coddled them with fertilizer the entire summer, denying them what I never imagined they needed.

My heavenly Father, Master Gardener, knows when to feed one of His tender shoots, when to protect it and when to give it a support to climb. He knows that a certain amount of hardship—what could be viewed as neglect, at times—will make His precious vine fulfill its purpose and flower freely.

PRAYER: Lord, the next time I face hardship, help me to remember that Your love for me is unfailing. You know exactly what I need in order to bloom and to bear the fruit of Your Spirit. Help me to be patient and trust You. In the name of Jesus I ask it.

BIBLE VERSE: “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors” (James 1:2-3, The Message).

 

The Sugar-Coated Wiggles

By Donna McCrary –

Since when is “wiggle” a politically correct word? Apparently I missed the mom memo from my children’s dentist. Don’t get me wrong “tooth extraction” is not exactly the phrase I am advocating. However, when I was a child you “pulled” your teeth. We used this phrase because that is what you did. I don’t remember tooth-pulling being a traumatic event in my childhood. Tooth-pulling was often a family affair filled with nagging siblings, plier-holding grandmothers, and creative ways to incorporate tools, dental floss, and slamming doors. In fact, my sweet, dainty, 100-pound grandmother would often jokingly grab the pliers and try to coerce me into letting her “yank” the dangling tooth.

As I left the dentist office, part of me was laughing but a deeper part of me was saddened. Are we really at point in society where sugar coating the truth is the standard? When my child asked point blank, “Will it hurt? Do I have to get a shot?” The truth was hidden somewhere in the words, “Don’t worry we will make you as comfortable as possible. You won’t feel much more than a little wiggle!” Don’t get me wrong I appreciate the staff offering comfort to my daughter, but how damaging is the truth expressed as truth?

With the festivities of fall approaching, how are we sugarcoating the truth? The truth – hell is real. The truth – Satan, also named the Devil, Lucifer and the Father of Lies, is real. The truth – Satan is not running around dressed in red tights, sparkling horns and carrying a pitch fork. This is the sugar coated version and to some it tastes better. It is hard to take seriously red tights and plastic pitch forks. The truth – “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 NIV). The truth – hell is a place of torment (Luke 16:23 NIV). The truth – All who do evil and are separated from Jesus will be thrown “into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:41-42 NIV).

Let’s stop sugar coating the truth. Satan and Hell are real! All those who do not accept the saving grace of Jesus Christ will experience hell –an eternity of torment and pain. Not wiggles!

PRAYER: Father, help me see, hear and share Your truth with boldness. Open my eyes to the ways I sugar-coat the reality of hell. Instill in me a deep desire to take a stand for Your Word and share Your son Jesus Christ to those around me with diligence and passion so their eternal reality is heaven.

BIBLE VERSE: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor death, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39 NIV).

The Mystical, Mythical Moon

By Janet Morris Grimes –

I have always been enchanted by the moon. Majestically traveling across the night sky, its light stops me in my tracks. Powerful enough to cause the tides in the ocean; gentle enough to appear to be winking at me, at times. Consistent enough to control all calendars, the moon is important to all cultures. And when I see it, I have no choice but to lift up a prayer of thanks. I find it comforting, a peephole into heaven.

It has a strange reputation, that moon. In a survey conducted in 1988, 13% of the respondents believed the moon was indeed made of cheese. There could never truly be a ‘man on the moon,’ as it has no water and cannot sustain life, but that hasn’t stopped us from spending billions to visit and investigate. Due to the lack of gravity, a person who weighs 180 pounds here on Earth, weighs only 30 pounds on the moon.

As it turns out, much of what we believe about the moon is actually a myth. Considered the second brightest object in the sky, other than the sun, the surface is actually quite dark. It’s basically a ball of dry rock, with a few craters along the surface. The temperature, when it faces the sun, is over 300 degrees. For the side that is away from the sun, the temperature is -300 degrees.

Still, I find it mesmerizing. I love that Earth only has one moon, as opposed to the 63 moons of Jupiter. A soldier can be in Afghanistan, looking at the moon, and know that his family back home sees the same one.

Perhaps what amazes me most is that the moon itself has no light to offer. It’s value comes from reflecting the sun. And, the more it faces the sun, the more light it has to offer.

The same is true for myself. My value comes from reflecting the Son. Alone, there is little that is good about me. But the more I face the Son, the more light I can reflect.

The mystical, mythical moon. I want to be just like it, when I grow up.

BIBLE VERSE: “…it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky” (Psalm 89:37 NIV).

Hysterical Society

By Cynthia Ruchti –

Our local historical society stays busy resurrecting bits of history, restoring ancient artifacts, and maintaining a charming museum that draws more traffic than one would think for a small town.

The walls and displays and collections in the museum reveal a past, now invisible.

At one time, along the jaundiced-sounding, but intriguing, Yellow River, flourished a loud, but productive, lumber industry. It was so many years ago that no one alive today has sawdust on their shoes. A significant pottery business thrived, too, sometime in history. Fire destroyed most of the two-story buildings in town, twice, if I remember correctly. And out here where I live, eight miles from town, another village existed with a railroad interchange, or so the story goes. There’s no evidence in the landscape or the neighborhood. We can’t even see a dent where railroad ties must have been. But the historical society knows. And they’ll get the details right.

Devoted to preserving historical accuracy, they’ll inform me who was mayor when the first fire raged and how many times the physical therapy building changed hands before its current use—from mechanic’s shop to general store to fabric shop (that one I remember) to—Was there something between the fabric shop and physical therapy?

The historical society could tell me.

As respected as are the members of the historical society, I’ve sometimes wondered how popular a hysterical society would be. They’d laugh hysterically over the antics of the locals. They’d tell hysterical stories about the time the semi-trailer full of cheese broke down outside of town and the community youth group saved the day by rewrapping the cheese, earning enough money to keep the ministry going for another few months.

The laughing kind of hysterical society would gain a quick reputation…for preserving and restoring old joy.

In the book of Proverbs, we’re reminded about God’s thoughts on laughter. “Laughter doeth good,” He said, “like medicine.”

“Laughter doeth” is a nice historical and hysterical way of putting it, isn’t it?

PRAYER: Lord God, I sometimes act as if serious thoughts are the only valuable thoughts. But You told us it’s not only good and worthwhile but medicinal, healing, to laugh. Forgive me for the times I pushed laughter aside as a waste of time. Help me recall the history of the hysterical You’ve woven throughout life and find ways to give others the gift of laughter.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” Proverbs 17:22, NIV.

Shots and Smiles

By Aubrey Spencer –

I recently had to take our one-year-old daughter to get her blood drawn for a routine test. As I was sitting there with her on my lap, waiting for the tear-inducing ordeal to begin, I couldn’t help but to think back to our first experience with shots, after our son Oliver was born. He wasn’t very old when we experienced that inevitable, unavoidable, have-to-do-it-for-their-own-good, parental moment – the first set of shots.

I remember the day clearly. Oliver was asleep when we got to the clinic. Peaceful. Content. Unaware. Unprepared for what was about to happen. Jarrod sat him on his lap. Pinned his arms against his little chest. And, before we knew it, whammo! One awful shot down. One awfully sad baby. I think it had to be easier for Jarrod than for me. He might have had to hold him, but I’m the one who saw his face. Heartbroken. Scared. Shocked. Hurt. I wanted to pick him up and tell him that nothing else bad was going to happen. But, of course I knew better. He still had two leg jabbing, tear inducing, “what in the world did you just do to me?” shots left. Thankfully, in no time at all and three band-aids later, the whole ordeal was over. He ended up handling the situation pretty well. (His parents made it through okay too.) Tears only came when the shots did. And, he calmed down right away once we comforted him. Smiles even returned later that day.

I wonder if God has moments like that with us. Days when He has to let us go through something unpleasant, even painful, for our own good? Times when He allows the stabbing pain of loneliness, selfishness, bad decisions, or pride to prick our hearts? It must be awful for Him. He sees our broken lives, our hurt feelings, our scared souls. I’m sure He’d like to tell us that nothing else will ever hurt again like that. But, of course, He knows better. He knows us. We will mess up again. Life will be tough again. Tears will come again. He can’t keep us from experiencing all the shots we take in life. We oftentimes have to endure the pain in order to grow. He will, however, hold us, comfort us, and carry us through until the band-aids fall off and the smiles return!

PRAYER: Lord, I can only imagine how difficult it must be for You to watch Your children struggle, time and time again. But I praise You for always comforting us through the hard times and loving us through it all. Even though the process is most often unpleasant, I thank You, Lord for allowing growth to come from the pains we face in life, and for giving us reason to smile.

BIBLE VERSE: “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (Psalm 100:5 NIV).

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