Simple Truth

Frank shared the essence of this story with me quite some time ago.  I've written what I could remember.  Simple truth is often the most profound.........

There is a fable about a king who owned an amazingly beautiful ring.  All who lived in his kingdom knew the intricate designs of the gorgeous piece of jewelry.  Such an amazing statement piece needed a proper inscription.

The king called for his most trusted advisor, a man known to be of outstanding wit and wisdom.  “This ring must be inscribed with a sentiment unlike any other; something totally awe inspiring.  I want you to find a statement that at the same time brings sorrow to the heart of the one rejoicing and joy to the heart of the sorrowful,” declared the sovereign. 

For days the wise man labored under his assignment until at last the perfect words came together for him.  He asked for an audience with the king and it was granted immediately.

Everyone in the throne room waited silently; they leaned forward with anticipation of what the sage would say to the royal.  “Sire, your request was indeed a difficult one to fulfill.  I’m not sure there has ever before been such a statement as the one you desired for the inscription your ring will bear.  However, I do believe I finally have struck upon it.”

“Well, speak up, man!  Don’t keep me waiting, “ the king’s excitement couldn’t be hidden.

“The phrase that will simultaneously bring sorrow to the joyful and joy to the sorrowful is this, O King…… ‘And it came to pass’.”  The words hung in the silent expanse and the sage bowed low waiting for the king to ponder them.

“And it came to pass…, “ whispered the monarch as he stroked his beard pensively.  “Yes,” his weathered face nodded slowly. “Those five words will indeed simultaneously bring sorrow for the joyful and joy for the sorrowful.  ‘And it came to pass.’ 

Indeed the one constant is that everything in life changes.  Even moments of greatest joy eventually fade into tomorrow.  The anticipation of that change would cause the one rejoicing to have great sorrow.  And so it is with the one who finds himself in a time of sorrow.  Eventually the day of newness dawns and sorrow is finished.  The hope of that day gives the sorrowful great joy.  Well done, my friend.  Well done!”

The words of the sage ring true still today for each and every season of our life journey.   

“And it came to pass….”

It's a Journey

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(This is an excerpt from the project I'm working on.  In this project I'm examining the concept that so much of life is made up of different seasons.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story.  Enjoy!) 

Because of all our ministry travels, we’ve stayed in some incredible accommodations.  Always appreciated.  Always interesting.  Almost always clean.  But one spot illustrated, for me, a vitally important life lesson........

Frank and I had finished a church service once years ago and were taken to a lovely condo overlooking a golf course.  We had been traveling extensively for weeks and this was a perfect spot for us.  Because we were there during the “off” season, the golf course was almost completely abandoned and quiet.  We were able to sit in high backed rockers on the veranda and listen to all the sounds of nature; feel the breeze; smell the rain; experience the peace. 

We just happened to be there over the weekend of our wedding anniversary.  So the condo became, for us, a haven of rest.  Our hosts had stocked the small kitchen with an assortment of snacks and breakfast items.  We had our own transportation and were able to move at a luxuriously slow pace.  It was nothing short of resplendent.

However, our scheduled time at the condo came to an end all too soon.  When we were finally packed and set to leave, I asked Frank if I could sit on the porch for just a few minutes longer while he put our bags in the car.  Sitting there all alone, looking out over the pristine greens, enjoying the different bird songs, I suddenly began to cry.

The wave of emotion caught me completely off-guard and it took me a couple of minutes to regain my composure.   “I don’t want to go,” I whispered while brushing away tears.  “This is such a perfect spot, Father.  Can’t we stay?”  I found myself asking God to let us stay in this peaceful place just a little longer.

The truth was, I was physically and emotionally exhausted by the schedule we’d been keeping and my heart was crying out for more than just a break.  In the secret depths of my soul, I wanted to be finished with evangelistic travel.  I wanted to find a little place with a porch and a view and a lot more serenity than my life was offering at that time.  In essence, I was requesting a new assignment. 

Our Heavenly Father is so tender when we are broken hearted.  The response I sensed from Him was gentle and filled with compassion.  “Sheri, you must move on.  I have other places for you to experience.  If you stop here, you’ll miss what I have in store.”  In the same moment I was reminded of Psalm 23, “….he leads beside still waters.  He restores my soul.”

I knew the Lord was urging me to walk on in confidence; to not give up before experiencing all He had planned.  There would be other times of refreshing but for now, I needed to get up (emotionally) and find joy in this part of my journey.

I took a deep breath and marked that moment for myself.  It’s important that we treat promises and personal moments with the Father as great treasure.  Luke says Mary (the mother of Jesus) was our example.  “…Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19 NIV)

My response to the Lord’s urging came from the deepest recesses of my heart.  “Alright, Lord.  If you’re saying this season isn’t over, I say, ‘Let’s Keep Going!’”  

About that time, my dear husband stepped out onto the porch and sat down in the rocker beside me.  He sensed I was having a conversation with the Father and simply took my hand in support.  No words were needed.  It was several days later before I shared with him my thoughts.  He understood perfectly.

And I can tell you that after all these years, I’m still experiencing some amazing rest stops on this journey.  I’m so glad I got up and kept moving even though it wasn’t what I wanted at the time.  I’m especially glad when I think of all the adventures and beautiful people I would have missed.

In the Disney movie, Pocohantas the lovely young heroine asks multiple times, “What is it that’s waiting for me just around the river bend?”  And I guess I understand her song of anticipation because that’s what my life has reflected.  While there are lessons to be learned and clear purposes for this season, there’s always something to look forward to in the next.   

Understanding this truth keeps us moving during the times we’d prefer to stay right where we are.  Walk on, dear friend.  Be encouraged in Christ.  Look forward with eager anticipation.  This is a journey and there is much yet for you to experience.

The Gift

While today's post is about gifts and givers, it comes in two parts. 

Part One

A beautiful little girl is celebrating her FOURTH birthday today - her name is Abigail Grace Schreck!

Known as Abby to most of us, her name actually means "Joy of the Father."  And our oldest grand daughter has proven to fulfill her name over and over these four years.

The most resilient child I've ever met.  Abby has weathered surgeries, eye exams, x-rays, and face plants more times than we can count.  (Her feet don't always carry her where she wants to go as quickly as she wants to get there!)

But with each difficulty she jumps up, brushes herself off, flashes a smile that could melt an iceberg and takes off again.  We're never sure if it's the huge blue eyes, the adorable dimples, the bouncy blonde hair or the raspy lisp that pulls everyone in to her spell.

But when Abby focuses on you and begins to explain the latest adventure taking place in her imagination, you can't help but smile and nod agreement.  I've watched her captivate the toughest heart and force them to break into a silly grin of delight.

This fall she'll begin kindergarten.  We can't believe time is passing so quickly.  One thing is for sure, she'll be loved by her teacher and classmates just as soon as they meet her.

That's our Abby!  Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!

Part Two

Last week I was getting my breakfast at the same time Nathan was packing his lunch for the day.  Our kitchen times overlap occasionally but I'm aware that Nathan is not a morning person.  He loves me.  He always responds politely to my overly chirpy comments.

But typically we stick to three sentences:

• "Good Morning!" "Morning."
• "Did you rest well?" "Pretty good."
• "Have a blessed day!" "Thanks, you too."

On Wednesday I noticed that Nathan was searching for a sandwich bag for his turkey sandwich.  Unfortunately, we were completely out of sandwich bags and I knew it.  When he heard my sad report, he put his resourcefulness into action and wrapped the sandwich in plastic wrap.

But I knew his lunch would be stale in record time.  And at that moment, I remembered where there was a lone zip lock bag.  It stood as a silent sentry in the pantry, guarding the freshness quotient of my British tea bags.

As many of you know, air is the arch nemesis of tea bags.  Once they've been exposed to air, the freshness is sucked right out into the atmosphere and the avid tea drinker (such as myself) is left with decidedly mediocre tea.

And so you make every effort to guard the delicate tea leaves against being accosted by the brutish air.  Hence, the importance of the single zip lock bag in our pantry.

But I dearly love my sons.  The girls have accused me of showing more love to the boys than to them - silly girls!

It took all of a millisecond for me to reach into the pantry, grab the zip lock and empty it of the fragrant tea.  "Nathan, here's a sandwich bag."

He was surprised I had found one but expressed his gratitude, deposited the sandwich and quickly headed for the front door.

"Have a Blessed Day, Nate!"  "Thanks, you too."

As the door closed,  I rolled the tea bags into a tight ball against the onslaught of freshness-stealing oxygen.  "At least it wasn't an entire sleeve of tea bags, only half." I consoled myself with the idea.

While waiting for water to boil, I reached for the milk and thought, "Wow, Nathan isn't a tea drinker.  He didn't even have a way to realize what a gift I gave him."  I smiled with the thought of my small token preserving his sandwich......and my heart was instantly glad I had shared.

As I poured the amber liquid into one of my favorite cups and watched the steam rise, a whisper came to me.  "Sheri, how many times have I felt the same way?"

It was the familiar whisper of my Heavenly Father impressing my heart.  "How many times have I provided a gift for you that was more precious than you really understood?"

Before I could feel any guilt, the impression came clearly, "And I'm always glad I provided for you.  I dearly love you!"

A single tear dropped into my perfect cup of tea as I bowed my head.  "Thank you, Father!  Thank you so very much for every precious gift that I didn't understand how to value.  I'll never have the words to adequately express my gratitude.  I dearly love You, too!"

Rest assured, Dear Reader, He dearly loves you just the same!

Lawn Beautification

Don't you just love the smell of fresh-cut grass?  It's like the scent-sational signal that summer is suddenly showing.  (I know that was a bit of a stretch, right?)

Our entire family breathes deeply when we pass such a lawn.  I also love the smell of newly tilled dirt but that's a different blog post.

Here in FL, the mowing began several weeks ago.  The lawns all around our little neighborhood are beautifully manicured.  Each emerald-colored carpet is thick and grows right to the edge of our road.

Starting late on Friday and all day Saturday you can hear the various models of mowers and edgers working their magic.  Most of the men in our community take great pride in making sure their lawn is pristine in presentation.  If they can't get to it that week for some reason, they hire the work done.  

With all the rain we had from the tropical storm this week, Frank told me he's certain he can hear our grass growing.

We bought this house ten years ago from a bachelor.  A fine young man who worked for another church in the area.  With great diligence, he took "lawn labor" to an entirely different level.

As a bachelor, he had lots of extra time on his hands.  He poured long hours into making the lawn at house 2013 look just like the greens on a professional golf course or the outfield of a baseball stadium.

His grass was uniform in height.  The edging was exact.  There were no brown spots to be found.  He meticulously manicured his yard and it showed.

Then we moved in.

Three daughters, two dogs and a steady stream of visitors.  Often those visitors drove separate vehicles to our home. Which led to parking anywhere they could find an open spot.  Even if that spot was more grass than concrete.

More cars meant more unsightly patches of grass.

Some of our guests were college students driving older cars with oil leaks.  Others weren't aware of what their tires were doing to our lawn.  Some simply had no clue. 

Brown spots began appearing where the oil had leaked.  Our driveway looked like it had developed a case of leprosy.  Grass died and had to be replaced regularly.

Finally, Frank gave up the impossible standard set by our predecessor.  He came to peace with our less than perfect lawn condition.  The anxiety of seeing cars strewn over our yard like a patchwork quilt completely disappeared.  In its place came joy!

After that, more cars came to mean more hugs, more laughter and more love being shared by the drivers.  And of course, More JOY!  So much more joy!

Frank and I stood by our front door a few days ago waving good-bye to the last of our party guests.  It had been a small group for our impromptu cook-out; only eleven cars to park.  For those few hours, our lawn looked, once again, like a brightly colored quilt.

As they pulled away one by one, we began to see the huge bare spots where an impeccably groomed lawn existed just ten short summers ago.  Now, our scraggly excuse for grass barely makes it to the road.  (A friend recently told Frank that we have more green weeds than grass.)

For a split second I closed my eyes and envisioned the verdant lawn that had been.  But then a final visitor beeped their horn and waved good-bye while calling, "Thanks!  We had a great time!"

Huge smiles.  Laughter echoing.  Rich memories swirling.  And JOY so much joy!

I took one more look at our yard and knew, it may not win any awards but I have the most beautiful lawn in the neighborhood.

  

Choosing

This will be a super short post for me.  Mostly because I only have fifteen minutes to get it written, proofed and on line.  Some days have an agenda of their own that totally supersedes the agenda you had prepared.  Such is life for us all!

But I remembered a wonderful story that will both encourage and challenge you.

Last week, Abby and I went to lunch all by ourselves.  (It was to make up for taking Spencer on his field trip to the aquarium earlier this month.  Fairness matters greatly to three year old siblings.  Let's face it, fairness matters greatly to children whatever their age!)

She chose to eat at Chick fil a, of course.  It's their "fah-vo-wot" place to eat.  We sat together on the same side of a booth so we would be looking at the same things and I could more easily help her.

We chatted just loudly enough that the grandmothers at the next table could enjoy Abby, too.  She has a thought to share on just about every topic.   And since she had Noni's undivided attention, Abby talked!  And talked!  And talked!  And Noni LOVED it!

She played briefly on the indoor playground.  Then she wanted us to sit for a while on the bench and just watch the other children.  So we sat.

Ice cream seemed like a good idea, so we headed over to Dairy Queen where she chose a cone of her "fah-vo-wot".....mint chocolate chip! 

While we were waiting to get our cones, Abby noticed a little boy sitting at a booth with his dad.  He looked to be about Abby's age.  I thought it a bit odd that his dad was feeding the little boy.  But our girls have torn food for their babies to handle on their own from about 12 months of age.  That's my frame of reference.  Abby and I just smiled at each other.

There was a bench outside the doors of Dairy Queen and she wanted to sit there awhile too.  So we sat.

As we sat on the bench, Abby's adorable little feet were swinging and she chatted easily.  First about the antique "cahr pahrked ovah thehre."  Then about the "birhds" in the "gwass."  We exchanged licks of our cones with one another.  Deciding we liked our own best.

After a quiet moment, she glanced back in at the little boy and his dad.  I followed her gaze and we watched the dad who was still feeding the boy.  We turned to face the parking lot once again.

"He's tweating him like a baby!"  she announced.

"And he isn't a baby at all, is he?"  my comment just confirmed her observation.  That's when the wisdom poured out.....

Abby took another lick of her mint chocolate chip and stated, "He's choosing to be!"

I nearly gasped aloud.  "Are you three or thirty-three?"  was the thought in my head.

"You're right, sweetheart.  Some people choose to act like babies even when they aren't.  You're a smart little girl to know that."

She looked up at me, flashed her signature grin, and went on enjoying her ice cream. 

Noni, however, had been handed something that I'll be chewing on for a long time.  Scripture says, "...out of the mouths of babes..."  A powerful truth had just come out of the mouth of that baby girl.

I hope you'll take the challenge of Abby's spontaneous sermon point and ponder it too.

Choose well - others are watching!

New Adventures

Today I'll do something I've never done before.

I heard of students doing this while I attended college in central FL.  I always thought it sounded like a fun idea but there never seemed to be time for such an adventure.

To what am I referring?

Before this day ends, I will have been on both coasts of the state of Florida.

This morning I will drive with my dear friend Lalitha to Tampa.  And although I may not even see the Gulf of Mexico, I'll be able to smell the salty air.  Then this afternoon, Frank and I leave for our state conference being held at a church in Ormond Beach, located on the Atlantic Ocean.

My day of driving won't exactly be like the students used to plan.  They would get up before dawn and drive to Tampa to watch the sunrise.  Then they would hop in the car, drive the two and a half hours to Daytona to watch the sunset.  When you're young and need a break from the crazy schedule of college, that's a great get-away.

My dual-coastal adventure is not for the purpose of a get-away.  My friend and I are headed to the state department building in the heart of downtown Tampa.  There, she will be sworn in as a citizen of the United States!  This has been a long journey for Lalitha; I'm so honored to share the moment with her!

She grew up in Sri Lanka and has the beautiful features and accent to prove it.  We met ten years ago when her family moved to Winter Haven and began attending our church.  We've watched her little girl grow into a lovely young lady.  Lalitha and I have prayed together over many issues. 

Four years ago, I drove with her to Orlando to begin the official process of becoming a citizen.  She has worked hard and jumped through many hoops to attain this.  So today is a BIG DEAL! To say we're proud of her is an understatement.  Let the celebrating begin......

As soon as we return, I'll hop back into the car with Frank and we'll drive to our conference - on the east coast.  He and I had a quiet moment before the sun peaked over the horizon.  We were talking about our day and I mentioned my dual coast adventure to him.  "At some point before the conference is over," I whispered "I'd really love to at least see the Atlantic."

He gave me a hug and promised we would.  It's not exactly a bucket list desire but maybe another time we'll go for the sunrise/sunset portion of the trip.  Today I'll be content with celebrating the accomplishment of my dear friend; her moment in the sun.

And I'll simply mark it as, "New Adventure - One Day/Two Coasts" in my calendar.

What's something new you've done lately?   I'd love to hear about it.

Let me leave you with a scripture that seems to go with the theme of the post.  We've been rehearsing this one a lot lately, "His mercies are new every morning..."  What a joyous thought - Blessings!

Do It - Today!

So this is what happens when a writer is rebuked for not writing!

And it was another writer shouting to me from his desk tucked away in Egypt during the late 1800's who got my attention.  "Beware of the tendency to ask the way when you know it perfectly well.  Take the initiative - stop hesitating - take the first step." Oswald Chambers

Who couldn't get moving after being called out in such a blatant way?  I laced up my tennis shoes for a quick walk as soon as the sun topped the horizon.  I made sure my bed was made and all clothes were on their appropriate hangars.

Finally, here I am at the first open moment writing a long overdue post.

Since last writing, we've traversed a lot of fast running waters: 

• Cody and Kristin purchased and moved into their first little home.  
• Madison (Meagan and Nathan's baby) spent four days in the hospital with a form of childhood pneumonia.  
• I cooked for and hosted two lovely groups in our home.  
• Frank and I made a quick trip to NC for the beautiful wedding of a niece. 
• I continued to meet reps and research publishing opportunities. 
• I've written sermons and preached three times.  
• Made it through a bad case of hives and a stomach bug.  
• Cheered with John and Joy who catered for almost 1000 people in a matter of three weeks. 
• And topped off all that with our first church camp out!  (Yes, Doubters.  I slept in a tent.  But we did splurge by buying a great air mattress.) 

One of my more joyful experiences was the day I filled in for Joy by taking Spencer on his first field trip to the aquarium in Tampa.   Two teachers; lots of parents; siblings and a couple dozen K-5 students.  But for the most part, it was just Spencer and Noni strolling along; enjoying the fabulous sights and sounds of underwater life in FL.

I found out that there would be a penguin show about forty minutes after we were scheduled to leave.  Spencer has loved penguins since holding a stuffed one when he was about eighteen months old.  Well, what good is driving your own car to a field trip experience if not for ditching the schedule and waiting to see the penguins, right?! So wait we did.

It meant we were both extra tired by the time we headed back to my car.  We walked slowly, quietly hand in hand.
Spencer: "Noni, my feet hurt."
Noni:  "I know, Buddy.  Mine are tired too."
Spencer: "You shouldn't walk this far until your feet are bigger!"

Yes, that's going in my quote book.  I didn't write it that day and I should have.

But after the wake up call from Rev. Chambers this morning, I've determined not to let tired feet keep me from making the steps I need to make!  Doing the things I need to do.  Making the calls.  Sending the emails.  Writing the post.  Completing the chapter.

Action is important and there's no better time than the present!

Maybe this post will be an encouraging call for you, as well.  "Take the initiative....make a beginning.....instruct yourself in the way you must go." --Chambers  I feel pretty sure that others will benefit from our decisions to Do It - Today!