Duck Outside the Box

From an early age we learn to associate, categorize and label, this is one of the ways we make sense of our world. A few of us become so fixated on organizing every nuance of life we become the obsessive Type A personality. I used to be one of those, more like a type A-plus. Everything had to be perfectly ordered in my world or I was seriously miserable, which meant I was miserable quite often. I liked things categorized and neatly put away in their place, not only  material objects but also beliefs, doctrines,  opinions, rules,  regulations and people. I was very proficient at labeling people, placing mental descriptions on them and filing them away in a preconceived category in my mind. 

I also became very accomplished at putting my ideas about the God I had learned of since childhood, in a box and nailing down the lid. Placing God in a box didn’t mean He was actually restricted to one or ever has been. My notions of Him were all in my mind.  But time and circumstances have a way of changing us and I have come to understand that God doesn’t do boxes and neither should I. 

During a day visiting our nearby Sea World, I was reminded how much God likes messing with me, popping the lid off my ‘boxes’ and stirring up my perfectly categorized little world. Just about the time I think I have Him figured out, He shows me that it is impossible for me to fully comprehend His ways. He doesn’t see like I do or think as I do. His ways are higher, wider and deeper…unlimited. While there is order in His creation, He left enough mystery to illustrate His divine sovereignty and mixed it all with a bit of humor. I picture Him chuckling as He presents a new clue just to keep me wondering.

 As Mike and I wandered leisurely through Sea World enjoying the beautiful landscape and many creatures, we stopped by a small water feature, a waterfall and pond built for ducks and other water loving birds. We leaned against the railing for a long time, absorbing the tranquility of the scene. The many varieties of ducks were happily swimming, quacking, wagging their tail feathers and preening themselves and other than differing feather colors and configurations they had much in common.

Now everyone knows all ducks quack. It’s one of the things we learn as a toddler playing with our first alphabet toy, ‘D is for duck, the duck says quack.’ Then there’s the idiom we hear, ‘If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it’s probably a duck’. But none of these labels applied to one duck that we didn’t see at first, only heard. 

“Who keeps whistling?” Mike asked, as he looked around. 

I visually swept the area around us. No one was in sight at the moment and I realized the sound was coming from behind a shrub next to the water’s edge. “It’s something over there,” and pointed toward the bush. Just as I did a bird walked into the open. He looked like a duck in some respects, web feet, beautiful feathers and a wide, rounded bill but had a long giraffe type neck and when he opened his mouth to quack, out came a loud sound similar to a person whistling to get someone’s attention.  We stared at him then looked at each other and laughed.  

“Can you believe that?” Mike said. “God makes all ducks to quack then He has to throw in one that whistles… amazing!”  

We found out that this species is called the (surprise!) Whistling Duck and comes from South America. Since then I’ve discovered the Barking Tree Frog. This guy doesn’t croak like other frogs, but makes the sound of a Pomeranian puppy high up in a tree in my Florida backyard, or how about the Upside Down Jellyfish who sits on its’ head on the ocean floor with tentacles in the air waiting for food to float by or the several varieties of Walking Fish whose fins act more like legs than rudders. Some people attribute these oddities to evolution; I prefer to accredit them to a divine Creator who enjoys throwing in a bit of surprise now and then just for fun. 

We have a need for God to be humanized, to fit into what we can understand, but by an act of faith, dismantling the limits we have constructed for Him allows us to be receptive to the unusual and the impossible.  The Spirit of God continually comes in many ways, even through nature (Romans 1:20), and attempts to take apart the confines of our heart so that all that is not truth and all that restricts us can be swept away.

I’m not a Type A-plus personality anymore. Over the years, I’ve been systematically and happily demoted to possibly a B-minus and what freedom comes in discovering it is God’s job to keep all my ducks in a row, not mine.  Whether they quack or whistle, I can trust Him to keep my world ordered, even when I don’t fully understand!

Romans 11:33 (NLT) Oh, how great are God's riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

Lessons From My Garden - Abiding

To my delight, my beans are still on the vine and are now bearing much fruit that we are enjoying everyday. I should learn a lesson from my beans, stay on the vine, stay stuck to Jesus and I will have everything I need for a life of fruitfulness.

We have a tendency to wander, searching everywhere else for the abundant life He promises. My beans aren't looking in the garden box next door where the kale and lettuce is growing and saying, "It looks better over there, wish we were over there instead." They are happy where they're planted and growing toward the sun (Son :).

So help me Jesus, to abide in you always, no matter how tempting it looks elsewhere or what my current situation is, I want my life to be a fruitful branch in You.

John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Thinking of You

Today I am thankful that the election madness is FINALLY over. Whether you are disappointed with the outcome or not, here's some good news--God is thinking about you and me today. Can you believe that? The Creator and King of the Universe thinks about you -- constantly!

The president of my country doesn't even know my name and once I have cast my vote, I am just a ballot in a sea of humanity. But God knows my name and every little detail about me. He even knows how many hairs I swept from my bathroom floor this morning and cares to calculate what is left on my head (Matthew 10:30).

 Psalm 139:17-18. “How precious are Your thoughts to me, O God!  How great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand"

 Isaiah 49:14 “But (replace your name here) Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.’  Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you.  See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls (your dwelling, your life) are continually before Me.”

It is not possible for God to forget about you. The nail scars in Jesus’ hands are the permanent inscription of your name in His heart and mind. He can no more stop thinking about you than I can stop thinking about my son Jonathan, who needs me so much (even when he thinks he doesn't :).

It would be good then for us to spend some time today thinking about Our Lord and Savior too. It could bring the peace of mind we so desperately need because "You [God] will keep him [me] in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You" Isaiah 26:3

Be Thankful

"Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" Psalm 107:8,15,21. Did you know this exact same verse appears three times in the same chapter? I think someone is trying to tell us something.

We are full swing into November, the month we focus on thankfulness, so I am making an attempt to voice something I am thankful for everyday until Thanksgiving Day (on my Facebook status). Care to join me? Most of us have more to be thankful for than not.


Today I am thankful for hot, running water. As I think of our struggling neighbors in the northeast, I remember Florida's hurricane summer of 2004 and being without power for two weeks in the middle of August. We had a well, so no electricity meant no power to the pump which resulted in no water to our house. It was 96 degrees every day with matching humidity and we were disgustingly hot and sweaty with no way to shower or bathe. I told my hubby, I can forgo many things but I never want to be without running water again.

Thank you Lord that I can turn on a faucet in my home and water flows, hot or cold, my choice. Such a blessing that I never want to take for granted!

Hurricane Sandy is way out to sea, some two hundred miles off the coast of Florida; still our weather has been affected by this storm for several days now, though not severely (thank goodness!) but with cloud cover (our solar hot water tank is sad), windy conditions (my potted plants keep blowing over) and intermittent rain showers (windows open or closed?). It's amazing how something so distant can have such far reaching affects.

The thought came to me as I looked out the window this morning at another rare cloudy Florida day; do I even realize what affect I have on others and how far the outer bands of my words, behavior and attitudes stretch? We live in a society that shouts, "Live and let live!" and "What I do isn't hurting anyone so don't bother me." Not everyone will be caught up in the eye of our stormy actions but the ripple effect of every action we take may influence more than we know.

The people of the church in Philippi were instructed by Apostle Paul: "Whatever happens, conduct your selves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." (Philippians 1:27). So Lord Jesus, remind us today that the outer bands of our life are affecting others, and grant us grace to take stock of every word, opinion and deed as our influence spreads far and wide.

Are We There Yet?

A while ago I traveled from Florida to the northeast and back and in doing so came to a conclusion about myself, I love going places but I hate getting there. This is something I’ve known for a while but was reluctant to admit. I am not a good traveler by plane or car. Airports and planes annoy me and long car trips bore me. Ironically, I find it almost impossible to sleep in a plane but after driving for more than an hour I’m nodding off. Because I’m prone to motion sickness, there isn’t much I can do in a car that requires having my focus off the horizon for more than a few minutes at a time.

 

As I sat in the airport, waiting to board the plane and contemplating this introspection, I questioned whether this fault could also apply to my life. Am I headed for the destination without enjoying the journey? Sometimes I feel like the little kid in the backseat, asking in continuous five minute intervals, “Are we there yet?” 

As a member of the Baby Boomer generation, I've lived in an era where we have fast and easy access to most anything we want, even if we can't afford it. Discontent and impatience run deep through our core. We want 'it' now and when 'it' finally comes we are soon bored or unhappy again and move on to the next big event or thing we think will bring happiness and satisfaction. When we are five we can't wait to be 6. When we're 13 we can't wait to be 18. When we're 18 we can't wait to be 21. When we're 50 we want to be 21 again.  We can't wait for: the weekend, vacation, graduation, freedom from our parents, the new car, the next paycheck, that promotion, the next bonus, a new house, time off, the kids to grow up, grandchildren, retirement, or to: find our soul mate, get married, have a baby, get that awesome job, have more money and on and on....We waste so much time thinking, hoping and longing for what hasn't happen yet that we miss whole blocks of enjoyment in the now.  "If only....then things would be good."  When life becomes a fast forward video flashing from highlight to highlight, we miss out on much of what gives it meaning today.

Philippians 3:12-14 tells me that Paul ‘wasn’t there yet’. He was still in travel mode, pressing on toward the destination. There is a race, a journey, an adventure, we are all on and according to Mr. Paul the goal is this: I want to know Him [Jesus]. I want to have the same power in my life that raised Jesus from the dead. I want to understand and have a share in His sufferings and be like Christ in His death (verse 10 NLV). I agree. I want the power, the understanding, the answers, the miracles, goose bumps and fun stuff of life… but… the suffering?! The word ‘press’ in this passage comes from two Greek verbs that mean to pursue and to persecute or suffer. Either Paul is crazy or he knows something I’m still in the process of figuring out.

 I 'm convinced, since Paul writes a good portion of the New Testament from prison, he understands that we don’t arrive at our destination quickly or easily. It involves a lifetime of travel with many potholes and detours along the way. He tells the church in verse sixteen, so let us keep on obeying the same truth we have already been following. In other words just keep doing what you’ve been doing. Not very exciting is it? Continue on, plod on, one step at a time, one day at a time, pressing on and on and on…. 

I remember as a young wife and new mom, reading Proverbs 31, the one that lists the endless virtues of a Biblical superwoman. Incompetency and inadequacy overwhelmed me when comparing my efforts to hers. I mentioned my feelings to an older and wiser friend and her reply put me at ease. “Diane,” she said,” the Proverbs 31 woman didn’t do all those things in a day; she did them over a lifetime.” 

Life is a process and it is important to be fully aware and present in all of it, the highlights, the victories, the mundane and difficult; all of it matters. All of it is opportunity for change, growth and forward motion. Instead of rushing from one mountain top experience to the next I’m slowly discovering the value of the valley. 

When I travel now, I practice being patient and tolerant, mostly out of necessity and in spite of my dislike of security lines, airplanes or long, boring car rides. Being frustrated and miserable has no value for me or anyone around me and subtracts from the eventual pleasure and purpose of my destination. The same is true for this journey through life. With Jesus as my travel companion, I don’t need to keep asking, ‘’Are we there yet?’’ If I take His hand and keep pressing forward, He will see to it that I arrive at my proper destination, both on time and greatly improved over where our trip began.

Philippians 1:6 … being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Believe

A few days ago, Jonathan and I visited a group home in the area and talked for some time with the remarkable woman who started it for her own son who is developmentally disabled.  Jon was ready to move in. He had brought a bagful of personal items from home and found the only empty bedroom in the house, immediately claiming it by putting his things on the bed and shutting himself inside. 

These homes are costly to operate, about the price of private college tuition per person, per year. Florida, like most of our United States, is broke and budgets are frozen for the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. Jon has had eight cuts to his funding in the last two years and we've heard another big one is on the way next year. Presently, not one extra dollar of funding is available unless families are in crisis, which is defined by the state as parents or caregivers who are too sick or too dead to care for their loved one anymore.

The question that haunts every parent of a disabled child-what will happen to Jon when we are no longer here? The state will step in and place him, but we of course, won't be here to have a say in where he is put.  Not all residential facilities are created equal and some are places you wouldn’t put your dog in, never mind your child. Some families have the means to private pay for long term care but for those of us who don’t; this is a problem that doesn’t go away and one that isn't discussed at presidential debates or anyplace else. This dilemma sticks to the back of our mind like old gum underneath a table, especially as we and our child age.

So what to do?  We pray and trust that our God who created and gave us this person to love and care for will see to Jon’s every need, while we actively turn over each rock and knock on every hopeful door. It seems that we have hit one dead end after another and these situations severely test our faith. If we truly believe that as God's people, our provision ultimately comes from Him, then we know He is able to fulfill the purpose and plan He has for Jonathan. God loves him far more than we do and has not forgotten about him or us, though at times my feelings and what I see with my earthly eyes try to convince me otherwise.

 Christ’s disciples once asked Him, “What are the works God requires of us?” Jesus told them that the work God requires is simply this - to believe (John 6:28-29). The practice of walking by faith rather than by what is seen (2 Corinthians 5:7) in front of us at the moment isn't easy but it ultimately brings us to a place of peace and rest that nothing in this world can offer.

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter nine, a desperate Dad came to Jesus pleading,”Teacher…if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”  

Jesus replied, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

Then the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

I identify with this guy. I am him. He is me. He is all of us. But the good news is this; Jesus is greater than my unbelief and He is greater than my problem!  As I wait for the impossible, my faith continues to grow in this difficult place. I'm learning how to wait, trust and believe.

I know from past experience that my faithful God will come through for Jon, for us. It may not happen exactly like I imagine or at the time I think is right but it will happen in His time, in  His way and you will hear me shouting from here when it finally does :)

Psalm 37:7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him…