Recently, I was sending an email to our group of preschool volunteers, and I caught myself making one of those statements that sound like they are off a greeting card. "Through the years the lessons I teach, are also the lessons that God teaches me through." Although it was kind of goofy sounding, I left it in there because it truly states how God communicates with me.
It started on the last Sunday of the year. As I sat in church, our pastor was speaking, and he used how they used to draw maps as an illustration. The map would only be drawn of what was known at the time. Beyond that, they would note the danger of the unknown by depicting a dragon. Here Be Dragons was the name of the sermon. Illustrating that while we do not know what may be in store for the next year, we can be confident in the truth of God's word. "For God has said, 'I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.' So we can say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear" Hebrews 13:5.
As I sat there listening to the sermon, I pondered how it complimented the lesson I would be teaching later that morning. We were telling the part of the Christmas story where an angel speaks to Joseph and tells him of impending danger. To keep that from happening, the whole family would travel secretly to Egypt and stay there until the danger had passed. Now by this time, Joseph had seen a thing or two. Angels in dreams, pregnant virgins and God's strange handiwork of a young woman and himself as parents. The bible does not give a lot of detail, but I am thinking at this point Joseph may have had a problem seeing Egypt as a land of "safety". Wasn't that the place where God had delivered His people from? I wondered if this is where Joseph starts thinking "here be dragons"? Egypt was a big unknown for Joseph, and the history from that country was not one that created warm and fuzzy feelings. Joseph's thoughts are not known on this subject, and I am just taking a little poetic license. All we do know, is that Joseph did what the angel told him to do. These lessons intertwined and created for me a message, giving me peace in my uncertainty, and hope for the coming year.
It is amazing to me that God will take a lesson that is very basic, and one that I have taught a hundred times before and make it into something new. God seeks to speak with us, and He will use any way we allow Him. Even through the little stories we share with our kids.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Tears of a clown
So as I enter the new year, like many, I was anticipating all the good goals I wanted to attain. 2013 was a pretty good year for our family. Not perfect mind you, but it was a year where I can say there was growth. I can remember driving home on New Years Eve, thinking about all the good things that would happen in the new year, and it was then it hit me. There is as much probability that some bad things will happen, as there is that good will happen. It scared me for a moment, I was afraid I would jinx myself. It was then I knew what I really wanted in the new year, and it was God's presence. I thought, "if I have that, it doesn't matter what happens, good or bad".
So January 1st arrived, and I spent the day putting away Christmas, and bringing some sanity back to my household. It was a nice day where I felt like I had accomplished much and was ready for whatever would come next. Little did I know that by 9:30 that night I would be in the hospital next to my son, who would be drugged up and waiting for surgery to be scheduled. He had a hernia that was causing him extreme pain, and so they were going to address it immediately. Everyone who saw it commented on how large is was, and after a while it became quite the joke. While we were confident in the people helping us, the surgery was still a scary prospect to a 26 year old who had never been to the emergency room in his life. Nothing ever broken, no fever ever too high, not one urgent medical situation in his entire life. Needless to say, we were all a little scared. We are now home after a couple of days in the hospital, where everything went flawlessly. We are so thankful for all the people that took good care of us. From his friend Kevin, to the nursing staff, the surgeon and even the people who came in to take his food order.
At one point during our days in the hospital, my son had some friends come to visit. He was doing well, but I really didn't like leaving him alone for long. Since someone was with him, I decided I could go home and pick up the phone I had forgotten. "Who forgets their phone?" I also was hoping to relax just a bit, in anticipation of getting him home. As I drove down the highway from the hospital to my house, I was able to reflect on my New Year's Eve thoughts. Did I have my New Years eve wish? In that moment I knew for sure that I had. How did I know? You see, I am a crier. I cry at everything, whether it is happy or sad, commercials, puppies, movies, basically anything. If I had lived a past life, I would have been one of those women who would be hired to cry at a funeral. I cry at everything, and as luck would have it, I am not a pretty crier. During the past couple of days though, I did not cry. What is really funny is that I should have. I was in the hospital, my son was in pain, strapped to every machine that they had and I was exhausted. Sleeping in a hospital chair is not conducive to rest, along with the fact that I am getting up there in age and the body cannot take what it used to. I should have had bouts of weeping, but I didn't. I can only remember two times when I teared up for a moment, but that was it, no real tears.
It got me thinking, was that a sign of God's presence, my lack of tears? You see, I make the connection between my tears and God's presence because of what I know about heaven. The bible only gives so much information, but it does say that we will be in God's presence. Very cool! The bible also says that there will be no more tears in heaven. Secretly, that is what I am looking forward to the most. So should I expect that if God is with me I will never cry again? I doubt that, but I do believe that God gave me some reassurance this week. A message for me, in a convoluted way that I would understand. It has been a crazy beginning to a new year, but I am thankful for His presence so far, and I am counting on it to continue into the future.
So January 1st arrived, and I spent the day putting away Christmas, and bringing some sanity back to my household. It was a nice day where I felt like I had accomplished much and was ready for whatever would come next. Little did I know that by 9:30 that night I would be in the hospital next to my son, who would be drugged up and waiting for surgery to be scheduled. He had a hernia that was causing him extreme pain, and so they were going to address it immediately. Everyone who saw it commented on how large is was, and after a while it became quite the joke. While we were confident in the people helping us, the surgery was still a scary prospect to a 26 year old who had never been to the emergency room in his life. Nothing ever broken, no fever ever too high, not one urgent medical situation in his entire life. Needless to say, we were all a little scared. We are now home after a couple of days in the hospital, where everything went flawlessly. We are so thankful for all the people that took good care of us. From his friend Kevin, to the nursing staff, the surgeon and even the people who came in to take his food order.
At one point during our days in the hospital, my son had some friends come to visit. He was doing well, but I really didn't like leaving him alone for long. Since someone was with him, I decided I could go home and pick up the phone I had forgotten. "Who forgets their phone?" I also was hoping to relax just a bit, in anticipation of getting him home. As I drove down the highway from the hospital to my house, I was able to reflect on my New Year's Eve thoughts. Did I have my New Years eve wish? In that moment I knew for sure that I had. How did I know? You see, I am a crier. I cry at everything, whether it is happy or sad, commercials, puppies, movies, basically anything. If I had lived a past life, I would have been one of those women who would be hired to cry at a funeral. I cry at everything, and as luck would have it, I am not a pretty crier. During the past couple of days though, I did not cry. What is really funny is that I should have. I was in the hospital, my son was in pain, strapped to every machine that they had and I was exhausted. Sleeping in a hospital chair is not conducive to rest, along with the fact that I am getting up there in age and the body cannot take what it used to. I should have had bouts of weeping, but I didn't. I can only remember two times when I teared up for a moment, but that was it, no real tears.
It got me thinking, was that a sign of God's presence, my lack of tears? You see, I make the connection between my tears and God's presence because of what I know about heaven. The bible only gives so much information, but it does say that we will be in God's presence. Very cool! The bible also says that there will be no more tears in heaven. Secretly, that is what I am looking forward to the most. So should I expect that if God is with me I will never cry again? I doubt that, but I do believe that God gave me some reassurance this week. A message for me, in a convoluted way that I would understand. It has been a crazy beginning to a new year, but I am thankful for His presence so far, and I am counting on it to continue into the future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)