Washing Glass Globes

Unsplash: Matt Seymour

I was recently on vacation with my husband and children to spend the week with my in-laws who live several states away. They are actively caring for my sister-in-law, their daughter, who is two years out from brain surgery that removed a large, and thankfully benign, tumor. While she has come a long way in her recovery, she has faced several set backs and is currently wheelchair bound, requires a gastric feeding tube for nourishment, and needs hands-on assitance with many necessities of daily living.

Over the past year that Stacy has been home from the hospital convalescing, my husband, our children, and I have endeavored to be as helpful as we can be whenever we spend time precious time with them. 

I'll never forget asking my mother-in-law during this recent trip, as she was nestling several feeding bags into a cooler, how I could best help around the house while she and my father-in-law drove into town to accompany Stacy to her therapy appointments. She quickly scanned the kitchen and then promptly asked me to do the following three things:

• Wash the glass globes of all the bathroom and kitchen light fixtures
• Clean and refill the hummingbird feeders
• Pick the ripened squash from the garden 

I quickly assented, stepping aside for them to wheel Stacy out the front door, and set right to work, but all the while my mind was in a state of flux and unrest. I couldn't help but think, Really? Of all the things? Light fixtures and hummingbird feeders? No sheets to wash, errands to run, bills to pay, cupboards to organize, files to sort, calls to return, appointments to make, rooms to vacuum, or sinks to scrub?

And so, as I awkwardly scooted step stools into hallway bathrooms (as light fixtures are always JUST out of reach), unscrewed tiny metal holding pins (that inevitably bounced out of my hand and clattered around behind the comode), and submerged glass globes into a bucket of soapy water, I pondered the importance of these daily tasks compared to all the things that must be accomplished to run a multi-person household, especially one that is supporting around-the-clock medical care.

And yet, as I think more upon things now, it all comes into sharper focus. Perhaps it is the passage of time or the well-timed reading of a beautiful book on the cultivation of quiet.

But this is how I see it now.

Those "little" and maybe "unnecessary" tasks around the house served a larger, mightier, dare I say holier purpose.

They literally increased the level of light by which we lived and reaffirmed the wonder and beauty of life, creation, and the natural rhythms of planting and harvest.

Author Sarah Clarkson says it this way, in her book Reclaiming Quiet: Cultivating a Life of Holy Attention: 

"their [the fields and flowers] beauty wasn't a neutral distraction, peripheral to the suffering at large in the world. They were a kind of answer and defiance, an order and loveliness that endured..."

So, by washing the light fixtures and caring for hummingbirds, we were driving a stake in the ground for beauty, light, and life. Those other "to dos" that I could quickly conjure up would get done out of necessity--somehow and in someway by someone. That day--my mother-in-law's 80th birthday, in fact--was a day to bring in the light through sparkling fixtures, bake a cake, string up a hand-lettered banner, reclaim beauty, and support life...even the life of little gem-like birds, small enough to hold deep within the palm of one's hand.

In a very real and tangible way, this reclamation of beauty, light, and life in these small little ways summoned us all to trust our Creator, the Light of the World, in much deeper ways with big things like brain tumors, wheelchairs, and feeding tubes.

On that day, my mother-in-law did not need me to step in and encourage her to simplify, to cut out all the "non-essential" aspects of creature care in and out-of-doors, but she needed me to drive that stake deep into the ground by flipping on a switch and allowing her to "oooh and ahhh" over the lightbulbs she could see with crystal clarity when she returned home.

I'm still reflecting, still processing, still praying my way on this pathway of wisdom, one day at a time. Will you join me, dear friend?  I so hope you do.

Three Powerful Questions

Unsplash: Edward Lawrence

As you might know, I'm an avid nature-lover and nature-journaler (check out this post if you want to learn more). It is a practice that I came across in our homeschooling journey, and one that I still enjoy, even as my children are in high school and college. Sometimes, my nature journal looks more like a quick entry into a notebook and a printed sticky photo beside it, instead of a hand-drawn illustration, but it is a way I love to document the natural world and how it changes throughout the year. Often, my entries include new-to-me plants, flowers, and insects; other times, it simply records the first snowfall of the year or the first firefly of the summer (which was yesterday in our parts!)

The Naturalist's Notebook by Nathaniel T. Wheelwright

Through nature journaling, I've learned to ask three questions, thanks to the instruction of naturalist author and teacher John Muir Laws.

These questions are:

1. "I notice..."
2. "I wonder..."
3. "It reminds me of..."

Question #1 helps me to slow down and observe the detail of what I am seeing. I notice its color, texture, shape, or behavior. These unfiltered observations can be quickly jotted in a notebook.

Question #2 transforms these simple observations into active curiosity and inquiry. It helps me to generate questions about the subject's purpose, how it might work, or why a certain characteristic I am noticing might exist.

Question #3 exists to build connections between what I am seeing and the information I already know. It helps me to uncover patterns, identify metaphors, and ultimately serves to deepen my memory and understanding of what I am seeing.

I recently reflected upon the power of these three questions when I study God's Word, as well.  After reading a Bible passage, it helps me to slow down and just notice the surface details such as who is doing the speaking, where the action is happening, what exactly is going on or being said. I can ask myself: what do I notice in this passage?

Next, I endeavor to ask the second question, I wonder..., and apply it to the passage. Is there a cultural context I am unfamiliar with and might not be clear about? (If so, I highly recommend the IVP Bible Background Commentary as a helpful resource) or maybe I jot down a few questions to ask my pastor or think further about on my own.

Third, I consider the question This reminds me of...and I attempt to make connections between this passage of Scripture and things I know about our world or with other places in Scripture. For example, I recently read a passage in Jeremiah (see below) and it reminded me of a similar passage I had read a few years ago in Ezekiel:

“Your words were found, and I ate them,

    and your words became to me a joy

    and the delight of my heart,

for I am called by your name,

    O Lord, God of hosts."             —Jeremiah 15:16

 

"And he said to me, 'Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.' So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. And he said to me, 'Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.’ Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey."                —Ezekiel 3:1-3

By considering these passages together, it got me thinking further about what it means to "eat" God's Word, in contrast to "reading" or "studying" it, which are the verbs I typically use when I think of my interaction with God's Word (see this previous blog post to learn more about "tasting" God's Word).

And I didn't use the word "last" when I got to question #3 because these questions serve as a gateway to more questions, questions that might involve asking God what He would have me do that day, or whether there is a sin I should confess, or if there's a person He wants me to reach out to...you get the idea. As always, Bible study leads us to a greater end: worship (praising God for who He is), prayer (conversing with God about what we learn and confessing sin), and application of His Word in our lives (a daily, sometimes slow-going process as we become more like Christ through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit). 

Three powerful questions.

Three powerful ways we can dig into God's Word to better understand it and see how it relates to our daily modern lives.

I pray that we would not only see the wonder of the natural world around us this summer, but that we would grow in our knowledge and curiosity of God's Word, too, dear friend. I trust these questions will help us both to notice, to wonder, and to make connections, all to the glory of God and for our ultimate good. 

Forget Not His Benefits

Unsplash: Jon Tyson

As I've grown up in the church, somewhere along the line I've been taught to love God for "just being God" and not for what He can give me.

Several scriptures echo this sentiment as well: 

Paul encourages us to love and worship the Creator and not the creation in the first chapter of his letter to the Romans (see Rom 1:21-23).

James makes it clear in his letter to the church that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above (see 1:17).

And so it came as a refreshing surprise this week as I was in the Psalms to realize that David encourages us as God's people to "forget not God's benefits" in Psalm 103.  Look at verse 1 and 2 with me:

"Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and all that is within me,

    bless his holy name!

 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits..."   Ps 103:1-2 (emphasis mine)

What follows these verses is a catalog of all the "benefits" we have as the covenant children of God that we can thank Him for:

• forgiveness of sins (v. 3, 10, 12)
• healing from diseases (v. 3)
• redemption from the pit (v. 4)
• a crown of streadfast love and mercy (v. 4, 11, 17)
• renewed energy and youthfulness (v. 5)
• justice and the working out of righteousness for us (v. 6)
• God's revealing of his ways to us (v. 7)
• His mercy and grace toward us (v. 8)
• God's compassion (v. 13)
• His seeing our weaknesses and loving us with compassion (v. 14-16)

When I think upon it, this concept of loving God for who He is AND for all the benefits He imparts to us makes sense. 

While I love my husband for the man that he is, I also love and appreciate how he provides for our family through a full-time job. I am blessed by the military and veteran benefits he and I both receive through income, health care, and life insurance. Do I love him because he provides a roof over my head and allows me to have adequate health insurance coverage? Of course not!  I would still love him if he suddenly became unemployed and we had to sell our home and live out our days in our minivan. BUT I can be thankful for him AND for all the benefits I enjoy as his wife (and be grateful I don't have to live out of a car!).

So today, dear friend, let's endeavor to praise God for who He is, yes, but also for all the benefits we enjoy as His children because of His deep and indescribable, unearned, and never-ending love He has for us.

Let us, in David's words "forget not His benefits" and may our day, our week, our year, our lives, never be the same for it!