I Did It!

My cousin’s daughter and her husband have triplets that are now six years old.  When they were first born and their parents needed extra hands, I was fortunate enough to be able to help with them from time to time.  When they were about two, I was at their house enjoying watching the three of them do what two-year olds do!  On this particular day it was clear that the phrase of the day was, “I did it.”   Kai, the boy of this precious trio, has just recently learned to climb out of his crib.  Now this was not at all surprising because he had been climbing, opening cabinets and doors, turning toys off and on, and figuring things out for several months.

As one of the “sitters” we’d been told he had now mastered the crib so we needed to be aware of this.  This particular day we were all in his bedroom and he proceeded to show us how this task was accomplished.  He could not just climb out of the crib, but into it as well. He would climb in the crib on one end, stand up straight and tall and proudly say, “I did it!”  He then would go to the opposite end of the crib, climb out of the crib and, again, just as proudly announce, “I did it.”   This was a fun rotation for a few minutes and soon he was joined by his sister, Neely.  She would follow Kai’s lead and climb into the crib, announce, “I did it,” climb out of the crib to the floor and again proudly announce, “I did it.”  

This rotation had probably been done two or three times for each of them and I was watching with interest the third child, Bevan, as she watched her two siblings.  She had not completely mastered the technique yet but that didn’t stop her as she was proceeding to try to climb into the crib.  She struggled for a bit and just couldn’t figure it out and get that little knee in just the right place to accomplish this new feat.  After several minutes of struggling and seeing her brother and sister pass her by, she looked at me with those beautiful, clear blue eyes and pleaded, “Help.”   I, of course was able to give her just the little push she needed to make it over the side of the crib.  Success, she was in the crib and quickly she stood up and proudly pronounced, “I did it!”

Well, not really did she “do it” but she certainly knew how to take credit for it after having watched her brother and sister.  I thought this to be extremely cute and quite funny.  Later that day as I was retelling this story I thought about how her actions are so much like mine.  I struggle and struggle with the “task of the day” and then I finally look to God and say “Help” and then when He does, far too many times my reaction is, “I did it!”  I fail to recognize the push I’ve been given, the strength I was granted, or even the encouragement that has come from God that was my “help.”  I turn my thoughts inward and think of my independence, proclaiming “I did it!”

Thank you God for using the triplets to teach me about myself!  Forgive me God for not realizing that all my strength and help comes from you!


"I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."  Psalm 121:1-2 (NIV)

Are you Disturbed?

We had made many plans, prepared our stories, and tried to take everything we would need as our church mission team headed to Zambia Africa.  As we headed out after planning for several months, we were confident that God had every detail under control and He had His agenda.  He opened the door for new stories we’d not planned on and we discovered quickly that we had everything we needed as long as we had clothes on our back and His Spirit directing our steps. I have learned this is true in Africa or in Western Kentucky. 

While in Zambia, the people we served lived in what we would consider extremely poor, dirty conditions and in need of so many things.  Clothes, shoes, medicine, eyeglasses, toys for the children, balanced diets, vitamins, clean water, a building to worship in – so much we would have liked to provide for them but where do you start? 

As we talked one day about all they needed, at least by our way of thinking, one of the missionaries we were working with quoted David Livingstone’s father-in-law, Mr. Moffat, when he said, “On any given night I see the fires from 1,000 villages, all without the light of Jesus.”  We knew that we could take 200 shirts for the children, a few balls for the children to play with but what they needed was Jesus to give them hope.   That was the one thing we could share with them and that is what we tried to do.

This was not my first trip to Zambia so when this mission trip became available and I felt like it was something God wanted me to be a part of, I began to ask God just what He might have for me this time?  As we worked in Zambia and also once I returned home, I kept asking what God wanted me to see, to take away from this trip.  I knew I had learned a lot, I’d experienced the “bush” and I loved every minute of it.  I’d seen God at work, I saw Him answer prayer, I felt His presence, and I learned a lot about me.  Somehow though, I felt God still had something else for me.

The same week we returned I attended a Women’s Conference in a nearby town.  The speaker reminded us how God called Abraham to leave Ur and go to a place he would show him.  I’m sure you know the story.   However, the speaker went on to say that we all have our own Ur – you know our U. R. – Usual Routine and that God calls each of us to leave our Usual Routine and be obedient to Him.  Oh my!  Was that what God was saying to me?  Well okay, I had done that – I’d stepped out of my Usual Routine and gone to Africa hadn’t I. Okay - so I’m not in Africa now.  What now?

 

It was then I remembered the quote from Mr. Moffat.  It was as though I could see the 1,000 fires in the villages, and the thousands of homes in the Zambia towns we visited, all without the light and hope of Jesus.”  Then it was almost as if God said, “You’re not in Zambia now – you’re back home - look around you.  When you walk out of church tonight, or drive through this community or stand in your own yard, you can see the lights of many homes right here who need the hope of Jesus as well.” 

Kay Warren says in her book, Dangerous Surrender, that God is looking for some disturbed people – people who will allow Him to disturb them by making them truly see the world where we live – so disturbed they will be compelled to do something.

Kay also says, “If we aren’t disturbed by the world in which we live, we will be consumed with the trivial, insignificant and temporary.  We will spend days pursuing wrong goals – living by the wrong measurement of success, and evaluating our legacy by the wrong standards.”

I had grown comfortable with my Usual Routine – now I’m trying to be obedient to what God has for me and I am expecting God to interrupt that routine daily.  

I’d go back to Zambia in a minute, I love the people, the country, and I certainly know God is working there.   God has “disturbed” me about the people in Zambia.  I believe we should go to the ends of the earth, including Zambia, to tell others about Him and if it is God’s will, I’ll go again one day.  In the meantime, I believe God wants us all disturbed about the people whose lights we see from the church parking lot and from our front yards.      

Twice now, I’ve been blessed to have shared the lives of the Zambian people and I've seen how God is working there.  I have come to love these people who live on the other side of the world.  What an incredible experience!  As I returned from Africa the first time, my son who had been to Africa a few years before looked at me as he met me at the airport and said, “Kinda leaves a scar doesn’t it?”  A scar indeed – with an exclamation mark!

It is my prayer that you will go to Zambia or to wherever God is leading you. But if it is God's plan that you stay near home, I also pray that God will disturb you, as He has me, about those living around you who need the light of Jesus in their lives.


"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'" Matthew 28:18-20

Seamless Transition

My husband and I recently returned from a few days at the beach.  Even though the beach is one of my favorite places to be, it is always good to be home.  I was telling someone one morning after we returned how I wished I could just "drop in" at the beach for a day or two about once a month.  There would be no packing or unpacking.  No exits, just arrivals.  No settling in, just taking it in. No catching up, just staying in step.  I would prefer a seamless transition from my front porch to the beach!

Sometimes I think that is how my life has been, a seamless transition from when I was twenty-five to where I am today, seventy.  The transition has not always been smooth or without a few rips and tears, maybe a gathered sleeve or an uneven hem along the way.  There were years when I think I had a pattern and other years when I was only sewing a crooked seam or even sewing "in the ditch."  Often as I've worked my own design it was like I was using a pattern with pieces of the pattern missing.  My least favorite part of sewing are those times when you just have to do it over.  I've had my share of "do overs" as well.

Sometimes life appeared to "fit" but the inside seams were obvious as I seemed to be wearing my life inside out.  Many days were like trying on a dress that had been pinned together or just "basted" at best, as I carefully tried it on without the pins sticking me, taking one tentative step after another.

And now here I am with a wrinkled "dress," faded and worn, a bit tattered in places, and with more than a few patches.  Although I know the pattern for my finished garment was designed before I was born, I still find myself trying to fit the pieces together.  Even at my age I seldom have the seams straight and some days I continue to look for a pattern piece.   

One thing I have learned is that the fabric of my life must be washed by the Word, over and over and over again.  It's in God's Word where I find my stabilizer and the tension of my stitches is adjusted perfectly.  Thank you God for your patience as I am still trying to get myself put together!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit be together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."  Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV)