Road Trip and the Giant Lady's Leg Sundial

It seems like people usually fall into one of two groups: the “road-tripping-I-Love-Lucy-crazy-adventure kind” and the “we’d-really-prefer-to-fly-and-enjoy-an-incident-free-vacation-complete-with-moist-towelettes kind.”  Daughter Maggie and I fall into the first camp.  In fact we are getting t-shirts printed with WWLD? on them.  What would Lucy do?  

Maybe instead we should be thinking “What would Moses do?”

After all, Moses had an epic road trip from Egypt to the Promised Land complete with the equivalent of a highway straight through Lake Superior, an ancient GPS that looked like a pillar of fire, and weird diner food provided every day.  Elijah, belonging to the second group, took a quick trip to heaven in a whirlwind.  Poof!

Recently Maggie and I have been planning a road trip we’re really excited about.  She will be finishing her job in Guatemala with International Justice Mission (IJM.org) and will be moving to D.C. for her new job and living with Katy, her sister. 

So here’s the plan.  We’re going to rent a U-Haul truck.  It has to be a truck because a truck is the adventurous, fun version of a trailer (plus we get to wear trucker hats).  We’re going to pack it up with stuff (never mind that John says we could buy a heck of lot of furniture for what it costs to rent a truck) and head to D.C. on a cross-country extravaganza. 

We’ve found this website called Roadsideamerica.com which has provided a treasure-trove of suggestions for stops on our odyssey.  So far, included on our itinerary are:

• The Giant Lady’s Leg Sundial next to the nudist camp in Roselawn, Indiana
• The Two-headed calf in Brookeville, Ohio
• The Bible Walk Wax Museum in Mansfield, Ohio
• The Space Acorn UFO in Kecksburg, Pennsylvania

We’re also considering a visit to the Mystery Hole in West Virginia and the Virginia State Women’s Penitentiary.

In life we rarely get the comfy first-class plane ride complete with mimosas and recliner chairs, but isn’t it more interesting when we might happen upon a Space Acorn?  We’re not leaving yet, but today, right where I am, in the midst of the mundane, I’m going to be on the lookout for the unusual. 

What great road trips have you taken?  Any suggestions for us?  

It Takes a Village (or at least my daughters)

I’ve decided that one of the strongest pieces lf evidence supporting the idea that God made us for community is that I seem incapable of shopping for clothes on my own.  

It takes a team of expert consultants (mostly my daughters and/or my mom) to dress me.  Now that makes for a bit of a challenge since one of us is in Guatemala, one in D.C. (23, and 25 yrs. old respectively) one in Chicago (my mom who is 78, but has been known to swap clothes with the 23-year-old), and me in Minneapolis (and I’m not telling you how old I am).

We’re spread out, but devoted to each other and committed to not having a candid photo of us show up in Glamour magazine with the headline “fashion don’ts”.

So we take pictures of ourselves in dressing rooms wherever we are shopping and text them to each other asking the others to weigh in and give advice. 

I’m not kidding.

Here’s a sample of a recent conversation:

MN:  What do you think of this (sending pic)

D.C. and Guat (simultaneously):  We’ve told you you are NOT allowed to wear animal prints!  No!  PUT IT BACK.  NOW!

However “Chicago” is not text savvy so she gets emails from our phones and responds by email too.  Unfortunately (or fortunately if you like an unusual game) it usually takes all three of the rest of us and a super detective decoder kit to figure out what she’s trying to communicate.

Here’s one from Chicago to Guatemala:

maggie honery-- these are the shies with me in then.  i was goint to senx

you a

pic of the shiies without me in them but tgrajpy ran out of memory.  hoooooooooope you

cam

tell a lllittle bout how they loopk.

Guat to D.C. and MN: Help.  Anyone have any idea what “tgrajpy” is?

And do you guys think she can pull of these shoes unless she’s going to be flamenco dancing?

The other day I texted my daughters that now back in tennis lessons for the first time in ten years I feel like the home-schooled kid going to public school for the first time and realizing I’m not dressed like the cool kids.

Maggie, ever supportive responded: “You’re a cool kid in my book.”

Now you may think the topics of our texts are ridiculous, but whether it’s about fashion or future plans isn’t this what we all crave in community?  

Someone to care. 

Someone to tell us the truth. 

Someone to encourage us.

Someone to reassure us that regardless of what the rest of the world thinks, we’re cool in their eyes.

As far as it is possible...

I listen to a lot of sermon podcasts. Part of the reason for that is I love learning and part of it is that I need a lot of help in the area of transformation. But two of the hazards of listening to a lot of sermons are:

1. There’s the temptation to critique a message in terms of how effectively I think it was communicated instead of actually, you know, well…listening for God’s word to me.
2. Even if I’m not critiquing, it’s a lot easier to think of all the other people who should hear the message (“ooh…_____ should really hear this!”) because they need it, rather than doing the hard work of applying it to my own life.

No one else does this when they listen to sermons, do they?

A couple weeks ago I listened to a message by someone who I greatly respect. I’ve watched him grow and develop as a leader and an authentic, super-effective teacher. I think he’s terrific and I’ve written notes to affirm his gifts.

The main text that he was preaching on was “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

A great text. An important text. A relevant text for all of us!

But as I listened to the message, I succumbed to hazard #1 and tried to resist hazard #2.

I’ll explain. I was dismayed because the first and primary example the pastor used of not living at peace was far right crazy conservative Christians crashing the funerals of gay men with signs decrying their lifestyle. Now my guess is that 99.9% of the people listening to that message thought two things:

1. That is HORRIBLE! The Christian position on the gay lifestyle is brutal, homophobic, mean, intolerant and wrong!
2. That is not me! I’m off the hook! I’m fine with thinking about all those other people who hate gays and aren’t living at peace.

I struggled with this on both points. I thought with this particular illustration (which was horrible) the pastor reinforced an extreme, negative stereotype and missed an opportunity to hold up a positive example of a “third way” of loving authentically, but not equating love with condoning a lifestyle.

And second, in using this particular illustration, he made it easy for listeners to avoid dealing with the lack of peace in our own home, neighborhood, church…

So anyway…that was my critique, but then I started reflecting… I didn’t want to let myself off the hook. I felt prompted to think back over the relationships I’ve had over our past 23 years here in Minneapolis – ones where I had been hurt, ones where there were misunderstandings, ones where others had been hurt, situations where difficult circumstances led to a break in relationship. I listed names that fit in any of these categories and asked myself, “Are there any names on this list where you haven’t done everything possible to bring peace and reconciliation?”

“Is there anything you still need to ask forgiveness for?”

I don’t want to be done with this too quickly so I’m sitting with it before God and I’ve also shown it to John to ask his thoughts, but it struck me that there were 3 different types of situations with the people listed.

1. Both of us in the relationship have done what we can (I think), but because we don’t live in the same area any more so it’s hard to rebuild a true relationship.
2. I’ve done what I can, but my overtures have been rejected (These are the hardest ones. It’s hard to accept that you can’t MAKE someone forgive you and you can’t make them like you. One person can forgive. It takes two for reconciliation.)
3. There has been reconciliation, but for whatever reason one of us has withdrawn from further interaction, either because it doesn’t feel healthy or safe, or the relationship is not of value.

But is there a 4^th category where something has gone unaddressed? As I think about each of these people, I ask myself, “Would they say we are at peace with each other? If not, Lord, is there something I haven’t said or done that I need to do or say?”

This isn’t a comfortable exercise, and it has made me grieve, but I think it’s an important one. I may not be a gay-bashing funeral crasher, but my heart (like all hearts) is deceitful above all things and in need of a thorough examination.

Settle Down and Hand it Over

God’s been messing with me lately and I really wish He’d leave me alone. Although it’s embarrassing to admit, I’ve realized I’m pretty content in my sandbox of sin and God keeps interrupting my play. Just one small example…

Each night when John gets home we go through our day in detail and the other evening as we both shared I got angrier and angrier. I was furious about a bunch of things going on in our lives. Hard-heartedness, injustice, cowardice…I was so frustrated with… people! I enjoy labeling my feelings as “righteous indignation”, but I think God might see it differently.

I was fuming and ranting and raving as I carried dinner out to the patio for us to eat when, totally out of the blue a phrase from scripture came to mind. When that happens it’s usually God trying to get my attention. Now I love it when He’s trying to get my attention to encourage or affirm (with a great promise or something that reinforces my righteous indignation, like “Sit at my right hand til I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”), but when it’s something that’s uncomfortable or a command actually requires me to change, well that’s when I’d like to ask God to stop meddling.

Anyway, the phrase that clearly interrupted my rant was “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed, indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken from her.” (Luke 10:41,42).

I thought, “What?!! What’s up with that, Lord? I’m NOT Martha!”

The story of Martha (the worker) and Mary (the worshipper) who chose to sit at the feet of Jesus is usually used to talk about the balance of activity and reflection, serving and replenishing, the outer life and the inner life. But as I sat with these words I felt like God was asking me to bring all that I was angry and upset about, to settle down in front of Him and hand it over.

I wasn’t happy about it, but grudgingly I pictured myself sitting at his feet. One by one I named the things I was angry about and said, “Ok Lord, here’s this…You take it and do what only You can do with it.

And with me. Change my heart.” Alright, I may have added “I guess.” at the end.

A lot of my anger involved loss, and what God gave me in return was the reassurance that He is the one thing that can never be taken from me. He can absorb all my anger and frustration. He is the non-anxious Presence and as He receives what I give Him He can transform it and give me the reassurance that in the end everything will be made right.

God’s whisper and my response didn’t immediately fix everything, including my heart, but it’s all part of the process, right? Can you relate? Is there an area where God’s whispering “Settle down and hand it over.”?

Cat and Mouse Games with God

Confession: I’ve been praying for something for 2 1/2 years that is totally futile (at least in human terms) and most people would think is stupid.

2 1/2 years ago I had a book bag stolen and in it was a really special Bible that John had given me years ago. So for the past 2 1/2 years I’ve been praying that my old Bible will miraculously show up (after the robber has read it and had a life-changing encounter with Jesus).

Ok, a book is a book, and a Bible is a Bible and I’ve got a million more at home, but…When you think of the books that are special to you their pages are soft and worn and mangy eared and most of all there’s writing in them, even if it’s just a note to you in the front, right?

One of the things I love to do as I read my Bible is to date different promises or commands that have been meaningful to me, connecting with specific circumstances in my life. It’s such an encouragement when I see how personal and alive God’s word is to me – even if it’s convicting.

Many verses are dated with the name of one of our daughters as I have prayed the verses for them. Next to Psalm 16:8 is 10/9/09 and “Katy -job”.

Other verses (like Is. 42:13 and Is. 43:18,19)have dates with notes about prayers for guidance.

Psalm 9:9 says, “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” Next to it is written “Haiti”.

The other day when I was reading (the “replacement”) I came across one of the most meaningful and important notations in my Bible. One I had transferred to my new Bible when the old one disappeared. Next to Matthew 7: 9-11 is written “Bere’s dock, August 15, 2004.”

I had been going through a very difficult time, praying for direction and every time I thought a door was being open for me and I started to walk through, it was slammed in my face. August 15^th of that year we were staying with some friends who live on a lake in Wisconsin and I was sitting out on the dock early one morning, pouring my heart out to God. I said, “It feels like you’re playing a game of cat-and-mouse with me and I don’t understand!!! Help!”

After I prayed, I was still and in the stillness God brought to mind a verse that I vaguely remembered - something like “If a son asks his father for bread, with he give him a stone? No! And how much more does your heavenly father want to give you?” I checked for the reference in my concordance and looked up the verses in Matthew 7, thankful for the personal reassurance from God, but He wasn’t done with me yet.

At the time I was also making a practice of reading in the Message paraphrase so I looked up Matthew 7:9-11 there. And this is what it says, “Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust?… So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?”

The exact phrase I had used in my rant to God, He used in His word to me.

Hebrews 4:12 says God’s Word is living and active. But wow!

Now although I see how God speaks personally to me through his Word daily, this dramatic experience isn’t a common occurrence. Rather it was a gracious gift from God who saw his daughter desperate for encouragement.

Like post-it note reminders, the dates and names in my Bible (even this Bible) are much needed records of His faithfulness over years of my stumbling along, falling down, and getting back up, forgiven and accompanied every step of the way by a patient, personal God.

When your life feels like this picture

I had a lovely 4^th of July weekend filled with bike rides, good friends, time at “the” lake, and fireworks. I hope you did too! But there have been many times lately that haven’t felt so delightful.

No, this wasn’t my golf ball, but it might as well have been. It’s a perfect picture of how I feel sometimes.

A picture of how my day, or my week, or my month feels sometimes. Can you relate?

In our family a good attitude and an absence of complaining is one of our highest values.

On a long family trip through 3^rd world countries about 12 years ago we started using the phrase “It’s better this way…” When a flight was cancelled, or one of us got sick, or we had to wait hours in line, or got a flat tire, with as much humor as we could muster we’d say “But it’s better this way because…” and then we’d stretch our creative muscles trying to finish the sentence. Not gritting our teeth and saying “Praise the Lord”, but genuinely trying to find the good.

I’m pretty good at this game, being by nature a glass-half-full kind of girl, and usually seeing life as a gift not a sentence.

And when I’m having a bad day, week, life, I KNOW all of the “spiritual” answers. “In all things give thanks.” “His strength is perfected in our weakness.” “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him.” I KNOW I live an incredibly blessed abundant life and should never complain!

But some days I just want to say, “My ball is up in a tree and life sucks.” And because God is patient, and gracious, even though my whining may be ridiculous, I think He’s ok with that.

We have some great examples of this in the Bible. Cranky “toddlers” having a bad day, who feel safe enough with God to vent.

Elijah is one of them. He has the incredible privilege of partnering with God in a razzle-dazzle fire and rain miracle, but in the next minute is hiding under a tree and whining, “I’ve had enough! Take my life!” Translation: Life sucks.

He’s a prophet for Pete’s sake! He’s supposed to be all “spiritual”. But he’s not. Like a toddler with no filters he’s honest about how he’s feeling. And God doesn’t strike him dead.

Instead He sends an angel to give Elijah a snack and a nap. Kind of like what I used to do with Katy and Maggie when they were 2-year-olds and were just overwhelmed, over-tired, and couldn’t understand why every answer seemed to be “no”.

So some days maybe it's ok to say “Lord, it feels like life sucks right now. Tomorrow I’ll try to have a better attitude, but I’d really appreciate it if for today You’d just give me a little snack and a nap."