Surprises

I am living proof that we don’t always get what we expect.  There are all kinds of surprises – good and bad – all around us.  I did not expect to have cancer, but it happened.  No matter what kind of unexpected events come our way, our reaction is always our choice.  I refuse to be anything but positive in this journey.  God did not design me to be afraid and worried.  Psalm 91 says that He wants to protect me and save me.  I am asking Him to make good on that promise.  If you think about it, please pray for me.  I need it. 

Meanwhile, in the midst of all my doctor’s visits, I started thinking about some unexpected things that weren’t quite so serious.  I am going to need my sense of humor to get through this new bump in the road.  So, I would like to remind you that we don’t always get what we expect, even in a worship service.  Here is one of those unexpected things:

It was many years ago and Easter Sunday was approaching.  There was a lot of hoopla in our church surrounding a special guest who had been invited for our Easter morning worship service.  He was a singer.  Not just any singer.  He was a countertenor.  All the publicity said that he had a voice range of five octaves.  Everyone seemed to be rather impressed.  I had no idea what a countertenor was.  I had no idea what five octaves might be.  I just decided to be every bit as impressed as everyone else.  I could hardly wait for Easter.  It was going to be magnificent and I knew it.  I have always loved music – especially the older hymns – and I have always enjoyed the way music can just set the mood for the entire worship service.   Easter was going to be special!

So, Easter morning came.  It was the kind of Easter morning that you always hope for – pretty, bright, sunny, not too cold.  We hurried to the worship service as fast as we could after Sunday school.  The agreement was that the first one in the family to arrive would save all our seats.  Daddy was the first one there, so we had seats about five pews from the front on the left hand side of the sanctuary.  To my way of thinking, we had the best seats in the house to enjoy The Countertenor and his voice.  

There were people galore.  The folding chairs were set up in the aisles so that we could accommodate everyone.  I figured there would be a big turnout – it was Easter and we had the added attraction of The Countertenor.  I was right – there was a bumper crop of churchgoers.  For some reason, I got to sit at the end of the pew.  That was where Daddy normally sat, but it ended up being my spot that day.  All the better for seeing The Countertenor.  Mama was keeping the nursery.   I felt so sorry for her.  She was going to miss The Countertenor.  But the rest of us, we were ready to just sit back and enjoy.

My Daddy loved music, but he was a terrible singer.  He had two favorite hymns, “Victory in Jesus” and “Up from the Grave He Arose” (sometimes called “Low in the Grave He Lay,” but the same song nonetheless).  We usually only sang the latter at Easter - and Easter didn’t disappoint.  Daddy and I sang “Up from the Grave He Arose” with a lot of enthusiasm.  We wanted to impress The Countertenor with our effort if not our voices.  No way did we want him thinking he had an Easter morning engagement in a subpar congregation. 

We greeted, welcomed, sang, prayed, and collected the offering.  It was finally time.  The Countertenor was introduced and I gave him an encouraging smile - just in case he might be nervous singing for such a large crowd.  He stepped up, the music began and he sang. And I was completely shocked.  Not in a particularly good way.  What on earth?!  I am not believing what I am hearing.  This is a countertenor??  He. Sounds. Like. A. Woman.  There was an audible gasp from Daddy, so I turned to look up at him.  Mistake.  Big, big mistake.  Daddy was by all accounts just as surprised as I was.  Mama could conjure up a poker face at will, but she was in the nursery.  I’m pretty sure that I got my how-to-handle-a-surprise genes from Daddy.  We never could hide anything.  We were doing everything in our power to keep from laughing – not at The Countertenor, but at each other. 

I risked glancing around.  It was evident that we weren’t the only ones who were surprised.  I think, though, that we were the only ones shaking the pew because we were trying so hard not to laugh.    We managed to gain some control, but it lasted only until the kid sitting in front of us put his fingers in his ears and said, “Mama, it’s awful!”  Shaking pew once again.

When church was over, we hurried out as fast as we could.  No reason to linger over The Countertenor fiasco and make it worse.  While other families were being sociable, mine was hot-footing it to the nursery to tell Mama to meet us at the car.  It was the best we could do at the time.  When we got home, we told Mama all about it.  She was appropriately mortified over our behavior.  We tried hard to be contrite.  And when Mama turned around to put the milk in the refrigerator, I know I saw her smile.

 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting.  Job 8:21

No Bullies Allowed

When I was in the second grade, I couldn’t stand two things – school lunches and bullies. Eventually, those two things met and created a perfect storm.

First the school lunches. I complained so long and so loud that my mother finally gave in and let me take my lunch to school. I suppose she figured that the apple and the ham sandwich I would eat was better than the spaghetti and the salad that I wouldn’t. I scrounged around in my grandmother’s trunks and assorted junk until I came up with a real treasure – a metal lunch box whose original owner was w-a-y before my time. Looking back, I can see why my mother was reluctant to let me use it. Most adults would think it was awfully ugly, and it was kind of large, but I thought it was wonderful – especially with those pink flower stickers I added to dress it up. Personalizing it by adding my name in Magic Marker might or might not have made it better.

Now, the bully. A group of us walked to school together and it was actually kind of fun. Except for the bully. We had to walk by his house on the way to school. He was big, his house was bigger, and he was mean. We were not allowed to pick fights and I sure didn’t have the guts to pick one with the bully anyway. I was always afraid he was going to come out and do something awful to us when we went by his house. Sometimes he chased us and threw things at us. Sometimes he didn’t see us. Those were pretty much the two options.

So . . . on our way to school one morning, the bully came running. He jumped off his porch and ran across the yard, headed straight toward us. We were toast. The bully ran up to my brother and threatened to beat him up. What?? You’re gonna beat up my brother? I don’t think so. I don’t want to fight. But don’t mess with me. Or my brother. So, I did what any little sister would do. I waited until he wasn’t looking my way and I walloped that bully over the head with my metal lunch box. (You know a paper sack would not have had nearly the effect!) It was the only thing I could think of to do. Sadly, it put a pretty big dent in my beautifully decorated and personalized lunch box. And it put one in the bully, too. A seven year old with a metal lunch box can bring about some serious behavior modification. The bully never, ever bothered us again.

Now, I’m all geared up for a brand new bully. First some background. In the fall, I did the Covenant Bible study by Kay Arthur. That study drove something straight home to me – God is fighting for me. When I can’t, He will. And does. My enemies are His enemies. Bullies don’t stand a chance. When I began the Jonah – Navigating a Life Interrupted Bible study in January, I had NO IDEA that God was using it to prepare me for my very own gigantic interruption. One of the things we learned from the Bible study has just kept popping in my head week after week – interruptions may just be divine interventions. So I need to pay attention to those interruptions.

Well . . . my interruption has come in the form of a diagnosis of breast cancer. Not what I was expecting this time last week. But, as I have learned from studying Jonah, God is always in control, hears our prayers, and answers them. So, cancer, if you think you are going to steal my joy or my faith – think again. My God is bigger and stronger than you will ever be. Cancer. Yuck. I don’t even like writing the word. What a bully. But cancer has a thing or two to learn. You don’t mess with a girl who has a metal lunch box and isn't afraid to use it, an aversion to bullies, prayer warriors storming the gates of heaven, and God on her side. This is just the beginning - actually, the beginning of the beginning - but I am already fighting. And God – He’s right there with me. You can join us, too!

O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. Psalm 30:2

Lifesavers

Ever seen a Lifesaving Merit Badge?  Here it is.

My brother earned the rank of Eagle Scout when he was fourteen.  On the other hand, I wasn’t even a half way decent Girl Scout.  I do not think it is fun to camp out.  And when I was expected to cook eggs on an upside down can at Camp Grandview - well, that was the end of my Girl Scout career. Somebody call my daddy to come and get me.  I am out of here! I ended up with something like four merit badges.  Four – as in the single digit.  I think one of them mostly involved reading.  It was the only one that wasn’t a group effort.  Pitiful. 

 

My brother was a very successful Scout.  Unlike me, he actually took to all that camping, hiking, and spend-the-night-in-a-tent-or-worse business.  I did think all that Order of the Arrow business where you got to dress up like an Indian was pretty awesome, but hardly worth putting up with the other stuff.   Anyway, the road to Eagle Scout is paved with many a merit badge – twenty-one, I think – and some of them are earned without running water (hot or otherwise) or electricity.  Nonetheless, in my own way, I contributed to his achieving that rank of Eagle Scout.

Here’s how.  Two of the many merit badges he needed were Swimming and Lifesaving.  That requires some serious time in the water.  So, he went twice a week for a couple of hours at a time and learned all those swimming strokes and all about lifesaving. I did not participate in those lessons.  (I did not actually learn how to swim until my son did.  That is another story.)  I mostly used that waiting time to do my homework or read.  Anyway, to get good at lifesaving you have to have someone to save.   That would be me.  I got to be the victim who got hauled out of the water and rescued in the nick of time. You might think that sounds easy, but being a victim isn’t all it is cracked up to be.  It is imperative, if you want to successfully rescue someone from a possible drowning event, that you keep them right side up with their head out of the water.  That does take practice on the part of the rescuer. As the one being towed, I got exceptionally good at holding my breath.  It was always a relief when my turn as a victim was over.

After all of that swimming and training, my brother was fully qualified to rescue the drowning.  I’m not sure that he ever has, but he is absolutely prepared.  He didn’t have to wonder if he could  do it.  He knew he could.  As I was working on the last of our homework for Jonah – Navigating a Life Interrupted, I couldn’t help thinking that our rebellious friend Jonah had some doubts.  I wonder how prepared he really felt.  He was a prophet, after all, but I wonder if he really felt prepared for the task.  I do think he was greatly relieved at being alive after his trip in such an unlikely vessel.  It was quite a rescue for quite a victim.  I am thinking he was particularly thankful to end up on dry land once again.  His whole experience probably made him quite willing to “arise and go” when God told him to do it, even if he might not have felt truly prepared.  As happy as he must have been to be alive, he surely wasn’t happy about those Ninevites and God’s willingness to have mercy on them.  Do what?  You mean You aren’t going to destroy them?  Why not?!  Just look at them and how they’ve acted!!  But, Jonah did his part – reluctant though he might have been.  And he apparently did it well, even though the message was a rather short one.  (So you don’t have to look it up, here is the entire sermon:  “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” That’s it. ) The Ninevites listened and repented.  Success! 

If God can use rebellious, unprepared, reluctant, runaway, hardheaded, angry Jonah to do His work, I think He can use a rebellious, unprepared, reluctant, runaway, hardheaded, angry, scared somebody like me.  Or you.  You already know what the hardest part will be.  Arise and go.  God does the rest. 

So, are you up for a little lifesaving with God as the instructor?  We all get better with practice.  Arise and go.  God will take care of everything else.  Even a big fish, if need be.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:10

Catch Me, Daddy!

My grandparents lived in Wisconsin. When I was a child, we would go visit them in the summer.  It is a L-O-N-G trip from Alabama to Wisconsin.  Depending on how he was feeling and how tired he got, Daddy might drive straight through.  Usually, we spent the night along the way.  I didn’t care where we stayed as long as it had a swimming pool – nothing else mattered.  Not the mattress or the pillows or the towels or the breakfast or anything else.  I wanted a pool.  The fact that I did not know how to swim was not important to me.  I was fearless.  I loved swimming pools.  And I had a secret weapon.

I somehow launched into adulthood without knowing how to swim.  When I was very young and someone would ask me if I could swim, my answer was always, “Yes!”  Later on, I found out that my definition of swimming (pretty much just getting in a pool and having fun in the water) was not what they meant.  By the time I understood “real” swimming, I didn’t want to say that I didn’t know how.  It could have been something of a problem, but I was not going to be told that I couldn’t get in a pool just because I couldn’t swim.  I figured out how not to sink and that was as close to swimming as I got.  It was usually enough.

So, back to the hotel.  As soon as we checked in, I would start begging (nagging, whining, pleading – you get the picture) to go swimming.  I was relentless.  Daddy would haul us to the pool. And then, my favorite part of the trip would take place.   I would come flying off the side of the pool and yell, “Catch me, Daddy!”  And he always did.  I never doubted.  I always knew he would catch me.  It never once occurred to me that he might not be ready, might miss, might not be in the right place.   I KNEW he would be there.  I KNEW he would catch me.  I KNEW he would not let me down.  I KNEW he would keep me safe.  I KNEW he would hold me up and not let me sink.  My Daddy was my secret weapon – he kept me “swimming” even though I didn’t know how. He once told me that he knew he had about three seconds to get ready anytime he heard my equivalent of “Geromino!”

Sometimes my life is just like my swimming expeditions.  I can stay alive in one spot, but I can’t go anywhere and I might just drown at any moment.  Often, I find myself pretty clueless.  Lots of times, I just have to pray, “Catch me, please, Father.”  Sometimes it is a rather desperate plea.  And just like my earthly Daddy, He always does.  

We are coming to the end of our Jonah-Navigating a Life Interrupted Bible study – only a week left to go.  It has been a wonderful journey.  I don’t know exactly what I was expecting, but what I got was w-a-y better!  When I see Jonah, I also see myself.  There we are – Jonah and me – yelling “Catch me, Daddy!” while our heads are about to go under.  He caught Jonah and kept him safe.  He catches me, too, every time I ask.  If you never learn another thing from Jonah, learn this – even when you’ve gotten yourself in a mess and the best you can do is stay alive in one spot, God loves you with an everlasting love, wants only the highest good for you, knows you are imperfect, and is just waiting for you to ask Him to save you.  He will do it.  In fact, He wants to do it.

Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.  - Psalm 9:10 

Getting Stuck

Have you ever been stuck somewhere?  Really stuck?  I have.  Last year, I was in Washington, DC and had just checked in at the hotel.   I was attending a conference, and this was a nice hotel, just so you’ll know.  So, I got in the elevator with two other people and we pushed the buttons for our floors.   The elevator took off, just like it was supposed to do.  And then it stopped.  We had a problem.  It stopped, but not on anybody’s floor.  In fact, it stopped on nobody’s floor – we were between the third floor and the fourth floor.  And we weren’t going anywhere.  

There isn’t too much that’s funny about being stuck in an elevator, but this next part was.  Once the hotel employees realized there were actual people trapped inside that elevator, they started yelling at us and asking us if we were all right.  They wanted to know how many of us there were and a few other things.   And then, about every two or three minutes, they would holler, “Are you still there?”  What??  Are we still here?  Where do they think we went?  And they would follow that question with, “How many of you are in there?”  Um…still three of us. Nobody got out.  Nobody got in.  My Spidey-sense was telling me that I wasn’t going anywhere very soon with that bunch working on our problem.  And their attempts to reassure us were anything but reassuring.  Their eventual solution was not very elegant, but it was effective.  They pried the doors open, brought out a ladder, and we all climbed down.  

Now think about poor old rebellious runaway Jonah.  Sometimes I get so excited about Jonah getting rescued by that fish and not drowning that I forget something.  He is still inside of a fish.  He didn’t drown, but he isn’t exactly safe.  And I am thinking he certainly wasn’t where he would like to be.  A ride inside a fish still leaves you in a pretty bad fix.  So, Jonah is alive.  And he prays.  Now, I’m thinking that there was probably a lot of praying going on with Jonah.  I don’t see how you can get thrown overboard in the midst of a storm and not pray, even if you are being a rebel.  

Have you read Jonah’s prayer?  It is in the second chapter of Jonah - first nine verses.  Oh, boy.  It is one of the praying-est prayers you will ever read.  Jonah finally gets it!  He knows he is in a mess.  He knows he did it to himself.  He knows that he should have obeyed.  He knows where he went wrong.  He still does not love those Ninevites.  But, he is willing to do what God wants him to do.  Jonah gets it!!  God is the ONLY one who can save him.  (That goes for me and you, too, by the way.)  

Jonah finally gets out of that fish.  Getting out of that stuck elevator was a piece of cake, now that I compare it to Jonah’s getaway from the fish.  Vomit – yuck.  Fish vomit – yuckier.  Surely by now you realize that God has a sense of humor.  

We all have lessons that we learn the hard way.  At least, I do.  And, like Jonah, I have usually brought it on myself.  God never abandons us, though.  In fact, just like He did for Jonah, He patiently pursues us, protects us, and waits for us to turn to Him.  He is always there, waiting – even when we act like Jonah.  Someday you might hear God telling you, “Arise, go.”   It is a good idea to arise and go.  The view from inside a fish can’t be that good.

P.S.  I am writing this in the airport.  Guess where I am going.  Washington, DC.  A different hotel this time.  I asked for a low floor.

P.P.S.  Ladies of the Tuesday night Bible study - I miss y'all.  Wish I could be there!

And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.  1 Peter 5:10

Jimmy Peacock, Jonah, and Me

A little over a week ago, one of our church members, Jimmy Peacock, went home to the Lord.  He was an incredibly talented musician who used his considerable gift to honor God.  There was a time when we were “between” ministers of music at our church.  I was part of a youth ensemble, The Messengers, and we suddenly found ourselves leaderless.  We were teenagers, but we weren’t dumb.  We knew that chances were awfully slim that anybody would jump in and take charge of us.  There were ten of us and at least one in the bunch had a crisis going on at any given time.  Such is the life of a teenager.  Enter Jimmy Peacock.  He volunteered to lead us.  He wasn’t getting a pig in a poke.  He knew us.  And he took us anyway.  

So, we practiced at all kinds of odd times.  Papa P (that’s what we called him and he didn’t mind!) worked full time and we were all in school.  So we often practiced early in the morning.  Very early.  Back then, 5:00 came once a day for me.  Except when Papa P said we were going to rehearse at 5:00 AM.  Yikes. But, we did it.  We didn’t complain.  Now, Papa P jazzed things up for us and added lots of choreography to our performances.  For one of our songs, he had all the lights go out and we changed our positions and bowed our heads so that when the lights came back on, we were all reconfigured and standing with heads bowed.  The problem was me.  My new “position” was front and center.  Should have been no problem.  But I could NOT remember the head bowing part.  Just couldn’t do it.  And being the person in front left me with nobody to take a cue from.  It was all on me to remember.  So, I said, “Papa P, don’t you think that someone else should have this place since I keep messing it up?”  He said, “No.  That is where you belong.  I’ll help you remember.”  His method was very effective.  The very next time we practiced, I forgot to bow my head - of course.  He reached over and bopped me on the head with the Baptist Hymnal.   It was a gentle tap – as gentle as a hardback book can feel on your head, anyway.  One trial learning took place.  Head bowing problem solved.  For good.  

This week, as I was doing my Jonah homework, I started thinking that there are times in life when we get a little incentive to learn something. It isn’t necessarily a whack on the noggin with a hymnal.  It might be a little more dramatic.  Like being thrown overboard and then being swallowed by a fish.  Not your average rescue.  I read a lot.  A LOT!  And somewhere, sometime I read something that just kind of stuck in my brain.  I haven’t written it anywhere until now.  Here it is – “When the rebel gets going, the going gets tough.”  I know for a fact - it is absolutely true.   And this week, as I did my homework for Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted, I was pretty sure that it became really clear to Jonah.  When being a rebel lands you in the belly of a fish – well, enough said.  If you are ever going to get the point, you’ll get it then.  

So, this week I concluded that God would much prefer that we listen and obey.  I also decided that if we don’t, He won’t be opposed to sending a big fish our way.  

He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding. – Proverbs 15:32 

Me and Jonah - Runaways

I kind of wish that I didn’t identify with Jonah so easily. I’m thinking that is probably one of my many unfortunate flaws. This week as I did the Bible study homework, I am afraid that I realized that I just might understand Jonah’s thinking. He was apparently laboring under the impression that if he removed himself as far as he possibly could from where God wanted him to be that he would somehow automatically be excused from the task God had planned for him. Preach to those folks in Ninevah? Uh. . . no. . . I can’t. It’s just that I’m a couple thousand miles away over here in Tarshish. Maybe there’s someone else who could do it. See, I’m not even there! Nice try, Jonah, but it doesn’t work that way. I should know. I’ve done plenty of my own running away. How about you? Nope, can’t teach that Sunday school class, lead those GAs, visit those prospects, keep the nursery. I’m pretty busy waaaaay over here. You know – doing stuff. Important stuff.

I’ve already shared Matthew’s version of Jonah’s story from his four-year-old point of view. You should know that he was intrigued with the whole story for quite a while. One day, he asked, “How could Jonah get eaten by a fish but not die?” While I was thinking up my answer, Matthew answered his own question.  He said, “Oh, I know. The fish just didn’t chew.” Of course. Who knew? So I’ve learned something else from Jonah and his escapades. In spite of our disobedience, we don’t get chewed up – but we do get to be miserable while we figure out that it would be much better to do what God says. One thing I do know – the lessons we need to learn will continue until we learn them! Especially if we are waiting to get vomited up by a fish.

This Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted Bible study is really, really good. It makes me want to study even beyond what is in the lesson. And when I was doing that, guess what I found out. Jonah is the only “minor prophet” (if there is any such thing) who was ever mentioned by Jesus. If you want to look it up – go to Matthew 12, Matthew 16, and Luke 11. It is there. I checked. Come join us and study about Jonah. Learn from his mistakes. Learn from what he did right. Apply it to your life.