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.