Monthly Archives: March 2011

I promise!

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When the local toll roads were first built in the 1950’s, their promise was that all toll booths would be removed after the highway was paid for, about 3 years. Fifty-three years later, we’re still paying.

In the early days of driving the toll road, we received a card when we got on and then turned it in when we got off. Our toll was calculated from the card. Eventually that system was replaced with a cash-as-you-go payment, starting at 25 cents per toll. We had to stop every 30 miles or so to throw change into a plastic bin before continuing.

Now, of course, we have “open road tolling” which means the toll road can take our money without us stopping to give it to them. When Nate and I used to drive the toll road between Illinois and Michigan, he’d often complain about the highway authority going back on its word to upgrade the road into a freeway, once a certain amount had been collected. Quite a few people felt that way, expressing their opinions in law suits and citizen groups established to put pressure on the powers-that-be. But today we’re still paying.

Keeping our word is important. It’s a character quality seen less and less these days and runs rampant in the political world with unmet campaign promises. But the most important place to keep our word is in one-on-one relationships such as husband-and-wife, parent-and-child, friend-and-friend. If I was given the chance to do one thing differently in my past, it would be to keep my word better, to do exactly what I said I would do.

If I told Nate, “I’ll pick you up at the train at 6:35,” I’d be there waiting for him rather than allowing him to wait for me. If I told the kids, “Don’t do that again or you’ll get a spanking,” I’d follow through.

It’s especially important to keep our word when we tell someone we won’t share a confidence with anyone else. If we violate that, our word becomes worthless, not to mention the damage we do to that person and our relationship with him or her.

I’ve asked myself, “What would the Christian life be like if God acted like I did and didn’t keep his word?” He’s told us that he does everything he says he’ll do, and Scripture backs that up. He’s kept his promises in my own life, and I’ve seen him do it in others’. Because I’ve experienced failure at always keeping my word, I’m doubly appreciative that I can count on him to keep his. After all, his has eternal consequences, and I’m trusting him 100%.

Driving the toll roads is a helpful reminder that I want to be trusted to keep my word. And maybe in the long run, the toll road will make good on its promise, too. The latest word is that it’ll be paid for in 2034. If I still have a driver’s license at 89, you’ll find me driving the freeway.

“Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3)

A Radical Example

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Whenever I’m around young children, I’m fascinated by their learning style as miniature mimickers. Whatever we do, they try to do. Our flawed examples are, unfortunately, passed along to our kids, which is exactly why I’m thankful we have Jesus as a better standard. We know he never sinned, so we can guess what his first 30 years were like, which is what we are to imitate.  

He obeyed his parents 100%, although surely there were times when he felt like disobeying. He put his siblings ahead of himself and observed what others needed. He never took anything that didn’t belong to him, and never swore. He participated wholeheartedly in every Sabbath day worship, and nothing in his life mattered more than his relationship with God.

He never longed to own something that belonged to another person and never said nasty things about someone else to make himself look better. He never told a lie or withheld the complete truth, and because he wasn’t married, he never slept with a woman.

We ought to be stretching ourselves toward leading this kind of a life.

Once Jesus began his formal ministry as a teacher, he continued to be a spectacular model. He didn’t hide out in solitude but spent time in public, healing, helping and educating people. He was a radical, a strong person who shook up the status quo. He revolutionized the Jewish religiosity of the day and trimmed down hundreds of laws to two: loving God and loving others.

I’m glad Jesus’ angry outburst at the temple was included in Scriture. The story describes him responding negatively to merchants who were selling animals there. The Bible says he made his own whip to rout them out, probably by striking directly at them. I find it fascinating that in his anger, Jesus took time to find the materials he needed and weave together an effective whip.

He then showed strength and determination as he chased out men and animals alike, following that by scattering their coins all over the floor. He finished by flipping over the massive wooden tables used to transact business, proving he was not the weakling many pictures show him to be. Finally he shouted, “Get these [animals] out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”

We already knew we were to model our lives after the “gentle Jesus, meek and mild.” But did we know we were to imitate this other Jesus, too? None of us will ever need to do exactly what he did with a whip in a temple. But we’re all called to live radically with a personal passion to pursue righteousness.

I’m wondering if I’ve even begun.

”All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you. They will speak of the glory of your kingdom; they will give examples of your power.” (Psalm 145:10-11)

Doing the Right Thing

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I’m proud of my daughter Linnea. She’s good at doing life and doesn’t shy away from challenges. But what impresses me most is her strong sense of compassion for others.

Today I was given an unexpected treat. Linnea began helping at a local pregnancy center a couple of years ago, and last summer she joined the staff part-time, one evening and one morning each week. Because she’s been on vacation with us at Sanibel Island but is now home, she needed to catch up on her work at the center, and I tagged along.

Linnea is responsible for a 12 week teaching course encouraging first-time parents through their pregnancies and into the early days of parenting. They’re coached to think about their babies long-term and are also given practical tools about finances and budgeting, marketability and careers.

The teaching task is immense, but the women working at this pregnancy center have a vision to save babies and assist the young mothers into their new roles. The center offers an incentive for coming to meetings: Baby Bucks to be spent at the baby boutique there.

Girls who come to meetings and do the homework can accumulate enough Bucks to purchase a brand new baby bed for their little one. Smaller amounts buy baby clothes, blankets, diapers and toys. Maternity clothes are also available and can be checked out like library books, no charge if they’re brought back after use.

Linnea showed me shelves full of baby gift bags for mommies who return after giving birth to show off their newborns. Each bag is assembled by a couple that donates the contents and wraps them festively.

I also got to see and hold soft, plastic baby-models, weighted correctly to represent in utero babies in different months of pregnancy. The girls can cradle these babies while visualizing their own, beginning to understand what’s going on inside of them.

I saw counseling rooms, a large group meeting room, the room in which results of pregnancy tests are made known, the various offices and the door leading to an ultrasound room. It’s a rare mother-to-be who sees her baby on an ultrasound screen and still opts for abortion.

The center was quiet today, so while Linnea went about her work, I found a chair in the reception area to spend time praying. Soon the director of the center arrived to do some work of her own. I introduced myself as Linnea’s mom, and she said, “I can’t tell you what an asset Linnea is to our team. She’s done wonders for our entire teaching program.” If a heart can be warmed, mine was.

Linnea works hard to free herself from the at-home mothering she loves in order to be at the center two days each week, but she does it because she feels compassion for the girls, and because there are eternal consequences to the work. Her desire is to help as she can and to prepare each mother-to-be for the challenge ahead.

God is pleased. And so am I.

May God “make you worthy of his calling, that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.” (2 Thessalonians 1:11)