Monthly Archives: May 2014

Calendar Wite-Out

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Most people are chased by a full calendar every single day. If nothing is written on the squares, it’s the exception, and the general rule is that over-commitment is better than under-commitment. That’s not a very good rule.

Wite-outMany of us travel through unique periods of time when God uses Wite-Out on our calendars for us, at least temporarily. For example, when a family emergency occurs. It’s shocking how quickly our calendar priorities adjust to let us rush to the aid of someone we love.

Another example might be if we have to go to court for something or are lucky enough to draw jury duty. At first we scramble and say no-can-do. I’m too busy. But somehow, because the law says we must, we do.

Mary’s situation is another instance of a cleared calendar. The day she heard she had a lethal cancer, her calendar erased itself. Figuring she had only a short time to live, she X-ed out everything except connections with doctors and family. And this, after having been one very busy lady!

But God didn’t allow that to happen without purpose. As Mary spent time preparing for and recuperating from surgery, she suddenly had hours and hours to herself, time the likes of which she’d never known. She slowed down enough to really think. About her history, her future, her possible death, her blessings, her losses, her relationships, her priorities, her Lord and his Scriptures. Quiet, uncommitted time was not wasted time. Actually, it might have been the most spiritually valuable period of her 70 years.

CacophanyIn our pursuit of maximum productivity, it’s easy to let priorities become skewed. But is it God’s nature to compete for our attention with a cacophony of other commitments? He’s told us that if we want a vibrant, life-directing relationship with him, he must be #1. As Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters.” (Matthew 6:24)

Each of us has the freedom to choose who or what we want to be in charge of our lives. A Wited-out calendar might occur because of something difficult or even heartrending, but being given unfettered time to think about and re-orient a life is a really good thing.

Mary is feeling great right now, and today she used the word “happy” in reference to her frame of mind. As the days go by, though, she’s been writing on her calendar again, and every day this week is already jam-packed. So she’s asked us to pray that she won’t become over-committed, and that all she’s gleaned from her cleaned-off calendar will not be lost.

With chemo beginning in one week, God may help her with that project in ways she can’t anticipate now. But because it’s him doing it, it’s bound to turn out really good.

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” (Psalm 37:5)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Praise for organized Bible studies (after a visit with Bible study colleagues today) and the rich friendships that result
  2. Praise for 6 pounds gained!
  3. Pray for God’s discernment concerning new calendar commitments
  4. Pray for the strength to say “no” when she should

Fresh Start (More on Mary tomorrow)

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Back in the 1940’s, housewives began using brand new products called laundry detergents in their wringer wash machines. These chemical compounds promised to clean clothes better than traditional soap ever had, even in hard water, and women were thrilled with the results on laundry day. All the detergents came in powdered or beaded form and were easy to use.

Fresh Start, late 1970'sIn the 1970’s, Colgate-Palmolive came out with the first laundry detergent sold in a bottle rather than a box, though it was still in powder form. They named it Fresh Start and promoted it as the first “highly concentrated” detergent on the market. Each full load needed only one-fourth of a cup rather than a whole one.

This morning in church, our Pastor Jay delivered a fascinating children’s sermon with a bottle of Fresh Start in his hand. The vintage bottle no longer contained detergent but had something far more interesting inside: water from the Jordan River in Israel. A pastor friend of Jay’s had given it to him after a visit there, and this water and the bottle it was in were the focal point of today’s message to the children.

Earlier in the service, Jay had baptized two babies. (Our church baptizes or dedicates, according to the wishes of the parents.) The detergent bottle and river water was meant as a visual to help youngsters understand the symbolism of baptism, the washing of our lives by the Living Water that is Jesus. Jesus himself was baptized in the Jordan River, and ever since, he wants us to see baptism as symbolic of being cleansed from sin.

Fresh StartAmazingly, the Fresh Start bottle with its bit of the Jordan in it was aptly named. It said, “Heavy Duty Fresh Start.” Who wouldn’t want one of those?

Our God is the champion of heavy duty fresh starts, and the bottle put it well: “Cleans your family’s deepest dirt and many tough stains.” That’s exactly what Jesus does for us when we repent of our sins. The Fresh Start label says, “Extra stain-fighting power! Concentrated for strength!” Jesus says the same about himself, though he deals with stains more difficult to clean than those on our clothes. He cleans the invisible ones on our insides.

All of us have been stained by sin, and we spend lots of time working to remove that dirt from our lives. Coming clean doesn’t happen, though, unless we ask God to wash us. After that he’ll give us a heavy duty fresh start!

Pastor JayJay’s detergent bottle even tells us what our lives can be like after we’ve been cleansed by Jesus. Wherever we go, it says, we’ll leave a “clean fresh scent.”

The Lord’s cleansing will smell good to us and to others. And even to Him.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Praise for a weekend in Michigan making wedding plans with daughter Stina, and for time with 3 grandchildren
  2. Praise for feeling good, though very tired
  3. Pray for enough stamina to meet the many demands of this week. (More about this tomorrow)

In the Classroom

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Mary has learned, as many of us have, that a health crisis can be the best of teachers. In her case, the instructor’s name is “CANCER” and the lesson plan is “WISDOM”.

mobile phoneTonight Mary and I shared a rich conversation on the phone. As always, I had pen and paper handy, ready to write down her prayer requests for tonight’s blog. But by the time we said goodbye, I’d taken two pages of notes. Her insights (below) poured forth without stopping, complete with appropriate Scriptures to back them up. I wish I’d had a recorder!

 

Here’s some of what she said:

  1. Doctors work with statistics, and God works with hearts.
  2. Good endings can come from bad beginnings.
  3. Irregular days cause us to value regular ones.
  4. Taking one day at a time isn’t just a cliché but a good philosophy.
  5. When God doesn’t withdraw a crisis, he partners with us through it.
  6. Future plans must be held loosely.
  7. Hospitals and doctor’s offices are great places to plant seeds of hope in hopeless people.
  8. No matter how serious the crisis, there’s always something to praise God for.

She revealed her new heart as she talked about #6 above, describing her changed point of view. “I used to think if I wrote something on my calendar, it was a definite. Whatever it said, would get done. Once cancer hit, I had to back away from all kinds of obligations I had been sure I was going to keep.”

ContentShe went on. “Now when I write something on the calendar, I can’t be sure it’ll happen. It’s all up to God. If I can meet my commitments, it will be because he willed it that way. If I can’t, it’s also because he willed it. It’s all up to him.”

We talked about the Scripture passage in James that says something like this: “Don’t say, ‘Today or tomorrow we’ll go here or there’ when you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. Instead you should say, ‘If it’s the Lord’s will, we’ll do this or that’.” (4:13-15)

She explained how she “gets that” now in a way she never had before and wants to hold everything loosely in the future. Applying it to her choice of hospital and chemotherapy team, any of the 3 would have been fine, she said, because wherever she landed, God would still be in charge. “So the choice was really between good, good, and good.”

She and Bervin chose the University of Chicago Hospital, and whatever is accomplished there will be because God accomplishes it through the chemo team. Such thinking lifts what could have been a heavy burden before going into treatment, which will begin on May 12, and last for 6 months.

I loved being in Mary’s cancer-classroom tonight, listening to all she’s learned. And as incongruous as it may seem, because of her cancer, she’s better than ever.

“The things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Praising and Praying with Mary

  1. Praise for the chemo decision having been made
  2. Praise for a “regular” day, participating at the Mom-to-Mom Ministry at church
  3. Pray that God will guard my heart when I can’t sleep and fears try to creep back in