Morning Blooms

 As I waved goodbye to our four teenagers, the chill in this October morning and the cheerful smiles from these tiny blooms, lifted my memory to my school in Norway and the fall of 1984. Fredly Folkehogskole, the same school to which both Gabriel and Elias went and where Malachi is currently attending, challenged every aspect my life, especially my faith, when I was seventeen. Every morning, as I struggled with the ache of loneliness and the desperation I felt in living unknown as a foreigner who understood nothing at first, I would run to a high point up a steep path above the school. From there I would pour out my heart and speak aloud to God, until I was empty of my struggles and sorrow and ready to be filled. The scripture from Psalm 40 which comes to mind is this, from verse 2, "he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." In that morning run, even in the dark, bitter snow with drifts of two meters when winter stormed in, I ran to find a place away from my troubles for God to realign my heart and mind. In that transforming time of my life, God also encouraged my heart with the love of a woman who I have since called my Moster (mother/sister). And it is this sweet memory that struck me today, for as she dropped me off at school (she is a family friend from my toddler days!) before my homesickness, running, and trials began, she left a plant, blooming with lavender flowers. The blooms were the garden in my room, the reminder of her love for me and presence in my life, a city and a few weekends away. As I learned to cling to God, I also had a tangible example of his love, just outside my everyday battles, to whom I could go, when my soul was weary. It is a privilege to be given a human example of Jesus' love, how often our roots become strengthened by a person who loves us unconditionally and self-sacrificially! This morning, almost 40 years later, I thank God for Aashild Johanne Thorsen and that year, and the morning blooms to remind me!

Light-switch

Three things to brighten our day:

    Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, Oct. 10th, “Let God‘s truth work in you by soaking in it, not by worrying into it.”

    Louis Untermeyer, from his poem, Prayer for this House, “May they [our walls] be strong to keep hate out and hold love in.”

    And finally, “Won’t you be my neighbor?”, the documentary on Mr. Rogers is deeply inspiring. He weighed 143 lbs his whole life. He said of those numbers 1=I, 4=love, 3=you...and that is how he guided children, by sharing I-love-you!

    These three men speak truth today into our complex world. When hopelessness seeks to steal our joy, and we stumble about in the darkness searching for light, isn’t it lovely when someone else turns on the light-switch?

Ablaze

    Madeleine L'Engle writes, "All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well. No matter what...That is what brings cosmos out of chaos." This I read on the heels of the Bible story from Daniel where Shadrach, Meshach and Abendago are thrown into the blazing furnace, which is so hot that the strongest soldiers who accompany them are killed. When the king, to whom they refused to bow down in worship, looks into the fire, the three men are unharmed, and a fourth, an angelic being, is with them. Chaos, blazing circumstances in which we are certain we, or those we love, will be consumed...yes, these situations are known to our human spirits. In the Daniel story it says that the king heated the fire 7 times more than usual. Well, fire is fire, and sometimes the gravity of a situation seems more or less intense than we understand...regardless, it is the life question, "How can this end well?" We must ask this in readiness to receive an answer that will strengthen and fuel, not one that will necessarily explain 'why', but perhaps only 'how'.

    With this thought I sit in quiet contemplation, the answer is illustrated in clear view. It hems me in. Zion and Emmaus are awake, but not quite ready to tackle the day before them, so they sit on either side of me. They chat away, watching me write, peaceful in my presence, fueling and awakening in this restful state of companionship. I am their steady, when they can see me, and feel me close, they are ready for whatever adventure awaits them, even as they grow into young men. They trust me. As they discuss gaming warfare and sports strategies to defend their teams, they are in alignment with this morning theme! Psalm 91 is packed with inspiration and encouragement, but in this simple sentence from 15 we can breathe in God's peace, no matter what, as he says of us, "He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble..."  

He is with us in the quiet and in the blaze!