Well, I am trying to do some on-line training. However, the site that I am trying to do my training does not want to cooperate. So, I am doing a quick blog entry while I am waiting for tech support.
I don't know about you, but there are some things that I am very good at waiting for. It drives my wife bananas that I can patiently wait for Christmas or my birthday and not need to know what I am getting. She will occasionally ask me if I want any 'hints,' and I politely tell her, "nah... No thanks." Believe it or not, this sometimes starts over a month out. Needless to say, she isn't very patient when it comes to wanting to know what her gifts are.
I believe that all of us can be very patient with some things and very impatient with other things. Some people can exercise great patience in almost every area of their life, while others are very impulsive with most areas of their lives. Don't you wish you could have "the patience of Job" in all areas of your life? I know that I do, sometimes. The thing is, patience is a learned skill, and one that is very perishable (can be easily lost), in my opinion.
The thing is, if you ask a large number of people how they became patient, many of them (dare I say almost all of them) would confess that they learned patience out of necessity with dealing with adversity. Instead of God just 'granting them patience' in a miraculous way, God challenged them to learn patience through trial. I know, not fun, huh?
One of the ancient words used in the Old Testament for God's love is 'hassad.' It means 'steadfast or long-suffering love.' It means that God's love endures, is exceptionally patient with us as we mess up and rebel against Him. He continues to call to us, in spite of the fact that we willfully walk away. In fact, God's 'hassad' is so great, not only did He stoop to our level, He also took our sins upon Himself so that we could be redeemed. I encourage you to reflect on that this Lent.
Showing posts with label Lent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lent. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Friday, March 10, 2017
Spring Cleaning and Memories
Over the last several months, my wife and I have been going through some of our many boxes and crates of things that we have collected over the years. We have been slowly going through things, trying to figure out what we still need and what we can get rid off. It's amazing how much 'stuff' can accumulate in just a few years time!
For some things, it is easy to determine if we want to keep it or not. Other things require a bit of thought. We often have to ask ourselves, "Do I really want to keep this? How important is it to me?"
As I have been going through things, many memories have been triggered. I came across some correspondence between my ex-wife and her family several weeks ago. A bit of a painful time in my life, so I did not keep it. I also have come across several different sets of things from when I was going through the ordination process with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Methodist Church. Some of the things were important documents of schooling and evaluations that definitely needed to be kept. Some other things were not nearly that important. But all had to be evaluated.
I have also come across quite at bit from the different vacations that our family has been on together. Some of the brochures no longer needed to be kept. But, some of them did for when we can put a scrapbook together. Again, many different memories came to my mind.
Isn't it interesting how seeing something will trigger one or many different memories? An old letter from a close friend, a special gift from someone who has passed away, a certificate from something that was a major achievement, or an evaluation that was not very positive but still a growing experience? I have had many such experiences these last few months as I have been doing this. There have been a few times where I took a short break to contemplate the memories that an item brought back, even if they were not very pleasant.
One of the more pleasant memories surrounded a couple pages of a note that my "church grandma" had written me many years ago. Because my dad was a pastor and my mom sang in the choir, I had to sit with other people in the congregation during worship. I probably sat with three or four different couples or families on a regular basis, but one couple, the McCleods, were the ones that I sat with the most. In fact, Charles and Ethel McCleod became my 'church grandparents.' On many different occasions I would spend time with them while I was growing up in Kansas. Needless to say, a real flood of memories came back to me when I came across just one letter from them!
We all have memories that we deeply cherish, as well as ones that we would rather forget. But, all of those memories help to create who we are today. It has been my experience that God can use each of those memories in His plan for us. I know that this may come as a shock to some of you. But, God can, and often does, bring beauty out of our ashes. In fact, we may never know how He may use the different experiences that we have had. Nor may we fully realize what God does through us on this side of heaven.
At different points of our lives, we will have to go through the things that have accumulated in our lives. they are physical things or just emotions and memories themselves. How will we sort through them? What kind of criteria will we sue for what we want to keep and what we want to get rid of? At least with the physical things we can get rid of. The emotions and memories, especially the negative ones, not so easy. It is a challenge, is it not? For me, the hope is that God will take all of my experiences, from the wonderful to the extremely painful, and use them for His glory. As we prepare for Easter this Lenten season, perhaps that is something we all should prayerfully considering, how God might made beauty out of our ashes.
For some things, it is easy to determine if we want to keep it or not. Other things require a bit of thought. We often have to ask ourselves, "Do I really want to keep this? How important is it to me?"
As I have been going through things, many memories have been triggered. I came across some correspondence between my ex-wife and her family several weeks ago. A bit of a painful time in my life, so I did not keep it. I also have come across several different sets of things from when I was going through the ordination process with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Methodist Church. Some of the things were important documents of schooling and evaluations that definitely needed to be kept. Some other things were not nearly that important. But all had to be evaluated.
I have also come across quite at bit from the different vacations that our family has been on together. Some of the brochures no longer needed to be kept. But, some of them did for when we can put a scrapbook together. Again, many different memories came to my mind.
Isn't it interesting how seeing something will trigger one or many different memories? An old letter from a close friend, a special gift from someone who has passed away, a certificate from something that was a major achievement, or an evaluation that was not very positive but still a growing experience? I have had many such experiences these last few months as I have been doing this. There have been a few times where I took a short break to contemplate the memories that an item brought back, even if they were not very pleasant.
One of the more pleasant memories surrounded a couple pages of a note that my "church grandma" had written me many years ago. Because my dad was a pastor and my mom sang in the choir, I had to sit with other people in the congregation during worship. I probably sat with three or four different couples or families on a regular basis, but one couple, the McCleods, were the ones that I sat with the most. In fact, Charles and Ethel McCleod became my 'church grandparents.' On many different occasions I would spend time with them while I was growing up in Kansas. Needless to say, a real flood of memories came back to me when I came across just one letter from them!
We all have memories that we deeply cherish, as well as ones that we would rather forget. But, all of those memories help to create who we are today. It has been my experience that God can use each of those memories in His plan for us. I know that this may come as a shock to some of you. But, God can, and often does, bring beauty out of our ashes. In fact, we may never know how He may use the different experiences that we have had. Nor may we fully realize what God does through us on this side of heaven.
At different points of our lives, we will have to go through the things that have accumulated in our lives. they are physical things or just emotions and memories themselves. How will we sort through them? What kind of criteria will we sue for what we want to keep and what we want to get rid of? At least with the physical things we can get rid of. The emotions and memories, especially the negative ones, not so easy. It is a challenge, is it not? For me, the hope is that God will take all of my experiences, from the wonderful to the extremely painful, and use them for His glory. As we prepare for Easter this Lenten season, perhaps that is something we all should prayerfully considering, how God might made beauty out of our ashes.
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