Lessons Learned

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A Lesson in Gratitude

Have you noticed that God never wastes an opportunity to make us more like Him?

My latest lesson was last week, on New Year’s Eve. I’d been in bed since the day after Christmas with some sort of cold or flu. I had a fever, complemented by a disgusting runny nose and a side order of aches and pains. My head felt as if I’d inhaled a buffalo, which was aggressively beating its huge head against the insides of my sinuses. My headache throbbed in time with my pulse. I had to squeeze my eyes shut against the pressure every time I cleared my throat.

Needless to say, there would be no parties for me that evening. Pete offered to stay home too, to feed me chicken soup and hot tea. What a sweetie.

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Less is More

As I mentioned last week, Pete and I have decided to buy a new house. This move is part of our determination to simplify our lives—a smaller house on a significantly smaller lot means less to maintain. Instead of a 2,000 square foot veggie garden, for example, I’ll be planting in two raised beds. After keeping hens for the past twenty-plus years, we’ll be buying eggs at the market. I’m looking forward to investing my time in new ways, or at least getting a bit more sleep!

Of course, there’s more to downsizing than simply moving into smaller quarters. If we bring all the stuff we’ve accumulated in 35 years of marriage, cramming it into a smaller space will mean more work, not less. So, after the fun of choosing a neighborhood and a floor plan, we’re now focusing on eliminating many of our belongings.

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Contented

But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6)

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed both your Thanksgiving feast and your relatives, and are now happily munching on turkey sandwiches. It’s time to move on from being thankful to shopping for gifts intended to make one another even more thankful next year. After all, if we appreciate having some possessions, then we’ll appreciate have additional possessions even more.

Pete and I have been praying about downsizing for several years now, but hesitated to market our house in the languishing economy. Well, one morning last month we both woke up sensing it was time to take some steps. We spent our next couple of “date days” looking at model homes, driving up and down new neighborhoods, and doing due diligence on several prospective builders. Finally we picked out a “good enough” house we liked, and a “good enough” lot owned by a “good enough” builder in a nice new development. We were ready to sign on the dotted line.

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Little Sins

I was reading yet another article on the travails of Mark Driscoll (a whole separate topic) when I came across this statement:

It seems that these are the three areas where Christians most likely to fall into sin—pride, sex, and love of money.” … First John 2:15-17 calls them, “All that is in the world—the lust of the flesh [sex], the lust of the eyes [love of money], and the pride of life.” In other words—passions, possessions, pride.

It’s true that we tend to consider these the “Big Ones.” Most sins can be placed into one of these three categories. For example, we’re told not to covet our neighbors’ goodies. That would fall under “lust of the eyes.” We’re not to covet his wife either, lest we succumb to “lust of the flesh.”

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Curing Foot-in-Mouth Disease

One of our granddaughters is recovering from hand, foot, and mouth disease. Yes, that’s a real disease, usually affecting very young children. It’s not serious—the virus just causes a low fever, a rash, and little blisters on the hands, feet, and in the mouth and throat. While there is no vaccine or treatment, it runs its course in a few days.

Lately, I’ve been suffering from a much more dreaded malady: foot in mouth disease. A number of times in the past few weeks, I’ve said something I’ve instantly regretted. Then, to try and cover up my slip, I say something more, compounding the problem. Now I have both feet in my mouth.

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Did You Notice?

Which is more important—social media or an actual person standing in front of you?

Most of us would agree—at least most of the time, the physical presence of a person trumps catching up on Facebook or Twitter, answering texts or phone calls. Sure, my best friend understands that if we’re chatting and my husband calls, I’ll probably take the call. And I’ll tell Pete that I’m in the middle of a conversation—is this important or can it wait a bit? On the other hand, if my friend is confiding about something serious and important to her (and me), I might not answer the call. There are no hard and fast rules, but there is courtesy.

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Being Polite to God

Karin Gwen Willow_BlkForest-CO_LAH_0313-001For the past week we’ve enjoyed the company of our out-of-state daughter and two granddaughters. Gwendolyn is now three months old, Willow recently turned two. I’ve loved every chaotic minute. I’ve spent the week reading cardboard picture books, filling sippy cups, and moving sharp or breakable objects to ever higher shelves.

Like all grandchildren, our grandkids are nearly perfect, but they still need a lot of civilizing. They weren’t born polite, considerate, well-behaved little girls. Our kids are doing a wonderful job of teaching and training, but if you’ve ever wondered about the concept of Original Sin, just spend a day with a toddler!

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What I Wish I Had Known (Before Getting Married)

1978Aug P&L MtRainierOur 35th anniversary is in three days, on July 14. In those 35 years we’ve had long stretches where life seemed to just flow along—work, family time, kids, church—and other times when it felt as if we were wading through muck. But even when life is at its hardest, I love being married to Pete. If I had the choice all over again, I would marry him in a heartbeat. However, there are a few things I wish I had known before I said “I do.”

Lest you think I had some sort of unpleasant surprise once Pete and I moved in together, let me assure you that’s not the case. Oh, he has a few bad habits. He leaves sock lint on the carpet and apple cores in the car. He spends too much time helping other people, and not enough time spoiling me. And he puts ketchup on my homemade macaroni and cheese. But all in all, Pete is one terrific guy, and I’m blessed to have him.

The ugly things I learned as a newlywed weren’t about Pete at all. There were about me. You see, I’m not perfect. Continue reading →

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Temptation

Temptations come in many guises. There are the obvious ones—alcohol to an alcoholic, internet porn, illicit drugs. There are the ones we can rationalize—overeating (I obviously struggle with that one!), irresponsibility, such as watching TV or playing games when you should be doing something else, selfishness, preferring our comfort over the needs of others.

Life is full of temptations to ignore God, disobey His word, put ourselves first. We all are faced with an ongoing stream of ways to get life wrong, but recently I came across an incident in Luke 22 that’s helping me do better.

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Employed!

Funny that this should come right after my last post, on Waiting for Direction…

I’m spoiled, I know. I haven’t had to hold a permanent, paid job since I quit teaching with the birth of our first child. That “child” is now in her early 30s. I’ve been busy, mind you. On our income tax, I always list my occupation as “volunteer.”

I’ve volunteered in our daughters’ classrooms, as a docent at a wildlife refuge, for various mission organizations, as a Colorado Master Gardener, for our local chapter of the National Audubon Society, and at churches—rocking babies, in Sunday school classrooms, with youth groups, on mission committees, in kitchens, as administrative help, you name it and I’ve done it. Some of these positions have involved many hours a week for years at a time.

But the thing about volunteering is you don’t earn any money. Lots of heart-felt appreciation, mind you, but appreciation doesn’t pay the bills.

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