Voice from the Back Seat

I had struggled so to find this job, I really couldn’t afford to lose it. Therefore, when I received the call from the school that I needed to come get Lyn … she was throwing up … the decision to leave work in the middle of the day caused me concern. My children came first … always. But so did feeding them.  

I left work and drove to the school … and then took Lyn home.  

“Take off your shoes and put on comfy clothes. I’ll get you some 7-UP.”  

When I returned to her room, she was still exactly where I left her … no changing of clothes … no removing of shoes.  

“Lyn, why didn’t you do what I asked?”  

“I can’t bend over.”  

Red flags … waving high.  

A few questions later, we headed for the car. This required a doctor’s intervention. I made Lyn a bed in the back seat. Dr. Gustafson …or Gus Gus as my kids called him … was the next stop.  

“God, you know I’m having a hard time. With their dad gone, I’m really struggling … and very alone. Are you there? Please help me with Lyn. Something’s seriously wrong. Give me the strength I need to go through this by myself.”  

“Everything will be OK.”  

I slammed on the brakes, my head whipping around to look in the back seat. “Who said that?”  

Lyn lay perfectly quiet. No one else was back there.  

As I continued driving toward the doctor, I knew … without any shadow of doubt … that God had told me everything was going to be ok. I was also aware that didn’t mean she would live or die … but whatever happened it would be ok.  

That was the day we discovered Lyn has a very high pain tolerance. Her appendix was close to rupture. The emergency operation caught it in time.  

And everything was ok.

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13 (NLT)

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Lessons from Our Dog

We’ve taught our dog, Charlie, to talk to us before he receives some benefit from us; such as a treat, meal or a walk. If he barks, he loses. What we desire is a soft growling sound that signifies to us he is requesting the offered favor. Sometimes he works his mouth for several seconds before he emits any sound. Other times the movement ends with a whiny yawn.  

Yesterday I placed his food in his dish … carried it into the room where he was … and waited for him to indicate he wanted it. First he ran back and forth … tail wagging furiously … looking at me the whole time.  

That didn’t get it.  

Then he tried a series of short barks. I still stood holding his filled dish. As I watched him, I related to his actions. I knew he wanted the food. All I required was that he ask … not pace in agitation … not bark in demands … but ask.  

How many times have I paced back and forth … wanting something from God … but never really asking? Or maybe I’ve used short, clipped sentences to make my demands known.  

The God I know and love wants to give good things to me. He stands ready and waiting. But just as we don’t always give Charlie everything he asks for … such as food that wouldn’t be good for him … God takes into consideration what is best for me. Before He will acknowledge my request, I must stop my agitated thoughts … stop feeling He owes me … stop whining … and come into His presence with an unassuming attitude.  

Charlie finally asked nicely … I placed the dish full of dog food before him on the floor … and he began enjoying his meal … tail wagging … which brought a smile to my face.  

I want to ask in a way that makes God smile.  

“The poor speak in soft supplications; the rich bark out answers.” Proverbs 18:23 (MSG)

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Percolating

She said it in passing and then the conversation turned elsewhere. But I was still back at the statement, “So you’ve got some words up there (pointing to my head) that are percolating.”  

Funny word … percolating … and it described exactly how my mind felt.  

As a child, I remember my mother making coffee in a percolator. I couldn’t get past the smell … therefore I’ve never liked coffee. To make the coffee, the heated water would be forced under pressure through the grounds … and the finished product exhibited color, taste, aroma and stimulating properties.  

As a writer, I often feel the force of an idea seeping through my consciousness … and after a time of percolating I sit at a keyboard and the finished product flows through my fingers. It is my desire that my words contain color, taste, aroma and stimulating properties.  

But I don’t want to stop there.  

As a Christ-follower … one who listens to sermons and reads the Bible … the force of that input needs to penetrate my very soul … percolate … and then emanate from my life in living color, taste and a winsome fragrance. I’m not finished yet … but I can exhibit to the world what it means to live an abundant life.  

My percolator seems to be working continuously these days.

^“This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I've revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and He'll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!” John 16:23-24 (MSG)

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A Special Sleepover

Last night I slept with my husband.  

Before you say “Duh”, please let me explain. I hadn’t slept with him since April 12^th. And no, he hadn’t been out of the country. The weekend of the 12^th, 13^th and 14^th was his off-road motorcycle training. Learning to ride on the grapefruit size rocks was his undoing … landing with his hip on one of them.  

And so (even though there were no broken bones) he was unable to lie in a bed. Thus, the big chair in the television room became his place for sleeping. Not wanting to be clear across the house from him, I slept on the couch.  

We thought it was a temporary arrangement … meaning just a few days. But five days turned into ten … then twenty … then thirty. After 40 days, he could finally sleep in the bed again.  

I know there are married couples who sleep in separate beds. Sometimes it is for physical reasons such as an injury and other times it is a choice made to insure a good night’s rest. For us, separate beds would be a punishment. It’s important to us to know throughout the night that the other one is there.  

In these past 40 days (and nights) I’ve thought about the couples for whom the separation is permanent. Perhaps their mate has been placed in a long-term care facility. For others, their loved one has passed on.  

I never want to take the closeness we have for granted.  

^“You have captured my heart, my treasure, my bride.
You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes….”

Song of Solomon 4:9 (NLT)

  

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