Valentine Thought

Yesterday morning I woke with an old hymn going through my mind...

"Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me.
Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity."

It seemed to be an appropriate refrain given that it was the day before Valentine's Day. As I was getting ready for church, I continued to sing the chorus. It caused me to think about Derrick's and my first date (26 years ago this Friday). The date was arranged between Derrick and my Dad - I was out of the country at the time and Dad informed me of it upon my return. We went to a little coffee shop in our neighbourhood where we sat and talked for over 2 hours. The very first thing Derrick said to me after we sat down was...

"I believe I'm going to marry you some day so I'd like us to start a dating relationship."

Six weeks later we were engaged, thirteen months after that we were married. In ten weeks we will celebrate our 25th anniversary.

I had warm, fuzzy feelings and found myself smiling a lot as I recalled those special moments. Then I thought about how similar that story is to my love relationship with Jesus...

1. It was arranged by my Heavenly Father.
2. Right from the start, Jesus was totally committed for the long term.
3. We're still together after 40+ years.

I thought about that fact that staying married has taken commitment, dedication and effort. I then thought about how retaining my position as a child of God, friend of Christ and part of the body of Christ is similar - it's taken commitment, dedication and effort on my part and God's.

As this Valentine's Day comes to an end, I am not only thankful for the grace, patience and tangible expressions of love that my husband gifts me with on a regular basis, I am thankful that God grants me those gifts as well. I am reminded that I need to be consistent and diligent about investing in my love relationships with Derrick and God; an investment with a guaranteed ETERNAL return. I am also very thankful that I belong to Jesus and that He belongs to me - for eternity!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Keeping It Simple

This year's cold temperatures have kept our furnace running overtime. It's made me really thankful that our furnace is in good working order. However a couple of weeks ago as I walked into the kitchen I heard a rather disturbing rattling noise coming from the vent. As I listened, my heart sank...this could not be good...rattling noises from a furnace are never good. I slowly walked down to the basement just to be sure the noise was coming from the furnace and sure enough - it was.

I'm probably not the only person who, upon hearing such a noise, begins to imagine all sorts of scenarios like...in the middle of the night when it's -35 the furnace will conk out or it's probably going to cost $3500 to deal with the problem because it needs to be replaced. As I walked back up the stairs I gave myself a pep talk; you know the kind..."It's probably not a big deal. Don't worry about it, worry doesn't help. Who knows, it might be something simple." By the time I got back to the kitchen I was rather disgusted with myself. The thought then was something along the lines of "WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?!" I have some great conversations with myself sometimes!

I plucked up my courage and called my friend's husband - he's in the heating/air conditioning business. He asked when last we had changed our filter and suggested we try that. His explanation was that when the filter is clogged the fan has to work harder and that can make it noisy as it runs. Follow me through my thought process..."It can't be that simple can it? I'm sure we changed that filter fairly recently. Didn't I check it not too long ago? It can't hurt. Might as well. Won't cost us anything."..."Are furnace filters supposed to be grey? I don't think so. Why didn't I pay attention to the reminder on the calendar to check/change the filter a couple of weeks ago?...No rattle. Hhhmmmm. Really? It was that simple? Wow - all that worrying for nothing. Boy do I feel silly."

Relate?

Here's the rest of the thought process as I came back up the stairs...

"Hey Lord...thanks. Thank you that it was such a simple solution. Thanks for being patient with me when I allow myself to focus on the problem rather than the Solution. Thanks for the reminder that most times Your solution is a simple one."

As I type the furnace is running...quietly...keeping our home at the temperature it's supposed to be at. Me? I'm trying to keep it simple...talking to God about what's going on and doing my best to hear/see the Simple Solutions He's offering.

Peace-Giving Shoes

I have mis-shapen feet. I had to wear forms in my shoes as a child because there was such a curve to my feet. My feet are also wide. And long. I have a hard time finding comfortable shoes. It was good for me that not far from my sister's house there used to be a Reebok wharehouse store and I discovered, to my delight, that my size of shoe was often in the mark down section. I was thrilled to be able to get leather running shoes for $10 or $15 instead of $100+.

I was grateful that on my last visit before the store closed I managed to find two pairs of shoes that fit. I wear them sparingly now, doing my best to keep them going as long as possible. it would make sense, then, not to wear them much in the winter, wouldn't it? Well I'm glad that I wore them last Sunday because God spoke to me profoundly as a result of those shoes. Here's how...

I went to visit my mother for the afternoon. I wore my Reeboks. I walked through a light dusting of snow to the front door. I had need to return to the car. On my way back into the house I noticed my shoe prints in the snow. Perfectly proportioned and formed prints. They looked so neat, so proper. Not at all like my foot prints - curved, awkward and out of proportion. I smiled briefly as I enjoyed the image of a nearly proprtioned foot. I even chuckled at the fact that it was a false image of what my feet really look like.

I was stepping over one of the perfectly formed prints when God spoke to me "That's how I see you. Not the imperfect image of your humanity, but the new image I have given you though Jesus." Wow.

I have not stopped thinking about that all week. God sees the Reebok impression of me - not the ill-formed one living inside. I have been encouraged by the thought. I've chosen to wear my Reeboks several times this week as a reminder. I've been looking for shoe prints in the snow; mine and others. I want to live in the mindset that my imperfection can be over-ridden by God's perfection. So much so that He is seen rather than me.

I have a new appreciation for a portion of the description of the Armour of God, particularly from the New Living Translation.

For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. Ephesians 6:15

This week part of my Good News has been the realization that shoes can bring peace...with myself and how God sees me.