PREPARATION TIME                                                                            

My mother was very invested in us as we grew. Although we lived on a rather isolated island, she looked for opportunities where her children could learn new skills.

There were the very brief “Highland Fling” lessons with a young woman who temporarily lived nearby.  I still remember the swords placed on the floor—ones we were to carefully, rather daintily learn to dance around.

Then there was badminton at the community hall most Friday evenings.  On cold winter nights it was necessary to first light the barrel shaped wood stove located in one corner of the large room, and then have a volunteer go outside to pump drinking water from the well.  But it was fun, and we did learn to play the game.

When in our early teens though, Mom with several others, decided there should be a 4-H club on the island. We all learned the pledge, began the meetings and dove into rural projects. Our family wasn’t living on a working farm but we did have a garden, so we began with that.  Finding three or four lovely specimens of carrots, beans, potatoes or other vegetables for judgement day wasn’t overly exciting, but gardening was a good discipline. However the following year our mothers discovered that we could make competitive lamps out of driftwood, and some of the children expanded their horizons by raising chickens or rabbits.  Now this was becoming more interesting. 

Looking for a bit more of a challenge on year three, I was presented with the opportunity to train my very own calf.  When an island farmer offered one of his, I was captivated with the idea. 

What a dainty, lovely brown and white she was the day that “Buttercup” came into my life.  I don’t recall how I picked that intriguing name, but Buttercup it was and my responsibility was to care for her.  After feeding and watering each day I would need to carefully record her progress in the notebook provided by the 4H club.   Having her tethered to a stake on the edge of our large garden was not ideal, but that became her rather inadequate portion, and it was there she and I became acquainted.  When one patch of grass was too trampled I moved her to another. 

Gradually she did grow, and I attempted to lead her around the garden, to see if she would learn to respond to my training.  Alas, that was never very successful. On several occasions I found poor Buttercup at the end of her tight rope, and lying on the grass looking extremely uncomfortable.  As I struggled to loosen its grip around her neck I wondered with alarm, “Oh no, how long has she been lying like this? Has this caused brain damage to my gentle pet?”

As the months went by I realized that this dainty Hereford calf was not developing as I had hoped, and judging day was quickly approaching.  Success with her training was not progressing very well either, but all too soon the time arrived—the moment to show my calf along with others who were raised by the McCollum boys.  So we loaded Buttercup onto the back of our pickup and up the island we went for the competition. The judge was waiting. 

There were two other young calves there and in a nanosecond I realized my little darling was not going to measure up very well.  The others were at least 80 pounds heavier and they actually followed the boys as they were being led, while Buttercup continued to pull away and balk at my rope around her neck. (Perhaps she had been experiencing déjà vu regarding her times of near strangulation in the garden.)   She would not follow and would not hold the posing positions to show off her form to the judge.

Well, there was no place for me to hide at that moment, and as you may have guessed we were third out of three. Everyone was very nice about it— and even the McCollum boys tried not to openly laugh at the scene, but I still chuckle when I recall that day of discovery.  It had not been mere imagination on my part. This pet was definitely not up to par on judgement day. Perhaps we had both been ill equipped and poorly trained for this moment. Perhaps there was a less than generous reason the farmer had so willingly given up his calf.

Although that was an amusing experience it does remind me of a more momentous day—one when flawed, perhaps poorly trained believers will stand before our perfect, but loving Judge, the Lord Jesus. There is tremendous hope, for we have One who has invited us to come to Him and be made whole under His flawless training, His faultless equipping.  He, the great Creator, knows how to graciously groom us for that day. He is able to transform each of us into a person who will glorify Him, no matter how damaged or neglected we have been. No matter how difficult our trials. No matter how often we have come to the end of our ropes.  Will we accept the masterful training from His hand which is intended to set us free?  Each time we say, “Yes,” will bring us a step closer to hearing “Well done” on that day—the one that truly matters.

The 4-H pledge: “I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living for my club, my community, my country and my world.” 

 A New Lens                                                                           Jun. 20/19

Poor diamonds have "inclusions" - tiny imperfections rarely visible to the naked or untrained eye, but  which cause discoloration, decreased clarity and lesser value.

The lens in a human’s eye can shine like a diamond, but develops an opaqueness similar to an inclusion when afflicted with a cataract.  Gradually as we age, most of us will develop this debilitating condition which, if left untreated, will definitely decrease our vision and possibly cause complete blindness.  Recently my husband has had the privilege of becoming the extremely pleased owner of two new lenses! Gone is the blurriness that was so troublesome to all his daily activities – now replaced with better than "20:20" vision!

As with almost all circumstances in our lives here on earth, there are spiritual dimensions in them which can reveal something more about our heavenly Father, if we have the eyes to see.  Perhaps we have had a certain misunderstanding about our Lord that has clouded our vision, thus hindering our walk with Him.

Recently while reading Hebrews 12 again, “My son (daughter), do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him…”  I discovered with the lens of Greek language, that "chastening" here can also be translated as child training.  We know that the Bible says our Lord Jesus is the firstborn among many sons, and I don’t think many parents would disagree that sons need alot of training!

The chapter goes on to say that He rebukes and chastens (trains) us because He loves us, and that this discipline actually confirms we belong to Him.   Even though this may manifest as a painful circumstance in our lives, if we allow ourselves to be trained by these various trials, we will greatly benefit now and even eternally.

God truly is love, but perhaps our natural lens prevents us from seeing very accurately and we therefore interpret any difficult trial here as a lack of our heavenly Father’s love.  No!   After speaking of this training, this chastening; the chapter in Hebrews continues by encouraging believers to keep going so that “what is lame may be healed.”  Our Father warns us against falling short of His grace, lest a root of bitterness spring up and cause trouble – the kind that prevented Esau from really "seeing" the consequences of giving up his birthright blessing, simply because he was hungry for the now.

If we could truly see that our trials are under the sovereign hand of God’s perfect love we could relax, “be still and know that He is God.”  Dear believer, do keep on coming to and walking with the Savior. To kiss His hand, even when it has allowed pain is to be exercised, trained and therefore matured until we “all come…to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…no longer children…but may grow up in all things into Him…” Ephesiana 4:12-15

As I’ve said before, “It will be worth it all when we see Christ,” and with this new, exceedingly valuable lens we can clearly see!

God Blesses Women who Stand                                                       Jun/19

As a woman, it is so very encouraging  that God includes many in His Word who learned to stand! With us, there are a number who are the first in their family to come to faith in Christ.  This is often so discouraging and overwhelming.  (I remember the same experience in my teens; feeling so very alone.)

Consider Rahab to whom we are introduced in Joshua chapters 2 and 6, then in Matt. 1:5   Because she, a former prostitute,  had a vision of  Who God was, and because she chose to support and join His people, she and her whole household were saved when the city of Jericho fell! But that’s not all, for she married a man of God, and she gave birth to Boaz who was a great grandparent to King David!  Not only that, Rahab is among the people recorded in the ancestral line who brought forth Christ Himself! What a blessing to one woman who took a risky stand, repented and began a new life with God’s people.

Ruth also believed and chose to leave her familiar Moab background, to live with the people of God. If you think your background is nasty, consider that she was a descendent of incest between a father and his daughter. (Gen. 20:30)  She however, was faithful to the vision God gave her, and He blessed her also with a Godly husband –none other than Rahab’s son!  Have you ever considered these two ladies would have visited over the years; likely encouraging each other?  We do need to seek out other believing women who will motivate us to stand, to press through when trials come. Both of these women were included in the ancestry of the long awaited Saviour of the world.

In the New Testament we meet Lydia, “whose heart the Lord opened…” She believed, then received God’s men into her home, and her whole household was blessed with faith.  (Acts16) 

                                                                                                                              

  In Mark 7 we are told of a Gentile woman who cried out desperately to the Lord because her daughter was tormented by a demon. (Now there was a woman with a problem!) Even when at first the Lord seemed to ignore her, she kept crying out.  When His disciples rejected her pleas, that did not stop her.  When He finally answered somewhat roughly, she continued so humbly in her response.  “Even the dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs Lord.” And…He delivered her daughter!

Mary Magdalene was another woman with a dark past. When she met Jesus in Luke 8, He cast out seven demons from her. She responded by giving herself to follow Him, together with other ladies who were doing the same. In the early morning of His resurrection, she was one who went to the tomb, and she didn’t leave with the others, but continued there weeping.  Seeing someone whom she thought to be the gardener, she asked, “Where have you taken Him?” The risen Saviour spoke her name, “Mary” and instantly she recognized His voice. Jesus then gave her - a woman- His first message for the brothers!    (Jn. 20)

 Precious sisters, we can be strong in Him! But we do need each other- we need other believers in our lives. This is crucial for our descendants, and for others who watch us.  We must not quit! In these days  we cannot afford the false luxury of remaining in some selfish offense or distraction which will take us away from this vision of seeking Him.  We must keep on.  Even when all seems desperate and we feel so alone in our struggles; in the same manner of these women: “we will reap if we do not faint!”

Barrenness                                                                                Jan 18,2019

                                                                                              

I heard a question recently asked, “Is barrenness our normal? Does it bother us, or are we blind to it?” This was followed by the statement, “Fruitfulness is God’s normal.”

I was considering the account of Hannah in 1Samuel chapter one. She was married to a man who had another wife besides her, and the other, Peninah, had sons and daughters while Hannah remained barren. The Bible says that her rival also “…provoked her severely, to make her miserable…”, and apparently this went on year after year. Annually they would faithfully travel to attend one of the feasts commanded by the Lord their God. At this time the ‘Tabernacle of the Lord’ was located in Shiloh, about 20 miles north of Jerusalem—and  what should have been a time of rejoicing became for Hannah, one of weeping and loss of appetite due to her barrenness and the antagonism of the other woman.

Now I have read this story many times, but while musing over it this time, I wondered why Hannah was not pressed to cry out to the Lord desperately in the earlier years. Why did she just cry, grieve and refuse to eat?  And then in a moment of inspiration, I realized this is often what we do as well.  When oppressed because of an extremely difficult ongoing situation, do we not often simply continue to feel bad instead of pressing through to touch the Lord?

In the ninth verse of this chapter we are told that Hannah finally did go to the tabernacle where she prayed and wept in anguish, as this time she ‘poured out her soul before the Lord.’ In her desperation the priest who was watching came to an absolutely ridiculous conclusion! He accused her of being drunk!  But this dear lady had come to the point of being oblivious to the one or the ones watching her—and this is a wonderful place to be!  As she interacted with the Lord, through even a faulty priest the answer to her request was given— before he knew what she was asking.

His reassuring words were received by faith and this desperate woman went her way, but now with a face that was no longer sad. She could begin to feast with the others on those special days when God’s people gathered to enjoy Him.  Hannah now had the confidence that God had indeed heard her, and that she would be barren no longer! (And we know from the rest of her story that did bear a number of children after that time with the Lord.)

It is wonderful that this dear lady was devastated about her barrenness, and it wonderful that she went to the Lord about it!  It is equally encouraging to see that opposition actually helped her to get to the point of ‘whole-hearted’ desperation. I have wondered: did the pressure have to build over the years, until all other hopes were exhausted - bringing her to the place of pouring it all out to Him? Is that what needs to happen to us?  I am so very thankful that our Lord is praying for us; that we would bear all the fruit He has purposed .  May we, when deeply distressed, really learn and be willing to pour out our hearts to Him as Hannah did. “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.” (Psalm 35:15)