Noah, Abraham, and others who followed

Over the last few weeks we have been preparing our house to put on the market. The market here is "hot" right now and houses are selling quickly. They are also selling well above what we paid for our house seven years ago. But, there are projects to be done--walls to be painted, bathrooms to be tiled, trim to added, decluttering to be done.

We began with the projects as soon as school was out and our days were more free. We started with decluttering because I wanted to have a garage sale. We cleaned out quite a bit. Having a garage is both a blessing and curse. We tend to use the space to store things and pretty soon we've crowded out our car. We clean it out and park in it again (usually if bad weather is expected). But, it soon becomes filled with little things here and there. Once we started decluttering, we made a huge pile of "garage sale" items and then also began making a pile of things we could go ahead and pack up.

We had our garage sale. We did well. We sold a lot. We made enough that we could pay to have a few projects around the house done. I'm still trying to sell a few things online. But, it feels really good to be decluttered! Moving out some furniture pieces and boxing up some stuff has also helped to feel less cluttered.

Then we began the bigger tasks, like painting and fixing molding and picking out tile. I spent the last week painting our front living room. Joel painted the hallway and back living room. As I was painting the other day, it struck me that we are doing all this work and have no idea if we're really leaving let alone where we're going. Mind you, we have some options. After a phone call and email last week Joel is confident we are moving. I have to say I know we're moving too. But, the question still remains, "Where?"

We've visited one place we like very much. We like the church, the houses, the community, the location. We haven't visited the other two places. We will visit one in the coming weeks. We may get invited to visit the third.

But, as I was painting I thought to myself "this faith I'm exercising right now (because it has been a HUGE exercise of my faith muscles!) is the kind of faith that led Abraham to a land he didn't know." Abraham's faith should encourage me. He left everything in a time when people didn't do that! People move all the time now. It's not a big deal in our culture to move away from family or change jobs. It's not even unfamiliar to Joel and me. I moved across the country at age 10; Joel moved to Japan at 19 and then kept moving in the Marine Corp. Together we moved to a totally new town 6 weeks after we got married. Then we moved to Texas 5 years later. In many ways, I feel more like a nomad than someone really ever leaving "home". But, Abraham...Abraham risked it all. Abraham trusted God. Abraham had no idea where he was going. He walked with God step by step, day by day.

Noah also obeyed God despite understanding the directions. He began building an ark when no rain had ever fallen from the sky. What must his neighbors have thought as he built this gigantic wooden structure? The mocking, the ridicule, the questions, the doubters. Surely they were there to keep him company. But, it says "Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God." (Gen. 6:9) Noah walked with God. That was said about Adam and Eve before the fall. God would walk with them in the cool of the day.

I know the presence of the Almighty. I know when I'm walking with Him and when I'm not. When I'm not, it's because something has captivated my attention and I walk away to explore it--much the way my children do when we're in a store and a shiny object looks alluring. When I'm walking with God, I have a calm reassurance that all will be well. I am reminded that He loves me, has a plan for my life, and cares for me. I am reminded that He is faithful, just, and merciful. I am reminded He is a good Father who delights to give His children good gifts. I am reminded that His ways are higher than mine and His timing is perfect. I can also look back on the years I've spent following Him and remember how He has guided me to various places. The stories are so fun to remember and retell.

Yes, I feel like Abraham who doesn't know where he's going. I feel like Noah preparing a house when there's been no rain. But, I'm not Abraham or Noah. I'm just called to walk in faith, looking to these godly men as examples and taking courage that God is doing something I just can't see yet.

Just Fit!

My walls must be completely bare, my desk entirely cleaned off with my computer unplugged and all the cords wrapped, and every single box, book, and pencil crammed into my one classroom closet before I can say "it's summertime!" at the end of the year.

Teaching in a charter school that rents space in a church, my classroom is used on weekends and throughout the summer in a variety of ways. Most teachers must pack up their room and move things at then end of the year, but my room doesn't look at all like a classroom when I walk out for the summer break.

As I packed some items in boxes two weeks ago, I sat and thought about how much easier it would be if it all fit in the box! I have a wire rack that holds five buckets. I use them to sort supplies for the different subjects I teach. The box they came in is long gone and the rack is too long to fit in most boxes. I filled my closet full of my library books, curriculum, markers and notebooks, and boxes of other things. That wire rack just doesn't fit in a box. Urgh!

Wouldn't life be more simple if everything just fit in a box? But, it doesn't. Emotions don't fit in boxes. People don't fit in boxes. Relationships don't fit in boxes. God doesn't fit in a box.

So, I shall pack away what I can in a box, seal it with tape, and stack them high. Then, alongside or on top I'll perch that wire rack and remember that sometimes things just don't fit in a box.

Gratitude

There are several popular books in the Christian bookstores right now all centered around the idea of gratitude and thankfulness. It's not just a "thanksgiving" time thing. Many believers are realizing that a grateful heart changes your entire countenance and studies support the idea that a grateful heart even prolongs your life. It makes sense, really. If you are focused on being grateful, your heart feels full. You are less depressed. Happy people live longer, according to all the studies I've heard of. Happiness and joy release all sorts of good things in your body.

Now, I've heard some criticisms of these books on being thankful. Most of the criticism revolves around the fact that some books claim you are nearer to God when you are grateful or that you'll live your most fulfilled life by focusing on gratitude. I don't know about all that, but the overall idea that we should be more grateful is something I can wholeheartedly support.

It's really easy to focus on the things that frustrate us, disappoint us, make us angry, scare us, or worry us. Those things can consume you if you let them.

Scripture is clear that worrying about things won't change them or add a day to your life (Matt. 6:27). Scripture is also clear in telling us how to deal with our anger. Anger tells us there is a problem that needs to be confronted. We are told to go to the person who offended us (Matt. 18), to make every effort to make things right from our side (Rom. 12:18), and to not let the sun go down on our anger (Eph. 4:26). We are told anger is an emotion that's okay, but that we aren't to hold onto it.

Disappointment is real. People let us down. We have expectations that aren't met. Maybe they were unrealistic or maybe the other person just didn't have the character to follow through. Either way, we meet with disappointment daily. Sometimes it's as simple as a meal not being as tasty as we'd hoped or expected. Other times, someone fails to be the person we needed in our life. We can continually focus on those failures--our own or someone else's--or we can attempt to move past it.

I have found that one of the fastest ways to get past what worries me or disappoints me or even angers me is to focus on being thankful. God tells us in 1 Thes. 5:18 to give thanks in everything. He also tells us in Phil. 4:6 to be anxious about nothing but to pray about everything. In this verse, we are told "in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." That word thanksgiving is right now. It's an integral part.

I don't do it nearly enough, but when I stop to reflect on my life with thanksgiving as my goal I am overwhelmed. My hope is to take more moments this summer to just sit back, step back, and be thankful.

There are plenty of things weighing heavy on my heart--worries, fears, disappointments...but I want them to be crowded out. None of them adds to my life. Thanksgiving reminds me I'm extraordinarily wealthy and no good thing do I lack!

Here's to a summer of reflecting on things with gratitude....