Hiking as an object lesson....Part I

I am a recovering quitter.  When my plate gets not only too full, but too chaotic, something’s gotta go, so I have had a history of just shoving the entire thing away for some peace, quiet, and sanity.  Of course, the Lord has been working on me through the years, albeit through some not-so-fun methods like the torture of hiking.    I am not a big fan of hiking, so I have a couple of hiking stories to share with you to illustrate my point because the Lord has used these as object lessons many times through the years. (Can’t we do something instead, like a cheesecake eating marathon?)

Hiking fun story #1: The Smoky Mountains

When my husband (Marty) and I were first married, we decided to head down to Gatlinburg, TN, for a vacation.  I love that area.  The Smokies are smokin’ pretty!  Marty wanted to go for a hike and over-nighter in the area.  I dreaded it.  I worked in an office full time and was not in any shape for that.  However, I did it without voicing my objections because we had just attended a marriage conference the year prior where we were advised to do things our spouse wants just to let him/her enjoy something.  Marty is a hiking/outdoors-y fanatic.  Let’s say that the joy of hiking for him can be compared to the same joy I get by watching a well-executed Nutcracker ballet with girlfriends:  ethereal and sublime. 

We went to a hiking store in town called The Happy Hiker (an oxymoron for me) to get advice on the best trails and to pick up some yummy supplies, like dried up eggs.  I made it abundantly clear that our route meet the following criteria:  by a stream, not too strenuous, water close by at the camp site, and a view at the top.  The guy at the store promised all of these things.  Good.  Let’s get this over wi--- I mean, have some fun!

When we started out we were perky, energetic, and freshly showered. In the pictures below, note the large, heavy, 600 lb. backpack I was not accustomed to carrying on my person.  (I suppose I could have prepared by carrying it around the office wearing my high heels and EDS standard-issue blue suit.)  Note my brand spanking new, en vogue waffle-stompers that had not been broken in but were stiff and unyielding.   (And garsh, ain't my man a looker?) 

We walked up hill the entire time.  It was hot.  It was buggy.  Yes, we were by a stream, and that helped.  We even got some nice pictures.  But it was hot, buggy, and uphill.  After several hours of this, I was exhausted.  We had no idea how far we were from our goal, and I had had enough.  The plate was full. I sat down on a log and started to cry (yes, whiny baby cry.)  Some other hikers were coming down the trail and as they passed, I asked them if there was a McDonalds up there.  No one was amused.  I'm thinking they were all lobotomy patients.  Anyhoo, my feet were blistered and swollen. I was dirty and sweaty.

Marty told me we couldn’t be that far from our goal, ordered me to set down my backpack, and promised that he would come back after it.  After some objections from me about him having to come back to retrieve it, I relented.  Guess what?  Just around the bend was the site.  No view.  No place to pitch a tent for all the large boulders in the area.  The water was down a 15 foot drop - which meant there was no way to make those delicious, reconstituted eggs.  

As we sat and assessed our situation, I made the ignorant mistake of removing my boots and socks.  (In order to fully appreciate this, harken back to the movie “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” and the scene on the airplane when Del Griffith – a.k.a. John Candy - removes his shoes  and socks and tells Steve Martin his dogs were barkin’.  If you haven’t seen the movie, go no further in life until you do.)  While I did so, I prayed silently and fervently that Marty would change his mind and decide to leave.  Marty evaluated our surroundings and saw that there was nothing we could do there.  He asked me what I wanted to do.  (Thank you, God!  THANK YOU, GOD!!)  I said, “Really, if you’re asking, I would like to hike on out of here, take a shower, go for steak and a baked potato with sour cream, a dip in a pool, and settle into a nice, soft bed."  He agreed.  The heavens opened and angels descended right there.

I then had to squeeze my bloated, untaped (huge lesson right here), blistered feet back into my boots.  Five hours up the mountain.  Three hours back down.  I pounded it down to get out as fast as I could.  

Before and after:

The steak and potatoes were delicious, the pool refreshing, and the bed heavenly.   Hiking is fun!

My Scripture for today, if I were to have written it, would read like this:  "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face cheesecake of various kinds, knowing that the testing of your taste buds produces endurance..."  James 1:2

Next: Part II – The Quitter Hikes in the Tetons (This is where the lessons really kick in.  You know:  the ones that have nothing to do with cheesecake.)

You're Invited to a Pool Party in the Sheep Dip!

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul: He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:  for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:  You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  Psalm 23

Most people use this psalm as a funeral dirge, focusing mainly on “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…”  I did, too, until I read a book by Phillip Keller titled A Shepherd Looks at the 23^rd Psalm.  Mr. Keller walks the reader through his personal experience as a shepherd, offering lots of great insight into David’s sojourn as a shepherd, and how he must have penned his words to the Lord from that perspective.    The book paints David’s words with a different palette altogether, and as I am a sheep myself, I have come to not only appreciate them for what they are, but they have offered a great deal of comfort as the years have passed. 

The words “You anoint my head with oil…”  are particularly comforting.   Here’s why:

When my friend and I go through particularly rough circumstances, we tell the other to get out the bug spray.   That means that things are really getting to us and we know to pray for one another.  We don’t reprimand the other. We lead each other to the Shepherd. 

What does bug spray have to do with trials?  Our own Good Shepherd handles His own lambs with such care and tenderness.  Sheep are easily distracted.    The shepherd must ensure that nothing gets near them to cause them alarm - including the bugs that sometimes find their way up the sheep's noses.  Hence, the practice of anointing the sheep’s head with oil to keep the bugs away.  Really, if you had bugs up your nose, wouldn’t you go a little nuts? 

To fully explain this, I have to quote right from Mr. Keller’s book.

“Sheep are especially troubled by the nose fly, or nasal fly, as it is sometimes called.  These little flies buzz around the sheep’s head, attempting to deposit their eggs on the damp, mucous membranes of the sheep’s nose.  If they are successful the eggs will hatch a few days to form small, slender, worm-like larvae.  They work their way up the nasal passages into the sheep’s head; they burrow into the flesh and there set up an intense irritation accompanied by severe inflammation.

“For relief from this agonizing annoyance, sheep will deliberately beat their heads against trees, rocks, posts, or brush.   They will rub them in the soil and thrash around against woody growth.  In extreme cases of intense infestation a sheep may even kill itself in a frenzied endeavor to gain respite from the aggravation.  Often advanced stages of infection from these flies will lead to blindness.

“Because of all this, when the nose flies hover around the flock, some of the sheep will become frantic with fear and panic in their attempt to escape their tormentors.  They will stamp their feet erratically and race from place to place in the pasture trying desperately to elude the flies.  Some may run so much they will drop from sheer exhaustion.  Others may toss their heads up and down for hours.  They will hide in any bush or woodland that offers shelter.  On some occasions they may refuse to graze in the open at all.” 

“Only the strictest attention to the behavior of the sheep by the shepherd can forestall the difficulties of ‘fly time.’  At the very first sign of flies around the flock he will apply an antidote to their heads.” 

“What an incredible transformation this would make on the sheep. Once the oil had been applied, there was an immediate change in behavior….  The sheep would start to feed quietly again, then soon lie down in peaceful contentment.”

Mr. Keller goes on to talk about the need to bathe the sheep in a dip in order to prevent other conditions that easily spread throughout the flock.  He would, instead of dunking the sheep’s head, rub it very carefully with the solution. 

David knew about these irritations.  He knew that anointing the heads of the sheep with oil would help keep the bugs away.  “You anoint my head with oil,” or, “You keep the vermin from getting up my nose.”  It seems humorous, but it reminds me of how tender our Jesus is to care for us in the midst of the things of life that would otherwise drive us to distraction; when the bugs are buzzing around and trying to get into our heads.

It is a wake-up call for me at times when I realize I’ve allowed the bugs to get up my nose because I am not resting in His Word and leaving my troubles at His feet.  Unlike some, I can be driven to distraction with life’s irritations.

 

Merely telling people not to be distracted can be maddening to the recipient of that kind of “correction.”  People have to know that we truly care about them and want them to have relief – not to just shut them up for our own selfish gain – but because we ourselves know from experience that we need relief ourselves.  And the only One who can give it is our Good Shepherd Jesus Christ.   

Maybe the bugs are buzzing around you and really getting into your head.  Jump into the Word.  Cry out for your Shepherd.  Maybe someone near you is infected.   Don't try to fix them.  That's the job of the Tender One.  Invite them to a pool party in the sheep dip.

 

  

 

Heart Like a Box

Most of us had special boxes growing up.  They contained mementos, pictures, maybe a rabbit’s foot, special letters and notes, etc.  The contents of a girl’s box might differ from a boy’s box in that a girl’s box may not contain as many rocks and sticks.  And these boxes were usually off limits to anyone else in the house.  They were private, special, and meaningful only to the owner.  The trusted, privileged few were invited to see the treasures they held.  We had to make sure that the people who saw the boxes – or junk drawers used as an alternative – would understand and appreciate what they beheld. No sneering allowed.  No shoving it into the face of the owner.

My husband still has an old cigar box of treasures which has long held the threads that keep his heart tethered to his younger years.  His Navy ring is in there.  Useless currency from foreign countries.  Pictures.  Other things.  Everyone knows it’s there.  No one disturbs it.  I have somewhat of a treasure box.  It’s the jewelry drawer of our dresser and it serves double duty.  It has costume jewelry and special things.  If someone were to break into our house, they would find nothing of value for themselves.  There are a few quarters that the boys gave me when they were little guys.  I have some roses in there, dried and flattened from my son’s graduation.  There are also some strange looking seed pods from a trip to Philadelphia.  I couldn’t tell you what sort of tree bore them, but they are unusual and I am hoping to someday plant them just to see if I could get them to grow.   These are a few of my favorite things.

I don’t show my treasure box to anyone.  It’s mine.  The items therein I keep also in my heart.  Were I to open that drawer to anyone, they would have to demonstrate a great deal of trustworthiness.  I would have to know that they wouldn’t laugh at and mock my things.  I would have to believe that they wouldn’t blab all over town what they saw.  If I did show someone and they used the contents of that box against me, shoving the contents back at me in anger, they would be banned from ever seeing it again.  The friendship would be over.  The trust would be lost.  I would chastise myself for being so trusting.

But it has happened.  Not with my jewelry drawer, but the contents of my heart.  I used to think, naively, that because I am open-hearted and transparent, anyone nice would be safe.  I think this idea came from a lesson I got from my mama that I took to the wrong extreme.

When I was a little girl, I came to her one day with a typical playground dilemma that occurs in the early years of any female.  That afternoon at recess, I was playing with a girlfriend.  Another girl friend came along and decided it was her turn to play with me that day.  The two girlfriends proceeded to argue about who got me.  (Trust me, that was the only time such an argument over my company had taken place.)  I felt caught in the middle, not knowing whom to choose. They were both my friends. For a third grader, this was major stuff.  That evening as I recounted the events to my mama, I asked her how I should choose.  She said, “Why can’t you all play together?”  Simple, yet so elusive even to adults.  I will never forget the lesson that day in the kitchen as she prepared dinner.  From that point on, I did not seek to exclude anyone for the sake of forming a ‘club’.  I have since made some poor choices, but my mama’s point was taken to heart.  (I did have a bestie in high school who treated me like her possession.  That didn’t last long.)

I grew into an adult interpreting Mom’s lesson to mean that my heart should be an open book for anyone to read.  A badge to wear on my sleeve for anyone to abuse.  And, boy, have I taken some brutal hits.  There are a three people in mind who were allowed to see the deepest recesses.   They were privy to the deep hurts.  My struggles.  My weaknesses.  My scars.  My wounds that still bled.   And at different times, each of them has taken my heart out and pounded it with a meat mallet, mocking and jeering and using against me the very things that I entrusted to them.  They left me bitter and deeply hurt.  But I learned a lesson over the course of several years.  God had to tell me that I could have many friends, but not everyone was to be trusted with those things I held close.  I was to be very careful – not cynical – about who was allowed that kind of access. 

One day several years ago, after one such episode, I was reeling from the shock of a now former best friend doing just what I described.  These beatings are never expected.  That’s what makes them devastating.   I vowed to harden my heart, steeling it against future blows.  No one, no one would be able to do that again.  Ever.  Because no one was going to ever see me that vulnerable again. 

I know I’m not alone.  Pretty much every human on the planet has experienced or will experience a shredding or two.  Some respond by encasing their hearts in iron.  Some become like Beast in “Beauty and the Beast”, forbidding access to that special wing.  Some people stay just as pliable and open as ever. 

The first two are not an option.  God had to show me that.  Yes, I had to learn to be careful, but weather-sealing my heart wasn’t going to work either.  I was standing in the check-out line at a Christian book store not along after one of these situations, thinking about and licking my wounds.  The root of bitterness was already finding its way deep into the soil and choking off whatever life was left.   Wouldn’t it be just like God to get my attention right there as I casually picked up a volume of  works by C.S. Lewis to read the back cover?  The Lord talked right at me through these words from Lewis' book, The Four Loves:  “There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable.  Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung, and possibly be broken.  If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal.  Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.  But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change.  It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, and irredeemable.  The alternative to tragedy, or at least the risk of tragedy, is damnation.  The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.” 

I had a choice.  I could either let God have the heart He redeemed for Himself to use as He sees fit, or I could box it up and bury it.  The latter was not an option.  Yes, I have been plenty bruised since that last beating.  But I have learned some valuable lessons about where my trust truly lies, and about being more careful when I take out the box and for whom.  The mallet came a-knocking again very recently, leaving me in shock and feeling very much alone.  Right on the porch next to it was the temptation to lock up and batten down the hatches.   I have a choice – again.

Who is the real enemy?

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."  Marcellus in "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare

Well, now.  That sure is a pleasant way to start a conversation.  But we have to have it.  Many in the Body of Christ believe we are witnessing Biblical prophesy being fulfilled - that of the apostasy Paul foretold in the Word.  The Church is rotting from the inside out.  "Let no man deceive you by any means:  for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."  2 Thess. 2:3

Just exactly as God said through Paul, more and more Christians have tossed discernment to the wind and are giving heed to seducing spirits.  "Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to deceitful spirits, and doctrines of demons."  I  Tim. 4:1

Rather than meticulously examine the backgrounds and doctrine of so-called teachers, they are being wooed by the siren songs of lovely words and emotions. Churches are offering more studies on books that talk about the Bible - or not - in lieu of the Bible itself.  People are flocking to movies about the Bible instead of testing them against what the Scriptures actually say, not caring the least about the error that abounds.  The excuse is that they are conversation starters.  Start with the actual Word if you want to have conversation.

Church leaders are marking and ostracizing those who sound the shofar and attempt to point out the wolves pushing their way into the fold.  Many leaders would much rather shush their flocks into compliance and complacency for the sake of staying together rather than call a spade a spade and risk dividing their churches.  Many leaders would rather market to the masses rather than lie at the door of the pen and detect even the scent of a wolf outside. Christians who do perform their own background checks and try to warn others are becoming refugees.  

Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth.  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law..."  Matthew 10:34-35.  Talk about a divisive troublemaker! If Jesus spoke those words today (which He has because His Word is eternal), the PC police would be all over Him.  He is not interested in community for the sake of community.  (He is also not interested in picking a fight.)  He is interested in those who are willing to stay true to His Word.   The numbers are rapidly dwindling.

I read more fluff on Facebook from professing Christians rather than Scripture itself. Lots of it is cotton candy about self:  "I have it in me to do what it takes."  Isn't this what got Satan cast out of Heaven and Adam and Eve the Garden?  "Today the Lord wants to tell you that the trouble you have been having is about to come to an end."  "Share this post and you will get a big sum of money!"  Actually, Jesus promised me the opposite."These things I have spoken unto you , that in Me you might have peace.  In the world you shall have tribulation:  but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."  John 16:33.  My stability is in Him in the midst of the trouble He said would surely come. 

When Nehemiah returned from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall, he gave specific orders.  "Those who built the wall and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other hand a weapon."  (Nehemiah 4:17)  They had to work with weapons in hand because they had mockers and scoffers who tried to undermine their work - and who were not part of the team.  They were outsiders commissioned by the devil himself to try to put a stop to the Lord's work.  Many of today's mockers and scoffers should not be coming from inside the Church - but they are.  The weapons are being pointed at one another rather than the true enemy who has crept in because people aren't paying attention.  

A couple years ago I contacted a prominant Christian book sales company to call them out on the many heretical titles they were peddling.  I asked them if they truly paid attention to how these authors were not in line with Scripture.  The response?  "We want to offer as much as possible and not offend."  I said, "So you're more worried about offending people than offending God?"  My words fell to the ground.  Walk into any Christian book store and you will find more carnival fare than meat, and even that must be hunted down.

Several years ago, a pastor challenged me with these words:  Do you read the Bible for what it says or for what you want it to say?  From that point on, I became - by the grace of God - more concerned about what the Word actually says than the opinions of men.  Now, however, according to many brothers and sisters in Christ, I have become a trouble maker who is too obsessed with discernment.  

My apologies to the person who coined this as I don't know who it is so I cannot give credit where credit is due, but I love this.  "Love isn't always truthful, and Truth isn't always loving."  

We have to press on.  We cannot be remiss in continuing to sound the shofar.  If I love people as Christ tells me to, I will continue to send out the warnings along with my brothers and sisters in Christ who are interested in walking carefully and patiently possessing their souls.  (Luke 21:19)

"You will be hated by everyone because of Me, but those who stand firm to the end will be saved."  Matthew 10:22

I am sharing a link to an article by Warren B. Smith who well understands the times we are in.
http://www.submergingchurch.com/2012/07/24/discernment-detractors-calling-good-evil/

The SAT ain't the boss of me!

My friend (a fellow homeschool mom) and I were in the car this afternoon discussing her daughter’s future college plans. Her daughter, who will be graduating next spring, has said that she doesn’t want to have to take the SAT.  I had also mentioned that I am not sure my younger son really truly needs to take geometry.  Why?  Because unless someone is going into a field which requires one to memorize lots of facts (like the medical field or engineering and such), one can get the answer for anything on the web.  And, even if they do take these classes in high school, what are the chances that they would have to look them up again?  Again, this does not apply to neurosurgery.  I would hope that my surgeon would not have to pull out Brain Surgery for Dummies  - 2014 Ed.  while he’s operating.  “Hang on.  I have the cerebellum chapter book-marked in here somewhere… Oops.  I spilled coffee on that page.”

My kids are not going into any fields that require them to memorize the steps for obtaining the volume of a cone.  If they really need to know, they can look it up.  I am 53 and I have not yet needed to know the volume of a cone.  There are plenty of fields that would require this fun tidbit, but so far my family has not needed it, nor do I foresee it.

We feel the SAT is antiquated.  Again, if a person really needs to know something, look it up.  The SAT covers everything under the sun, but not everything under the sun is going to apply to every major. 

I am not really interested in “being well-rounded” arguments.  I am really interested in what God wants for each life, for His purposes, and then allowing Him to dictate from there.  I have a college degree.  I obtained it before I became a Christian.  Had I to do it over again, my path would have been quite different.  I would not have wasted my time on a liberal arts degree just to net the golden degree ticket.  I would have hopefully put more time and thought about my true calling, and invested in preparing for that.

Of the four years I spent in college, here is my one take-away:  Psych out your professor to see what he really wants, and then give him the answers he wants.  That’s the way to pass tests and get good grades.  Bingo.  Dean’s list, baby!

We are still too immersed in the old school way of learning – literally.  Let’s harken back to when the person who “knew” had the books.  He would teach students lessons from those books that only he owned, and the students would have to memorize everything if they wanted to apply what they learned because they didn’t own the books.    In 2014, everything we need to know is just a tap away on the keyboard.  

I suggest we rethink how we educate and why.   What do we truly need to accomplish our goals?  I especially challenge the Christians of the home school community to be less concerned about trying to mirror the world, and worry more about the souls of men. 

“…of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.”   Ecc. 12:12

What Does Light Have to Do With Darkness?

When I was a little girl, I was obsessed with all things scary:  Dark Shadows*, movies, books, ghost stories, etc.  I don't know why, because I have such a sensitive spirit and these things...disturbed me.  My parents forbid me to watch Dark Shadows, so I would watch it at my friend's house.  None of these things helped me.  They only served to feed any fears in my heart and embed images in my brain that I cannot erase.

I did not grow up in a Christian home.  My mom and dad were good parents and wanted the best for their kids.  I credit them for wanting to keep me from things that only fueled my unrest.  But I was given neither the reasons for needing to avoid these things, nor the tools to deal with them.

The Lord delivered me out of darkness of futility and sin when I was 24.  When the light of Christ showed up in the prison of my heart, I was unshackled and freed.  When I say shackled, picture the ghost of Jacob Marley: miserable, directionless, fettered.  Charles Wesley explained it best in his hymn "And Can it Be":

"Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray -
I woke, the dungeon filled with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee."

Those of us who are truly born again can name a specific time in our lives when Christ set us free. We can vividly recall the circumstances, and how we were noticeably changed.  Gone for me was the desire to have anything to do with things that were stressful, such as scary books, movies, and such.  Why add stress to a life that has its own share by default?

It grieves me that many Christians try to justify their engagement with such things.  "It's just a story."  "They bother some people but they don't bother me."  But do these activities glorify God?  We can all agree that most publishing houses and film production companies are not in cahoots with the Lord, so why should they at all be interested in what He cares about?  We Christians who study the Word know that prior to the fall, Adam and Eve lived in perfect union with God in His paradise.  There was nothing to mar His reflection in anything He made because it was all good.  Pride and independence cost them their very lives, and God cursed all of creation.  We can be sure He is grieved about having to do that, but we are given the good news that He is anxious to redeem it.  Romans 8:19-20 says, "For the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope..."

How do we obtain that hope?  Only through the Cross, where Christ has defeated sin and death.  That does not just mean the redemption of men, but the future removal of anything accursed when the old heaven and the old earth pass away.  When I, for the sake of entertainment, set my eyes on and take into my brain the things that are accursed - that can never be erased from the hard drive once they're in there - I am spitting into the face of the Savior Who died to free us from all darkness.

Why seek fear when Christ tells us that He has cast it aside?  "There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment.  He that fears is not made perfect in love."  I John 4:18

Why do we seek anything other than the peace of Christ?  "For He Himself is our peace..." Eph. 2:14

Why dance with the prince of darkness in a wedding dress?  "Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?"  2 Cor. 6:14

I cannot honestly sit and enjoy a horror movie with Christ and expect that He will engage Himself.  I don't think He would leave the theater and tell His friends that it topped the box office sales for the weekend - the same Christ Who defeated sin and darkness and Who is coming again to put an end to this present curse.  I cannot look into His eyes while digging through the garbage looking for something to eat when He has prepared good food for me.

*Dark Shadows, for all you youngsters, was a soap opera back in the 60's and 70's about a vampire and his family.