Is This How It Is?

On these hot, sticky summer days, only a short window of time opens between the blast of hot air that hits you when you go outside and the coming dark that brings the hoard of insects that swarm and buzz. You know the ones that make you go dancing across the yard flailing at your head with both hands and swatting at the backs of your uncovered legs.

But oh, the sweetness of that time just before sunset when the air lifts a bit and the breeze kicks up. You can almost imagine the comfort outside that you felt on those spring days before the furnace was lit.

Today Steve and a friend were going out to play nine holes of golf and I went along for the ride. To begin with, if you want to walk for exercise in this weather, you need to start by at least 7:30 AM; and if you need to know why I wasn’t on the street at that time, look for some of my older posts that explain my morning mentality. No, don’t bother. I can sum it up in two words – grouchy and incoherent.

Therefore at 7:00 tonight when Steve and his friend were meeting, I still had not exercised. So I took my book, a big bottle of water, and hit the cart paths on foot while they golfed. As I walked, I immersed myself in the breezes, the shade and the sheer beauty of my surroundings. I wanted so badly to praise God, but my Psalms memory is scant. I went over and over the few verses I do know and I mouthed song lyrics silently. The men were trying to golf after all.

After I had walked far enough to deserve some time on wheels, I settled in to ride the cart and read. I was taken by the fact that the air felt cool and the colors were so vivid. May I just take a moment and insert a good word for Eudora Welty? She's a southern author from Mississippi and her descriptions pick you up and set you down in whatever cotton field or big white country house she's inhabiting. I was deep in her book and I'm sure she's why I was so aware of my surroundings.

I needed to make a quick stop and we were behind our friend’s house. He suggested I go in and let his dog out to ride with us all.

As I came out of the house with the dog, our friend called and the dog went running across the course to meet him. The grass was an intense color of green and they looked so happy to see each other. And I couldn’t help but think of those stories I’ve heard of people who dream about seeing their loved ones in heaven running with their pets.

And as I watched the two men walking off the green talking and laughing, I was so aware of the presence of God that I began to cry. I was absorbed in this beautiful place with good people who were so completely enjoying the day. And, best of all, God was there in a palpable sense.

Heaven is not so very far away. We can get a sense of it when we just allow God to walk with us in the cool of the day.

Cool, Clear Water

Summer heat brings it on, that always thirsty feeling. I’m trying to monitor what I spend those hot summer afternoons guzzling. The morning is pretty well set – two really huge cups of coffee with cream and sometimes sugary flavoring syrups. And we’re not messing with that, okay?

But after lunch is when the real thirst starts. I got an interesting email about Coke™ vs water. You may have seen it and the facts are startling:

75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.

Even mild dehydration will slow down one’s metabolism as much as 3%.

Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

There were also a number of pretty gross facts about Coke™, but I checked them out on Snopes and, thankfully, they were exaggerated. I’m glad because sometimes nothing but a cold Coke will do the trick, am I right? While I did not research each of the water facts, I did enough reading to know that they make sense.

When we’re thirsty, really thirsty, only water gets into our bodies and does its good work. I don’t think any of us will argue that fact. But what about drinking all the water we need to keep operating at an optimum level?

I’m sitting on the porch and I’m thinking, how will I do this? I could buy some Perrier™ or some flavored seltzer. But the bubbles are a whole other thing and not so good for me. I could buy some of those little flavor packets to put into my bottle of water.

Why not just drink the straight stuff, the pure, clean water? Isn’t this how we approach church and Bible study? “I wasn’t crazy about that message – why can the preacher not shake in a packet of ‘feel good’ and ‘abundant living’. I don’t want to just read the Bible – it’s boring. Why not add some sugar Bible study to liven it up?”

Not that there’s anything wrong with that! I love “feel good” and “abundant living” and a good Bible study energizes me and gets me moving in the right direction. But the water – the living water, the Good News – is just fine on its own. It gives me all the energy and peace I need when I remember to get my full amount every day.

Jeremiah 2:13; John 4:13, 14
My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water…Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Family Unplugged

I’ve been thinking a lot about family lately. Our son, Cory, and our grandkids, Jacob and Claire, just left after a brief stay – first time at our South Carolina home. Steve and I live in a golf community on the lake and it is essentially a retirement community. The nearest small town, Manning, is about 11 miles away. You will not find a Starbucks, a movie complex, Outback Steakhouse, Borders books or Target store. Best Buy does not occupy mall space nor does Laser Quest, Chuck E Cheese nor Red Robin.

How would our technology-craving, fast-moving, entertainment-centered kids (including our grown son) take to our new and very quiet life style? I will tell you that when they got into the car and drove away, I was as exhausted as I ever am after a stay. But what a sweet kind of fatigue this was!

The twilight of the night before had found us standing on our dock, tossing food to the turtles and fishing. We listened to Canadian geese passing overhead and watched heat lightning in the clouds on the horizon, “Southern lights”. I marveled at how very much it felt like my summer vacations of the 1950’s. No technology, just nature and family.

We played board games and sat on the back porch and rocked. My grandson and I shared stories and spent long companionable silences simply rocking and basking in our shared company. My granddaughter told me about her wishes and dreams and asked me about mine. We played bingo at the community center and set off fireworks.

Steve and I had been looking for a pontoon boat for some time and it just so happened that we found the one we felt we were supposed to buy only days before our family arrived. Steve and Jacob brought it home for the first time together. A milestone frozen in time that seemed monumental – that we will remember and we hope he does too.

Late at night, when the kids were in bed, the adults sat in the dark on the porch and listened to the crickets, cicadas and discussed the dearth of fireflies compared to my childhood. We too shared our dreams, disappointments, and hopes. We communicated. Without wires and without wireless. Just quiet voices wrapped in love.