Creatures of Habit

We ran out of butter this week.  (Please don’t tell anyone.  I’m afraid we’ll be evicted from the state.)  We have run out of milk, bread, flour, sugar – all the basics – over the last several weeks.  Oh, we’ve made our usual lists and planned menus.  Steve and I are grocery shopping machines!  We have this process down to a precise science.

For about three years now, we have had a ritual.  Every other Monday night I would sit at the dining table with the laptop and Steve would alternate between the pantry and the refrigerator telling me what we needed.  Then we would plan meals and make our grocery list.  Tuesday morning we would get up, go by and get a sausage biscuit, drive to Sumter and do our grocery shopping, and have lunch in the big city.  We’d be home by 1:30 or 2:00 and unload the car and put away groceries.  Steve would head for the golf course and I would cram like crazy for the Precepts class on Tuesday night.  Tradition.  Habit.

Several weeks ago due to budget constraints, the Shaw commissary which is always closed on Mondays began closing on Tuesdays as well.  Steve plays golf on Wednesday and Friday; but our Thursdays were still open for our bi-monthly supply run.  We tried making our list.  We tried planning our meals.  But our grocery world had been throw off-balance and we discovered that old habits really do die hard!

As much as we like to complain about it, structure, schedules are valuable in our lives.  School children begin to get cranky toward the end of the summer.  We depend on the habits that are the familiar.

I recently finished reading “Humility:  True Greatness.”  C.J. Mahaney addresses an issue that I have had for some time in his chapter, “As Each Day Begins.”  I have already confessed my need for early morning caffeine and my reluctance to wake up other than in a slow, undisturbed manner.  I have the habit of beginning my day in an irritable mood.  I can stand at the open back door listening to the birds all I like, can even say out loud “This is the day the Lord as made; I will rejoice and be glad in it”; and then turn around and continue my grouchiness.  It goes like this, according to Mahaney:  “As we stumble through our morning routine, we’re not directing the thoughts in our mind – we’re simply at their mercy.  We entertain complaints about what happened yesterday or worries about what’s coming today.  We look in the bathroom mirror and assess the damage, then brood over how we feel.  We’re not in charge of our thinking.  We’re just there.”

Listen to what was for me a life-changing, habit-changing passage from Humility: “Purpose by grace that your first thought of the day will be an expression of your dependence on God, your need for God, and your confidence in God.  Sin – including especially the sin of pride – is active, not passive.  Sin doesn’t wake up tired, because it hasn’t been sleeping.  When you wake up in the morning, sin is right there, fully awake, ready to attack.  So rather than be attacked by sin in the morning, I’ve chosen to go on the offensive.  I’ve chosen to announce to sin, ‘I’m at war with you.  I know you’re there, and I’m after you.’  From the moment I awake I’ve learned to make statements to God about my dependence upon God, and in this way I’m humbling myself before God.”

Basically I’m at war every morning until I’m speaking truth to myself.  I’ve heard that it takes 28 days to change a habit and I’m well on my way.  If you walk by my house on an early morning and look in at the back porch, you’re likely to see me with a cup of coffee in hand and a smile on my face.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Nope.  Check the date.  This is a fresh one, not an old one about Christmas.  Though I do want to linger on Christmas for an instant because that is where the title came from.  Because someone always says it every year.  “I wish every day could be like this.”  Why?  We are closer to the ones we love, a little more giving, a little more patient (at least early in the season), a little more faith-filled.  And it just feels good, doesn’t it?

 

The same thing happened just after 911.  We came together.  We loved our neighbors and supported one another.  We flew flags and talked about God and country.

 

And now Vacation Bible School.  Before you laugh this off, stop and think.  We are loving each other more, reaching out to the community, more giving of ourselves, a little more patient (at least early in the week), a little more faith-filled.  And it does feel good, doesn’t it?

 

We hug in the hallways (although we’re pretty good about doing that all the time), we love on each other on Facebook, we celebrate new people in our midst, we have a heart for getting God’s Word out to the community.  I wish every day could be like this.  No, I’m not ready to add another week on to Bible School.  Doing one wore me out.  But we have been so blessed as a body of believers.  Let’s keep rolling!

 

Ephesians 4:15-16; 2 Corinthians 3:3-6

…but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love…clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.  And we have such trust through Christ toward God.  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Talking to God

Just before I closed my eyes last night, I realized I hadn’t prayed all day!  Don’t get me wrong – I say little thank you’s to God throughout my hours as He provides all those unexpected blessings…a cardinal across my path, a sweet sign from my husband that he loves me, eye contact and a smile from a stranger at the Walmart.  But I mean really talking to Him!

Then I had to smile.  Because I had spent several hours preparing my Precept lesson from Colossians and so many cross references.  I had been in His Word for hours; I had been listening to Him pretty much all day!

Why is it that I always think of praying as talking to God?  I’m not the wise and all-knowing one in the relationship.  And I think of listening as sitting still until He tells me something in my spirit.  And my thoughts drift and I find myself making grocery lists in my head and concentrating on my dogs.  Of course there are times when speaking to Him is appropriate.  I have praising, confessing and thanking to do and people to pray for. 

But doesn’t He primarily speak through His Word after all?  I wouldn’t be surprised when I am finally able to hear His voice to hear Him say, “Why did you make it so hard?  It was all right there in front of you all along.  All you had to do was stop talking!”

Psalm 85:7-9; 42:8
Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation. I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints— but let them not return to folly. Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land…By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.

Ever Hopeful

When I boot up my laptop, my iGoogle page pops up.  I have one gadget called Google news that has “world,” “U.S.” and “Entertainment” tabs.  (I got rid of the animal gadgets.  I kept forgetting to feed them.)  I keep it open to the U.S. tab.  

It’s been a rough couple of weeks newswise.  And we could go back to the never-settled argument about whether things really are worse or whether we just know more because of technology and social media.  

But I’m still feeling hopeful this morning.  Here’s why:

Psalm 33:8-22
Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.  Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance. The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth;  He fashions their hearts individually; He considers all their works. No king is saved by the multitude of an army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength.  A horse is a vain hope for safety; neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.  Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name.  Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, Just as we hope in You.

Treasure

I dropped my ring today.  No, it didn’t go down a drain or into the toilet.  It hit my tile floor in the closet.  I didn’t lose it; but it did something that surprised me.

I got this ring about 9 years ago.  Steve replaced my gold wedding band with a diamond wedding band.  It’s precious to me because of the years of commitment it represents; it’s valuable monetarily as well as sentimentally.  

I’m a practical, reasonable person.  But somehow when I dropped my beautiful ring, in the back of my mind I expected a little tinkling sound, maybe even a little tune!  It simply sounded like a piece of tin, metal hitting the floor.  Just stuff.

How many times have I absolutely had to have something?  Maybe I was able to just go out and buy it or, more likely, order it off the internet.  Maybe I had to save for months for it.  But, without fail, unless some precious family memories were associated with it, that item found its way to the storage shed, the back of the closet or the thrift shop.  Just stuff.

We’ve all heard the sermon about laying up treasure on earth where moth and rust corrupts.  Some lessons we’ve heard so much that we begin to tune them out.  But twice Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  What is my treasure?  

I know what it is supposed to be.  But at times, it’s been my husband or my kids.  Once it was my house.  It’s been my job, my new car, my books.  And while it is anything other than Jesus, my heart is in the wrong place.

If Jesus is my treasure, He has my heart.  And if He has my heart, I’m building up treasure that will last forever.  No more stuff that will wear out!

Luke 12:33-34; Matthew 6:19-21
Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Control ... less

I stood in the checkout line and my eyes fell on the headline in People Magazine:  “Kate’s Baby Plan – A Princess Guide to Pregnancy.”  And I had to smile because we all want to feel like we have some sort of control, right?  I’m guessing she is already pregnant.  But if anyone could control this sort of thing, it would be royalty, wouldn’t it?

 

I was reminded of Genesis when Abraham declared Sarah to be his sister (Genesis 20:1-21:1).  No, not the first time when they went down into Egypt.  This was a second time!  Think of this – at this point Sarah was about ninety years old.  And still so beautiful that Abraham feared for his life if he went into Gerar, between Kadesh and Shur, and claimed to be married to her.  And sure enough Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took her.  But God came to him in a dream and called him a dead man, said that she was a man’s wife.  Abimelech had not come near her and declared his innocence to God, saying that he had been lied to.

 

God told him this was why He had not allowed Abimelech to touch her.  He told him that, if he would restore her to Abraham and Abraham prayed for him, he would live.  But that was not all that was going on.  Verses 17 and 18 tell us that, after Abraham prayed for Abimelech and his wife and servants, the women bore children again.  God had closed their wombs because of Sarah.  That in itself is pretty amazing.  But here’s the stop-you-in-your-tracks detail.  The very next verse, 18:1, tells us that then Sarah, 90-year-old Sarah, conceived Isaac!

 

Control?  I don’t have it; I don’t want it.  As believers, we know that we have a sovereign God who controls every detail of our lives.  We know that He works all things for good because we love Him and have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).   There is an old book called “God Is My Co-Pilot” that was made into a movie.  I don’t want God as a co-pilot; I want Him to be flying the plane!

 

He knows me better than I know myself and He sees the big picture.  And I make a mess of things, every time.  His love is higher than the heavens and everything that touches me has been ordained or allowed by Him.  So the bottom line is do I trust His love and faithfulness?

 

Psalms 103:15-19 and 108:3-5

As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD'S love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children—with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.  The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all…I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.

The Morning After

Holiday eves excite me.  So much preparation, anticipation, even frustration.  It’s all part of the package of getting ready for the big day tomorrow.  My biggest eve was always Christmas Eve.  That strange mixture of excitement and stress that finally moved out of the house around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon.  At that point, everything was done – except when the kids were small and I was usually still “doing” the next morning as they came into the room where the tree was.  On that particular eve, mid-afternoon brings a sense of great peace and anticipation mixed with love.

 

Now that we are older, the eves are less of everything they were.  Not necessarily a bad thing as long as I mix the memories of perfection with the very real work that was a part.  But there is still some preparation and always the looking forward.

 

This Easter has been, I believe, the most “spiritual” one that I have experienced.  My eve experience actually started on Thursday night.  I carried a real weight that night and all day Friday.  Having the benefit of hindsight and the gospels, I know the outcome!  But God’s grace gave me a very real sense this year of the heaviness of those days.  And Saturday I spent a great deal of time thinking of the hopelessness, the frustration, even the anger of Christ’s disciples and followers.  They probably thought it was wrong to lose hope; but they couldn’t even express their misgivings aloud because it would no doubt cause a serious argument!  Added to that the tears of death and grief, and Saturday was a very dark day.

 

But Sunday!  Oh, the joy that Sunday brings.  Christ is risen!  Our pastor pointed out from Matthew 28:10 that the Savior, the risen King, who had been deserted by his followers and had every right to be angry-to distrust them-sent the message by the women for his “brothers” to meet Him in Galilee.  He reached out to them in love.  His followers met Sunday with the same joy that we do.

 

So now it is Monday, the morning after.  I always dealt with more serious dejection the morning after Christmas.  That week between the 25^th and New Year’s is still a celebrating time.  But for me, the excitement, the fun is over.  It’s like having cold weather only in January and February, but none in November and December.  I spend the morning wondering if I have the energy to face a house that looks shot out of a cannon, musing over whether the neighbors truly will talk if I leave the tree up until April.

 

I felt a little tinge of sadness this morning.  So much celebration and so many good times yesterday.  But almost immediately my spirit lifted.  Because I will spend eternity with my Lord, with King Jesus!  And He reigns today, this minute.  So much to be excited about.  And we will never have any more mornings after!

 

Revelation 21:1-5a

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.  They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.   He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”