On Sowing and Joy

I don't remember the first time I was introduced to the idea of loving your enemies or heaping coals of fire or it being more blessed to give than to receive. Those are all concepts that were drilled into my very being at an early age. That doesn't mean, of course, that I always live them out very well. If I had a dollar for every time I've asked one of my children, "Would you like it if they did that to you?" I would be quite a bit richer than if I had a dollar for every time they actually 'did unto others as they wanted others to do unto them'!

Sometimes we know things but the knowledge we have doesn't actually change our lives.

There are those times, though, when we are going along, living life, and we hear something explained and we have this "Aha!" moment where it's like a long row of dominoes that were lined up perfectly topple over into a pile and we say, "Yes! I like it." And suddenly something we've known all our lives comes alive in a new way and it's not just knowledge, but something that might actually change our lives.

I had a moment like that last week when I was reading an email from my dad. He was talking about Joy, and how easy it is to get caught up in the hard things of life and the busy-ness and end up with little time for Joy. Yet, the Joy of the Lord is supposed to be our strength. How do we get it? Just wait and hope that it comes? It's nice when it just shows up but is there some kind of logical sequence for having Joy?

He shared how he's been sending early morning texts to people and how he didn't know if they did anything for the recipients but that they seemed to do something for him! Then he said, "...is it legitimate for one to get a joy out of a personal contact with people that one does not get in just praying a private prayer for that same person? Could this be part of the reason We are to "love the Lord our God", but also "our neighbor as ourselves"? Loving God does something for ourselves. Am I safe in suggesting that loving others seems to also do something for ourselves if it is in actual tangible acts. Does that make sense? Theoretic love sounds nice but seems to accomplish little in us ..."

That's when I had the "Aha!" moment. I'd had this concept going on in my own life lately and I hadn't really put the pieces together. Several times recently I have tucked notes into Chris' work shirt pockets for him to discover and the fun of it was just astonishing! Didn't even matter if he never said anything about them, just the act of love put a spring in my step. Also, I've been texting a friend every Monday lately and asking what I can pray about for her week. That little act has done something for me that I couldn't really explain but suddenly things began to make sense.

Later, my dad and I were texting about his email and he explained that the idea actually came from Galations 6:8 and the surrounding text. Here's what I found when I looked it up: Galations 6:7. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

"Yes! I like it."

I don't know about you, but my default mode is definitely to sow to the flesh. What a lot of problems I could solve by choosing to make sowing to the spirit a way of life!

I challenge you - go write your children each a note saying one thing you like about them and slip it on their plate at supper. Send a card in the mail to someone every day for a week. Bake some cookies and give a plate to the neighbor. Help your child with one of their jobs. Wash the dirty windows you've been ignoring. Meet your husband at the door with combed hair and a smile...... the ideas are endless.... I'm feeling strengthened by Joy just thinking about it!

10 Random 'Sometimes'

1. Sometimes I wonder how many hours of sleep I've lost since becoming a mom. Wouldn't it be interesting to know?

2. Sometimes I quake in my shoes at the thought of 3 teenage daughters in the same house one of these days....

3. Sometimes I look back at certain times in my life and wonder, how in the world did I ever do that???

4. Sometimes the thought of winter coming makes me want to curl up in a cave and not come out til Spring.

5. Sometimes I am easily convinced that keeping a cobweb free house is very over rated.

6. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be married to me... but then my mind goes blank, so I quit.

7. Sometimes I sit at my new house and imagine all kinds of loveliness inside and out... and then I remember we'll still be the same people living there and I get out my reality eraser.

8. Sometimes I look at my youngest and wonder if there ever was such a sweet child? And then he screams over something he wants, and I remember that he's pretty much like all the other little children in the world.

9. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if we wouldn't have to eat. Think of all the things I could do with the time not spent making food for hungry people....

10. Sometimes I wonder if bloggers who write up lists of random things just can't think of anything to write about or if they thought they really came up with an interesting post?

New River Gorge

We went on an excursion Saturday. It was a classic, Chris Eicher brand of excursion -- throw out the idea of doing something in passing several days in advance, then decide the night before that, yes, we're going and then keep the children in suspense on the particulars until we get there...

I won't tell you how I had my Saturday all planned full of Important Stuff already and how much I didn't even want to go on an excursion. I won't tell you how hard I struggled inwardly before I chose to see the love and accept the gift; we won't go into all of that.

I will just tell you how I saw a man who decided, "You know what? House building is important but it's not going anywhere. October days to do something with my family? They're disappearing fast. Family is more important." How could I refuse all the love wrapped up in a gift like that?

So we went.

We got up, and we got dressed and we headed out into the chilly morning on an excursion; which is all Chris would tell the children about where we were going. We finally looked the word up for Jennifer, who desperately wanted to know what an excursion was.

We drove and we drove until some people were sure we would never get there. But we finally did arrive amongst the beautiful mountains of West Virginia.

We took a little hike down a bunch of steps to see what we could see...

To the left we saw the incredibly deep gorge and the tiny little bridge that used to provide access across the New River. To the right we saw the amazing new bridge that cut the time of crossing the gorge from 40 minutes to just a couple of minutes.

Then we climbed back up all the steps...

And drove down the winding, narrow road

Across the old bridge and on to more sights to see and good food to eat on the way home.

It was well worth laying aside all my plans for Important Stuff to spend a day with these people that I love!

.

A Thank You to the Men

I was sitting in McDonalds with Charles beside me. Part of my mind was busy with eating - rescuing the ketchup from the edge of the table, reaching a hand to steady the drink, wiping the drips from my own chin - the other part of my mind was busy watching people. We had been helping at the new house, so we slipped off for lunch with Chris, and the place was crowded. Mostly with men.

I'm not really sure why the many men caught my attention. Maybe because for months now the subject rolling around in the back of my brain has been God's plan for the roles of men and women. Or maybe it's because, for about five months now, I've been watching a man build a house.

Being a mom 24/7 often feels exhausting. I don't know how often I have flopped into bed at night with a sigh and remarked wryly, "I'll go to work tomorrow and you can stay here!" Chris is always more than willing to agree to the arrangement. The truth is, we both know full well it's a joke; neither role is really easier.

I've been reading the American Girl books to my girls and it's been interesting to get glimpses into different eras in our American history. The most recent books we read were set during the depression. In the back of the books they share all kinds of interesting facts and information about that time period. One of the facts from the depression era that stuck out to me was the loss of jobs and the extreme measures men went to to provide for their families. A lot of men left their families under the pretense of finding work elsewhere and never came back. Their logic was that hopefully their wife and children would be more likely to receive aid if there was no husband at home.

As I watched the many men that day at McDonalds, it was obvious that most of them were on lunch break. I had to wonder, where do they all work? Do they like their jobs? Are they struggling to pay the bills? What kind of life do they live? Do they look forward to going home in the evening?

Just from my observations of the men in my own life, I expect that most of those men waiting in line to place their orders and select their drink and straw shared one objective: providing for those in their care. Some were doing it with work callused hands and rugged boots. Some were doing it with suit and tie and hours spent on the phone. Some were doing it by taking orders from the boss man and punching in a time clock. Some were doing it by taking on the headaches of being in charge.

I've been watching a man build a house. I am amazed at the endless amount of work it takes; tedious, time consuming, hard work. It gets hot working out in the sun, did you know? Measuring and cutting and figuring and climbing up and down a ladder is no walk in the park either. And then, some days the hero in my story spends the second half of his day going off to a Tire Shop to work til 7 pm!

It is true that sometimes pure hard physical work looks almost more inviting than the emotions and stress of motherhood and I'm not really here to say one is harder or easier than the other. What I am here to say is that I'm feeling a deep, healthy dose of respect for all the men who get out there every day and work to provide for their wives and families.

To all of you hard working men: I am in awe of your determination and dedication. To you I am offering a heart felt Thank You. May your lives be blessed.
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The Old Lady I'll Meet

* As I sat with church ladies for our bi-annual share time before communion, I was blessed by hearing the hearts of all different ages. For some reason I especially noted the older ladies in our group and felt blessed to have examples before me of the old lady I want to be some day. In the days that followed I've been pondering how I'll become the old lady I want to meet......

One day I will meet an old lady,
The lady I meet will be me!
When her eyes meet mine and I see her,
I wonder what sort she will be?

Will her eyes hold a twinkle of cheer,
With wrinkles turned up in a smile?
Or will I see eyes dark with sadness,
And wrinkles downcast all the while?

Will I sense a heart of acceptance,
Content with the loss age has brought?
Or will I sense doubt and depression,
Discouraged by all that is not?

Will I see some act to encourage,
A kind word of helpful good cheer?
Or will I see self-centered boredom,
With no thought for friends far or near?

Will toils of long life prove to soften,
To season with wisdom and grace?
Or will I find cynical hardness,
A sour and bitter, sad place?

I wonder if children will love her,
Will they love to knock on her door?
Or will their loud noise be a bother,
A thing she can't take anymore?

Will she still be friends with her husband,
A love strong through all of the years?
Or will time with him be a bother,
Annoyance that drives her to tears?

One day I will meet an old lady,
The lady I meet will be me!
When her eyes meet mine and I see her,
Will I like the things that I see?

I wonder, what makes a sweet lady,
A lady who's years make her old?
I wonder how life and it's lessons,
Turn out a sweet heart pure as gold?

I wonder what tips she would give me,
What words of advice she would say?
Somehow I expect she would tell me,
"You'd better be starting today!"

"Those traits that you hope to be finding,
You'd better be practicing now!
They will not appear just like magic,
They do not just happen somehow."

Someday I will meet an old lady,
The lady I meet will be me!
I'd better consider my actions,
If right now is really the key.

Thrift Stores and Hit Singers of the 80s

I am blessed to be married to a man who doesn't mind shopping.

 Groceries, clothes, thrift stores...
 you name it,

He's really probably more of a shopper
 than I am!

I had the privilege of riding along with Chris the other day to pick up some things for the house. We stopped at a couple of thrift stores and ate out and discussed all manner of subjects an just generally had a great time.

I must admit that we do go for different things when we shop at thrift stores.

At the first store we stopped at, Chris met me at the cash register with an impish grin.

He knew I would have a fit.

He hit the mother lode of hit Mennonite singers of the 80s in that store!

Oh my lanta.

Check out the dresses...

 Not to mention the shirts...

He found them all, let me tell you.

The beards...

And the no beards...

Gospel Express...

And the all time favorite Schwartz's...

I must say, at 10 cents a piece it was some very cheap entertainment!

To any close friends and relations of these Golden Oldies -

No offense. At all.

And to all of you present day CD makers -

Here is what you have to look forward to.

Some 30 odd years from now a man with a gleeful gleam in his eye will snatch up all your hit albums for 10 cents a piece at some obscure thrift store. He and his wife will probably pick fun at your carefully planned outfits and your cutesy scarfy deals and will almost certainly howl with laughter at your elaborate song endings and fabulous bass. Such is life.

Now if you will excuse me, I have a stack of tapes waiting to be listened to.....

The Prayers You Never Prayed

Prayer can be a controversial subject. Sometimes you pray and something happens and you figure well, it probably would have happened anyway. Then, sometimes you pray and pray and nothing happens and you wonder why you are praying because it's not like we can twist God's arm anyway, right?

Before you get all into the theology of prayer, let me just tell you - I'm not here to talk about either of those subjects. I'm here to talk about the prayers that you never even prayed. You know what I'm talking about? The things that you need but you never really got around to asking for and, lo and behold! The need is provided before you ever even asked and you almost get goosebumps because God really does care about little old you.

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, I have two stories for you:

Jennifer has been begging for a bike. She learned to ride a friend's bike one evening, and ever since that's all I've been hearing. It isn't that I didn't want to give her a bike. I even did some searching for a second hand one but when none crossed my path, I kind of shoved it to the back of my mind and went my way.

Well, last week I did a quick grocery run one morning. I was trying to hurry and I debated whether I should stop at Goodwill (you already think you know where this is going but it's even better than you are imagining!). Since I had a bag of stuff to donate, I decided to make a quick stop.

Bikes were the furthest thing from my mind that morning; I didn't even look in that area of the store. I did a quick scan of some clothes racks and found a couple articles I decided I couldn't do without, made my purchases and drove around to the back to drop off my donation; next stop, home.

As I hopped out to press the doorbell in the back, my eye caught sight of 3 or 4 bikes propped up beside a dumpster. Bikes! Those things promptly had my full attention. From what I could see, there was a tiny bike, a medium girl's bike and one or two boy-ish looking bikes.

"Are those bikes over there going to be put out for sale soon?" I asked the lady who came to the door and took my bag.

"I think those are some that aren't worth selling," she told me. "Dry rotted and not good anymore, you know." I nodded and explained about my little girl begging for a bike and how I hadn't seen any second hand ones lately. "We do get them," she explained, "But they get snatched up pretty quick." She paused for a moment, then added, "Let me go look at them."

She trotted over to the dumpster, gave the bikes the once over and came back, "They look nice, actually," she told me. "I'll go ask him about them if you want me to."

I wanted her to!

She was back in no time. "He's gonna clean those up and put them out before long," she informed me. "Probably just be 2 or 3 dollars," she added in a conspiratorial tone.

I wondered if I could just take the one I wanted and clean it up myself but she told me that would get them in trouble. She hesitated a minute, then leaned in and said quietly, "I'll just take it in and clean it up real quick and you can come around and get it if you like."

I thanked the lady profusely and hopped back in my van. I drove around the store, re-parked, and hauled Charles back inside to claim my bike. I imagine my eyes looked just about as starry as Jennifer's did when she walked in from school and saw a BIKE parked in the living room; a pink and purple bike, just her size. Isn't God amazing?

Then, there is the story of the treated lumber.

As most of you know, we are in the process of building a house. Anyone who has ever tried such a thing knows what it takes: time and money. Since we don't have much extra of either but far less of the one, Chris spends lots of time hunting down good deals. He is, most definitely, his mother's child when it comes to good deals; if there's one to be had, he will find it!

Chris spends his time these days squeezing in as much work at the house as he can. He's trying to get the outside of the house done before cold weather comes and they get too busy at the tire shop to take time off. This means that some days he gets up early and works at the house til 11 or 12 then finishes the day at the tire shop, and some days he does it the other way around.

On this particular day, he went in to the shop to start the day, then headed off to Lowes later on to pick up a stack of treated lumber for the lovely, large front porch he is working on. He had spent some time before hand checking prices and Lowes had a sale on the lumber he wanted.

Chris often meets up with customers from the tire shop when he's in town and that morning he recognized the man who was walking into Lowes at the same time he was. They exchanged friendly greetings, and the man wondered, "So, what are you doing at Lowes?"

Chris explained what he was building, and that he needed some treated lumber. "Oh? What kind of treated lumber?"

"Well," Chris told him, "I'm looking for 2x8x8s and 2x6x8s."

"I've got a bunch of 2x8x10s out at the house."

Chris pointed out that he really just needed 8 footers. "No, no, you don't understand what I'm saying!" The man shook his head. "Come over here and let's see what those 2x8s cost." They were $7.67 a piece. "I'll sell you all you need of my 2x8x10s for $5 a piece," he offered.

Turns out the guy had gotten some oil and gas money and was using it for a little re-sale business. When Lowes had close out sales or items they wanted to move out of their store, they would call him up. He would buy the stuff for a super reduced price, then re-sell it and give others a good deal. Til it was all said and done Chris was headed home from the man's house with a pile of all the treated lumber he needed for his porch floor at a greatly reduced price.

I ask you, what are the chances of those two men walking into Lowes at the same time on that particular morning? Pretty small! Not only did he get the lumber he needed that day at a great price, it's very likely the man will have other things we will need later on in our building project.

I think, like us parents, God enjoys supplying His children's needs. And I like to think, just maybe, He takes particular joy in surprising us with answers for those prayers we never even prayed.