THE COMING STORM

We had a new adventure during February and March!  We left home and stayed in Orange Beach, Alabama.  I was thrilled about this and Bill went along.  Bless his heart.

I have been to beaches before and we have been to Orange Beach before.  What I have never experienced is a storm on a beach.  Thankfully, not a bad storm like a tornado or a hurricane, but a pretty big thunderstorm.

You need to know that I love to watch it storm.  As a kid, I would sit in the corner of the porch and watch the rain and lightening.  I loved the sound of thunder.  I still love to watch it storm.  I will sit in front of a window and watch the trees dance and the sky turn black.  But a storm by the water’s edge is different.

We had a very small storm when we first got here.  Last night was that storm on steroids.  At one in the morning, YES MORNING, I stood with the balcony door open and listened.  The thunder sounded like it would start way out and then grow louder as it came closer to shore.  No.. it was coming from the west.  No.. the east.  It was like having surround-sound.  The thunder was rumbling in circles.  I know.  Sounds strange, but I don’t know how else to describe it.  The lightening would look like someone was shining a flashlight through the clouds and then a bolt would streak from nowhere.  It is amazing how dark it is when looking out over the water.  Did I tell you how much I love to watch it storm?

When I spoke with a new friend, she said she had gotten up, dressed, and put shoes on just in case.

Sadly, while I was enjoying the spectacular show, towns were being devastated and lives turned upside down by tornadoes. A storm can have such beauty in one spot and such destruction in another.

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It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining.  And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.     Luke 23:44-45

What would it have been like to be there?  The sky turning dark in the middle of the day.  The temperature would have dropped.  The fear would have been strong enough to smell.  The cross.  The hill.  The soldiers.  The believers.  The mother.  

What do I see?  I see beauty.

Did you do a double take?  Did you re-read what I wrote?  Beauty was a surprise to me too.  I have never thought of this as a beautiful sight.  How can there be beauty in Jesus hanging on a cross?  Bleeding!  In pain!  When I look at the Cross, I feel such shame, but I also see my hope.  My redemption.  I see great love.

And that is the most beautiful sight of all.  The beauty is the love of Christ which turns the dark sky to a light so bright we will always be able to find our way to Him.  Find our way to the Cross.

 ADOPTED

Every so often, I am at a loss as to what to write.  Writing a blog is at the back of my mind on Monday, starts moving forward on Tuesday, and by Wednesday I start getting a bit nervous.  The blog needs to be ready by Friday morning and NOTHING.  Absolutely, nothing.  I no longer have days to write a blog.  I only have hours.  Thursday morning and still nothing.  And then....

And then I pick up a book by Jeanette Winterson:  Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?  One thing I am rarely called is normal so the title intrigued me.  The story is written by a woman who had a terrible childhood.  She was adopted into a very unstable house.  I have only read the beginning but there are a few sentences that made me think about how it feels to being adopted.

“Adopted children are self-invented because we have to be; there is an absence, a void, a question mark at the very beginning of our lives.  A crucial part of our story is gone.”

“Where you are born — what you are born into, the place, the history of the place, how that history mates with your own — stamps who you are, whatever the pundits of globalization have to say.”

“When I was born I became the visible corner of a folded map.  The map has more than one route.  More than one destination.  The map that is the unfolding self is not exactly leading anywhere.  The arrow that says YOU ARE HERE is your first coordinate.  There is a lot that you can’t change when you are a kid.  But you can pack for the journey.”

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We have an adopted granddaughter and she was in my heart the minute I laid eyes on her.  She is MY GRANDDAUGHTER!  I consider her a gift, but I also know she has had questions about her birth family.  There is a gap in her life, even though she came into our family from the hospital.  There are many questions for the adoptive parents also.  They have no family history which will help them understand this new daughter.  Will she be even tempered or smart or healthy.  They cannot look at grandparents or themselves to see a resemblance or a family characteristic that has carried through the generations. A crucial part of the story is gone.

I am adopted.  I have been adopted into the Family of God!

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!  1 John 3:1

The big difference, I know my past.  It is not a mystery.  The amazing part is that God knows my past and still welcomed me into his family.  

I would like to rewrite one of the author’s paragraphs.

When I was born, I became the visible corner of a folded map.  The arrow said, “MARY, YOU ARE HERE.”  I discovered there are many routes and many destinations.  As a kid, I could not change the path my parents placed me on.  I then followed the path I placed myself on and have walked that path with Bill beside me.  The most important path is the one that led me to being adopted.  All the things I had packed for my journey of life were quickly left at the foot of the cross.  At my adoption, I began a new journey.  I still have many paths and destinations to pick from, but now I know my adoption means there is no longer a crucial part of my story missing.

 PREJUDGE

Prejudge:  to judge before hearing or before full and sufficient examination.

The other day I heard a speaker say, “You are not to judge, but do you prejudge?”

That is a powerful question.  I am sure most of us would answer, “Of course I do not prejudge.  I want all the facts.”  How would this answer line up with your life?

Let’s start with the news.  Do you read only the headline?  If so, you are prejudging the article.  The headline is sensational to grab your attention.  The article is usually very different and should contain the facts.  Do you prejudge the news or find the facts?

Next is food.  Are you willing to try something new?  If not, why?  How do you know you will not like a certain spice?  Or macaroni and cheese made with something other that the box mix?  Do you prejudge food and miss out on a new taste sensation?

Finally, the biggie === PEOPLE!  Do you prejudge people?  And everyone answered, “Of course I do not prejudge people.”  We like to think we do not, but fess up.  We prejudge everyone we meet.  We look at their eyes, their smile, their hands, their tattoos, their hair, and their body piercings.  We look at their clothes and prejudge the person if the clothes are not to our liking or if their jeans are pulled below their underwear.  We prejudge people by their mode of transportation or the house they live in or if they are homeless. We prejudge people depending on where they go to church or if they do not go to church.  We prejudge people by the way they vote and, sadly, by the color of their skin.

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If you are feeling guilty, you need to realize Jesus prejudged people.

Jesus prejudged the Samaritan woman.  She was prejudged worthy of eternal life.  Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”     John‬ ‭4:13-14‬

Jesus prejudged Bartimaeus.  He was prejudged worthy of seeing.  “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”  ‭‭Mark‬ ‭10:51-52‬ 

Jesus prejudged the crippled lady.  She was prejudged worthy of standing tall.  “When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.”  Luke‬ ‭13:12-13‬ ‭

Jesus has prejudged each of us.  We are prejudged worthy to be loved by the Father.  “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John‬ ‭3:1‬ 

Sooooo... if someone asks if you prejudge people, you can say, “Yes I do.  I prejudge them worthy of the love of the Father.  And I will treat them that way...worthy!”

 WAITING

Waiting!  I hate to wait.  Waiting on someone to answer a business phone is a boring process.  The music!  Listening to their sales pitch!  Waiting!

Waiting at the doctor’s office, at a traffic light, or a page to load.  Wait.  Wait.  Wait.  Such a waste of time.  Waiting ...

“Hey Mary.”

Yes.  Oh my.  What have I done now?

“Do I hear you complaining about waiting?”

Sorta.  I was on hold and the music sucked... oops.  The music was not my favorite genre.

“Do you ever make me wait?”

Me?  Make God wait?  I think that would be like a law, ordinance, or commandment.  I can hear you saying, “Thou shalt not keep God waiting.”

“You do have the best imagination.  Gabriel will chuckle when I tell him your comment.”

Do I make you wait?  Name one time ... better make that three times.

“Did you pray yesterday?”

Of course!  I got really busy...  maybe not.  Knew you would have one to zing at me.

“I waited all day.  You had much on your heart.  I wanted to help you.”

But .

“But what?  I have two more.”

But you have all the time in the world.  You’re just sitting around, so what if I .

“Mary, do you really want to finish that statement?  All I do is sit around?’

Maybe this would be a good time for me to wait instead of speaking.

“The key word is wait.  Humans seem to think waiting is a waste of time.  Waiting is a gift.”

A GIFT?  Do you have any idea how long 20 minutes or an hour or a day or a week is when you are sitting in a hospital waiting room?  Waiting — a gift?  Waiting can be pure hell! Especially when ..

“My child, I am in every waiting room.  In every operating room.  I did not say waiting was easy.  I said it is a gift.

Waiting allows you to pray and prepare.  Waiting allows you to make wise decisions.  Waiting allows you to realize I am there.”

I never thought about it that way.  There are times I should have waited before making a decision.  I am sorry I made you wait yesterday.  May I pray now?

“Of course.  I have all the time in the world.  I’m just sitting around.”

You are not going to forget I said that are you?

“Nope.  Just sitting here.  Nothing to do.  

Except listen to what is on your heart.”

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So often we complain about waiting, but waiting really is a gift.

Waiting gives us time to pray and to prepare.

Waiting gives us time to slow down, think, and make wise decisions.

Waiting gives us time to realize we are not alone.