Sunday, 13 March 2011
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Is This A Great Day Or What?
Today was scrumptious! Seventy-five degrees, blue sky, just the slightest breeze. Perfect day for a picnic on the patio! After church, I fixed one of the best lunches I've had since I became the chief cook....New York strip steak, rubbed with garlic, and other seasonings and grilled on the George Foreman grill, baked sweet potato with brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter, a side of baked beans (my wife's secret recipe), homemade rolls (a gift from a friend), orange sections, and a glass of muscadine juice (non-alcoholic, although a nice wine would have served well). I sat for an hour after eating, drinking a delicious cup of gourmet coffee and taking in the beauty of the day. The lawn, which I had mowed yesterday for the first time this season, so lush and fresh green, little buds on the trees, several kinds of birds having a fun lunch at the feeder, and the daffodils and crocuses in the bed under them. Days like this are rare - even though we seem to have more than our share of them. Rare, because you can almost see God's careful hand fashioning each delightful item.
As I sat there, I could hear some kind of activity going on, I figured, at the neighbor's house. That wouldn't be so surprising on such a nice day, but my experience so far living in a missionary community, I find that most people don't work much on Sunday. Tap tap tap. Too loud to be a woodpecker. (We do have some in the woods). Tap again. Maybe for half an hour. Finally I turned that direction to see what was going on. No sooner had I turned than I heard a louder SNAP and saw movement in the woods. A large tree was falling to the ground. THUD! The tree was about a foot in diameter, and about fifty feet long....(it used to be fifty feet tall). There was no perceptible wind to blow it down. No lightning had struck it. It just fell - right at that moment. On looking at it, ( I just had to walk over to check it out....something like Moses going to see why the bush continued to burn without being consumed) it was obvious that the tree had not had life in it for some time. It wasn't going to bear any fruit this year. But why, on March 13, 2011 at 2:45 PM, did it fall just then with no push or anything?
That got me thinking. On April 11, 2010 at 6:00 AM, my wife Peggy, like that mighty oak, just passed away. Yes, she was ill....had been for several years. But why on the day? Couldn't I have had a few more weeks with her? I am at peace about her passing. I was when it happened, although the exact moment I don't know because it was so slight, so quiet and peaceful. I am sorry if it bothers you to read this, but I am not looking to stir up emotions. I am at peace with her passing just as I am at peace with this tree falling. The tree was of no importance to me. I probably never looked at it in deference to any other tree. Peggy, on the other hand, was practically my whole life. We shared wonderful times doing simple things like this lunch I had alone today. She would have complimented me on it and we'd have laughed because she was so much the superior cook. Peggy and the tree. Both known of the Father. Both, of His marvelous creation. Both, and all other things besides, under His sovereign care.
Today was the final day for the tree. It will be cut up for firewood and forgotten. God knew when the tree would fall. It was His design not to allow me to be walking in the downward path of the aged trunk which would have surely killed instantly anyone hit by it. What if I'd been there? Would it be right to be mad at the tree, if you were my child? Or mad at God? This is what I had been thinking when I went over there to see that tree. Is God still good, no matter what happens? Yes, He most certainly is good - all of the time and in every instance. God loves Peggy and He loves me. He is good to both of us - she, now with Him in glory, me still here thinking of her. It's OK to cry. I still do. Crying doesn't mean that God has left me alone. He hasn't. He is my strength and my song and has become my salvation. May His grace and peace be yours also on this beautiful day.
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Comments (16)
That is amazing. I hope that I will experience such peace whenever anything, however small, happens that I don't like.
AND your lunch sounds amazing =)Well I certainly wish I was invited... sounds delicious.
Don't you just love days that awaken all your senses to the gifts from God? I could feel as if I was there as I read this. Sounds like days I used to spend enjoying my back deck(no trees falling), a meal, and the beauty of sounds, the smells, the peace of the outdoors... God's glory.
I can sense your peace in this writing.
I don't know if you believe in such things, but could it be that Peggy moved that tree to let you know that she was with you while you enjoyed your simple pleasure today that you used to share with her? That she is still there sharing those moments of peace and pleasure.
@canadiansrock@xanga - I'm not perfect at it, but I am learning that the peace that Jesus gives is able to calm the storms of my life - if I pray first instead of reacting or lashing out.
The meal was just as satisfying as it sounds. My daughter says that taking the time to make a meal and the time to savor and enjoy it are both conducive to good health. I know I like to stop and thank God for my meals...before and after eating.
@JstNotherDay@xanga - Thanks. It would have been extra special to have been able to share it with someone....and take the time to enjoy it.
About the other. I do think that people in heaven can see and cheer us on as in Hebrews God indicates. And maybe the communion that Peggy and I had in this life still carries over to the present with me. The Holy Spirit is the teacher/messenger. Maybe He does have something to do with the thoughts that the tree falling triggered in my heart.- sort of like a message from her?
Psalms 139:16: Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them.
John 16:33: I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
@quest4god - What passage of Hebrews are you referring to? I would like to look it up.
@naphtali_deer@xanga - These verses sum up the thoughts and ideas that inspired this post. They are very much a part of my understanding and interpretation of events in life. God is not haphazard in creation nor in conduct of family business. This is also the basis of peace in knowing Him and that He does have a plan for us. Thank you for adding this scripture.
@JstNotherDay@xanga - Well, the verse I referred to is Hebrews 12:1. It is actually speaking of Old Testament saints whose lives bear out living faith in the promises of God being witnesses to us that we, knowing their faith should be strengthened to endure also. Some, including me, think of the ramparts of heaven where glimpses of our running the race are visible to them. Partly I also think of Luke 15:7 where the sinner repenting is known about in heaven. Psalm 139, which naphtali_deer@xanga -cites in the comments here tells us that our lives are completely open to God and that we cannot go anywhere to hide from Him. That being the case, He may also inform those who have gone on before of important events in our lives here on earth. I wouldn't want to try to build a doctrine just on that, but we do know something about the awareness of those in heaven.
@quest4god - Yes, He is not haphazard and that is the reason we can have peace at all times even when it appears like He has forsaken us (~ Isaiah 49). We walk by faith and not by sight.
@quest4god - @JstNotherDay@xanga - The OT saints were an example to us, and all the saints who have gone before us provide some great examples (and some not so great, e.g..- I Cor. 10) and can serve as a real encouragement to help us run the race set before us today. I love Christian biography! And all the saints (all those who have trusted in Christ alone for salvation - by grace alone, through faith alone), who have died ARE alive with Christ today. That said, we need to take care in how we approach this, e.g. - Deuteronomy 18:9-11; Isaiah 8:19-20; I Samuel 28:3-25.
I recently had a wonderful blessing come to me after a long time of struggle, and a dear friend who died at the beginning of this year would have been so happy to have seen all this unfold since she had walked w/ me through many struggles regarding that. Well, I am trusting she is rejoicing in some sense, but I can't get carried away with that.
After that great accounting of the faith of the past saints in Hebrews 11, in Hebrews 12 we read that since we are surrounded by that cloud of witnesses, we are to lay aside every weight and the sin which ensnares and run with endurance the race set before us looking unto JESUS. Yes, we look to the saints – to a point – but we look unto Jesus first and foremost. He alone is the author and finisher of our faith. The saints would not have finished their race if not for His help, and we will only finish the race set before us with His help.
@naphtali_deer@xanga - Yes, I was trying to walk very carefully through that. It is natural to think there is an awareness with our departed loved ones who have gained entrance into God's presence... an awareness and a communion that is not broken by death. My thoughts are continually with Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith, and I might add, I can't help but think that He, in directing events in our lives, assures our loved ones of our condition. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the "sweetest frame" but wholly lean on Jesus' Name.
@naphtali_deer@xanga - Your comment here is so much like the one I left on your pulse! "He is my only hope and stay!"
@quest4god - Because of their union with Christ, believers have union with all the saints, and that union doesn't end with death. I don't want to minimize that at all. That's a precious reality and a wonderful encouragement for us. I'm not sure how that works out on the other side. But the bottom line is what you said: we dare not trust the "sweetest frame" but wholly lean on Jesus' Name.
@naphtali_deer@xanga - Yes, I agree entirely. BTW I was surprised by the new profile picture!
@quest4god - Re: the picture: - I had used it in a couple posts and was looking at one of those today and then decided to upload it as a profile pic. I get 99 pictures, so why not?
@quest4god - Grrr! Except it does cut off on the bottom when making comments, though not on the profile section of my own blog.