The Butterfly and the Bee

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Once upon a time there was a Garden. It was full of beautiful blooms and fragrant flowers. Garden creatures scuttled under the brush and winged flyers skimmed over the petals.

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Light and airy after a lifetime of crawling in dirt, the newly transformed butterfly was the most enchanting creature in the Garden. It hovered and glided and danced about with grace. It careened through the spikes of foxglove and wove between the wispy cosmos. Its wings caught the sunshine and made the Garden sparkle. Landing for only a second or two, it continued to flit here and there and everywhere. After two weeks it was gone. It had given a measure of joy and frivolity to the Garden, but had not contributed in any meaningful way.

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Another heartier breed also buzzed among the foliage. Not as light and airy, not as sparkly or whimsical, the bee was not on holiday in the Garden. The bee was there on a mission. This round-bodied flyer did not have the grace of the butterfly. It did not flit or charm. The bee did no stylish pirouettes. Instead, this one dove straight into the depth of the blossoms, drawing out the nectar, burrowing down into the fragrance. Having done its job, the dive-bomber sped out of the Garden and deposited its bounty into the hive. 

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What is the meaning of the story of the butterfly and the bee?

“To get anything from our Bibles, we must plunge in. Butterflies wander over the flowers in the garden and accomplish nothing, but bees plunge right down into the flower, and carry away essential food. We won’t get anything if we just hover over our Bibles; we have to dive right in.” David Guzik, Blue Letter Bible, Acts Commentary   bible

“How sweet are your promises to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103

10 Things I Learned in September

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1. My great-great grandparents came to Baraboo in 1851. I came to Baraboo in 2004. Although time separated us by 153 years, their homestead was less than a mile from where we now live. We went to pay them a call one afternoon, but nobody was home.

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2. The PBS series “Poldark” is based on a set of 12 novels, each of which is over 400 pages long. The twelfth and final installment has 704 pages. Be still, my beating heart. I think I’ve found my new calling in life.

3. I will never think of the nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty” in the same way again after hearing Tony Evans’ version during the “Cry Out!” prayer night.

4. We met some of our new neighbors. PB put up a trail cam in our two acres of woods. Lots of little critters have been walking the trail in our backyard and posing for the camera. One big critter ambled by, causing PB to consider bringing the florescent orange out of the mothballs. 

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5. We are in the “one-gallon-of-milk-a-week” stage of life. It doesn’t seem that long ago when we were in the “one-gallon-of-milk-a-day”phase.

6. The flannelgraph in my 1st grade Sunday school class might have been wrong. I clearly remember Jonah being swallowed by a whale. As I recall, that flannel fish was smiling and blowing water out of its spout. Jonah was on his knees, praying in that whale’s belly. Except the word “whale” isn’t in the book of Jonah.

7. Every house should have a brightly painted front door. My sister just got back from a trip to Cornwall, England, and she said every church and most every house had a cheery front entrance. What a lovely idea.

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8. I can’t resist taking personality profiles. The Enneagram uses a nine category system to understand personality types. I am a “1”. Just for fun, I signed up to receive an email every day with guidance for my type. I love it  when I get one like this: “You need to allow yourself to relax. A therapeutic massage would be extremely beneficial for you.” Oh yeah. I don’t love it so much when the message is like this: “Try not to deteriorate down into being too harsh and critical of others.” Ouch.

9. Hibernation is setting in early this year. I already have the down comforter on the bed, the tea bags stocked and the firewood piled. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long winter.

10. This quote from “Severe Mercy” by Sheldon Vanauken seems especially true this month: “We seem unable to get used to time. We are always amazed at it — how fast it goes, how slowly it goes, how much of it is gone. Where, we cry, has the time gone? We aren’t adapted to it, not at home in it. If that is so, it may appear as a proof, or at least a powerful suggestion, that eternity exists and is our home.”

 goodbye-sept

Two Books

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In June, I wrote about my son-in-law’s Christmas gift to me — reading four books together in 2016. The first two books were a resounding success so we each made another pick.

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My second choice was “A River Runs Through It” by Norman Maclean. It’s a story about a fly-fishing, Presbyterian minister and his two sons. If you’ve seen the movie, you will picture Brad Pitt standing in the river, casting his line, on every page. But that’s ok. Because the writing is so captivating, even Brad Pitt takes a back seat.

Maclean’s phrases are picturesque: “The storm came on a wild horse and rode over us.” “Then the air disappeared from view.” “We were so dry that we could feel in our ears that we were trying to swallow.”

Some more of my favorite excerpts:

“You can love completely without complete understanding.”

“My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good things — trout as well as eternal salvation — come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy.”

“As for my father, I never knew whether he believed God was a mathematician but he certainly believed God could count and that only by picking up God’s rhythms were we able to regain power and beauty.”

“It was here that I started this story, although, of course, at the time I did not know that stories of life are often more like rivers than books.”

My son-in-law, Dan, admitted it was tough at first to wade through all the fly-fishing lingo, but when he finished the book, he sent me this text: “Wow. That book deserves another read-through. Man, that last paragraph. The best ending words I have ever read.”

That’s saying something.

Dan’s second choice was “A Severe Mercy” by Sheldon Vanauken. I’m just a couple chapters in so the jury is still out. Dan and I will talk it over at Thanksgiving.

There Are Days

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There are days….

when you’ll miss something if you don’t look up.

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There are days when you’ll miss something if you don’t look down.

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There are days when you’ll miss something if you don’t look around.

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And then there are days….

when you just have to skip down the sidewalk

in your zebra print tutu.

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I hope you have some of those kind of days.

My Favorite Word

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The Bible is chock full of terrific words. Wonderful words like love, joy, and peace abound in the scriptures. Abound is a pretty good word too.

There are long words in the Bible, like Mahershalalhashbaz (Isaiah 8:1). (What were his parents thinking?)

There are short words in the Bible, like Ur (Genesis 15:7). “Where do you live?” “Ur.” (Confused look.)

There are impressive sounding words in the Bible, like sanctification, justification and propitiation.

There are precious words like Savior, heaven, grace and redeemed. I could go on and on.

I have a hands-down favorite word in the Good Book. It’s easy to overlook this humble three letter word. Here it is. Are you ready?

But.

Don’t be fooled by this well-worn word, this scant syllable, this inconsequential conjunction. It packs a wallop when it’s perfectly placed. “But” is the pivot point in so many sentences, and so many lives. I have circled every “but” in my Bible.

“But you were washed…” 1 Corinthians 6:11

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.” 1 Corinthians 15:20

“But because of His great love for us…” Ephesians 2:4

“But God’s word is not chained…” 2 Timothy 2:9

My second favorite word in the Bible is equally short and powerful.

Now.

Team these two up and you’ve got a potent combination.

“Once you were alienated from God, BUT NOW he has reconciled you…” Colossians 1:21-22

“Once you were not a people, BUT NOW you are the people of God.”           1 Peter 2:10

“I was blind, BUT NOW I see.” John 9:25

“For this son of mine was dead, BUT NOW he is alive;

he was lost, BUT NOW he has been found.” Luke 15:24

I am thankful for these two little words.

They can redeem a past full of faults and failures.

They can redefine a future full of hopes and dreams.

But now.

Persistence

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See all those books?

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Those are books that I have bought and read and highlighted about the craft of writing. There’s another stack that size of more books I have checked out of the library on the same topic. You’d think, after reading all these books, I’d be making progress. But I find that there’s always more to learn. Or re-learn.

It’s also easier to read books on writing than to actually write.

That’s why I couldn’t resist this latest title.

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 When it comes down to it, every book on the stack says the same thing —

BIC

(Butt In Chair).

In other words, I just have to do it —

I have to be consistent and persistent.

I have to get my hiney in the chair routinely and habitually.

Persistence is a key in more than my writing life.

I could use a book entitled,

“A Christian’s Guide to Persistence:

How to Create a Lasting and Productive Spiritual Life”.

When starting a new Bible reading plan in January, I’m all gung-ho and ready to dig in. But by March, I start lagging a bit. When beginning a new Bible study class in September, there’s excitement in the air and lots of anticipation. In May, I’m wondering where all that dedication went.

Persistence is hard, whether it’s in spiritual disciplines or writing.

Or anything else.

But I have the answer.

BIC

“I will not neglect Your Word.” Psalm 119:16

 

Run

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I admire people who run. I really admire people who want to run, who even like to run. Me? I prefer walking. The slower pace doesn’t jar my joints, doesn’t make my heart do funny flip-flops and doesn’t turn me into a sweaty mess. It also doesn’t burn off the caramel pecan roll. But I do some of my best thinking when I’m out on a walk. I’m sure running would restrict those profound thoughts. Pretty sure.

In preparation for this fall’s Bible study on Jonah, I’ve been thinking a lot about running. When Jonah heard a word from the Lord that told him to go to Nineveh, Jonah ran. The opposite direction. Jonah hightailed it out of town and hitched a ride on the first boat leaving for the end of the earth. Did he really think he could out-run God?

A few weeks ago, PB preached on Philip and the Ethiopian from Acts 8. It provided a nice contrast to Jonah’s rebellious response to God’s command. When God told Philip to go, he ran. In the right direction. He was even able to keep pace with a chariot and still have enough breath to explain the gospel to the prince riding in it. 

“The Word of the Lord came to Jonah” (Jonah 1:1) and he ran away.

Do we, like Jonah, think we can avoid God by running? A clear, concise directive from heaven is what most of us long for. But what if God tells us something we don’t want to hear. Then what?

I come to the Word of the Lord every morning. Yes, I come stumbling and fumbling my way to the chair, rubbing sleep out of my eyes. On the days I hear Him say “Go”, I want to be more like Philip than Jonah and run the right direction.

Or at least walk at a good clip.

“But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
    They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don’t get tired,
    they walk and don’t lag behind.”

Isaiah 40:31

Reset

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The beginning of a new school year always inspires me to start fresh.

That used to mean clean-paged notebooks and sharp pencils.

Now it means a spirit that is calm and a desk that is uncluttered.

A mind that is focused and a purpose that is renewed.

A heart that is cleansed and ready to begin yet again.

September 1st is my reset.

“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.”

Ezekiel 36:26

10 Things I Learned in August

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1. Stepping away from the internet for a month was not the end of the world. August is indeed the Sunday of summer. It’s been a nice Sabbath rest.

2. Family Weekend was a good idea. Last year we tried Family Week. We’re learning what works for a gathering of ten adults along with six kiddos under the age of four. The huge totes full of Legos and dress up clothes came out of storage and were a hit with adults and kids alike.

3. I miss the little pink chair. And the Mickey Mouse plates and the sippy cups. I miss the footsteps coming up the stairs every morning. But I’m happy Evie has her very own purple bedroom in her very own house. The nest is empty again. Maybe for good this time.

4. Quote of the month: “Do you want what you want badly enough to arrange your life for it?” Ruth Haley Barton

5. The Morris’s and the Biddick’s came to America on the same ship. I came across this bombshell as I was doing some family history research. The Morris’s were my mom’s ancestors. The Biddick’s were my dad’s great grandparents. In 1850 they boarded the ship “Belle” in Padstow, Cornwall, England, not knowing that 96 years later there would be a marriage connecting the two families — my mom and dad. How cool is that?

6. Olympians are freaks of nature. I can’t imagine training for four years to run a thirty second race or perform a five second vault. PB and I did enjoy the view from our easy chairs, though. The swimming, gymnastics and track events were thrilling. I just wish there could have been more coverage of the ping-pong, badminton and sailing competitions.

7. Spending a week in the woods is good for the soul. PB and I went up north and looked at tall trees, stood in cool shoreline water and breathed deep of fresh forest air. We also ate giant caramel pecan sweet rolls, tapped our toes to a surprise jazz concert and took a nap every afternoon. That’s how to restore a soul.

8. Jesus was a master storyteller. I read through the parables this month. I just wish we could hear the intonation of His voice and see the look on His face as we read these stories. Were they told with a smile or a raised eyebrow? Was there a softness or an edge in His voice? The Apostle John said that the world doesn’t have enough room for all the books that could be written about the things Jesus said and did. But I’m sure heaven does. Someday we’ll hear the stories in His own voice and see the twinkle in His eye.

9. I would drive across town for a free cup of coffee. A new convenience store opened up and they are offering free coffee for a few days, along with lots of other promotions such as $1 worth of free gas, which is about three tablespoons. I figured if I drive a few miles to get the free coffee but use the squirt of free gas, I’m still ahead. I simply cannot turn down anything free. Except puppies and kittens.

10. Jonah is an Old Testament book that really packs a wallop. We are going to take a good long look at the book of Jonah this fall. I’m excited to get back with my Bible study ladies next week! We are going to engage our hearts and minds like never before in the 48 verses that make up this crazy story.

goodbye august

Vacation

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Three weeks ago PB and I went on vacation.

As you can see, I forgot to come back.

In Europe, everybody goes on vacation in August.

For the whole month.

Me too.

Every August.

 For the rest of my life.

I just decided that.

I’ll push the re-set button in September.

Sunday of summer